Humphery Collection

The largest collection on Australian ships—about 6,500 lantern slides, glass negatives and photographs—capturing sailing vessels, harbours, wharves, and coastal towns from the late 1800s to mid-1900s. Compiled by Sydney physician and maritime historian Esca Humphery, it also includes 18 albums, personal papers, and lecture materials on ships, wrecks, lighthouses, and harbours. A unique visual record of Australia’s maritime heritage.

Photography Transport

Key items in the collection

The Humphery Collection is the largest collection on Australian ships in the National Library. It comprises about 6500 lantern slides, glass negatives and photographic prints. While the bulk of the photographs depict ships, especially sailing ships, there are also photographs of harbours, wharves, towns, hospitals and other subjects. There are also photographs of Humphery as a boy and young man, members of his family and friends.

In addition, there are 18 albums of photographs, dating from about 1890 to 1950. Most of them are of ships, ship models, Sydney Harbour and coastal scenes, but a few of the albums contain photographs of family groups, animals, trains, river scenes, landscapes and overseas travel.

The Humphery Collection contains:

2 cutting books on shipping and naval subjects (c. 1902-32)
loose cuttings
notes for lectures on ships
shipping companies
ferries
flag signals
lighthouses
other subjects
and a volume containing lists of lantern slides (1934-53).

There is also a typescript by F Carr entitled ‘Emigration in the eighties; from England to New Zealand in the Lady Jocelyn’.

About Esca Humphery

Esca Morris Humphery (1876–1961) was born in Sydney and attended Sydney Grammar School from 1887 to 1894. He graduated in medicine from the University of Sydney in 1903.

Medical career

For the next ten years Humphery worked as a medical officer in hospitals at Maclean, Bellingen and Lismore in northern New South Wales. He served in the Australian Army Medical Corps during World War I. In 1919 he returned to Sydney and established a practice in Macquarie Street.

Humphery served on the council of the New South Wales branch of the British Medical Association and was its President in 1930. He was an honorary surgeon at the North Shore Hospital and held leadership roles in the Central District Ambulance, serving as honorary secretary from 1926 to 1944 and chairman from 1944 to 1956. He was made a Knight of the Order of St John in 1950.

Interest in Australian history

Humphery had a strong interest in Australian history and was a member of the council of the Royal Australian Historical Society from 1940 to 1948. His particular passion was the history of Australian shipping. In his later years he lectured regularly on ships, shipping companies, wrecks, lighthouses, harbours and related subjects. Between 1937 and 1940 he gave 38 lectures illustrated with lantern slides.

In the course of his lecturing, Humphery assembled a substantial collection of negatives, lantern slides and albums. Keast Burke noted at his death in 1961 that ‘his death might be said to represent the end of an epoch – namely, the public lecture with the 3 1/4 in. by 3 1/4 in. slide’.

Background to the collection

The Humphery Collection of negatives and albums was donated by his daughter, Mrs HW McKay, in 1962. The family added the lantern slides to the collection in 1966 and a camera and photographic equipment in 1977.

The lantern slides, glass slides, prints and albums are held in the Pictures collection.

The photographic prints in the Humphery Collection are dispersed under many different subject headings. Most of them can be found filed under:

Cargo ships
Ferries
Naval ships
Paddle steamers
Passenger Ships
Ships: casualties
Ships: miscellaneous
Sailing ships
Small ships
Steam and sail ships.

Other headings include:

Bellingen
Circular Quay
Hospitals: NSW, Lismore
National parks: NSW, Newcastle
Schools: NSW, Sydney Harbour
Wharves and ports: NSW.

The family photographs are housed under Humphery Family in the portraits run. The albums, which have been individually catalogued, are also held at various locations. A small number of photographs in the collection have been digitised.

The personal papers are held in the Manuscripts Collection. Use the finding aid.

This guide was prepared using these references:

Obituary of EM Humphery, Australian Popular Photography, vol. 12 (1) Nov. 1961, p. 12
Obituary of EM Humphery, The Sydneian, no. 348, Dec. 1961, p. 119