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897979

Title
Photograph album of the employees and inhabitants of the Coolangatta Estate, Shoalhaven River, N.S.W. / presented to John Hay, Esq., by his employees, November 1891
Creator
John Hay, Sir, 1840-1909
Call number
PXA 1252
Level of description
fonds
Date

1891
Type of material
Graphic Materials, Photographs
Reference code
897979
Issue Copy
Digitised
Physical Description
1 album (55 photographs) - albumen - 23.7 x 32.3 cm
ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

Sir John Hay (1840-1909), the son of David Hay, was born at Coolangatta on the Shoalhaven River, N.S.W. in 1840. He was a member of the council of the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales and was knighted in 1908. He inherited the Coolangatta estate after his cousin David Berry died in 1889. He encouraged land settlement especially around the town of Berry. In 1907-1908 as part of a scheme for closer settlement, mainly based on dairying, the Coolangatta Estate, the North Coast Lands Syndicate, the Manning River Estates and the Macleay River Lands Estate were formed and managed by Sir John's half brother, Alexander Hay, who after Sir John's death in 1909 became one of the trustees of the joint Berry and Hay Estates.

On 27 November 1891 a public reception was held in Berry, N.S.W., in honour of the return of Mr and Mrs Hay after a nine month visit to England. A newspaper report of this event refers to a reception given to John Hay by 300 employees on 21 November 1891.

The annual reports of the Aborigines Protection Board provide details of indigenous employment on the Coolangatta Estate. The reports for 1890 and 1891 confirm that 20 to 30 individuals were employed on the property. They undertook a variety of tasks including stock management and timber cutting. Employment on the estate was curtailed in the early 1900s when the Aboriginal community was moved to the Roseby Park reserve.

References:
A Biographical register 1788-1939 : notes from the name index of the Australian dictionary of biography / compiled and edited by H.J. Gibbney and Ann G. Smith. Canberra : Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1987.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 November 1891, p. 6 and 27 February 1909, p. 13 on Trove, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ (accessed 25 June 2010).
Berry and Hay Estates - records, 1884-1950, MLMSS 676.
For a labourer worthy of his hire : Aboriginal economic responses to colonisation in the Shoalhaven and Illawarra, 1770-1900 / Michael Bennett. Thesis (PhD). University of Canberra, 2003.
Collection history
An Album of Employees "Coolangatta" is listed amongst the Books in Library in Inventory and Valuation of the Household Furniture, Appointments and Effects contained in the Residence "Coolangatta House", Coolangatta via Berry, South Coast, In the Estate of the late Jessie Sinclair Hay. Lyster Ormsby & Co., Valuers, Fine Art, Furniture & General Auctioneers, "Leigh House", 233-235 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, 4th August, 1930 Reference: Library correspondence file
Scope and Content
A presentation album (36 pages) of brown leather stamped on edges and spine with gold leaf decoration containing 55 photographs of the inhabitants of the Coolangatta Estate. Images include group portraits of male workers, families, children, women, women and children, and household staff. One group portrait, possibly of members of the Hay family, is taken in front of “Coolangatta”.

The album contains group portraits of Aboriginal workers and families (including the Adler [i.e. Ardler] family, Gottlieb Adler, Mary Ann Dixon and Rosanna Adler), and Aboriginal workers appear in the group portraits of men. Photographs of the ships ‘Brinawarr’ and ‘Coomonderry’ appear in the album.
Copying Conditions
Out of copyright: Created before 1955
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
General note

Photograph of Aboriginal family on page 20 at right identified as the Adler [i.e. Ardler] family including Gottlieb Adler, Mary Ann Dixon and Rosanna Adler in Aboriginal women's heritage : Nowra. Hurstville, N.S.W. : NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service 2004, page 19. Online at N.S.W. Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water - http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/ (accessed on 29 June 2010)
Digital order no:Album ID : 932714
Signatures / Inscriptions

Front cover of album stamped in gold leaf 'Presented to John Hay, Esq. by his employes [ie. employees] Nov. 1891'.
First page of album inscribed with the letters 'JH'[?] in gold and ink
Name
Coomonderry (steamship)
Brinawarr (steamship)
Hay family
Adler family
Ardler family
Subject
Aboriginal Australians--New South Wales--Shoalhaven.
Aboriginal Australians--Employment--New South Wales.
Aboriginal Australians--New South Wales--Portraits
Agriculture--New South Wales.
Agricultural laborers--New South Wales.
Photograph albums--New South Wales.
Photography of families.
Portrait photography--New South Wales--19th century.
Adult Females
Adult Males
children
Women, Aboriginal Australian.
Topic
homesteads
agricultural workers
farm workers
steamships
children
women
men
Place
Coolangatta Station (Berry, N.S.W.)
Berry (N.S.W.)
Shoalhaven (N.S.W. : Shire)
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