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Cooee: Australia in the 19th century

Eye-witness accounts of everyday life from the National Library’s collection

National Library of Australia, 14 June – 9 September 2007
Open daily 9am – 5pm, Exhibition Gallery, free

The exhibition depicts the European settlement of Australia showing a land moving from a rough-hewn camp in 1788 to one of gleaming cities linked by a network of stock routes and railways in 1901. The National Library of Australia has collected the records and images of this development for over a century, resulting in a collection of exceptional range and depth.

The 150 drawings, watercolours and photographs in the exhibition trace 19th century Australian daily life under the themes of people, places, leisure, work and shelter. They are the first-hand evidence of what colonists or visitors thought was interesting, novel and worth recalling about life in the Antipodes.

These eye-witness accounts were not always created by famous artists but were more often the handiwork of townsfolk or anonymous settlers that included women and convicts. This colourful, moving and informative exhibition will have broad appeal.

NOTE: All images are in high resolution JPEG format approximately A4 @ 300dpi

Harold John Graham (1858–1929)
Going into the bush to practise 1882
watercolour, pen and ink drawing: 9.0 x 9.8 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an6441268

Download (3.36 Mb zip)

Samuel Thomas Gill (1818–1880)
Policeman meeting robber on street corner 1850s
Also known as The trap
watercolour; 22.6 x 15.7 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an2984580

Download (5.55 Mb zip)

N. Smith
Portrait of four children, possibly of the Brabyn family, carrying toys1845
watercolour; 30.7 x 25.2 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
nla.pic-vn3280961

Download (3.98 Mb zip)

Archibald James Campbell (1853–1929)
Diptheria ward of the Melbourne Hospital, Christmas 1900
sepia toned photograph; 11.0 x15.3 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an24826520

Download (1.46 Mb zip)

Nicholas Caire (1837–1918)
The Melbourne Bicycle Club 1878?
photograph; 13.3 x 18.3 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an5117501

Download (2.80 Mb zip)

William Bentley (1836–1910)
Mt. Alexander gold diggings1853
watercolour; 23.0 x 35.3 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an6617924

Download (2.51 Mb zip)

Theodore K. King
J. Morris saleyard c.1855
watercolour and gouache drawing; 23.4 x 24.0 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an5418351

Download (3.10 Mb zip)

Marshall Claxton (1811–1881)
The Government escort and mail containing the gold, arrival at the Treasury, Sydney 1851
pen and wash drawing; 19.4 x 24.8 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
Rex Nan Kivell Collection NK562
nla.pic-an6629355-1

Download (3.16 Mb zip)

George Lacy (c.1816-1878?)
Capture of bushrangers at night by gold police c.1852
Watercolour; 32.1 x 40.3 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an3103554

Download (3.27 Mb zip)

Samuel Thomas Gill (1818–1880)
Royal Arcade, Melbournec.1854
watercolour; 62.0 x 81.0 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
Rex Nan Kivell Collection NK850
nla.pic-an2377132

Download (3.00 Mb zip)

George Rowe (1796–1864)
Parker and Macord, Potato Salesmen and General Fruiterers, Bendigoc.1857
watercolour; 27.0 x 35.0 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an14064538

Download (3.23 Mb zip)

William Tibbits (1837–1906)
Creswick c.1870
watercolour; 24.0 x 32.5 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an5692970

Download (2.75 Mb zip)

T.G. Moyle
George Ward's Queensland Hotel, Roma, 1887
watercolour, pencil, pen and ink painting; irreg. image 18.4 x 29.7 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
nla.pic-vn3083683

Download (2.33 Mb zip)

C.M.
Roman Catholic Church and convent, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia c.1865
watercolour and pencil drawing; 24.8 x 47.0 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an5418390

Download (2.14 Mb zip)

Samuel Thomas Gill (1818–1880)
The first cricket match between New South Wales and Victoria, played in the Sydney Domain in January, 1857
watercolour; 30.8 x 49.4 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an2376907

Download (2.40 Mb zip)

Edwin Augustus Porcher (d.1878)
Australia, portable observatory at Cape Upstart1843
watercolour; 20.0 x 28.7 cm
National Library of Australia Pictures Collection
nla.pic-an4101913

Download (2.94 Mb zip)

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