This is just my opinion but it occurred to me that the older man near the centre of the picture may be dressed in the red tunic and white trousers that he left Australia to the Sudan in which would date the photograph to some time after 1885 when they returned. This would make this a reunion photograph. This may be true of the other potographs.
Fiona says if you squint your eyes you can almost make out buildings in the background…I think she might be right! The background looks more structured than a tree-line. Check out the large Flickr version. Don’t forget to squint :)
Could this actually be Randwick…?
Allan Cole says:
Anthea Brown,
Fiona could be correct but I can only view over the internet so I think you might need to magnify the original image in some way to be certain. There does look to be a difference between the backgrougnd on the left of the picture and that on the right which is clearly a tree line.
Allan Cole says:
Anthea Brown,
Sorry I had not examined the large flickr version before my last post. I think Fiona is probably correct though I suspect that any buildings are interspersed with trees. Not sure about Randwick.
Allan Cole says:
An addition to my last post. Looking at the background to the top right hand picture and the background of the bottom left hand photograph, they look similar. I am unsure. Any ideas?
Allan Cole says:
An addition to my last post. The similarity of the backgrounds seems to be reinforced by the presence of a row of trees immediately behind the officers of the New South Wales Infantry 1885 and to the left hand side of the bottom left hand picture featuring an older man seated with family and friends.
Allan Cole says:
RE: Possible buildings. I have looked at the large FLICKR version and after tilting the computer screen to reduce glare I agree there may be buildings on the left hand side of the picture. I suspect one of these to be Government House with its castellated structure and a flag flying above the tree or building line. The extreme left is very unclear but may be a view of part of Middle Head. Not sure.
Allan Cole says:
After a further look at the large Flickr version of this photograph I am more convinced that the background on the left consists of both buildings and trees. I believe that the trees may be planted like the ones in a row on the right hand side of the picture. This leads me to think that it may be the same location as that of picture ID 695 and possibly somewhere near Government House, Sydney.
Allan Cole says:
This is just my opinion but it occurred to me that the older man near the centre of the picture may be dressed in the red tunic and white trousers that he left Australia to the Sudan in which would date the photograph to some time after 1885 when they returned. This would make this a reunion photograph. This may be true of the other potographs.
Anthea Brown says:
Fiona says if you squint your eyes you can almost make out buildings in the background…I think she might be right! The background looks more structured than a tree-line. Check out the large Flickr version. Don’t forget to squint :)
Could this actually be Randwick…?
Allan Cole says:
Anthea Brown,
Fiona could be correct but I can only view over the internet so I think you might need to magnify the original image in some way to be certain. There does look to be a difference between the backgrougnd on the left of the picture and that on the right which is clearly a tree line.
Allan Cole says:
Anthea Brown,
Sorry I had not examined the large flickr version before my last post. I think Fiona is probably correct though I suspect that any buildings are interspersed with trees. Not sure about Randwick.
Allan Cole says:
An addition to my last post. Looking at the background to the top right hand picture and the background of the bottom left hand photograph, they look similar. I am unsure. Any ideas?
Allan Cole says:
An addition to my last post. The similarity of the backgrounds seems to be reinforced by the presence of a row of trees immediately behind the officers of the New South Wales Infantry 1885 and to the left hand side of the bottom left hand picture featuring an older man seated with family and friends.
Allan Cole says:
RE: Possible buildings. I have looked at the large FLICKR version and after tilting the computer screen to reduce glare I agree there may be buildings on the left hand side of the picture. I suspect one of these to be Government House with its castellated structure and a flag flying above the tree or building line. The extreme left is very unclear but may be a view of part of Middle Head. Not sure.
Allan Cole says:
After a further look at the large Flickr version of this photograph I am more convinced that the background on the left consists of both buildings and trees. I believe that the trees may be planted like the ones in a row on the right hand side of the picture. This leads me to think that it may be the same location as that of picture ID 695 and possibly somewhere near Government House, Sydney.
Jenny says:
Thank you to Alan Cole for pointing State Records in the direction of the NSW Volunteer Infantry encampments. Based on the helmet plates which were introduced in early 1883 the images appear to have been taken at Windsor.
Thanks to the comments of Bob Meade on flickr, an image that is related to these has been identified as Sergeants of the 2nd Regiment of the Voluntary Infantry, Easter Encampment, at Windsor in April 1884. http://archivesoutside.records.nsw.gov.au/staff-pick-soldiering-in-the-late-19th-century/
The above are some of forty images that State Records have grouped together on our flickr account because we believe they are of the NSW Volunteer Infantry at an Easter Encampment at Windsor, in either March 1883 or April 1884. See our Easter 2014 blog http://archivesoutside.records.nsw.gov.au/what-are-your-easter-memories-church-show-bags-and-chocolate-eggs-easter-encampments/
You can find a link to all forty of the images throught this article.
Thank you also to Sean Ryan for his detailed comments on the uniforms in the photos
http://archivesoutside.records.nsw.gov.au/australian-soldiers-in-black-and-white/4481_a026_000699/
http://archivesoutside.records.nsw.gov.au/australian-soldiers-in-black-and-white/4481_a026_000695/
Jenny