pittstreet

lovely

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Pubs of Australia, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

There is a wealth of information here with all those signs about the Boer War. I think it is October 1899 (at 11:55am according to the clock). It should be relatively easy to date exactly from old Herald (or Mail) headlines. The troops arrived in South Africa on 2 November 1899, presumably leaving Australia a few weeks before. War was declared on 12 October.

Wait up! One of the smaller posters (HERALD) mentions the siege of Ladysmith (started on 2/11/1899), something about Newcastle, and the Melbourne Cup - first Tuesday in November. I can't believe I bothered to look it up, but in 1899 the first Tuesday in November was the 7th. Which dates this picture as 8 (or maybe 9 or 10) November 1899, at 11.55am. Q.E.D. ! Or not?

Not yet. I think that any reference to the Melbourne Cup could also be in the lead up to the race. We may need to see a higher resolution pic of the segment of the photograph that shows the Sydney Morning Herald poster to determine if the day can be narrowed down some more. A viewing of the Sydney Morning Heralds for the period 2 Nov 1899 to 10 Nov 1899 may be reequired to confirm a date in that period for this photograph based uponthe poster information. Regardless, beachcomberaustralia you are doing a great job with your eagle eye.

@ Powerhouse Museum Collection - can you help with image enhancement for that Herald poster, and/or access to 1899 copies of the SMH please? I tried online but I don't think they go back far enough and Fairfax want $$!

Sydney Morning Herald newspapers for 1899 are available for viewing on microfilm at the State Library of New South Wales, amongst other places. I've checked the SMH for the period from Thursday November 2, 1899 to Saturday November 11, 1899. During this period, coverage of "The Transvaal War" as it was described usually began on pages ranging from page 3 to page 9. Amongst none of the sub-headlines on those days are the words "Siege of Ladysmith" used, however there are several sub-headlines during those days referring to Ladysmith. The Melbourne Cup was held on Tuesday November 7, 1899 and in the Sydney Morning Herald of the next day Wednesday November 8, 1899 on page 7 there is the headline "THE TRANSVAAL WAR" and below it the sub-headline "FIGHTING NEAR LADYSMITH" On page 10 of that same issue there is the headline 'VICTORIAN RACING CLUB SPRING MEETING - SECOND (MELBOURNE CUP) DAY - MERRIWEE WINS THE CUP" It then gives the dateline "Melbourne TUESDAY" The only other reference to the Melbourn Cup I read during the relevant period was an advertisement by the Sydney Morning Herald advising readers visiting Melbourne for Melbourne Cup that they could have the Sydney Morning Herald posted to them at any address in Victoria for 9d. The cover price of the Herald at the time was one penny. Beachcomberaustralia - you may well have been correct that this photograph was taken on Wednesday 8 November, 1899.

Open to correction by tramway experts - I think this is definitely Pitt Street looking south from about the Spring St corner. According to wikipedia, "Trams operated from Central station down Castlereagh Street to Circular Quay and back up Pitt Street in a large anti-clockwise loop.". Hence the single tramway line towards the left of the street. Not so sure about the "1900-1912" date. The City of Sydney website says that style of street light happened after 1912 - history.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/sydneystreets/Minding_the... Also the car ...

Aha! A similar photo from Charles Kerry (PhM) - slightly further south -

GoogleMapsStreetView

Melbourne Steamship Co. Ltd, opened their Sydney office in 1905 - gallery.its.unimelb.edu.au/imu/imu.php?request=display&am...

Nice John. interesting to see that the car, probably a post WW1 unit by the look of it, is outnumbered by horse+cart. I'm leaning towards George Street but unsure.