Brothers Thomas and Jack Nevin at H.M. Gaol, Hobart.
Younger brother Jack Nevin …
From © The Nevin Family Collection 2009 ARR.
William John Nevin (1852-1891) was known to the family as Jack. He was less than six months old when he arrived in Hobart, Tasmania with his parents and siblings Thomas and Mary Anne on board the Fairlie, 1852.
Jack Nevin was the younger brother of Tasmanian photographer Thomas J. Nevin, and his assistant at the Hobart Gaol, Campbell Street during his brother’s commission as police photographer in prisons. He maintained one of their photographic studios, in New Town, until the mid 1880s. Jack Nevin was employed on salary at the Hobart Gaol under the supervision of the keeper Ringrose Atkins from 1874 until his untimely death at age 39 in 1891.
Jack Nevin, top right, Thomas Nevin seated
From © The Eva Nevin Collection 2009 ARR
This is a detail of a group photo, taken ca. 1876-8 (?) and reprinted at a later date on newspaper, of Thomas and Elizabeth Nevin, both seated, with younger brother Jack Nevin standing with hands on hips, on viewer’s extreme right.
From © The Private Collection of Denis Shelverton 2006-2009 ARR.
This image was scanned from a reprint of a photograph taken ca. 1874 which had also been printed on newspaper at a later date, possibly 1900s, and pasted into the scrapbook of George Nevin (1880-1957), a son of Thomas and Elizabeth Nevin. The original carte by Thomas J. Nevin was taken at his studio The City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth Street, Hobart Town. Even such a poor image gives details of the studio decor which featured a diamond-patterned carpet, and a table with griffin-shaped legs.
William John Nevin, known to family and descendants as Jack, was born in Belfast, Ireland in late 1851. He was listed on the Fairlie sick list on the 2nd June, 1852 as babe in arms, William Nevin, aged 6 months, “QUALITY” also listed as child of guard, John Nevin. He died in Hobart on the 17th June 1891, aged 39 yrs, with no recorded marriage. He was nine years younger than his brother Thomas, who was born Belfast 1842, and five years younger than his sister Mary Ann, born in Belfast, 1846. A second daughter, Rebecca, is thought to have arrived (no BDM ). Special Collections SLTas Librarian G.T. Stilwell (1977) compiled the following information from a descendant, and from the Archives Office of Tasmania, MB2/98 records:
Thomas Nevin was born on 28 August 1842 near Belfast, Northern Ireland (Mrs S[helverton]). He was the son of Private John Nevin and Mary his wife whom he accompanied on the convict ship Fairlie which arrived at Hobart Town in July 1852. John who was one of the guards of this vessel was also accompanied by his other children Mary A. and Rebecca both under fourteen and Will[iam] J under a year old (MB2/98).
Another William John Nevin appears on Tasmanian BDM and Digger Tasmanian Federation Index records 1900, who lived in Northern Tasmania, was married to Sarah French, was the father of several children, and who died in 1923. This William John Nevin is not to be confused with Thomas Nevin’s brother Jack Nevin whose death in 1891 precluded any Federation listing, nor to Thomas Nevin’s third son William John Nevin, (1878-1927), shop assistant, who died in 1927 in a horse and cart accident.
Buried as John Nevin, aged 39 years, in 1891, SRCT Cornelian Bay.
PUBLIC RECORDS
Two publicly available records attest to younger brother Jack Nevin’s presence at the Gaol in Hobart Town, known as the Campbell Street Gaol.
The first is from Laurie Moody’s research, Graves of Tasmania:
Extracts from the 1873–90 Campbell Street Gaol Gate-book:
Click on image for large view
NEVIN, John:
Despite their usefulness, these dates and ages from The Graves of Tasmania records do not quite compute. In 1877, Jack Nevin was indeed about 24 or 25 years old, born in 1851 (and he looks that young in the group photo above), but at his death in 1891, he would have been 39-40 years old, not 43. His age at burial is listed as 39 years. The second entry from the gate-book lists simply his common name initials – “N. J” – Nevin, Jack. A photocopy or photograph of the original records used by the Graves of Tasmania website, in addition to their helpful summary of the archival records, would assist in removing these errors. That is not possible, however, as the original gate-books were destroyed soon after Laurie Moody transcribed the details onto a database. That they record just two entries and dates for Jack Nevin from the Hobart Gaol gate-books does not preclude continuous service over many years in other areas of gaol administration. The Nevin brothers would have accessed the gaol site from Melville Street through the entrance to the Governor’s House, and not from the Campbell Street entrance, in any event, and therefore not required to sign the gate-book.
If the 1881 gate-book records on the Graves of Tasmania website show that Jack Nevin was an armed guard, he would have been armed because he had direct dealings with prisoners; a likely scenario would be for the protection of his brother the photographer who needed to pose the subject and prepare his equipment.
The second is from the Electoral Roll of the Electoral District of North Hobart, year commencing 11th April, 1884, with this entry:
NEVIN, William John
Place of Abode: H.M. Gaol
Nature of qualification: Salary
Particulars of Qualification: H.M. Government
Source: Archives Office Tasmania
mfmN206 Tasmania Electoral Roll
SLTX/AO/EP/425 (NLA)
Vols: 1884-85;1886;1886-88
The lion and unicorn insignia on this document and which appeared on all government documents in 19th century Tasmania also appeared on Thomas Nevin’s studio stamps printed on the verso of convict identification photos taken at the Port Arthur and Hobart Town gaols, and on the verso of several portraits of people who may have been prison officials. e.g James Boyd, and A. H. Boyd.
The Keeper of H.M. Gaol, Hobart, from the 1st January 1874 was Ringrose Austin Atkins (see record above). He was listed on the Electoral Roll for North Hobart for the year commencing April 11th, 1884 on “salary“, and resident at the gaol in Campbell Street. The gaol was conventionally known as the Campbell Street Gaol [CSG]. In the same year, 1884, Thomas Nevin’s younger brother, William John Nevin, aka Jack, was also listed on “salary” at H. M. Gaol, Hobart, and also resident there (see record below). His position is not listed, but from earlier documents pertaining to his employment at H.M. Gaol in 1877, it is clear that he was in training as Keeper under Ringrose Atkins’ supervision. The term “Keeper” denotes a manager of an archive: it is still used as a position title at the Public Records Office of Victoria.
Jack Nevin worked with his brother Thomas in the photographing of prisoners, certainly for the duration of their transfer in the final phases of devolvement of the Port Arthur prison site, usually dated to 1877, and he maintained his position on salary at H.M. Gaol Hobart until his sudden death in 1891. He would not have appeared on electoral rolls until he became of voting age in 1873-4, so it is likely he acted as assistant to his brother Thomas prior to 1877, and that he was both photographer and assistant into the 1880s on salary while his brother held the prisons contract. He is known to have maintained their New Town photographic studio into the mid 1880s as well, so it can be assumed that Jack Nevin was also a proficient photographer.
Electoral Roll for North Hobart 1884.
Archives Office Tasmania
mfmN206 Tasmania Electoral Roll
SLTX/AO/EP/425
Vols: 1884-85;1886;1886-88
What other duties did Jack Nevin perform at the Hobart Gaol. Guard? Constable? He doesn’t look the physical type. In the image reproduced on newspaper, dated to ca. 1874, his brother Thomas captured him in a relaxed standing pose leaning on a book (signifier of literacy), wearing a shirt, tie, fob watch, and three piece suit with velvet collars. In the later photograph taken ca. 1880, Jack Nevin looks very relaxed and very savvy about the process of being photographed. His gaze is direct and very keen, his clothes suitable for everyday work in a foul place such as a prison. His salaried positions were primarily in administration, with a career path and ranking similar to the Keeper’s. Older brother Thomas Nevin had been a Keeper too of a public institution, at the Hobart Town Hall between 1876-1880, and was also a special constable during the Chiniquy Riots of 1879.
Jack Nevin’s presence at the Gaol points to a close family involvement by the Nevin brothers with prisoner documentation – visual and written. The evacuation of the few remaining inmates at the Port Arthur prison to the Hobart Gaol began in 1873 and then en masse from May 1874 under Dr Coverdale’s direction. It was completed in September 1877* (p. 14, AOT Guide to the Public Records of Tasmania, Section 3, Convict Department). This date coincides with Jack Nevin’s record of armed service at the Hobart Gaol from February to April 13th 1877 per the Graves of Tasmania gate-book entries. These prisoners’ criminal records sheet were updated with a photograph on their arrival at the gaol in Hobart; it would have taken only a few months for Thomas Nevin and his brother Jack to photograph the majority of transferees in each batch received at the Hobart Gaol from Port Arthur, in addition to the other prisoners received from other regional lock-ups. They also had the task of photographing prisoners prior to release on ticket-of-leave, and some even prior to execution. The weekly police gazettes – known as Tasmania Reports of Crime Information for Police – show just how busy they must have been at the Hobart Gaol: the numbers of inmates of the criminal class received from Port Arthur were insignificant compared with the hundreds of offenders on assignment who were arraigned and incarcerated because they habitually absconded, thieved, assaulted or worse, in the open prison that was the island of Tasmania.
The Returns of Prisoners at Port Arthur which was tabled in Parliament in July 1873 reported that a cluster of sixty prisoners had aleady been received from Port Arthur at the Hobart Gaol, and another 49 were listed to be received by mid 1874, according to W.R. Giblin in the portfolio of Tasmanian Attorney-General. Thomas Nevin took a photograph of W.R. Giblin ca. 1874. He was refereed by Giblin for the commission, and Giblin probably refereed Jack Nevin as well for the H.M. Gaol position. The relationship between the Nevin brothers and Giblin appears to have been close, not least because their families were neighbours in New Town.
Courtesy of the Archives Office of Tasmania
RELATED POSTS at main weblog
Map of the old Hobart Gaol
Photos © The Nevin Family Collection 2008 ARR
Click on thumbnail for large view
- Prisoner portraits taken before release: examples by Nettleton and Nevin
- The first Rogues’ Galleries
- Convict cartes by Thomas Nevin at the new National Portrait Gallery
- Thomas Nevin’s hand-coloured convict photographs
- Nettleton and Nevin patents registration
- The trial of Joshua Anson
- Nepotism, corruption and Port Arthur 1873
- W.R. Giblin, Judge, Attorney-General and Premier
- Brothers Thomas & Jack Nevin with W.R. Giblin
Thomas J. Nevin
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