R3595 Shearing by machinery, 1890-1917
Description
This is a black-and-white photograph from a silver gelatin dry-plate glass negative, titled 'Shearing by Machinery', produced by the studio of Charles Kerry and Co, Sydney, between about 1890 and 1917. The image depicts the interior of a large shearing shed. In the centre of the image is a shearing board with mechanised shearing equipment running down the board on the left and right. Approximately 14 shearers can be seen shearing sheep. Three young boys can be seen collecting the shorn fleeces. The timber beams of the roof clad in corrugated iron are visible, with several windows providing natural light to the shearing board area. The caption, studio number and studio mark are inscribed on the reverse of the negative.
Acknowledgements: Reproduced courtesy of Powerhouse Museum. Photograph by Charles Kerry and Co, Sydney.
- Educational value
- This asset shows one aspect of Australia's thriving wool industry at the turn of the 20th century - the first sheep arrived in Australia on the First Fleet in 1788, and sheep and wool soon became one of Australia's primary agricultural industries; by the 1890s, Australia had over 100 million sheep and wool production was booming.
- It depicts the work of the professional shearers - professional shearers travelled around the country looking for shearing work and were put up by the farmers in primitive shearers' quarters on the properties for the time they were shearing; most shearers earned 17 to 20 shillings per day during the 1880s.
- It shows mechanised shearing that was introduced in the 1880s - even though Melbourne inventor James Higham patented the first sheep shearing machine in 1868, it was Frederick Wolseley's world-first mechanical shears that revolutionised shearing in the mid-1880s; in 1888 a sheep station called Dunlop near Burke in New South Wales became the first property in the world to shear an entire wool clip with machines.
- It shows mechanised shears in operation - shearers used manual shears to cut the wool until the mid-1880s, when mechanised shears were introduced; most shearers could shear a sheep by hand in 20 minutes and while the mechanical shears were not much faster at first, they were less tiring to use and dramatically improved productivity; the time taken to shear a sheep has steadily improved, with sheep now able to be shorn in less than 5 minutes.
- It shows one of the key industries involved in the development of the trade union movement in Australia - at first shearers were opposed to using new technology such as mechanical shears, and joined together to fight it; when James Wilson, the manager of the Dunlop station, installed the first 40 shearing machines in 1888 his shearers went on strike, although the situation was resolved within a few weeks; shearers unions were instrumental in later strikes and disputes over such issues as the use of the wide-toothed comb.
- It shows young boys working in the shearing sheds - boys often left school after the primary years, and could work with the shearers; they performed many tasks in the shearing shed, including picking up fleeces and taking them to the tables, tarring sheep to stop them bleeding, sweeping the sheds and rolling out the fleeces onto the rolling table.
- It is an iconic Australian image - Tom Roberts's painting of 1890, 'Shearing the Rams' and songs such as 'Click go the shears' represent the place of sheep in the Australian identity.
- It is an example of fine photographic work taken in an interior environment that makes use of natural light - the photograph is the work of the studio of Charles Kerry and Co, which operated from 1884 to 1917, and whose work included portraits, government commissions and photographs of life in Sydney and rural areas sold as postcards and prints.
- It is an example of a photograph produced from glass negatives coated with gelatin ('dry-plate' negatives), which allowed photographers to take pictures with relative freedom and speed - before the invention of dry-plate negatives in 1878, photographers used 'wet-plate' negatives, which had to be exposed while the collodion emulsion on them was still wet and then had to be developed immediately, requiring photographers to carry a great deal of equipment (mini-darkrooms) with them; gelatin-coated glass negatives could be exposed at any time and developed at the convenience of the photographer.
- Year level
- 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12
- Topics
- Australian history
- Wool industry
- Sheep
- Agricultural machinery
- Learning area
- History
- Studies of society and environment
- Strand
- History/Historical knowledge and understandings
- Studies of society and environment/Time, continuity and change
- Rights
- © Education Services Australia Ltd and Powerhouse Museum, 2010, except where indicated under Acknowledgements
