Items medium note

Summary headings

D3597 Series Descriptive note

Function and purpose

The photograph album is a linen and leather bound volume containing ruled alphabetical thumb index pages (not used) and 654 numbered pages, of which all but the last ten contain photographs of individual internees, mounted in three rows of three. The internees were photographed side by side in small groups, facing the camera, from the elbows up, after which the photograph was cut into 6x8cm square sections showing one internee each. Included in most photograph sections is a printed number either held by or fastened to the internee, while in the remaining cases the number has been inscribed on the photograph. The photographs are mounted in numerical order. Over 300 missing individual photographs are represented by pencilled numbers, others by a reference to a double exposure on another page. Photographs 2858 and 3824 have been ruined by light and movement, internee no. 5368 is photographed in bed, and pages 484, 485 and 488 show bound internees being held by guards.

The index comprises 103 type-written folios stapled together. The title page has 'Register of Personal Photographs. Part I. Index' followed by notes on arrangement. Entries are in three columns headed 'Number', 'Surname' (surnames are in upper case letters), 'Christian-name' (lower case).

Arrangement is by initial letter of surname, then by photograph number, with some entries out of numerical order at the end of each letter. The second and later folios for each letter are numbered 2, 3 etc. The names are overwhelmingly German, with a large number of Slavonic names.

It is believed that the photographs of this series were taken by soldiers of the 2 Military District, Commonwealth Military Forces as part of the administration of the Liverpool Camp, NSW for internees during World War I. It is unknown what the initial purpose of the photographs was, it has been suggested that the photographs were taken so that port authorities could be alerted in the event of a camp break-out. This may be possible, however, the extant photograph albums suggest that the photograph albums were collated much later by a central office. It may be possible that the album in CRS D3597 was created using the original photographs, and duplicates for the other albums were made from the glass plate negatives.

It appears that between the time the original photographs were made and the time the photograph albums were created, several of the glass plate negatives were broken, which accounts for the missing photographs in the albums (CRS P1, CRS K565, SP421/4), which frequently occur in runs of three photographs (the number of photographs which fitted onto a glass plate negative). After the Liverpool Camp was closed in 1919, the records of the camp were transferred to the Chief of General Staff, Army Headquarters, Melbourne (see file A367 item C18000 PT 1). It is believed that the photographs, or their negatives, were later transferred to the Investigation Branch of the Attorney General's Department (CA 747), to assist them in the administration of the Immigration Act 1920 (although it is not clear when the records were transferred). It is believed that the photograph albums were collated by the Investigation Branch at this point and sent to the Collectors of Customs in each State.

Related legislation

Using the series

This photograph album is fundamentally the same as the photograph albums in P1, K565 and SP421/4. The photograph album in D3597 is more complete than the other photograph albums with fewer missing photographs.

As of 30 October 2012, all photographs from the D3597 album have been digitised and are viewable to the public using RecordSearch. The individual pages of the album can also be viewed – see item D3597, ALBUM (item barcode 854143).

The primary reference for the album is the digital copies online, but microfiche copies of the D3597 album are also held in all State Offices of the National Archives of Australia. Please note that a microform copy has not been made of the index; digital copies of the indices however are also available online – see D3597, INDEX 1 (A-L), barcode 332682 and D3597, INDEX 2 (M-Z), barcode 7075608.

Language of material

Physical characteristics

The photograph album is linen and leather bound volume containing ruled alphabetical thumb index pages (not used) and 654 numbered pages.

System of arrangement and control

The names in the index and the photographs in the photograph album are cross-referenced by an identification number. Thus, it is possible to find the photograph of an internee if you have a name or a photograph number, and it is possible to ascertain the identity of an internee from the identification number on the photograph.

With the occurrence of duplicated identification numbers in the D3597 indices, corresponding to two different internee names, a [?] has been imposed in the item titles. It has not been possible to verify which name corresponds to the single photograph.

On occasion a (1) or (2) is suffixed next to the Christian name in the index. It is assumed that this is has been used to identify possible duplications of the internee's full name.

Where negatives have been reproduced from the photographs, National Archives of Australia has imposed a single number control system for ease of access.

Relationships with other records

Finding aids

Digital copies of all photographs featured in the album are on RecordSearch. In addition, the individual pages of the album have been digitised – see item 854143.

As a secondary source, reference copies of the album are available in all regional offices. Order as CRS D3597/4, or in the National office, D3597/7.

Access conditions

Series history

Attached to the front of the index to P1 is a memorandum from the Director of the Investigation Branch, dated 18 October 1921, directing State offices of the Investigation Branch, to whom copies of the album and index were sent, to use them as "the basis of the identification photographic records in your district".

The index to P1 was received enclosed in a Tasmanian Commonwealth envelope (Box 24A, G.P.O., Hobart) carrying a note of the contents and a file number, T17973, which relates to CRS P1436.

Provenance

Immediate source of acquisition

Custodial history

Quantity in agency custody

Disposal history

Publication note

Additional information

End notes

Sources

Temporary consignment D3597/10 was destroyed on 25 May 2017.

Temporary consignment D3597/4 was destroyed on 8 April 2021.