Summary

Glass negative stereograph showing the crowd on the street and on bleachers watching the Stockmen's Parade. It 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 negative 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

The Stockmen's Parade, Swanston Street and Flinders Street, Federation Celebrations, Melbourne, 7 May 1901. Some of the 200 stockmen representing the skills and worth of rural workers is riding past a watching crowd. They wear brown felt 'wideawake' hats, red Crimean shirts with white handkerchiefs around their necks, white moleskin pants and black leather leggings. The paired column in the centre was one of ten, six representing the Federating States, the remaining four for potential States. Gas flames flared from the tripod on top of the columns at nighttime. In the background is a large fee-paying viewing stand. The small woman at the back of the crowd, in the foreground, is leaving .

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