Composite from Spemann Family Collection
This photo is likely to have been taken in Apia at the studio of the first professional photographer in Samoa , Mr John Davis , some time around 1876 . Mr Davis arrived in Apia in 1873 and his photographic activity seems to date from the mid -1870 ’ s . He also acted for many years as Postmaster . The stamp at lower left of the photo is illegible . Mr Davis ’ work in the 1880 ’ s bore more deeply imprinted identification stamps . This photo may be the oldest surviving family study taken by Davis . The lack of any studio backdrops likely attests to its execution at an early stage of his photographic endeavours .
Records in the Bremen Registry of Sailors , in Germany , give Feodor Axmann ’ s date of birth as 1841 in the town of Gohren . They have him shipping out of Bremen in 1855 at age 14 on board the sailing ship George William , bound for New York . Australian records indicate that he turned up in Sydney on board the Godeffroy two-masted sailing ship , Helene , in 1864 . Soon after , Mr Axmann arrived in Samoa and his seafaring days came to an end .
This photo ( original on left and digitally modified version on right ) shows him with Etesa Malietoa ( born in Vaiusu ), their daughter , Emma , and son , Hermann Ernest Feodor . It was taken around 1876 , as Emma was born in 1868 and looks to be around eight years old . This photo came to New Zealand with Spemann descendants in 1953 and the people pictured were unrecognised until digital manipulation took place in 2013 and a comparison was made with the man in the image on the next page which also came with the Spemanns .
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