amphlett

It's hard to tell, but that may be a theodolite on the tripod used for surveying. Each of the three legs appears to be sitting on a specially preapred surface, not merely the grass lawn. Maybe that's what Point E is. A surveying marker point for the Sydney Harbour Bridge construction. That looks like J.J.C. Bradfield at the far right.

Of course, it is a surveying line, for the then proposed construction of the Bridge. Bradfiled may also be sighted in other surveying photographs taken on that date, 17/03/1925, such as this one approaching Governement House:

Here is a diagram of the surveying Base Lines used to triangulate the centre line for the Sydney Harbour Bridge showing Point E in front of Government House:

Dr. Bradfield, seen here in the centre of the photograph with his profile to the camera, is also seen in a photograph of a more ceremonial mark by the surveyors at Government House assisted by Sir Dudley de Chair on the same day, 17/03/1925:

BobMeade Good spot; you have a good memory! And very thoughtful of Bradfield to wear such a distinctive hat. These two photos are from our SHB set (I will update the caption) and now I'm wondering how many others Dr JJC Bradfield appears in... AB

Museums of History NSW - State Archives Collection I know those books came to State Records NSW via the Bradfield family in 1968 (series 12685) - and as such it seems likely that Dr. Bradfield had a hand in their composition and compilation. From the blocks of granite quarried at Moruya in 1926 to the first train over the bridge in 1932 He had a way of making sure he was in the picture.

See Baseline B (Conservatorium of Music to Government House) here:

Hi State Records NSW, I've published the above 'Surveyors at work, 1925' picture by you in an article on my blog at the following link: www.roomelegance.com/what-on-earth-is-a-land-survey-and-w... Please visit the article at the link above and see if you like it. Thanks for the nice image. Sandy.