Description

Extended Data

DAAO URL

https://www.daao.org.au/bio/george-cherry

Birth Place

England, UK

Biography

professional photographer, inventor and penal officer, was born in England, son of William Cherry, an official at Hampton Court Palace, and Sarah, née Rudd. George was educated with a view to his entering the Church of England ministry, but became interested in painting and photography instead. He was commissioned by a titled family to accompany them to the West Indies and illustrate a book of their travels on board their yacht, the Dolphin , and through their influence was appointed assistant superintendent of convicts on Norfolk Island, arriving in January 1849 on board HMS Bangalore . He was unhappy there, he later stated, in constant strife with his fellow officers for objecting to the ill-treatment of the convicts. Cherry took many daguerreotype views of Norfolk Island. Although only a lithograph from one of these has been identified (Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts), a poem written on board the Bangalore in 1848, addressed to 'Mr. Cherry the Daguerotype [sic] Artist by a Knight Templar, XIth Foot (late the Bard of New Brunswick)’, refers to Cherry as a 'Genius with solar beams’. An 1850 letter from his friend W.N. Thomas on Norfolk Island thanks Cherry for his daguerreotype of the settlement and wishes him 'a speedy and safe passage’ to Van Diemen’s Land. By August 1852 Cherry was offering views of Norfolk Island for sale in Hobart Town, where he had settled. On 5 April 1855 he married 18-year-old Mary Ann Matilda, daughter of Captain James of the East India Company, in St David’s Church. Describing himself as an artist, Cherry advertised in the Mercury of 20 July 1855 that the carefully-coloured portraits he produced in his Daguerrean Gallery, 43 Macquarie Street, were 'equal to the finest exhibited by himself or any other artist in the colonies’. Three years later he exhibited 'miniature portraits’ (probably painted photographs) and a view of Macquarie Street at the Hobart Town Art-Treasures Exhibition. Three miniatures, including a self-portrait, remain in a family collection. His oil portrait of Alfred Kennerly, painted over a photograph, was discussed in Walch’s Literary Intelligencer in September 1859. In 1860 Cherry was producing 'Photographic Portraits on paper, glass and ivory, and on canvas from life to locket size, highly finished in Crayon, Water or Oil Colours and warranted to be as durable as the most permanent oil paintings’. He exhibited a portrait (presumably a painted photograph) of the mayor of Hobart Town in 1862. Several of his photographs of prominent Tasmanians were subsequently lithographed by H.J. D’Emden and published by R.V. Hood . A small collection of photographs is in the Archives Office of Tasmania. In August 1860 Cherry applied for a patent for the invention of a machine for separating precious metals from crushed quartz, perhaps hoping to make his fortune. By 1864, however, he was advertising his intention to devote the whole of his energies to album portraits, obtainable from his gallery, now located at 1 Elizabeth Street, Hobart Town. By 1867 he was at 80 Liverpool Street and beginning to advertise views of Tasmanian scenery. He purchased the Friths ' collection of portrait negatives that year, thus also acquiring their clientele. He was one of several photographers appointed to cover the tour of the Duke of Edinburgh to Tasmania in 1868. In January 1870 he advertised 'photographic pictures of the Squadron’ (the much-publicised visiting Flying Squadron); later in the year he toured north-eastern Tasmania, taking views. George and Mary Ann Cherry had two sons and a daughter, Ada (later Whiting ), who became a colourist for Johnstone & O’Shannessy and later, a successful miniaturist. She also produced photographs – as an amateur in 1878 from 45 Clarke Street, Chilwell, Geelong (Victoria). On 20 November 1873 Mary Ann Cherry died at 269 Argyle Street, Hobart Town, after a long illness. George Cherry died in 1878. Writers: Bruce, Candice Date written: 1992 Last updated: 2011

Born

b. c.1820

Summary

Professional photographer, inventor and penal officer born in England. Resident of Norfolk Island and Tasmania.

Gender

Male

Died

1878

Age at death

58