Training ship PORT JACKSON in Sydney Harbour, Christmas 1908

Photographer Samuel J Hood Studio (Australian, 1899 - 1953)

Date1908

Object number00022705

NameNitrate negative

MediumEmulsion on nitrate film.

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

HistorySydney Morning Herald Monday 10 January 1910 PORT JACKSON ARRIVES, NOTABLE TRAINING SHIP. WITH 37 CADETS AND FOUR PASSENGERS. The famous British training ship Port Jackson, of Devitt and Moore's line, arrived here last evening, and, after being granted pratique, was berthed at Woolloomooloo wharf. The voyage was somewhat longer than usual, owing to adverse winds, and occupied 111 days. The PORT JACKSON was within 80 miles of her destination on New Year's Day, but was driven back as far as Montague Island by continuous northerly winds. There are 37 cadets on board all told, and Commander Maitland speaks in the highest terms of the lads. Their ages average 17 years, and none of them made the last voyage to Australia in the PORT JACKSON. Three other cadets are now on their way to Sydney as passengers by the steamer Somerset to join the training ship here, so that when the PORT JACKSON sails again for London she will have 40 budding officers on board. The PORT JACKSON is the vessel selected under Lord Brassey's scheme for training officers for the mercantile marine, and Mr Devitt has always evinced a keen interest in the project. As a matter of fact, when the PORT JACKSON sailed from London on her voyage just completed Mr P.H. Devitt accompanied the vessel down the Channel. Since the last visit of the ship to Sydney Captain George Burton, formerly of the White Star Line, and more recently one of the commanders of the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company's New Zealand mail steamers, has been appointed as the naval instructor. Mr Robert Jackson and Mr Herbert Bateson still occupy the positions of Chief and Second Officers respectively, but the surgeon Dr George Daunt, and the third officer, Mr W. Elliott, are making their first voyage in the vessel. Four passengers have made the long journey to Sydney by the Port Jackson, and three of them have previously travelled by the ship. The passengers include Mr and Mrs Streeton (parents of the famous Australian artist), who made the voyage to London by the PORT JACKSON a couple of years ago. They are a wonderfully sprightly couple, despite their age of upwards of 80 years, and they thoroughly enjoyed the time spent on the deep. Another passenger is Mr Neville, who has made four round voyages in Devitt and Moore's training ships - two in the MACQUARIE and two in the PORT JACKSON - the combined voyage having occupied nearly four years. The other passenger is Mr Murray, one of the underwriters at Lloyd's. Commander Maitland, who is extremely popular with the lads under his charge, and who has a wide circle of friends in Sydney, was met on arrival by a number of prominent shipping people, and was congratulated upon the fact that he has returned to Sydney in better health than when he sailed in March of last year. The PORT JACKSON has about 2000 tons of general cargo on board, and upon the completion of discharging operations she will be docked for an overhaul, preparatory to loading wool and tallow for London. Already Mr Deuchar, the agent, has booked half of the space of the PORT JACKSON, and it is anticipated that she will be despatched towards the end of February. The voyage generally was without incident. On crossing the line on October 27 the usual equatorial sports wore held for prizes provided by the officers and passengers, and by the cadets themselves. The PORT JACKSON carries a full crew of British seamen, irrespective of the cadets, and the ship's company includes a son of Alderman Joyce, of Limerick, one of the Nationalist members of tho House of Commons. Samuel (Sam) John Hood (1872-1953) was born at Glenelg, Adelaide in 1872. His father, John Hood, was a photographer who worked for Duryea's Adelaide Photographic Company. In 1883 John moved with his family to Sydney, and in 1884 Sam followed his lead and began work for another photographer, William Tuttle in Tuttle's Studio, George Street, Sydney. In 1899 Sam Hood established his own portrait business at The Adelaide Photographic Co, 256 Pitt St, Sydney. Due to two fires in the studio in the early years he worked from his Balmain home, where he constructed a darkroom, and photographed the shipping trade and waterfront workers, which provided a steady income for his growing family. Hood would approach a ship on the assigned tug boat and photograph it as it lay off Sydney Heads. Once the ship reached the dock, Hood would board the vessel and approach the captain to allow him to sell the photographs of the ship to the crew. The captain authorised for the photographs to be paid for by the shipping company and then deducted a fee from the crew's wages. In addition to the photographs, Hood worked with ship artists to produce views of vessels under sail. In turn, Hood’s photographs of vessels with their sails furled were used by artists to paint ship portraits. Hood would approach the captain of a ship with a painting in oil or watercolour, and ask to borrow the rigging plan on the promise of a similar work. Hood is known to have worked with maritime artists Walter Barratt, Reginald Arthur Borstel, George Frederick Gregory, and John Allcot, who was reputedly hired from the MILTIADES after Hood spotted him peddling his wares on board. The State Library of NSW holds a significant collection of Hood photographs. The ANMM collection comprises of some 9,000 photographs of maritime subjects. It documents the end of the sailing ship era and the growing dominance of steam vessels. This technological advancement had implications for Hood’s business, as steamship crews were less inclined to request photographs of their vessels. During the 1910s, Hood had acquired cheap premises at the Dore Studio in the Queen Victoria Markets and continued to produce studio portraits, in addition to ship photography. However in 1918 Hood transferred to Dalny Studio at 124 Pitt Street, Sydney. Originally owned by Thomas Cleary, Dalny Studio had a contract to supply photographs to the newspapers Melbourne Argus and the Australasian. This soon also included the Daily Guardian, Daily Telegraph Pictorial, The Labour Daily, Daily News, Sun, and The Sydney Morning Herald. During the 1920s Hood's work moved from the social and sport pages of newspapers into mainstream reportage. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Hood’s employees included his children Ted and Gladys, as well as several photographers who went onto successful careers as press photographers for various newspapers. At the outbreak of the Second World War Hood, aged 70, was recruited by the Ministry of News and Information to document the armed services. This period also witnessed the decline of formal studio portraits, which led the Hood studio to pursue more commercial commissions. Sam Hood continued working at his studio up to his death in June 1953. He had used the same modified Folmer & Schwing Graflex camera for over forty years.SignificanceThe Samuel J Hood photographic collection records an extensive range of maritime activity on Sydney Harbour, including sail and steam ships, crew portraits, crews at work, ship interiors, stevedores loading and unloading cargo, port scenes, pleasure boats and harbourside social activities from the 1890s through to the 1950s. They are also highly competent artistic studies and views - Hood was regarded as an important figure in early Australian photojournalism. Hood’s maritime photographs are one of the most significant collections of such work in Australia.