PRESERVING THE PAST Old photographs, old photographs A grey world’s fading epitaphs

We are indeed fortunate that for the first thirty or forty years of settlement, some excellent photographers lived in our district. They have left us with photographic records of weddings, picnics and important events from the past, for example, opening of the railway, Shepherd’s Bridge and original hospital, as well as members of the first council, show society, band, churches and so on.
One of the most historic photos was taken by Walter Eustace Perroux in 1911 of a group of pioneers.  Perroux, born of Indian parents who were tea and rubber planters, came to Australia in 1879. He worked in Mackay at Swanson Bros, a business he eventually purchased; travelled widely throughout North and Central Qld and then finally settled in Bowen where he never missed an opportunity to publicise the town in photographic views and newspaper articles. During WW1, he photographed many local families and events.
Unfortunately, he was thrown from a sulky, broke his arm and never really recovered from his injuries. He died in 1921, leaving a wife, four sons and 2 daughters. One of his sons, Francis Xavier Perroux, followed in his father’s footsteps and worked in a studio in Townsville. He too became a roving photographer and settled in Mackay. Like his father, he also had connections with Proserpine. A daughter, Henrietta Rosalie, taught at Foxdale School 1917-1918 and she married Joseph Atkinson.
Edmund Nicholas, an employee of Faust Brothers, came to Australia from New Zealand at any early age. He lived in what was often considered the oldest home in Proserpine, “Woodbine”, on Anzac Road. A gifted photographer, he advertised in the 1911 “Guardian” that he would be pleased to take photographs of weddings, cane cutters etcetera, anywhere in the district and it was reported that he took magnificent photos of the tramway with flood debris piled up against the bridge, and appealing views of Myrtle Creek. Perhaps it was his interest in taking photos “anywhere in the district” that almost saw him lost in the vicinity of the old river landing. A search party set out to find him but luckily, when daylight dawned, he found his bearings and made his way home safely. He sold his business to Ralph Traill in 1915. Edmund Nicholas died in 1937 after residing in Proserpine for 28 years.
An itinerant photographer, Mr C. Buderus, also advertised in the 1911 “Guardian” that he would be in Proserpine “at Champion’s shop for a month, and people should not lose time in taking advantage of this opportunity to have their photos taken.” He had good local opposition!
Born in 1891, Percy Henry Cox worked delivering groceries for Fausts Brothers when they started business in 1910. Entirely self-taught, he was a first-class photographer teaching himself the Box Brownie camera; a camera whose film could be taken out after shooting and developed at home thus popularising photography.
In 1925, he opened a studio in Chapman Street and announced a special concession week when every purchaser of a dozen cabinets would be given an Ivorette medallion. A particularly important historical photo taken by Percy was that of the Bowen wharves during the 1928 strike. An advertisement in the “Proserpine Guardian” of December 8 1928, indicates that by this time he had moved to Bowen as it states, “H.P. COX Photographer will visit Proserpine periodically.” Percy Cox died in Bowen in 1979 and after his death his photographic equipment was given to the Bowen Historical Society.
I have an old, careworn album of photographs, of histories
Family generations down the years …
Story and photo courtesy Proserpine Historical Society Museum

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1928 Sugar strike. Photo taken by Percy Cox
Perroux photo of pioneers

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