Lumière Collection (1898 - 1899)
Historical footage collection
Series synopsis:
The Lumière Collection includes over 30 actuality films made in 1899 by Frederick Charles Wills and Henry William Mobsby which record Queensland agricultural processes and daily life at the end of the 19th century.
Highlights of the collection include the only surviving footage of Australian Boer War troops departing for service – see Boer War: Transvaal Contingent, Queen Street, Brisbane, 1899 – as well as some of the only film footage of ‘kanakas’, the Melanesian labourers who worked in poor conditions in the sugar fields of Queensland, seen in Kanakas Cutting Cane, 1899: Nambour, Qld, The collection also includes footage of the opening of Queensland Parliament – Opening of Queensland Parliament, 1899, and brief footage captured in the Torres Strait, Darnley Islanders Pay Tribute to Hon JFG Foxton.
Curator’s Notes:
The Queensland Department of Agriculture funded the world’s first governmental film production project in October 1898. The official photographer for the project was Frederick Charles Wills who was assisted by Henry William Mobsby. Together they produced over 30 films using a Lumière Cinematographe, a camera which combined the functions of a moving image camera, printer and projector, invented by Louis and Auguste Lumière in the 1890s. An additional benefit of the Cinematographe was that the camera was hand-cranked and therefore was not dependant on electricity. These features allowed for flexbility where an operator could work independently in a ‘foreign locale’ (Cinema Papers 1993, vol. 93, p. 35).
Wills and Mobsby were appointed to film agricultural processes and national events to attract British farmers to settle in Australia.
Although most of the films are approximately one minute long, the innovative film techniques of Frederick Charles Wills are illustrated. They used a moving viewpoint, a technique never seen before in Australia. Wills also used simple edits to construct a narrative.
According to film historian Chris Long, the films had limited screenings in Britain in 1900 but, aside from a private screening inside the Queensland Department of Agriculture, were never shown publicly in Australia.
In 1955 after Will’s death, the collection of films was transferred from the Queensland Department of Agriculture to the Queensland Museum. The Lumière Cinematographe used by Mobsby and Wills is held in the Museum’s collection. Copies of 27 of the surviving segments are held at the National Film and Sound Archive, and in 1999 were stretch-printed to achieve projection at close to real-time (resulting in the footage you see on this site).
Titles in this collection
Boer War: Transvaal Contingent, Queen Street, Brisbane, 1899 (1899)
This piece of actuality footage shot by the official photographer of the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Frederick Charles Wills and his assistant, Henry William Mobsby in 1899 records part of the parade of the First Queensland Cavalry Contingent before they ...
Scenes of Queen Street and Victoria Bridge, Brisbane, 1899 (1899)
This actuality footage, shot in 1899, shows electric trams in Queen Street, Brisbane with the Treasury building and Victoria Bridge in the background.
South Sea Islanders Cutting Cane, 1899: Nambour, Qld (1899)
This clip of actuality footage taken in 1899, is one of the few pieces of film footage of Melanesian labourers cutting cane in Queensland. The workers stack the cane onto a wagon while their supervisor keeps a watchful eye.
Wheat Harvesting with Reaper and Binder at Jimbour, Qld (1899)
This actuality footage shows a horse-drawn Buckeye brand reaper and binder harvesting a wheat crop while labourers stack the wheat sheaves.
