Summary

Cabinet photograph of Mrs Matilda Lang (nee Gilchrist), taken by T. Humphrey & Co., Melbourne, before her death in 1914.

Mrs Matilda Lang (nee Gilchrist) was the wife of Thomas Lang, the mother of Ellen D'Arcy Harvie (nee Lang) and the grandmother of Robert William Harvie. Mrs Lang was involved in early vegetarianism in Melbourne and opened one of the first private schools in Ballarat in 1856. For another portrait of Mrs Lang see MM 043241.

Robert William Harvie was a professional photographer who, with his business partner Albert Sutcliffe, owned a photography studio named Harvie & Sutcliffe between 1898 and 1908, located in the Cromwell Buildings, 366a Bourke Street, corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Streets, Melbourne.

The Harvie Collection includes examples of Robert Harvie's private and professional photographic practice. A number of the photographs depict the family life of four generations of the Harvie family, including the Lang family.

The Harvie and Lang families had social significance in Melbourne through their active involvement in early Australian vegetarian movements, early moving film, photography and architecture, as well as various other cultural societies and clubs in Melbourne.

Description of Content

Portrait of an elderly woman in an ornate frilly dark dress, with a matching dark hat tied with a white bow under her chin.

Physical Description

Cabinet photograph consisting of a sepia tone photograph mounted on cream card.

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