Published on Tuesday, 20 October 2020 at 4:29:47 PM
Mystery Photo Collection by Lorin Cox
In February of this year we received an anonymous donation to the Geraldton Regional
Library Local History collection. The collection was found some years ago in Moonyoonooka
and consists mainly of professional portrait photographs, the majority in the form of
postcards. It is assumed that the family was quite a prominent, relatively wealthy family as
many of the photographs were taken by local professional Photographers including Wallace
Miller, F. R. Dawson (successor to Mr. Wallace Miller from 1915) and Art Studios (Mr H. M.
Marwood).
The estimated date of the images is from 1910-1920. During this time, Geraldton and
surrounding areas were not highly populated with permanent residents. As such, the aim
was to find a family which included the names of the individuals inscribed on the post cards
with relatives living in or around this area during the relevant timeframe. An additional
challenge presented itself as it was very common at the time for people to go by their
middle names. Newspaper articles and the Department of Justice, Births, Deaths and
Marriages were the main source in developing a theory that this collection belonged to an
Amy Killicoat (nee Dowden).
Theory development was based on a combination of research and assumptions so please
feel free to prove or disprove.
Correspondence was directed mainly to “Amy” as is the case with the featured photograph
inscribed with “To Dear Amy with love from Nellie x George sitting Fred standing”
Snapshots is an initiative of the Geraldton Regional Library. For more information, or to
donate a historical photo or slide to the Library, contact Heritage Services at the Geraldton
Regional Library on 9956 6659 or library@cgg.wa.gov.au
Image: P 14144
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