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Crew posing on board the four-masted steel barque JOHN ENA

from Australian National Maritime Museum on The Commons

• 1 older comment, and then…
• beachcomber australia said:

  The S.O.C. pennant on the lifebelt (see note) might represent Standard Oil Company, the owners of the JOHN ENA from 1916 - 1919, according to this website - www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Ships/Fourmast_ships/John_Ena(1892).html [edit - link fixed] Which suggests a date of May 1916 - does that fit in with the clothing? The JOHN ENA delivered a load of oil to Melbourne and then Sydney. trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/28783328 trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/28783325

• Australian National Maritime Museum on The Commons said:

  beachcomber australia I think we can fairly safely assume this was taken in Sydney because the Hood photographs generally were. If we assume this, then this date is most likely the correct one, unless this photograph was taken in Newcastle in which case the date is earlier. I'm not great with men's clothing unfortunately, but my first impression of these images was that they were taken in the 1900s. Here's the research I have summarised:
  
  JOHN ENA visited Australia numerous times throughout its career. In June 1895 it visited Port Germein in South Australia and visited the state again in December 1898 and June 1903. During its September 1895 visit to Newcastle, New South Wales, 12 seamen from the barque were charged with 'combining to disobey lawful commands'. They were sentenced to seven days' imprisonment with hard labour in Maitland Gaol. During its second visit to Newcastle in June 1901, one of the crew, Charlie Solinas committed suicide. At 11:23am on 16 May 1916, JOHN ENA arrived in Sydney from Melbourne with a load of oil from San Francisco. Another visit to Australia was made in 1919.
  Apart from these, I couldn't see any other visits to Australia.
  
  Also, an interesting report: nla.gov.au/nla.news-article95247262
  
  EDIT: Check these out
  

• beachcomber australia said:

  Australian National Maritime Museum on The Commons Oh dear! That 1919 date of the photo-of-the-painting upsets things a bit ...

• Australian National Maritime Museum on The Commons said:

  beachcomber australia Not necessarily, the photographs still could've been taken in 1916. Though I think, if we were to be on the safe side, we could put a date of 1916-1919.

• The Psychogenealogist said:

  A lovely photo! It was a recent winner in one of our photo colorization polls. Check it out!