Singletons Mill on the Hawkesbury River NSW

Photographer William Frederick Hall (1855 - 1943)

Datec 1900

Object number00002333

NameGlass plate negative

MediumEmulsion on glass

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Bruce Stannard

Terms

DescriptionThis image depicts Singletons Mill on the Hawkesbury River which was built in 1834 for brothers, James and Benjamin Singleton. In 1903, the 'Australian Town and Country Journal' reported that the 'old mill', affectionately christened the 'one of the lions of the Hawkesbury', was situated halfway between Windsor and Peat's Ferry, 'in one of the most picturesque reaches of the river.' It was used to 'ground wheat and maize...until the great flood of 1867' which caused extensive damage. Despite it falling into disuse, much of its 'antiquated machinery' still existed when this article was published. It was even said to have been haunted and it remained a tourist attraction until it was demolished in the early 1900s.HistoryWilliam Frederick Hall, formerly a butcher from England, became a well-known photographer whose photographic career in Sydney spanned a number of decades. He was a fingerprint expert at Long Bay Gaol and set up a photographic studio in Sydney in 1890. He and his wife, Caroline Asimus, had a son William James Hall (1877–1951), who followed his father's lead and became a photographer. Although neither the father nor the son were sailors, both developed a keen interest in sailing and sailing craft. During the late 1880s and early 1890s William Frederick Hall documented the weekend sailors and yachts of Sydney Harbour. William James Hall took over the tradition until the early 1930s capturing photographs from his motor boat. A number of photographic studios were established by William F Hall and William J Hall. Known at different times as Hall studio, Hall & Co, W F Hall and Hall W the businesses were located variously at 7 Castlereagh Street, 39, 44 and 70 Hunter Street, 91 Phillip Street and 21 Blight Street in Sydney city from 1890 onwards.SignificanceThe Hall collection provides an important pictorial record of recreational boating in Sydney Harbour, from the 1890s to the 1930s – from large racing and cruising yachts, to the many and varied skiffs jostling on the harbour, to the new phenomenon of motor boating in the early twentieth century. The collection also includes images of the many spectators and crowds who followed the sailing races.

This image belongs to a series of photographs probably taken on the Hawkesbury River by William Frederick Hall between 1880 and 1909.