Hand coloured photographs

The story of hand coloured photographs started alongside the advent of photography itself. While the first photo was created in 1826, by Nicéphore Niépce in France, the first photography system available to the public was the daguerreotype in 1839, named after French artist Louis Daguerre.

Rev. Benjamin Drake

Rev. Drake arrived in Cromwell in 1868 serving for five years until ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1875. He retired in 1878. Much loved minister and familiar figure on his white horse. His parish covered an area of 3,200 square miles. Lived in Cromwell until his death in 1890

Unknown wedding couple

The Cromwell Museum collection has fine examples of hand coloured photographs, many of Cromwell Pioneers . The fashion for having your portrait hand coloured reached its height in the 1900s. Many of the photographs would have been coloured by highly skilled women artists.

Lieutenant Harrison McDowell Campbell

Harry Campbell was the son of Harriet McDowell Campbell and the late Alexander Campbell of Quartz Reef. He attended the Lowburn school and later secondary school in Cromwell. Harry went to Western Australia when he was 19 years old. He embarked for the war in 1915 from Adelaide and served at Gallipoli and later France. He was awarded the Military Cross for Gallantry.