Agency:
Morton Allport
Agency Number:
Start Date:
04 Dec 1830
End Date:
10 Sep 1878
Description:
Morton Allport (1830 - 1878), a Hobart solicitor, was a very keen naturalist, angler, bush-walker and photographer and was elected to the Royal Society of Tasmania in 1849, at 19 years of age. He began taking photographs of Tasmanian views in the 1850's including many series of stereo-scopic views on paper and glass. His views of Lake St Clair and Mt Arrowsmith taken in February 1863 are among the earliest examples of wilderness photography. He continued to take interiors and stereoscopic views in the 1860's and sold many of his views through the local stationers J Walch & Sons. Other negatives were printed and sold in London by Smith, Beck & Co. He was a member of the Amateur Photographic Association of Great Britain and won several prizes for photography from the Photographic Society of London (c.1866) and a medal at the Intercolonial Exhibition, Melbourne, 1866-67. Morton Allport had a keen interest in the natural sciences, contributing to the knowledge of the zoology and botany of Tasmania, and became an authority on Tasmanian fish. He was a leader in the introduction of salmon and trout to Tasmanian waters, along with other European fish. He married Elizabeth Ritchie in 1856 by whom he had six children: Minnie, Cecil, Curzona, Evett, James, Eva. He died at 'Lebrena' Davey Street, South Hobart aged 48 years.;;;;Morton Allport was described generously in his obituary as the great naturalist of Tasmania. However, in common with many other scientists of his day, he was also involved in the trade of bodily remains of Tasmanian Aboriginal people, including exporting these remains to England. The library acknowledges the damage and distress this practice has caused to Tasmanian Aboriginal people, and sincerely regrets its association with this practice. ;;
Information Sources:
Chris Long 'Tasmanian Photographers 1840 - 1940 - A Directory (Hobart, 1995) ; Australian Dictionary of Biography ; AOT correspondence file.
Related Agencies:
Allport & Roberts (NG3515) | 01 Jan 1841 | 01 May 1855 |
Acclimatisation Society of Tasmania (NG3621) | 01 Jan 1862 | 31 Dec 1887 |
Series Created By Agency:
CRO9 Specimens of Mosses and Liverworts | 01 Jan 1852 | 31 Dec 1854 |
ALL18 Journals of Morton Allport | 04 Nov 1852 | 30 Mar 1878 |
NS2459 Morton Allport Stereoscopic Photographs | 01 Jan 1860 | 31 Dec 1863 |
NS80 Allport Stereoscopic Lantern Slides and Viewer | 01 Jan 1861 | 31 Dec 1861 |
ALL19 Letterbooks of Morton Allport | 09 Aug 1864 | 15 Aug 1878 |