Miniatures of Captain James Thomas Morisset, ca. 1800; his daughter Laura Theresa Sellheim, 186-?; and grandson Major-General Victor C. Sellheim, 190-? / photographic copies taken ca. 1920-1928 from original miniatures

MIN 434
MIN 435
MIN 436

fonds

ca. 1920-1928 copies from original miniatures ca. 1800-1910

Graphic Materials, Photographs

903410

3 photographs - gelatin silver, hand coloured - visible oval image 6.9 x 5.6 cm, in oval frame 7.3 x 6.1 cm or smaller

James Thomas Morisset (1780?-1852), a military commander, entered the army in 1798 as an ensign in the 80th Regiment. He became a lieutenant in 1800 and in 1805 purchased a captaincy in the 48th Regiment. He arrived in N.S.W. in 1817 with his regiment, and in December 1818 he was appointed commandant at Newcastle. He was promoted to major in August 1819. While in Newcastle he earned praise for improving the breakwater, building roads and barracks, and for his treatment of the convicts. In 1821 Governor Macquarie named Morisset’s Lagoon in his honour. In November 1823 he was appointed commandant at Bathurst.

In February 1825 Morisset returned to England on leave. While in England he applied for the post of commandant at Norfolk Island which was about to be re-established as a penal settlement. He was appointed to the position at a salary of £600, and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in December 1826. He arrived in Sydney on the Harmony in September 1827 with his wife Emily (nee Vaux) and child, and was appointed by Darling to act as superintendent of police. He eventually arrived on Norfolk Island in May 1829. His appointment there was dogged by ill health and during his tenure the convicts made several attempts at mutiny. He sold his commission in the army in 1834 and bought a farm near Bathurst. He was appointed a police magistrate in 1838 and commissioner of the Court of Requests in 1841. He died in August 1852, aged 72.

Laura Theresa Sellheim (nee Morisset) (1833-1878) was born on Norfolk Island, the fourth daughter of James Thomas and Emily Morisset. In June 1865 she married Philip Frederick Sellheim, a pastoralist and Under Secretary for Mines in Queensland. She died in August 1878.

Major-General Victor Conradsdorf Morisset Sellheim (1866-1928), a soldier, was born in Sydney, the eldest son of Philip Frederick and Laura Theresa Sellheim. At the outbreak of war in South Africa he was a special service officer; one of a number of Australians attached to British units and headquarters. He saw action with British infantry batallions, but later joined the Queensland Mounted Infantry for the advance to Pretoria. For his services in South Africa Sellheim was appointed C.B. and mentioned in dispatches. He returned to Australia in December 1900 obtaining a number of staff appointments and promotions. In 1914 he became head of the administrative staff of the 1st Division, Australian Imperial Force, based in Egypt and later London. He returned to Australia in August 1916 serving on the Military Board. He was promoted to major general in 1920. Sellheim resigned in 1927 and became administrator of Norfolk Island. He died in January 1928.

References:
Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition. http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/ (accessed 8 September 2010)
The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 June 1865 and 29 August 1878. Accessed on Trove. http://www.trove.nla.gov.au/ (accessed 8 September 2010)
Library correspondence file

This set of miniatures was originally presented to the Mitchell Library by Mrs S.H. Sellheim in 1933. In 1936 Mrs Sellheim presented another better quality set of copies of the same miniatures by Freeman & Co. (MIN 42a-c). This set of miniatures (i.e. MIN 434-MIN 436) is the original set presented in 1933. It was returned to Mrs Sellheim in 1937 and given by Mrs Sellheim to the donor's aunt, Ms Millicent Walker.

MIN 434
A hand-coloured photographic copy of a miniature watercolour portrait of James Thomas Morisset. The portrait is a head and shoulders portrait of Morisset as a young man dressed in military uniform. The portrait is in an oval brass frame with an eyelet attached to the top and a stand attached to the back. The mount on the back of the frame is covered in an orange-coloured velvet with a sticker attached inscribed 'Freeman & Co. Ltd, 318 George St, Sydney'.

MIN 435
A hand-coloured photographic copy of a head and shoulders portrait of Laura Theresa Sellheim copied from an original photograph dated ca. 1870s. The portrait is in an oval brass frame with an eyelet attached to the top, and the back of the frame is covered in a dark-blue velvet.

MIN 436
A hand-coloured photographic copy of a head and shoulders portrait of Major-General Victor C. M. Sellheim dressed in military uniform. Two medals are attached to his military coat. The portrait is in an oval brass frame with an eyelet attached to the top and a stand attached to the back. The mount on the back of the frame is covered in an orange-coloured velvet with a sticker attached inscribed 'Freeman & Co. Ltd, 318 George St, Sydney'.

Out of copyright: Created before 1955
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

These miniatures of James Thomas Morisset (1780-1852), Laura Theresa Sellheim, née Morisset (1833-1878), and Victor Conradsdorf Morisset Sellheim (1866-1928), were created by Freeman’s Studio of Sydney at teh request of Victor and Susan Sellheim, probably during the 1920s prior to the death of Victor Sellheim in 1928.

The miniature of James Thomas Morisset was probably copied from an original miniature possibly painted by Louis Toussaint. Toussaint, a miniaturist painter, goldsmith and enameller was married to Anne, sister of James Thomas Morisset’s father, James Morisset.

These copies were ordered by Victor Sellheim and his wife Susan Henrietta, née Howell.

The miniature of Victor’s mother, Laura Theresa Sellheim, née Morisset, was possibly taken from a portrait of her prior to her marriage to Philip Sellheim in 1863. Laura Sellheim died in 1878 when Victor was 12 years of age.

The portrait of Victor, shown wearing his decorations from World War I, would have been made after the War.

Following the sudden death of Victor Sellheim, his widow returned to Sydney and ordered a replica copy of the miniatures which she then donated to the Mitchell, State Library of New South Wales.

A set of the same miniatures of better quality is at MIN 42a-c.
Research notes for MIN 42a-c available in Mitchell Library Reading Room, PXn 445

Dated by Curator of Photographs, Mitchell Library, Sept. 2010