Headstone in the Geelong Eastern Cemetery of local hotelier, James Bedford. Circa 1865.

A$75 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Albumen print photograph, carte de visite format, 105 x 64 mm (mount); verso imprinted Wilmot Key, Photographers, Geelong Portrait Gallery, 31 Malop Street, Geelong ; the print and mount are in good condition; [together with] another Wilmot Key carte de visite probably dating to around 1864-65 (the back mark has a different and possibly earlier design than that on the headstone carte), a vignette portrait of a bearded gentleman, in good condition; it is possible that the sitter is James Bedford, as the two cartes were sourced together. Wilmot Key were commissioned by Mary, James Bedford s widow, to photograph his headstone in Geelong s Eastern Cemetery. The headstone reads: Erected by Mary, in memory [of her beloved husband], James Bedford. Died June 1st 1865, Aged 38 years . In August 1857 James Bedford had become the joint proprietor, in partnership with Samuel Hasell, of the Terminus Hotel in Mercer Street, Geelong. The following notice appeared in the Melbourne newspaper, The Argu s, on 4 September 1857: Hotels. JAMES BEDFORD, late of the Royal Hotel Restaurant, Melbourne, begs to inform his friends and the public that he has, in connection with Mr. Hasell, taken the TERMINUS HOTEL, Geelong, lately occupied by Mr. G. Hooper, and by strict attention to business he hopes to receive a share of the liberal patronage bestowed on his predecessors. N.B. A conveyance attends every arrival of the trains to the hotel. In March the following year, Bedford and Hasell s partnership wa

• Binding: Hardcover

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