[NEW ZEALAND] An archive of studio portrait photographs of members of the families of Benjamin and Edward Smith of Wellington, 1860s to early 1870s.

Twenty-five albumen print photographs in carte de visite format, average dimensions 100 x 63 mm (mounts), by the Wellington studios of E. S. Richards (4), Richards & Batt (1), Batt & Richards (2), W. H. Davis (7), W. J. Harding (1), Wrigglesworth (1), and Wrigglesworth & Binns (1), and the Wanganui studio of Thomas Tuffin (1); two have no studio imprint, while five are by Liverpool (UK) studios; a number of the sitters, all members of the extended Smith family originally hailing from the Birkenhead area of Liverpool, are identified by fully contemporary inscriptions on the mounts, and they include Wellington residents Benjamin Smith (1812-1893) and his wife Anne S. Smith (1813-1890), Edward G. Smith and his wife Mrs E. G. Smith, and Ely Smith; one outdoor view identifies Benjamin Smith posing outside his office next to the Oddfellows Hall in Wellington (he was the agent for the New Zealand Government Life Insurance Company); also identified are Benjamin’s parents Charles Smith (1778-1853) and Elizabeth Smith (Telford) (1778-1851), these last two portraits being taken from an earlier daguerreotype and watercolour, respectively, and printed by the famous Liverpool studio of Daniel Jones; one of the portraits has a tear at one edge, and a couple are lightly foxed, but otherwise the condition of the group ranges from good to very fine.