lecture

The time when a camera shop was a camera shop......Really pleased that you are posting these dry plates as Im expermenting in the process myself and finding that the results are looking a good match www.flickr.com/photos/johnkeys/9683927927/in/photostream/ ...Thanks

I'd be interested to know the date of this photograph as my grandfather managed the fine art department until shortly before his death in 1952. He was a director of the company from about 1905 and I believe he ran these shops from about that time. The address was originally 7, 9 and 11, Grainger Street West, but later became 58, 60 and 62 Grainger Street. There's a later picture taken in 1935 at; www.flickr.com/photos/39821974@N06/4081040765 The company minute books of board meetings are in the Tyne & Wear Archives and make fascinating reading. Of Joseph Swan there is little mention as he was a sleeping partner.

This photograph isn't dated but we think it's from the early 1900s

That sounds about right. Electric trams were introduced in 1901, so that's the earliest date as the poles for the wiring are in the centre of the road. They were certainly keen to get a lot of stock displayed in the windows! In those days most houses had pictures hanging on every wall, from country mansions to working class terraces. Until the Great War this was a highly profitable department of the business. Things changed after 1914. Pictures were still popular until the Second World War, but the gallery and fine art department were in decline. This picture must have been taken when it was at its peak. At this time the company had created a separate department to market prints in colour or black and white of a painting "Despised and Rejected of Men!" by Sigismund Goetze, 1904. It travelled around Britain with a lecturer giving talks about the picture. I have a large black and white copy and the pamphlet that went with it. Prints were still being sold to churches in the USA in the 1960's! See; jloughnan.tripod.com/despised.htm It's interesting to note that the company had given up one shop unit by 1935, but the whole appearance had been greatly modernised, see; www.flickr.com/photos/newcastlelibraries/4081040765

The history of UQ Gatton dates back to 1897, when the Queensland Agricultural College (QAC) opened as a combined agricultural college and experimental farm. This concluded a 20-year debate by farmers and politicians on ways to boost agricultural production in Queensland. Guests at the opening ceremony and the special luncheon would have marvelled to know the College would metamorphose to a high school, U.S. Army General Hospital, college of advanced education and finally a Campus of The University of Queensland. In 1927 the University of Queensland launched its Agriculture Faculty, ending Gatton's State monopoly on tertiary agricultural education. The institution was, however, already developing interests in scientific education and research. In 1942 much of the campus was requisitioned (on one day's notice) for the 153rd Station Hospital and later the 105th General Hospital of the U.S. Army. In fewer than three years these hospitals hosted more than 19,000 wounded servicemen plus 3000 Army doctors, nurses and other service personnel. The end of the War in 1945 heralded renewed interest in agricultural education. By 1969, when the first women enrolled, student numbers had trebled while international enrolments and course offerings had expanded dramatically. Most significantly the College became a purely tertiary institution. High school teaching was phased out in 1962 and the name changed back to Queensland Agricultural College, heralding the next phase - self-government. By 1986 QAC's agricultural focus had expanded to include studies such as tourism, soil and water conservation, wildlife and environmental management, property valuation and food technology. Highlights included two Australian firsts - college training for National Parks and Wildlife staff, and a business degree course in hospitality management. In 1990 QAC amalgamated with the University of Queensland, as part of the new, unified national system. This abolished the binary system of universities and CAEs, consolidating the smaller ones with others to give all institutions university status. Source: gatton.uq.edu.au/about/campus-history

I think this might be Alice Park: oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00846

Wow, its great!!!