| Title |
Photographs of the Bahamas |
| Reference |
GBR/0115/Y3071A |
| Creator |
Coonley, Jacob Frank, fl 1850-1909, photographer |
| Covering Dates |
circa 1890-circa 1895 |
| Extent and Medium |
54 images; Varies considerably from good to poor condition. |
| Repository |
Cambridge University Library: Royal Commonwealth Society Library |
|
| Content and context |
|
Jacob Frank Coonley was originally a sign and ornamental artist in New York whose business fell off in the panic of 1857. Circa 1857, Coonley studied daguerreotype photography with George Barnard and with him opened a studio. By 1861 Coonley was working with Barnard for Matthew Brady. In 1864 he made a contract with the Quartermaster General to photograph railroad construction in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. In the early 1880s Coonley worked with J. M. Mora (famous for portraits of theatrical personalities) at 707 Broadway, New York. Circa 1889 he moved to Nassau, advertising a studio at the corner of Bay and Parliament Streets. In the 1890s he moved to a studio in the Masonic Buildings.
A collection of loose photographs measuring approximately 225 x 175 mm. The photographs have, for the most part, printed captions stating location and photographer's name. Photographed by J.F. Coonley.
Presented by Sir William Robinson, Governor of the Bahamas, 1874-1880.
|
Access and Use
|
Please cite as Cambridge University Library: Royal Commonwealth Society Library, Photographs of the Bahamas, Y3071A |
| Further information |
|
See also Y307G/1-13.
Indexed
This item level description was entered by NE and MJC using information from the original typescript catalogue.
This collection is available on microfiche: South America/Caribbean, fiche number 10-11.
|
| Index Terms |
| Bahama Islands |
| Bahamas |
| North and Central America |
| West Indies |
| Coonley, Jacob Frank (fl 1850-1910) photographer |
| RCS/Y3071A contains: |
|
1
|
Nassau. 226 x 177 mm. A view of Nassau from the sea showing the waterfront buildings. At the right of the picture, partially obscured by a sailing ship in the harbour, can be seen the government buildings in Rawson Square, and in the centre on the skyline, the Victoria Hotel.
Fair condition, some overall yellowing.. |
1890–1895 |
|
2
|
Distant view of Nassau. 226 x 176 mm. A view from inland looking over flat scrubland towards Nassau; with a thatched cottage in the foreground. Nothing of the town itself can be seen.
Fair condition, slight fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
3
|
Nassau from Fort Fincastle. 226 x 174 mm. A view looking seawards from the ramparts of Fort Fincastle which overlooks the town from Bennet's Hill and was built around 1793. In the foreground stands a native shepherd with his flock, while in the middle ground in the centre of the picture stands the Victoria Hotel.
Fair condition, slight fading in from edges.. |
1890–1895 |
|
4
|
Nassau from the Cathedral. 230 x 170 mm. A view looking east from the Cathedral tower showing Trinity Church at the right of the picture and a portion of the harbour at the left.
Poor condition, with dirt marks.. |
1890–1895 |
|
5
|
Bay Street, Nassau. 223 x 176 mm. A view looking along Bay Street with commercial premises on the left hand side and rather more homely dwellings on the right. For a more modern view of Bay Street, which runs along the Nassau waterfront and is the shopping and commercial centre of the city, see Y3071C/8.
Fair condition, slight fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
6
|
Bay St Near Esplanade. 212 x 177 mm. A view at the eastern end of Bay Street showing fields, palm trees and a rather dilapidated verandahed house.
Fair condition, slight fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
7
|
Royal Palms, Cumberland Street. 228 x 176 mm/ A view looking from Cumberland Street towards the sea, with houses and palms in the foreground and the harbour lighthouse visible in the distance.
Fair condition, slight fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
8
|
Shirley Street, looking West. 229 x 174 mm. A view looking along Shirley Street with a West Indian horse and cart approaching the camera. The office of the 'Nassau Times' can be seen at the right of the picture and the dome of the library beyond that. Shirley Street runs parallel to Bay Street.
Fair condition.. |
1890–1895 |
|
9
|
Queen Street, from hill. 225 x 176 mm. A view from the hill overlooking Queen Street showing residential houses and the harbour in the distance. |
1890–1895 |
|
10
|
Almond Avenue, Winter. 225 x 177 mm. A view looking along the treelined avenue.
Fair condition, some overall fading and a few chemical stains.. |
1890–1895 |
|
11
|
The Arch, Market Street, Nassau. 216 x 177 mm. Showing the archway in Market Street with a horse and cart and various figures on the road. The road over the archway leads to Government House.
Fair condition, one or two bends.. |
1890–1895 |
|
12
|
The Arch, Market Street. 228 x 176 mm. A duplicate of Y3071A/11.
Fair condition, some yellowing.. |
1890–1895 |
|
13
|
Queen's Staircase. 225 x 177 mm. A view looking along Union Street (little more than a path between sheer cliffs of rock) towards the Queen's Staircase, a stairway cut out of the rocks by freed slaves which leads up to Fort Fincastle. |
1890–1895 |
|
14
|
The Queen's Staircase. 228 x 175 mm. A similar view to Y3071A/13 but taken nearer to the staircase and with two West Indians at the foot of the flight of steps.
Fair condition, some overall fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
15
|
Govt House from George Street. 225 x 177 mm. A view looking along George Street showing shops, the Cathedral and various figures (including a white-suited Bahamian posing beside his bicycle). Government House stands on a rise at the end of George Street which runs south from Bay Street.
Fair condition, slight overall fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
16
|
Govt House from Cathedral. 224 x 178 mm. A view from the Cathedral tower looking across Princes' Street towards Government House and its grounds.
Fair condition, some fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
17
|
Columbus Statue, Nassau. 178 x 226 mm. Showing the nineteenth-century statue of Columbus which stands in front of Government House and was presented to the Colony by Governor Sir James Carmichael Smyth (Governor 1829-33).
Poor condition, with fading and bends.. |
1890–1895 |
|
18
|
Public Buildings, Nassau. 227 x 177 mm. A view from Rawson Square looking towards the Government buildings. The central building houses the Legislative Council Chamber and the Post Office, the right hand the House of Assembly and the left hand the Treasury Office.
Fair condition, overall fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
19
|
View from Rawson Square. 226 x 182 mm. A view looking west along the Nassau waterfront from Rawson Square, showing moored fishing boats and Bahamians sitting on benches at the quayside. |
1890–1895 |
|
20
|
View from Fort Fincastle. 226 x 174 mm. A view looking north west from the ramparts of Fort Fincastle showing the Victoria Hotel, the Cathedral beyond it, and the harbour and breakwater in the distance. |
1890–1895 |
|
21
|
Residence of American Consul. 226 x 176 mm A view showing the two-storied verandahed house, with a European woman standing on the balcony and two coloured maids on the ground floor verandah. The house is situated on the south side of Bay Street near its junction with East Street.
Fair condition, but overall yellowing and fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
22
|
Royal Victoria Hotel. 221 x 169 mm. A view looking up towards the front façade of this impressive hotel which was built by the Bahamas Government and opened in 1861. The hotel stands on a small hill between Parliament Street and East Street. |
1890–1895 |
|
23
|
Royal Victoria Hotel from the West. 228 x 177 mm. A similar view to the preceding print. The hotel was built during the period of prosperity enjoyed by the Bahamas in the American Civil War when Nassau became the major supply base for the Confederate blockade runners.
Poor condition, tears and bends around edges of print, but central portion in fair condition.. |
1890–1895 |
|
24
|
The Sponge Exchange. 225 x 183 mm. Showing the entrance to the Nassau Sponge Exchange Company Limited building, with islanders in the foreground and piles of sponges visible in the open shed which lies on the waterfront just off Bay Street. The Sponge Exchange was the centre for selling all the sponges gathered in the Bahamas Islands.
Fair condition, slight fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
25
|
The Sponge Exchange. 223 x 126 mm. A similar view of the Sponge Exchange exterior to the preceding plate but showing more clearly the piles of sponges awaiting sale. |
1890–1895 |
|
26
|
Sponge Yard. 228 x 175 mm. Showing workers standing beside a pile of sponges. Before being packed for shipment the sponges are washed, clipped and compressed into bales by the island workforce.
Poor condition, considerable overall yellowing and fading, some crude retouching on some workers' faces.. |
1890–1895 |
|
27
|
A Sponge Yard, Trimming. 225 x 177 mm. Showing Bahamian women at work in a shady courtyard, with sponges and trimmings on the ground around them. |
1890–1895 |
|
28
|
A Sponge Yard, Packing. 229 x 173 mm. Showing a sponge yard (different location from the preceding print) with a pile of sponges in the foreground, workers with packed bales of sponges in the middle ground and a large residential house in the background.
Fair condition, but considerable fading in portions of the print.. |
1890–1895 |
|
29
|
The Sponge boats, Nassau Harbour. 224 x 185 mm. Showing sponge collecting boats moored at the quayside near the Sponge Exchange.
Fair condition, apart from some fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
30
|
Fishing boats, Nassau Harbour. 226 x 175 mm. Showing moored fishing boats in the harbour with the harbour lighthouse visible in the distance. |
1890–1895 |
|
31
|
Nassau Fish Market. 223 x 176 mm. A view on the quayside with moored fishing boats in the foreground and the fish market beyond. The Cathedral tower can be seen on the skyline. |
1890–1895 |
|
32
|
Hauling Fish. 220 x 172 mm. Showing islanders on the beach at Nassau hauling in a net. |
1890–1895 |
|
33
|
Nassau Stone Quarry. 228 x 174 mm. Showing two Bahamians at work in the quarry sawing blocks of stone. |
1890–1895 |
|
34
|
A scene in Grantstown. 229 x 173 mm. Showing a woman standing outside her small thatched house. Grantstown is a suburb of Nassau on the south of the city.
Fair condition, some fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
35
|
A Scene in Grantstown. 225 x 177 mm. A view looking along an unsurfaced lane in Grantstown with a small thatched house at the left of the picture and a European and a Bahamian (dressed in suit and bowler hat) standing in the foreground. |
1890–1895 |
|
36
|
The Caves, West of Nassau. 231 x 179 mm. Showing two Europeans and a Bahamian sitting in a large limestone cave. |
1890–1895 |
|
37
|
Phosphorescent Lake, Waterloo. 224 x 176 mm. A view looking across the lake with a figure standing beside a wall at the right of the picture.
Fair condition, some fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
38
|
Phosphorescent Lake, Waterloo. 226 x 180 mm. Showing a European and a Bahamian in a small rowing boat with a Bahamian family standing on the shore by a small jetty.
Fair condition, but some overall fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
39
|
Silk Cotton Tree. 228 x 175 mm. Showing a Bahamian standing among the enormous curling roots of the old silk cotton tree which stands behind the Post Office in Nassau.
Fair condition, apart from fading in from edges.. |
1890–1895 |
|
40
|
Silk Cotton Tree. 228 x 176 mm. Duplicate of Y3071A/39.
Poor condition, considerable fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
41
|
Silk Cotton Tree, full view. 217 x 176 mm. Showing the grassy square and the silk cotton tree behind the Post Office. |
1890–1895 |
|
42
|
Silk Cotton tree, full view. 225 x 178 mm. Duplicate of Y3071A/41. |
1890–1895 |
|
43
|
The Banyan tree. 226 x 176 mm. Showing a banyan tree in the countryside, beside which stand a man and a horse and buggy.
Fair condition, some overall fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
44
|
A tropical garden. 224 x 176 mm. Showing a bearded European in a pith helmet standing among palms and other tropical plants, possibly in the Botanic Gardens. |
1890–1895 |
|
45
|
A tropical garden, Nassau. 244 x 176 mm. Duplicate of Y3071A/44.
Fair condition, some fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
46
|
A sisal plantation. 217 x 176 mm. Showing two pith-helmeted Europeans standing in a field of spiky sisal plants. Sisal, which became one of the Bahamas' major industries, was first introduced into the island from Yucatan in 1845 by C.R. Nesbitt, Colonial Secretary, and the industry was set on its feet by Sir Ambrose Shea, Governor of the Bahamas, 1887-1895. Another print of the same photograph can be found at Y307G/8 where the location is identified as Little Abaco. |
1890–1895 |
|
47
|
A sisal plantation. 221 x 174 mm. Showing a portly, white-bearded European (the same figure is seen in Y3071A/44-6) standing on a path beside a field of sisal. |
1890–1895 |
|
48
|
A sisal plantation. 225 x 174 mm. Showing a field of growing sisal. |
1890–1895 |
|
49
|
An orange plantation. 226 x 177 mm. Showing a Bahamian in a straw hat standing beside a laden orange tree.
Fair condition, fading in from edges.. |
1890–1895 |
|
50
|
Pineapple field. 218 x 177 mm. Showing pineapples in a field ready for harvesting.
Poor condition, overall fading and some bends in print.. |
1890–1895 |
|
51
|
Coconut tree in full bearing. 177 x 225 mm. Showing a coconut palm heavy with fruit. Print not signed by Coonley. Another print of the same photograph can be found at Y307G/11.
Poor condition, considerable fading in from edges.. |
1890–1895 |
|
52
|
Garden scene, uncaptioned unsigned print. 177 x 226 mm. Showing two young girls in a garden beneath a palm tree, with the sea in the background.
Fair condition, some fading.. |
1890–1895 |
|
53
|
Landing of the Pilgrims. 225 x 173 mm. Showing Bahamians disembarking from a ferry on to the quayside at Nassau. The nature of their pilgrimage is unclear. |
1890 |
|
54
|
The flora of Current Isld and HSWG [pencilled caption on reverse of print]. 89 x 114 mm. An amateur snapshot showing HSWG (H.S. Gladstone, private secretary to the Governor of the Bahamas in 1902) standing amongst vegetation on Current Island which lies between New Providence and Eleuthera.
Poor condition, considerable overall fading and yellowing.. |
1890–1895 |
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