Caroline Simpson Collection

The library, Elizabeth Bay House / Thomas J. Lawlor

Lawlor, Thomas Joseph, 1882-1960, photographer.

[1935?]

1 photoprint : b&w ; 16 x 21 cm.

One of 14 photographs of Elizabeth Bay House included in an album labelled : 'Burdekin House / Elizabeth Bay House / The Mint. Old Sydney / 1933-35'. This photograph captioned under the image: "The Library, Elizabeth Bay House".

Elizabeth Bay House (Elizabeth Bay, N.S.W.)
historic buildings
empty rooms
architraves
bookshelves
light fittings
fireplaces

Elizabeth Bay House faced an uncertain future in the 1930s. A subdivision in 1927 had led to the demolition of the kitchen wing and left the house stranded on a traffic island, tightly hemmed in all on all sides by Onslow Avenue. It became an artists' squat until, in July 1935, the property was leased as a venue for fashionable receptions and the artists were obliged to leave. The Elizabeth Bay House photographs in this album seem to have been taken soon after the departure of the squatters. The photos are notable for the complete absence of people and furniture. But not of fittings: this photograph of the library shows the room completely lined with fitted cedar bookshelves. These fittings were removed in 1935 when the library was converted into a ballroom.

Insites no.32 Spring 2002 pp.4-5: "Tattered treasures" (no image); Insites no.33 Summer 2002 p.10: "Elizabeth Bay House library".

Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection ; photograph album: Thomas J. Lawlor

Picture

32614