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From 1879 Beattie took up photography and was a friend of early photographer [[Louisa Anne Meredith]] in the 1880s; he records her giving him assistance, and of her showing him the "many specimens of both her own and the Bishop [[Francis Nixon (bishop)|Nixon]]'s photographic work in those early days of the very black art," and that she had been "instrumental in having the last remnant of the Tasmanian Aboriginals photographed for the purposes of science."<ref>Beattie quoted in the ''Tasmanian Mail'', 26 October 1895</ref> 
From 1879 Beattie took up photography and was a friend of early photographer [[Louisa Anne Meredith]] in the 1880s; he records her giving him assistance, and of her showing him the "many specimens of both her own and the Bishop [[Francis Nixon (bishop)|Nixon]]'s photographic work in those early days of the very black art," and that she had been "instrumental in having the last remnant of the Tasmanian Aboriginals photographed for the purposes of science."<ref>Beattie quoted in the ''Tasmanian Mail'', 26 October 1895</ref> 


In 1882 set up in partnership with Anson Bros. who produced scenic views and whose enterprise he took over in 1891. He married Emily Cox (née Cato) in 1886. Committed to [[Theosophy]] and a member its lodge in [[Hobart]] in the early 1890s, and an acolyte of Tasmanian-born painter [[William Piguenit|William Pigeunit]], Beattie depicted scenes of the island's beauty in the latter's [[Romanticism|romantic]] style for his prints, postcards, [[Magic lantern|lantern-slides]] and albums. Undertaking extensive photography around [[Tasmania]], as well as in the [[Central Highlands (Tasmania)|Central Highlands]] and on the [[West Coast, Tasmania|West Coast]] of Tasmania, he was employed by the mining company [[North Mount Lyell]] to photograph between [[Gormanston, Tasmania|Gormanston]] and [[Kelly Basin]] in the 1890s.
In 1882 set up in partnership with Anson Bros. who produced scenic views and whose enterprise he took over in 1891. He married Emily Cox (née Cato) in 1886. Committed to [[Theosophy]] and a member its lodge in [[Hobart]] in the early 1890s, and an acolyte of Tasmanian-born painter [[William Piguenit|William Pigeunit]], Beattie depicted scenes of the island's beauty in the latter's [[Romanticism|romantic]] style for his prints, postcards, [[Magic lantern|lantern-slides]] and albums. Undertaking extensive photography around [[Tasmania]], as well as in the [[Central Highlands (Tasmania)|Central Highlands]] and on the [[West Coast, Tasmania|West Coast]] of Tasmania, he was employed by the mining company [[North Mount Lyell]] to photograph between [[Gormanston, Tasmania|Gormanston]] and [[Kelly Basin]] in the 1890s. Davidson notes that he "saw no contradiction in [photographing for] conservation, development and tourism."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=Kathleen |title=The Photograph and Australia |publisher=Art Gallery of New South Wales |year=2015 |isbn=9781741741162 |editor-last=Annear |editor-first=Judy |location=Sydney, N.S.W |pages=177 |chapter=Place |oclc=897460459}}</ref>


A history enthusiast, the 1890s Beattie set up a museum of art and artefacts in Hobart. Appointed Photographer to the Government of Tasmania on 21 December 1896 he prepared composite pictures of the [[Governors of Tasmania]] 1804–1895, as well as Parliamentarians of Tasmania 1856–1895. In his government role he promoted tourism, Tasmania’s wealth of minerals and unique flora and fauna, and produced and distributed [[lantern slide]] shows on various subjects; ''A trip through Tasmania'', ''From [[Kelly Basin|Kelly's Basin]] to [[Gormanston, Tasmania|Gormanston]]'', as well as ''[[Port Arthur, Tasmania|Port Arthur]] and [[Tasman Peninsula]].''<ref>p.6 and 7 of Tassell and Wood</ref> The photographs appeared posthumously in [[Walkabout (magazine)|''Walkabout'']],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dunbabin |first=Thomas |date=1 June 1935 |title=Cliff-climbers of Tasman Isle : Men who dared the Southern Ocean in boats of bark |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-714142863 |journal=Walkabout |language=en |volume=1 |issue=8 |pages=33-4}}</ref> and his images of places such as [[Port Arthur, Tasmania|Port Arthur]] and the [[Isle of the Dead (Tasmania)|Isle of the Dead]] were used as postcards into the early twentieth century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jones-Travers |first=Jennifer K. |date=2016 |title=Historical Archaeology of Tourism at Port Arthur, Tasmania, 1885-1960 |url=https://www.academia.edu/34948867 |journal=Unpublished PHD Dissertation, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University |language=en |pages=chp 5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Beattie |first=John. W |title=Among the Tombs, Dead Island, Port Arthur |url=http://collectionsearch.nma.gov.au/object/32098/print |access-date=2020-04-29 |website=National Museum of Australia |language=en}}</ref> He presented at [[Andrew Inglis Clark]]’s  the [[Minerva Club]], and with Bishop Henry Montgomery and Professor William Brown founded an historical and geographical section of the [[Royal Society of Tasmania]] in 1899 which made Beattie a fellow in 1890, and for which he addressed the Tasmanian centenary celebrations of 1904 (later published as ''Glimpses of the Lives and Times of the Early Tasmanian Governors'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beattie |first=William Watt |title=Glimpses of the Lives and Times of the Early Tasmanian Governors. Being lectures, etc. [With plates.] |publisher=Davis Bros. |year=1905 |location=Hobart |language=en |oclc=557579683}}</ref> His photographs illustratied a set of Tasmanian pictorial stamps produced 1899-1912.
A history enthusiast, the 1890s Beattie set up a museum of art and artefacts in Hobart. Appointed Photographer to the Government of Tasmania on 21 December 1896 he prepared composite pictures of the [[Governors of Tasmania]] 1804–1895, as well as Parliamentarians of Tasmania 1856–1895. In his government role he promoted tourism, Tasmania’s wealth of minerals and unique flora and fauna, and produced and distributed [[lantern slide]] shows on various subjects; ''A trip through Tasmania'', ''From [[Kelly Basin|Kelly's Basin]] to [[Gormanston, Tasmania|Gormanston]]'', as well as ''[[Port Arthur, Tasmania|Port Arthur]] and [[Tasman Peninsula]].''<ref>p.6 and 7 of Tassell and Wood</ref> The photographs appeared posthumously in [[Walkabout (magazine)|''Walkabout'']],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dunbabin |first=Thomas |date=1 June 1935 |title=Cliff-climbers of Tasman Isle : Men who dared the Southern Ocean in boats of bark |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-714142863 |journal=Walkabout |language=en |volume=1 |issue=8 |pages=33-4}}</ref> and his images of places such as [[Port Arthur, Tasmania|Port Arthur]] and the [[Isle of the Dead (Tasmania)|Isle of the Dead]] were used as postcards into the early twentieth century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jones-Travers |first=Jennifer K. |date=2016 |title=Historical Archaeology of Tourism at Port Arthur, Tasmania, 1885-1960 |url=https://www.academia.edu/34948867 |journal=Unpublished PHD Dissertation, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University |language=en |pages=chp 5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Beattie |first=John. W |title=Among the Tombs, Dead Island, Port Arthur |url=http://collectionsearch.nma.gov.au/object/32098/print |access-date=2020-04-29 |website=National Museum of Australia |language=en}}</ref> He presented at [[Andrew Inglis Clark]]’s  the [[Minerva Club]], and with Bishop Henry Montgomery and Professor William Brown founded an historical and geographical section of the [[Royal Society of Tasmania]] in 1899 which made Beattie a fellow in 1890, and for which he addressed the Tasmanian centenary celebrations of 1904 (later published as ''Glimpses of the Lives and Times of the Early Tasmanian Governors'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beattie |first=William Watt |title=Glimpses of the Lives and Times of the Early Tasmanian Governors. Being lectures, etc. [With plates.] |publisher=Davis Bros. |year=1905 |location=Hobart |language=en |oclc=557579683}}</ref> His photographs illustratied a set of Tasmanian pictorial stamps produced 1899-1912.

Revision as of 02:12, 25 May 2023

John Watt Beattie
John Watt Beattie in 1920
Born(1859-08-15)15 August 1859
Aberdeen
Died24 June 1930(1930-06-24) (aged 70)
Hobart
NationalityAustralian
Educationautodidact
Known forLandscape photography
SpouseEmily Cox Cato
Awards1890: Fellow, Royal Society of Tasmania; 1996: Photographer to the Government of Tasmania


John Watt Beattie (15 August 1859–24 June 1930) was an Australian photographer

Origin

John Beattie was born on 15 August 1859 in Aberdeen, Scotland, to Esther Imlay (née Gillivray) and John Beattie, master house-painter and photographer. He had a grammar-school education and in 1878 migrated to Tasmania where he started a farm in the Derwent Valley.[1]

Photographer

John Watt Beattie (1900) Hobart

From 1879 Beattie took up photography and was a friend of early photographer Louisa Anne Meredith in the 1880s; he records her giving him assistance, and of her showing him the "many specimens of both her own and the Bishop Nixon's photographic work in those early days of the very black art," and that she had been "instrumental in having the last remnant of the Tasmanian Aboriginals photographed for the purposes of science."[2] 

In 1882 set up in partnership with Anson Bros. who produced scenic views and whose enterprise he took over in 1891. He married Emily Cox (née Cato) in 1886. Committed to Theosophy and a member its lodge in Hobart in the early 1890s, and an acolyte of Tasmanian-born painter William Pigeunit, Beattie depicted scenes of the island's beauty in the latter's romantic style for his prints, postcards, lantern-slides and albums. Undertaking extensive photography around Tasmania, as well as in the Central Highlands and on the West Coast of Tasmania, he was employed by the mining company North Mount Lyell to photograph between Gormanston and Kelly Basin in the 1890s. Davidson notes that he "saw no contradiction in [photographing for] conservation, development and tourism."[3]

A history enthusiast, the 1890s Beattie set up a museum of art and artefacts in Hobart. Appointed Photographer to the Government of Tasmania on 21 December 1896 he prepared composite pictures of the Governors of Tasmania 1804–1895, as well as Parliamentarians of Tasmania 1856–1895. In his government role he promoted tourism, Tasmania’s wealth of minerals and unique flora and fauna, and produced and distributed lantern slide shows on various subjects; A trip through Tasmania, From Kelly's Basin to Gormanston, as well as Port Arthur and Tasman Peninsula.[4] The photographs appeared posthumously in Walkabout,[5] and his images of places such as Port Arthur and the Isle of the Dead were used as postcards into the early twentieth century.[6][7] He presented at Andrew Inglis Clark’s  the Minerva Club, and with Bishop Henry Montgomery and Professor William Brown founded an historical and geographical section of the Royal Society of Tasmania in 1899 which made Beattie a fellow in 1890, and for which he addressed the Tasmanian centenary celebrations of 1904 (later published as Glimpses of the Lives and Times of the Early Tasmanian Governors).[8] His photographs illustratied a set of Tasmanian pictorial stamps produced 1899-1912.

Photograph taken in Fiji by John Watt Beattie, early 20th century

Beattie undertook photographic documentation in expeditions from late 1906 into the Western Pacific, including Norfolk Island. In 1912 he developed the plates Roald Amundsen made on the first trek to the South Pole.

Death

Beattie died suddenly of heart disease in Hobart on 24 June 1930. He was survived by his wife  and by their two daughters. His estate was valued for probate at £871.

Collections

The Launceston Corporation acquired a portion of his archive for £4500 and it is held in the Queen Victoria Museum; and slides were given to the Tasmanian Museum, Hobart after his death.[9] The business he established continued selling his work until 1978.

Legacy

Beattie's work was notable in that it crystallised around a Romantic tradition that promoted a sympathetic orientation to the natural world. His sublime pictures of Tasmanian wilderness and Port Arthur in particular helped settlers and activists argue for the protection of nature through the 1890s and into the twentieth century.[10][11] Fellow photographer and historian Jack Cato held him in high estimation as 'the finest landscape photographer of his age."[12] Beattie's long commitment to theosophy, may be explained by his romanticism, but was later tempered by membership of the Methodist Church.

See also

  • John Watt Beattie. Thomas Chapman
    John Watt Beattie. Thomas Chapman
  • John Watt Beattie (c.1900) Mount Lyell railway showing train on King River Bridge
    John Watt Beattie (c.1900) Mount Lyell railway showing train on King River Bridge
  • John Watt Beattie (1906) Man from Ambae
    John Watt Beattie (1906) Man from Ambae
  • John Watt Beattie (1906) Woman from Amber
    John Watt Beattie (1906) Woman from Amber
  • John Watt Beattie (1906) Women in front of a school in Lolowai
    John Watt Beattie (1906) Women in front of a school in Lolowai
  • John Watt Beattie (1906) Children playing cricket at St. Barnabas, Norfolk Island
    John Watt Beattie (1906) Children playing cricket at St. Barnabas, Norfolk Island
  • John Watt Beattie (1906) Lolowai Bay in Ambae, hand-coloured print
    John Watt Beattie (1906) Lolowai Bay in Ambae, hand-coloured print
  • John Watt Beattie (1906) Lolowai Bay in Ambae
    John Watt Beattie (1906) Lolowai Bay in Ambae
  • John Watt Beattie (1906) Grave of Reverend Charles Godden in Lolowai
    John Watt Beattie (1906) Grave of Reverend Charles Godden in Lolowai

References

  1. ^ Roe, Michael, "Beattie, John Watt (1859–1930)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 24 May 2023
  2. ^ Beattie quoted in the Tasmanian Mail, 26 October 1895
  3. ^ Davidson, Kathleen (2015). "Place". In Annear, Judy (ed.). The Photograph and Australia. Sydney, N.S.W: Art Gallery of New South Wales. p. 177. ISBN 9781741741162. OCLC 897460459.
  4. ^ p.6 and 7 of Tassell and Wood
  5. ^ Dunbabin, Thomas (1 June 1935). "Cliff-climbers of Tasman Isle : Men who dared the Southern Ocean in boats of bark". Walkabout. 1 (8): 33–4.
  6. ^ Jones-Travers, Jennifer K. (2016). "Historical Archaeology of Tourism at Port Arthur, Tasmania, 1885-1960". Unpublished PHD Dissertation, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University: chp 5.
  7. ^ Beattie, John. W. "Among the Tombs, Dead Island, Port Arthur". National Museum of Australia. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  8. ^ Beattie, William Watt (1905). Glimpses of the Lives and Times of the Early Tasmanian Governors. Being lectures, etc. [With plates.] Hobart: Davis Bros. OCLC 557579683.
  9. ^ Tassell, Margaret; Wood, David (1981). Tasmanian Photographer – From the John Watt Beattie Collection – From the Collections of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. South Melbourne: Macmillan Company of Australia. ISBN 0-333-33737-9.
  10. ^ Hore, Jarrod (2017). "'Beautiful Tasmania’: environmental consciousness in John Watt Beattie’s romantic wilderness". History Australia. 14 (1): 48-66. https://doi.org/10.1080/14490854.2017.1286710
  11. ^ Hore, Jarrod (2 March 2017). "'Beautiful Tasmania': environmental consciousness in John Watt Beattie's romantic wilderness". History Australia. 14 (1): 48–66. doi:10.1080/14490854.2017.1286710. S2CID 152257854.
  12. ^ Cato, Jack (1955). The Story of the Camera in Australia. [With photographs.] Melbourne: Georgian House. OCLC 557556364.
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