Hawkesbury Independent IND 156 May 2023 | Page 12

HAWKESBURY HISTORY

with Michelle Nichols & Jonathan Auld

The Woodhill photographic collection

The Woodhill name is recognised as one of the Hawkesbury ’ s prominent 19th and 20th century businesses , however , the legacy of the Woodhill Collection is also significant , but not much is known about it . This unique collection of photographs was taken by Alfred Meredith Woodhill , and covers the period from the 1860s to the 1900s . For those readers who have not heard of Woodhill , he was the patriarch of the Woodhill family and he , along with a number of his sons , were leading retailers in NSW .

According to his memoirs , Alfred Meredith Woodhill was born in Birmingham , England in 1835 and after arriving as a seaman in Melbourne in 1853 , he jumped ship . This was around the gold rush period and after a stint at the goldfields , Alfred moved to Tasmania where he was employed as an ironmonger . He joined the Congregational Church and also undertook lessons to improve his knowledge at the Mechanics Institute .

During 1859 Alfred married Jane Kidd and the couple had seven sons and two daughters . Eventually Alfred established his own general store in Cootamundra and then in 1880 he founded another business in Burwood with a partner , but sold his share after a number of years .

An astute businessman , with sons Alfred and George , he purchased the business of R . A . Ducker in Richmond in 1887 and established a general store which developed into one of the most renowned businesses in the Hawkesbury .

The family ventures expanded with the purchase of other businesses including some in Kurrajong and Nowra , and as part of this expansion some of the younger sons also joined the partnership . Alfred retired from the helm in 1900 and died in 1908 , at Burwood aged 72 years . His family and descendants continued operating the various businesses well into the 20th century with the Nowra business being sold to Burns Philp & Co in

1948 . The Kurrajong store closed in 1960 and finally the Richmond store closed its doors in the early 1970s .

Following his retirement , Alfred published his memoirs in 1905 , “ The Woodhill family records ” which includes an account of his life , some observations plus samples of his writings . As well as being a perceptive entrepreneur , Alfred Meredith was a passionate photographer in his spare time , as was his son George . Alfred most likely used a tripodbased camera which was popular with photographers in the late 19th century , developing and producing his own glass plates .

With his photography , Alfred documented the life of the Woodhill family , many of his pictures featured family members , their surroundings and social events . They also included excursions and some of his travels including an overseas trip in the early 1890s . Many of his pictures feature the local area and are well structured photographs .

At the time Alfred was shooting , there were only about 140 amateur photographers as this was an expensive hobby . This changed dramatically towards the end of the 19th century when George Eastman pioneered the Kodak camera , which used rolls of film , and made photography affordable to the wider community .

The Woodhill Collection of photographs cover the period from the 1860s to 1900s and consists of over 800 images ; many of the Hawkesbury district , and include various sizes of glass negatives . This impressive collection was presented to the State Library on behalf of the Woodhill family in 1980 and remains an important documentation of the Hawkesbury ’ s heritage and a valuable resource .

Images created by Alfred Meredith Woodhill illustrating this article , are reproduced with permission of the Mitchell Library , State Library of NSW , Call Number ON 124 .

George Hanley , Iris Lilian , Norman [?] & Thelma Woodhill .

Five horse charabanc on Kurrajong Heights Rd .

Richmond , Australian Joint Stock Bank .

Allison ’ s Chemist and Saddler ’ s shop in Richmond . Grose Vale , ‘ Warranave ’, a wedding group .

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12 ISSUE 156 // MAY 2023 theindependentmagazine . com . au THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT