Album of photographs chiefly relating to Tahiti, and the Marquesas, Tuamotus and Cook Islands, probably collected by James Lyle Young

PXE 1798

fonds

approximately 1840s-1880s

Graphic Materials, Photographs

9662519

1 album (97 photographic prints)

James Lyle Young (1849-1929) was born in Londonderry, Ireland and his family migrated to Australia in the 1850s. In 1870 he moved to Fiji to join his brother, William John Young (1850-1931), in a cotton-farming venture. He subsequently established himself as a trader in the Pacific Islands, based primarily in Papeete, Tahiti. Young was also a founding member of The Polynesian Society, formed in Auckland in 1892. He returned to Sydney following the sale of his business in 1896 and in 1904 moved to Auckland. He later returned to Australia, where he remained until his death at Warren, New South Wales.

Sophia Hoare, nee Johnson, married Charles Burton Hoare at Manchester, England in 1853. The couple moved to Auckland, New Zealand with their three daughters in 1863, where Charles established a photographic studio, before moving to Papeete, Tahiti around 1868. Here Charles established another studio, which Sophia took over and ran following his death between 1876-1879. In 1904, Sophia moved to San Francisco to join her daughters, where she died between 1910-1920.

Marie-Charles Georges Henri Spitz (1857-1894), known as Charles Georges Spitz, was born in Marmoutier, France. In 1879 he travelled to Tahiti as a member of the French naval infantry. Following his release from duty in 1880, he opened a photography studio in Papeete, Tahiti. Spitz died in 1894 at Brest, France.

References:
Gossler, Claus. "The commercial career of James Lyle Young : contemporary valuations of a notable South Seas character". The Journal of Pacific History, 44, no. 2 (September 2009): 209-220
"Collection Guide: Images from Tahiti". Online Archive of California. Accessed 27 May 2022. https://oac.cdlib.org
Vendor catalogue

Family of James Lyle Young, by descent

Photograph album containing 92 albumen prints, 23 x 30 cm or smaller, mounted on 42 leaves; the majority with captions in ink beneath the image on the mount. The photographs include 85 views and portraits taken in Tahiti, the Marquesas and the Tuamotus by Charles Spitz, Sophia Hoare and Charles Burton Hoare; three relating to the Cook Islands, attributed to Spitz; and four views by an unidentified photographer of "Rathvarna", the Belfast residence of architect Robert Magill Young, cousin of James Lyle Young.

Also included at the rear of the album are five loose large format albumen prints with scenic views of County Atrim, Ireland

Album contents (transcribed from captions below images).
f.1. [detached] Karte der Insel Tahiti ... von J. A. Hecht ... Faaa 1875. / Photographie par Ch. Hoare, Papeete. [Title and imprint in image].
f.2. Queen Pomare, died 1877.
f.3. “Papeete”. / “Papeete” – another view.
f.4. Cocoanut avenue. / “Pomatou” beach. / Makatea, Pomatou.
f.5. Faataua avenue – near Papeete. / Faataua bridge.
f.6. View near Papeete. / View near Papeete.
f.7. Papeete – showing Government arsenal on right. / Papeete – Club and Semaphore.
f.8. Papeete [crossed out, Pomoutou in pencil] – Mormon Church. / Moorea. [Drawing] / Cook’s Bay, Moorea. [Drawing]
f.9. Papeete – the Bishop’s Palace. / Mr. Youpel’s residence near Papeete.
f.10. Native hut near Papeete. / Native fête day.
f.11. Festival at Rarotonga [Cook Islands]. / Native masked dance, Atiu. [Cook Islands].
f.12. Cocoanut trees, bent by the great hurricane of 1877, Pomatou. / View of Papeete. [Drawing] / Papeete Harbour – Moorea Island in the distance. [Drawing]
f.13. Screw pine tree. / Pomatou.
f.14. [Mausoleum of Tinomana Teariki Tapurangi (1854-1868), Rarotonga, Cook Islands]. / Bolabola [ie. Bora Bora] Island.
f.15. Queen Pomare’s tomb. / Pomatou.
f.16. Atimaono. / View of Papeete.
f.17. Bread fruit trees. / View of Moorea. [Drawing]
f.18. [Large group outside thatched dwelling. Pomotou?]. / [Substantial building with high thatched roof. Pomotou?]. / Pomotou.
f.19. Mr. [Daniel] Wheeler’s house, near Papeete. / Papeete.
f.20. Waterfall near Papeete. / Pomatou.
f.21. Barque “Ada Iredale”. / Pomatou.
f.22. View of Papeete (with foreign ironclads in harbour). / Marquesas men [Mapiau –Tahuku]. [Drawing] / [Piaehua – Atuona]. [Drawing]
f.23. Native soldiers, Pomotou. / [Europeans bathing]. [Drawing, by Julien Viaud (Pierre Loti)?].
f.24. [detached] “Rathvarna” [View of architect Robert Magill Young’s house on the Antrim Road, outside Belfast]. / “Rathvarna” [another view].
f.25. [detached] “Rathvarna” [side view]. / “Rathvarna” [View of Robert Magill Young on the front steps of his house; with annotation by family member, dated 1978]. Verso: Top of Mt. Aorai 1882. / From top of Mt. Aorai 6800 ft. Moonlight.
f.26. “Tropic Bird” [schooner]. / Old Fort of Fautana 1860. Verso: [Colonial residence at the foot of a mountain]. [Drawing].
f.27. Avenue of Fautana, Papeete. Now Cour de l’Union Sacrée. / Bain de Loti. Verso: [View along the Rue de la Petite Pologne, Papeete]. / Port Phaeton, Tahiti.
f.28. Petite Pologne St. [now Rue de Gauguin] 1887. A. Crawford & Co building built by J. L. Young in1885. / Road round the island, Tahiti.
f.29. In the Forest. Verso: [La Famille Royale. Papeete, Tahiti]. [Title in image]
f.30. [Group portrait with two men and two women; Spitz’s studio backdrop]. / Tattoed leg of Queen Vaikehu. Marquesas 1840 1850 (?). [Drawing, made in 1846 by a French naval officer].
f.31. Entrance, Tarauoo Harbour. / Road near Papenoo. Verso: Hivahoe [Hiva Oa], Marquesas. [Drawing].
f.32. Light house, Point Venus.
f.33. Marquesan Dancer. [Spitz’s studio backdrop].
f.34. Bananas. Verso: [Left hand half of a panoramic landscape].
f.35. [Right hand half of a panoramic landscape].
f.36. Arsenal, Fareute [Fare Ute], Papeete.
f.37. [Unidentified mountain track]. / [Unidentified mountain stream]. /[Unidentified mountain stream].
f.38. [Market vendors with their produce, Papeete].
f.39. Olea Dance.
f.40. Madeleine. / “Paea” [yacht], Charles Chapman 1882. / Beach Road, west side.
f.41. Araroi village. / [Unidentified coastal scene]. / [Matavai Bay] x 1769 [Cook’s anchorage marked with a cross]. Verso: [Unidentified mountain stream]. / [Unidentified mountain stream].
f.42. Giant Arum. / [Group portrait with three women; Spitz’s studio backdrop].

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

Some captions in the photograph album may reflect the author's/creator's attitude or that of the period in which they were written, but are now considered inappropriate in today's context.

The vendor has attributed James Lyle Young as collector of the photographs on the basis of the album's provenance, the detailed captions written with a familiarity of the locations and subjects, and the photographs relating to Young's cousin, Robert Magill Young.