• Title
  [Portrait of Reverend Thomas Druitt and family], 1856 / by William Hetzer
• Creator
  William Hetzer, active 1850-1867
• Call number
  ML 1519
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  
  1856
• Type of material
  Graphic Materials, Photographs
• Reference code
  9639996
• Physical Description
  1 photographic print - visible image 26 x 36 cm, in frame 43 x 53 cm - hand-coloured calotype, salted paper
  
• ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
  
  William Hetzer (active 1850-1867), professional photographer, was a German who arrived at Sydney with his wife, Thekla, in the Balmoral on 3 February 1850. He opened a studio at 15 Hunter Street in March, where he advertised calotype (salted paper) portraits and views. On 16 March 1854 the Sydney Morning Herald noted that he was the only commercial practitioner of this process in Sydney (although misspelling his name as Helyer).
  
  Thomas Druitt (1817-1891), Anglican clergyman and schoolmaster, born in Dorset, England, married Helena Hediveges Clementina, daughter of William Purvis, a Scottish merchant and a descendant of Portuguese navigator Cabral, in Lisbon on 14 August 1845. In November 1847 they left England for Sydney, and in June 1848 Druitt was appointed second master of St James's Grammar School.
  
  In 1854, Druitt transferred temporarily to Parramatta as acting headmaster of The King's School. At the end of 1856, he resigned from St James's and his other appointments and moved with his family to Cooma, NSW, where he became a clergyman, and was responsible for the building of St Paul’s Church, as well as a parsonage and a school hall.
  
  Reference:
  Design & Art Australia Online, https://www.daao.org.au, (accessed 15th Jul 2019]
  Australian Dictionary of Biography, http://adb.anu.edu.au/, (accessed 12 July, 2019)
  NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages
• Collection history
  Former owner: Druitt family by descent
• Scope and Content
  Hand coloured calotype, salted paper photograph, possibly from collodion negative, in original wooden frame with gilt slip and with remnants of German newspaper on reverse.
  
  This family group portrait depicts Reverend Thomas Druitt, wife Helena (wearing black sleeves and possibly a mourning brooch), and five of their eleven children. Their children Charles (b. 1848), Robert (b. 1850), Helena (b. 1851), Georgina (b. 1853) were born in Sydney. A child Frederick (born 1855) died in 1856, and a baby Edward was born later in 1856.
  
  This studio portrait was possibly produced as a commemorative piece, and taken in Sydney before the family relocated to Cooma in 1856.
• Access Conditions
  
  Access via appointment
• Copying Conditions
  Out of copyright:
  Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
• Description source
  
  Title devised by cataloguer based on contents
• Signatures / Inscriptions
  
  Signed and dated in pencil lower left, 'W. Hetzer 1856'
• Name
  Druitt, Thomas, 1817-1891
  
• Subject
  Druitt family--Portraits.
  Druitt, Thomas, 1817-1891--Family.
  Church of England--New South Wales--Clergy.
  Portrait photography--New South Wales--19th century.
  
• Open Rosetta viewer
  IE19510845

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