Ledgar Collection
Key items in the collection
The Ledgar Collection comprises 421 photographs, including many albumen prints, taken in the period 1858–1910 in Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia.
Most of the photographs are of public buildings and street scenes in cities and towns, but there are also rural scenes and photographs of:
- country roads
- bridges
- mine works
- picnickers
- a cricket team
- ship passengers
- the Federation decorations in Melbourne in 1901
- the Eight Hour Day celebrations in Melbourne in 1902.
There is a large number of views photographed by the Melbourne photographer Charles Nettleton (1826–1902). Other photographers represented in the collection are:
- JW Beattie
- Nicholas Caire
- Charles Bayliss
- Antoine Fauchery
- EG Amos
- Samuel Sweet
- Donald McDonald
- John Noone.
The following albums are included in the collection:
- JW Beattie - Album of 60 photographs of Tasmania
- Nicholas Caire - Album of 82 views of Victoria
- Charles Nettleton - Album of 55 photo-views of Melbourne and suburbs, c. 1890
- Charles Nettleton - Album of 32 photographs of Melbourne
- Charles Nettleton - Album of 55 views of Victoria
- Nicholas Caire - Album of 22 views of New South Wales, c. 1879–80
- Nicholas Caire - Album of 15 views of Bendigo, 1875
- Bardwell’s Royal Studio - Album of 24 photographic views of Ballarat, 1882
- Johnstone, O’Shaughnessy & Co - Two albums of 12 photographs from original designs by Australian artists, 1875–76.
Among the subjects of the loose photographs are:
- Melbourne
- Geelong
- Queenscliff
- Ballarat
- Hamilton
- Maryborough
- Gippsland
- the Ovens Valley
- the Australian Alps
- Sydney
- the Blue Mountains
- Launceston
- the Huon Valley
- Adelaide.
About Frederick Ledgar
Frederick William Ledgar (1916–1995) was born in Macclesfield, England, and educated at the King’s School, Macclesfield, and the University of Manchester.
Career in England
For several years Ledgar worked as a town-planning consultant in various counties in northern England. In 1949, he was appointed a lecturer in town and country planning at the University of Manchester.
Career in Australia
In 1956, Ledgar emigrated to Australia to become Director of the Department of Town and Regional Planning at Melbourne University. He was appointed the first Professor of Town and Regional Planning at the university in 1970 and became Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Building in 1973. He retired in 1980.
Ledgar served as a member of the National Capital Planning Committee from 1958 to 1964 and was President of the Royal Australian Planning Institute from 1970 to 1972.
Photography collection
In his lectures, Ledgar made extensive use of photographs to show how Australian cities and towns had changed over more than a century. He assembled an important collection of early photographs, particularly of Victoria, taken by photographers such as Nicholas Caire, JW Beattie and Charles Nettleton.
Background to the collection
The Ledgar Collection was donated in 1999 by Ledgar’s wife, Irene, and their son, Richard.
The Ledgar Collection is housed in the Pictures collection. Most of the photographs have been catalogued individually and digitised.
Continue your journey
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The Library: A Fragile History by Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduw
Wolfgang Sievers, Interior of National Bank head office, Collins Street, Melbourne, 1941, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-143527488