A group portrait photograph of Captain Edward Richman and seven troopers of the 2nd South Australian (Mounted Rifles) Contingent in Adelaide in 1900. One of the troopers is Henry Harbord Morant
The photograph is on its original mount, with an early window mat (visible image size 145 × 192 mm) masking the details of the photographer printed on the mount ('S.G. Spink, Vice-Regal Photographer ... Adelaide'). Apart from some trifling surface scuff-marks and a thin crack to the emulsion in the foreground well clear of the image proper, the photograph is in excellent condition. The mat is lightly chipped at the extremities. The identities of the subjects are written neatly in ballpoint pen on the verso. From left to right they are Captain Richman, and Troopers Frederick Solly-Flood, Harry Morant, Hubert Fetch, Harry Ogilvy, Ramsay Nuttall, Robert Bostock, and William Cuttle. Provenance: Captain Edward Richman (his name, 'Capt. Richman' and framing instructions are written in ink on the verso). We are of the opinion that this print may well be a unique example. Two institutions display digitised versions of this image on Trove: the Australian War Memorial, and the State Library of South Australia. AWM 00220.001 appears to be a copy of the very print we have for sale; the catalogue record helpfully adds that 'Trooper Morant, later a lieutenant and known as "the breaker" because of his experience in breaking horses, was court-martialled and executed in south Africa in 1902 for shooting Boer prisoners, some of whom were responsible for the murder of his friend and fellow officer, Captain Hunt'. SLSA B25167 is not a vintage print, we are reliably informed, but its catalogue record also provides some useful additional data: 'Photograph taken at the old Exhibition Grounds in January 1900 (ref. "Observer" newspaper) .... Lieutenant Richman did not accompany the 2nd Contingent to the South African War; he was appointed Lieutenant/Adjutant of the 5th Imperial Bushmen's Contingent'. The two main histories (with significant pictorial content) of Australian involvement in the Boer War, 'The Australians at the Boer War' (1976) by R.L. Wallace, and 'Australia's Boer War: the War in South Africa, 1899-1902' (2002), by Craig Wilcox, were both published under the auspices of the AWM; neither of them reproduces this image. The window of opportunity for taking this photograph was very narrow indeed. Morant enlisted on 27 December 1899 and embarked from Port Adelaide on SS 'Surrey' a month later, on 26 January 1900, with his six fellow-troopers. His fate is too well-known to dwell on here; suffice to say, he did not sail into oblivion. However, it is highly likely that the last thing on the minds of any of these troopers in January 1900 was the purchase of a relatively expensive group portrait. But we do know that the only member of the group to remain in Adelaide, Captain Edward Richman, definitely did purchase one, which we are now offering for sale.
Item #111044
Sold