[TASMANIA] Ambrotype portrait of Dr. James Richardson and his second wife, Agnes Percy Peet. Launceston(?), c.1855; plus associated photographic portraits of members of the Richardson and Sherwin families.

I. Dr. James Richardson and his second wife, Agnes Percy Peet, c.1855. [Photographer unknown]. Half-plate ambrotype with hand colouring, 120 x 90 mm (sight), housed in a brass mat with ormolu preserver under the original cover glass and in the original leather half-case; verso with two brass hooks and wire for wall hanging; small areas of loss to the emulsion, minor crazing; handwritten note by later family member to verso identifying the sitters as ‘Dr. James Richardson & Agnes’.

Dr. James Richardson (1808-1889) married Eliza Lyons Dry (1810-1850), a sister of Sir Richard Dry, in Launceston in 1838. Prior to Eliza’s death in December 1850, James and Eliza had four children: Eliza (1841-1850), Richard James (1842-1884), Mervyn William (1844-1893), Ellen (1849-1935), and Harriet (1850-51). James’ second wife was Agnes Percy Peet (1827-1913), whom he married in Launceston in May 1855. We believe this ambrotype portrait was probably taken in Launceston soon after their marriage. James and Agnes had six children: Amy (1856) was born in Launceston; Florence Nightingale (1857) and Herbert (1858) in Hagley (on the Quamby Estate, which James was managing for his brother-in-law); and Frank (1861), Chester (1864), and Kate (1866) in George Town.

II. Amy Sherwin (Richardson), c.1885. [Photographer unknown]. Albumen print with hand colouring, in cabinet card format (approx. 160 x 110 mm), housed in a card mount under glass in the original gold-painted timber frame, 215 x 190 mm; original backing card with handwritten note by later family member identifying the sitter: ‘Amy Sherwin (nee Richardson), wife of James, mother of Raymond & Geoffrey’; top edge of frame with original brass hook for wall hanging, verso with two later brass hooks and wire.

Amy Sherwin (Richardson) (1856-1921) was the oldest child of Dr. James Richardson and Agnes Percy Peet. She married James Gleadow Sherwin (1846-1906) in Launceston in 1890. James was the youngest son of Isaac Sherwin (1804-1869), a prosperous merchant and a prominent member of the Launceston community who had arrived in Van Diemen’s Land in 1823, and Catherine Taylor of Sydney. James was a cousin of Amy Sherwin, the ‘Tasmanian Nightingale’ – meaning that his wife became the namesake of the famous singer after her marriage to James in 1890. Amy and James Gleadow Sherwin had two sons, Raymond (b. 1893, killed in action, France, 9 April 1917) and Geoffrey.

III. ? Ellen Crombie (Richardson) ?, 1874. Photographer: John Botterill, Melbourne. Overpainted albumen print in carte de visite format, 70 x 50 mm (sight), housed in an oval brass mat with ormolu preserver under the original cover glass, verso with original string for wall hanging; the verso of the carte de visite is exposed, and has the imprint of Botterill’s studio and an inscription in period hand that reads ‘Taken July 1874’.

The sitter is possibly Amy Richardson’s older half-sister, Ellen Richardson (b.1849), who married Andrew Crombie at Quamby on 19 October 1874. The photographer, John Botterill, was also an artist, and he was unquestionably responsible for the superb overpainting on this portrait.

IV. ? Florence Nightingale Richardson ?, early 1870s. [Photographer unknown]. Albumen print with hand colouring, housed in its original oval gilded brass frame, 65 x 55 mm, verso with original brass hook and support.

The sitter is possibly Amy Richardson’s younger sister, Florence Nightingale Richardson (b. 1857).

V. + VI. Unidentified siblings: two young girls, aged about 3 and 12, respectively. [Photographer unknown]. Two albumen prints, one with hand colouring, both in carte de visite format, housed in their original matching gilded brass frames, 100 x 75 mm.