Friday, April 25, 2014

Woolshed Diggings,1857


This image of the Woolshed Creek Diggings, Ovens, was taken by Walter Woodbury.  The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the National Media Museum, in whose collection this image resides,  dates the image to 1855, but I am inclined to think that this and other photos taken around the Ovens district were taken in 1857 when Woodbury had a studio in Beechworth.

The Royal Historical Society of Victoria has a panorama of Melbourne in its collection, taken by Woodbury in 1855 from the top of West Melbourne Gas Works.  See the Victorian Historical Journal, Volume 81 No 2 (Nov 2010) for an article examining the provenance of that panorama.

Both Woodbury and Griffith were listed in the 1857 Ovens Directory, Griffith being described as a "Professor of Music, Woolshed", and Woodberry as "Daguerrean Artists Ford St, Beechworth".

Woodbury's Portrait Rooms in Beechworth, 1857, from the Royal Photographic Society Collection at the National Media Museum


The Woolshed Creek diggings were located to the north west of Beechworth, accessed by a single narrow road.  The creek itself eventually joins up with the Ovens River.

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