BRITISH BEACON of London

Photographer Frederick Garner Wilkinson (1901-1975)

Date29 March 1924

Object number00042264

NameGlass plate negative

MediumEmulsion on glass

Dimensions83 x 108 x 2 mm

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum collection

Terms

DescriptionFrederick Wilkinson took this photograph of the BRITISH BEACON at No 9 Naval Buoy off Garden Island, Sydney on Saturday afternoon 29 March 1924. Wilkinson took this photo aboard a ferry from Circular Quay to Nielsen Park. The BRITISH BEACON is waiting for the arrival of the Empire Service Squadron carrying 9,200 tons of oil fuel.SignificanceThis photograph is part of the F G Wilkinson Photograph Collection, comprising more than 700 glass plate negatives of ships in Sydney Harbour between 1919 and 1936. The collection provides an extensive and well-documented coverage of the changing styles of shipping in the port of Sydney before the gradual decline of the coastal trade, and in a period which was probably the peak reached by commercial shipping in Australia. The backgrounds also reveal the changing face of the city and harbour foreshores.