1912 North Mt Lyell Mining Disaster Cards

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Ross Ewington
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1912 North Mt Lyell Mining Disaster Cards

#1 Post by Ross Ewington » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:44 am

1912 - "Mt Lyell Haulage conveying the people to the scene of disaster" - photographer
unknown as is the publisher.
This is one of a series of cards with views of the North Mount Lyell mining Disaster in 1912.
For an extensive description of this disaster, a whole chapter can be found in "The Peaks of Lyell"
by Geoffrey Blainey (6th edition from 2000 still in print)

If you have any information about the photographer and or publisher of this important series of
Tasmanian postcards, or have images of other cards, please post them here.

Image

Mike
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Re: 1912 North Mt Lyell Mining Disaster Cards

#2 Post by Mike » Tue Aug 25, 2009 10:40 am

Can list 11 cards from this series. Perhaps a set of 12?
List per card captions.
1. North Lyell - Gases and fumes arising from mouth of shaft.
2. North Lyell Disaster. View of Queenstown - reading news of the disaster.
3. Mt Lyell Haulage conveying the people to the scene of the disaster.
4. North Lyell - A fireman getting ready to rescue miners.
5. North Lyell Mine - Scene of Disaster.
6. North Lyell - Ryan, the Shift Boss, emerging after being 100 hours below.
7. North Lyell - Miner "Linnell" being rescued from 1000 feet level.
8. North Lyell - Miner being rescued from 1000ft level.
9.North Lyell - First Miner emerging from the tunnel.
10. North Lyell - Around a Miner (who has just come out of the tunnel) to get the latest.
11. North Lyell - Waiting for news at the mouth of tunnel.
12.?

No printers or photographers name, only the word "Copyright" on the bottom right hand side of each card. Back of cards only has the words "Post Card", "Correspondence", "address" and "Stamp". All my copies are unused. All the cards are black and white and are printed on poor quility paper.

Postcard No11 has been rubber stamped "Doherty's, Books & Fancy Shop, Mylan Bldgs. Burnie". Card No2 shows a crowd in Orr Street outside AA Mylan's Bookshop and Newsagent shop. Perhaps the cards were published by Mylan's. Miss AA Mylan is known to have published a set of 12 coloured postcards of views around the Queenstown area c 1906. It would appear that the publisher was in such a rush to get the cards onto the market that they forgot to acknowledge either the photographer or the publisher.
I have a feeling that these images were published in the local news paper (Mt Lyell Standard?). Perhaps they might give credit to the photographer.

If any one can add to the list or add more information, I would be very interested.
Last edited by Mike on Sun Jul 31, 2016 5:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Ross Ewington
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Re: 1912 North Mt Lyell Mining Disaster Cards

#3 Post by Ross Ewington » Mon Jan 04, 2010 2:28 pm

I recently discovered this real photo card included with some family papers.

Unfortunately, the photographer is not identified (he may have been the same photographer
as for the printed cards!!).


Image

A large version of this card can be viewed via this link http://tsauctions.com/bb/z2005.jpg
You can return to this page using the Backspace key on your keyboard.

This view is similar to the printed card "North Lyell - Crowds at No.2 Tunnel waiting for news" (provided
below for comparison


Image

Ross Ewington
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Re: 1912 North Mt Lyell Mining Disaster Cards

#4 Post by Ross Ewington » Mon Jan 04, 2010 3:35 pm

Just to hand ... a further seven of the cards

North Lyell - Around a Miner (who has just come out of the tunnel) to get the latest
Image

North Lyell Disaster, View of Queenstown - Reading news of the disaster
Image

North Lyell - Gases and Fumes arising from mouth of shaft
Image

North Lyell - Miner being rescued from 1000 feet level
Image

North Lyell - Miner "Linnell" being rescued from 1000 feet level
Image



North Lyell - Ryan, the Shift Boss, emerging after being 100 hours below
Image

North Lyell Mine - Scene of Disaster
Image

Ross Ewington
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Re: 1912 North Mt Lyell Mining Disaster Cards

#5 Post by Ross Ewington » Mon Jan 04, 2010 3:42 pm

Mike,

is the card "North Lyell - Crowds at No.2 Tunnel waiting for news" I have illustrated above
the same as the card from your list captioned "North Lyell - Waiting for news at the mouth of tunnel"

....or have I found the "missing card"?

Mike
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Re: 1912 North Mt Lyell Mining Disaster Cards

#6 Post by Mike » Mon Jan 04, 2010 4:05 pm

Ross, I think you have found the missing card "North Lyell - Crowds at No 2 Tunnel waiting for the news". That makes 12 cards, perhaps the set?

Your real photo card is interesting. Does it have any captions on the back? It certainly looks like people waiting for news of the miners. Also has a few women in the photo which makes me think it is the mine disaster. I have scanned a similar real photo card. Lou Rae in his book "The Mt Lyell Mining Railway Co. Ltd, A pictorial History" page 59 has a photo which is very similar to mine. This is captioned "Strike at the North Lyell Mine 1911" The strike started when 1 shift went out over the Company's refusal to allow smoking underground!! My card has no caption. I think it is a strike card and not a disaster card. Any ideas?

Image

Mike
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Re: 1912 North Mt Lyell Mining Disaster Cards

#7 Post by Mike » Mon Jan 04, 2010 4:24 pm

The other 3 scans to make the set of 12 ?
Numbers are from my list as above.

(4 ) North Lyell - A Fireman getting ready to resue miners.
(11 ) North Lyell - Waiting for news at the mouth of tunnel.
(9 ) North Lyell - First Miner emerging from tunnel. (This is a scan of a photocopy)

Image

Image

Image

Ross Ewington
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Re: 1912 North Mt Lyell Mining Disaster Cards

#8 Post by Ross Ewington » Wed Mar 09, 2011 12:55 pm

I have just located a real photo card with an identical view to that on this printed card
"North Mount Lyell Mine - Scene of Disaster"

[attachment=1]tunnel no2 printed card.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]tunnel no2.jpg[/attachment]

It is inscribed "General View at No.2 Tunnel" but alas, the photographer is not identified so we
are still no closer to finding out the origin of these cards...printed or real photo! :(
Attachments
tunnel no2.jpg
tunnel no2.jpg (150.25 KiB) Viewed 8893 times
tunnel no2 printed card.jpg
tunnel no2 printed card.jpg (115.48 KiB) Viewed 8893 times

anne3839@gmail.com
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Re: 1912 North Mt Lyell Mining Disaster Cards

#9 Post by anne3839@gmail.com » Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:16 pm

Dear Sir,
It was brought to my attention today that you wanted to know the photographer of the Mining Disaster. That was my Grandfather Thomas Francis Nankivell and his brother George Nankivell the Nankivells were the Photographer in Queenstown for many, many years. My Father Sydney Claud Nankivell went into the business when his Uncle George retired and set up a Cafe in the main Street, I also worked in the business many years later. The Nankivell's were a very respested family and now have a Street named after them. Hope this information will be of some help to you. Margaret Reynolds

Ross Ewington
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Re: 1912 North Mt Lyell Mining Disaster Cards

#10 Post by Ross Ewington » Fri Mar 25, 2011 1:49 pm

thanks Margaret ... that's most interesting. Here is the "Nankivell Section" from Chris Long's "Tasmanian Photographers 1840 - 1940" (1995)
nankivell photo 2.jpg
nankivell photo 2.jpg (132.71 KiB) Viewed 8830 times
The dates given for "George C." just coincide with the North Mt Lyell Disaster so I assume that he was the photographer and not "Thomas F." Do you know if this is correct? (I have found quite a number or minor discrepancies with dates cited in Long's book).
I have located two photos by "T. Nankivell" published in The Mercury during 1933. One is of Murray High School and the other is this view of the Queenstown Swimming Pool.
nankivell photo 1.jpg
nankivell photo 1.jpg (101.67 KiB) Viewed 8830 times
...the quality is poor as it has been reproduced from a newspaper page.

Regarding the "folders or views and many postcards of the West Coast in the 1930s and 1940s", do you have any that could be posted here?

If other TPS BB members have any material by any of the Nankivells, they can be posted into a new topic named "REAL PHOTO CARDS by G.B., T.H. & S.C. NANKIVELL"
to match those already underway for Beattie, Spurling, R.C. Harvey et al.

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