Our image this week is a scarce tinted postcard by Beavis Bros Studios located in Howick Street. Several young boys can be seen with their bicycles and a bullock wagon is making its way up the street.
Charles James Beavis and Horace Cohn Dean Beavis established a photography business, advertising as "Artist Photographers", in William Street in 1880.
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They moved to Howick Street in April 1886. The business expanded and endured for many years, becoming one of Bathurst's most recognised photographic establishments. Many photographs taken by members of the Beavis family survive today.
From the time of their arrival, they supported local businesses, clubs and town activities, such as the donation of 10 shillings and sixpence towards the expenses of the Eight Hour Day Demonstrations at the Bathurst Showground on Monday, October 1, 1894. A concert and social was held in the School of Arts Hall in the evening.
On November 6, 1902, the monthly meeting of the Bathurst Camera Club was held in Beavis Bros' rooms. Mr R.L. Turner was in the chair. There was a fair attendance.
The rules, as framed by the sub-committee appointed for the purpose, were adopted. A syllabus was drawn up for the next six months and it was decided to hold an excursion on Boxing Day to some place to be chosen at the next meeting.
Enlarging photographs, a branch of the art to which Messrs. Beavis Bros. gave a great deal of attention, was all done on the premises by means of the most improved and perfected Solar Camera.
By this means, a small carte de visite photo could be enlarged to any size desired. The means was direct sunlight printing, and thus the correctness of the photograph was unquestionable.
The negative plates, after the camera received the impression of the sitter, were usually stored away until the day's image taking was completed.
Then the process of developing the images started. The glass plates were immersed in several chemical solutions, after which they were dried and varnished. The glass plate was then in the negative, from which any number of prints could be taken.
The next process was the retouching of the negative, which was a most important branch of the art of processing. The negative was worked upon with a finely pointed black lead pencil until the desired effect was obtained, after which the negative was sent into the printing room with the order for the number of copies the customers were seeking.
The prints were produced by the sun's rays passing through the negative onto the albumenised paper, after which they were placed in a solution of gold - a process called toning.
When they were the required tone, they were removed into a fixing solution, then placed into washing trays, when all traces of the chemicals in the paper had to be removed.
The photos were then dried and sorted before being trimmed to the required size and mounted on cardboard cards which were imported from Paris. Mr Beavis ordered over half a ton of mounts from overseas at a time.
The freight charges on these mounts from the time they left the manufacturer until they landed in Bathurst were such as to add 30 per cent to the original cost.
Messrs. Beavis Bros' customers came from all parts of the Western Districts, extending as far west as Wilcannia and Cunnamulla.
In December 1911, Mr H.C.D. Beavis, in Howick Street, had a special room set apart for patrons to make a choice of Christmas cards, of which he had an astonishing and beautiful assortment.
Private autograph boxes, Australian and Bathurst rural scenes, flowers, town views of Bathurst, booklets, postcards, etc were faithfully photographed by appointment. He invited the general public's inspection.