• Title
  [Three men and 1 boy standing in front of The Diggers Arms owned by John Paterson, ambrotype photograph, ca. 1860-ca. 1865]
• Call number
  MIN 537
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  
  1858-1867
• Type of material
  Graphic Materials, Photographs
• Reference code
  9586689
• Issue Copy
  Digitised
• Physical Description
  1 photograph - ambrotype - 8 x 7 cm in moulded frame 12.5 x 11.5 cm
  
• Collection history
  Bought by the vendor at auction
• Scope and Content
  An ambrotype photograph on ruby glass with no glass cover. It is framed in a contemporary lightweight moulded case that could possibly be an early thermoplastic composed of cellulose pulp, shellac and colouring pigments. On the verso attached are 2 brass rings and a piece of string.
  
  Depicted in the photograph are 3 men, a boy child and 2 dogs in front of a building made of timber planks and bark. There is a sign on the roof clearly printed with "The Diggers Arms by John Paterson licensed to retail fermented and spirituous liquors". The man on the left could be a gold digger; the man in the centre could be a blacksmith as he is wearing chaps; and the man on the right may be the publican John Paterson. The child appears to be wearing a tartan smock and a distinctive fez-like hat.
  
  It is probable that this image was taken in the gold field at Timbarra, New South Wales as a license was granted to Mr. John Patterson [Paterson] of The Diggers Arms, Timbarra in 1860 and 1861.
• Access Conditions
  
  Access via appointment
• Copying Conditions
  Out of copyright: Created before 1955
  Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
• Description source
  
  Titled by cataloguer.
  Library correspondence file.
• Attributions / conjectures
  
  It is possible that the photographer was Moreton Bay photographer Robert McClelland, who is recorded as having taken photographs using the Ambrotype method during the years stated in northern NSW including Drayton in the Timbarra district. Reference: Library correspondence file.
• Date note
  
  The dates of the gold rush in N.S.W., along with the use of ambrotypes between 1855-1865, indicate that the photograph was likely taken in the late 1850s or early 1860s.
• Name
  The Diggers Arms (Timbarra, N.S.W.)
  Paterson, John
  
• Subject
  Photography--Australia--19th century.
  Goldfields--New South Wales.
  
• Topic
  ambrotypes
  hotels & taverns
  timber buildings
  gold miners
  men's clothing & accessories
  
• Place
  Timbarra (N.S.W.)
  
• Exhibited in
  
  Shot : 400 photographs, 200 photographers, 3 centuries - State Library of New South Wales (October 2023 - October 2024)
• Open Rosetta viewer
  IE9000444

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