Summary

Glass negative stereograph showing a crowd watching a street procession, with a woman facing the camera in the foreground. This parade of either the Friendly Societies or the Trades Eight Hour Day on Saturday 11 May was so popular that girls sat on the shoulders of fathers and boys sat up on lamp posts for a better view. In the open windows of the row of shops, which included the second hand bookshop of Charles Rich who boasted having for sale rare and out of print books, people sit on the stills. The woman facing the camera, having her portrait taken, is thought to be the wife of Godfrey Henry Myers, the photographer.

The image is part of the G. H. Myers Collection which consists of 73 photographs taken by Godfrey Henry Myers, an electrician and amateur photographer, in Melbourne during May 1901. 72 of these photographs depict preparations for the celebrations that surrounded Federation; all but one are glass stereographs. This collection represents Myers' one venture into commercial photography. It is significant for its images of the crowds, which do not feature so prominently in commercial photographs. The remaining photograph is a family portrait.

The opening of the Australian Parliament on May 9 1901 was an occasion for great celebrations in Melbourne. Ten days of festivities (from 6-16 May) were planned to mark the Federation of the new nation and honour the Royal visitors, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York. The city was transformed with decorations - flags, bunting, colourful lights and festive arches - and a series of public events were held, including a military tattoo and several street parades. Unprecedented numbers of people arrived in Melbourne from the rest of Victoria and throughout Australia to take part in the celebrations.

Description of Content

Parade floats, Federation Celebrations, Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, May 1901.

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