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Foelsche, Paul Heinrich Matthias, 1831-1914 (Inspector of Police and photographer)

 Person

Biography

Paul Heinrich Matthias Foelsche was born on March 30th 1831 in Moorburg, near Hamburg. At eighteen he enlisted in a German Hussar Regiment. At twenty-five he migrated to South Australia. In November 1856 he was appointed Trooper, third class, in the Mounted Police. Foelsche was transferred to Strathalbyn where, in 1860, he married Charlotte Georgina Smith. He was appointed sub-inspector in charge of the new Northern Territory Mounted Police and took up his position at Darwin in 1870.

Foelsche was a talented and dedicated amateur photographer. He compiled a detailed record of the scenery, inhabitants and industries of the Northern Territory. At his own expense, Foelsche distributed photographs to influential persons and societies.

Foelsche retired in January 1904 and died on January 31st 1914 (Pike 1972, p.192; Willis 1988, p.36-42).

Likenesses:

See between p.176 and p.177 of Cato's 'The story of the camera...' (1955).

Sources:

Cato, Jack (1955), 'The story of the camera in Australia'. Melbourne : Institute of Australian Photographers.

Davies, Alan and Stanbury, Peter (1985), 'The mechanical eye in Australia: photography 1841-1900'. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Pike, Douglas ed. (1972), 'Australian dictionary of biography'. Vol. 4: 1851-1890 D-J. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.

Willis, Anne-Marie (1988), 'Picturing Australia: a history of photography'. North Ryde, NSW, Australia: Angus and Robertson, 1988.

Found in 12 Collections and/or Records:

 Item

Fort Hill and Port Darwin, 1890

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3083A/5
Scope and Contents

205 x 138 mm. A view showing part of Fort Hill and looking out towards the harbour on the west side of the point. In the foreground stands a white house with banana trees growing in the garden. With a steamer in the harbour.

Dates: 1890
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Fort Hill and Port Darwin Harbour, 1890

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3083A/4
Scope and Contents 205 x 139 mm. A view from a similar position to Y3083A/3, but showing more of Fort Hill with shipping in Frances Bay to the left. The land seen here below Fort Hill is the site of the camp of the first settlement at Port Darwin in 1869. Led by George Goyder, Surveyor-General of South Australia, this was the fourth attempt to found a permanent settlement on the north coast; the previous three had been dogged by all manner of misfortune, from bad soil and lack of water, to hostile native...
Dates: 1890
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Fort Hill from the West, 1890

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3083A/6
Scope and Contents

201 x 136 mm. A view of Fort Hill from the west, and showing the westward side of the original settlers’ camp site. With Government House standing on the plateau overlooking the port.

Dates: 1890
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Gold mining district, Darwin, 1890

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3083A/7
Scope and Contents

201 x 137 mm. A general view of wooden huts and shacks among scrubland, exact location unidentified. From 1872 Darwin had several goldrushes, which continued off and on until the late 1890s. These were precipitated when gold was noticed in the holes that were being dug for the new telegraph system between 1870-1872.

Dates: 1890
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Gold-mining District, Darwin, 1890

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3083A/8
Scope and Contents

205 x 139 mm. A view of an unidentified building, a store possibly, with horses, carts and Aboriginal Australians standing in front. In the background a Chinese labourer can be identified by his hat.

Dates: 1890
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Gold-mining District, Darwin, 1890

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3083A/9
Scope and Contents

206 x 139 mm. A view showing wooden cabins standing above a small river.

Dates: 1890
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Men with horses and cart, 1890

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3083A/10
Scope and Contents

204 x 139 mm. A photograph of two men, one carrying an axe, standing beside a small wagon in front of a river or lake, at an unidentified location. The man standing at the left bears a considerable resemblance to the man standing at the right of the picture in Y3083B/1.

Dates: 1890
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Port Darwin Harbour, 1890

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3083A/3
Scope and Contents

205 x 139 mm. A view looking out towards Frances Bay, with Fort Hill at the right, and a road running across the foreground of the picture. Photographs 3, 4 and 5 form an overlapping panorama of Fort Hill (although taken at different times: a hut is present on the foreshore in Y3083A/3 but not in Y3083A/4).

Dates: 1890
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

The Wharf at Port Darwin, 1890

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3083A/2
Scope and Contents

203 x 137 mm. A view of the wharf curving out into the bay, with shipping moored at the end, and a railway line running along its length. The wharf was completed in 1887 at a cost of £70,000. The present wharf on the same site is called the Stokes Hill Wharf and is situated on the other side of Frances Bay to Fort Hill.

Dates: 1890
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

View of Port Darwin, 1890

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3083A/1
Scope and Contents

205 x 139 mm. A view of the harbour and town looking down from Fort Hill. The picture shows ships at anchor, and warehouses and boat sheds on the shore, with Government House on the hill overlooking the bay at the left of the picture. A similar photograph, also by Foëlsche, but probably taken at an earlier date, appears in Alfred Searcy’s ‘In Australian Tropics’ (London 1907).

Dates: 1890
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Fonds

Views of Port Darwin Harbour and Gold-mining District

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3083A
Scope and Contents

Ten mounted prints, uncaptioned and measuring approximately 205 x 140 mm. showing views of the harbour and town, and of the gold mining districts inland.

Dates: 1890
Conditions Governing Access: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Fonds

Views on Mr C B Fisher's Northern Territory Cattle Stations

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3083B
Scope and Contents

Ten mounted prints, uncaptioned and measuring approximately 205 x 140 mm.

Dates: 1890
Conditions Governing Access: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

Additional filters:

Type
Archival Object 10
Collection 2
 
Subject
Darwin (inhabited place) 11