A hand coloured photograph of William Francis Gordon in 1869, six years before the Mural Fantasmagoria.
A hand coloured photograph of William Francis Gordon in 1869, six years before the Mural Fantasmagoria.
A recent delve into the photographic collection of the Museum revealed a strange carte de visite photograph.
Not a standard portrait, it was an advertisement for an event titled Mural Fantasmagoria, Faces I've Seen.
Some research into this light hearted souvenir of entertainment has revealed a tragic backstory, but also illustrates our compassion and willingness to help in times of need.
The story begins with Jane Thomson and Edward Lake who were married in 1863 and had four children – Jane in 1864, Isabella in 1866, William Edward in 1869, and Margaret in 1872.
Lake was the Captain of the schooner Success. The Success had left the port at Lyttleton on its way to Whanganui with a load of produce when it got caught in a storm. Newspaper reports published on Monday 8 June 1875 described the huge gale storms that hit the area the previous Friday and didn't ease up until the Sunday.
11 vessels were known to be in the area at the time. Several of them were washed ashore with no loss of life and others managed to ride out the storm, but the Success was one of two that were missing. Over the next few days life buoys, pieces of wreckage, and three of the crew were washed ashore, but the Captain was lost to the sea.
At that time there was no provision for solo mothers so Mrs Lake was left without income to sustain her or their children. On 22 June a call was put out in the Wanganui Chronicle for those that could afford it to contribute to a fund for her. Although the family was based in Nelson, Whanganui residents felt they wanted to contribute as Captain Lake was on his way to their town when he was lost.
Mrs Lake then gave birth to their fifth child, Alice Success, on 28 July 1875 – a little over a month after Captain Lake was lost. Donations for her and her children were given directly to a number of stores in Whanganui who ensured she received it.
A souvenir carte de visite photograph of three sketches carried out by William Gordon, each completed within three minutes.
Then two nights' of entertainment were organised and performed at the Oddfellows Hall on 17 and 18 August with all proceeds going to the benefit of Mrs Lake. A local group of Amateur performers put on T Townsend's play The Lost Ship (maybe not the best choice of material to perform, considering the circumstances); followed by the Mural Fantasmagoria; a farce titled Two Bonnycastles; and a performance by a brass band.
William Francis Gordon, a well-known caricaturist and musician, was to perform the Mural Fantasmagoria. He stood on the stage and drew three caricatures of well-known local and national identities, during which time the audience could shout out who they thought the image would reveal.
Gordon chose to draw the Right Honourable William Fox, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and a well-known supporter of the temperance movement; followed by Mr Robinson and Mr Walker, both Whanganui publicans.
The reviews of the play were politely unenthusiastic, but Gordon was the star of the night with the newspaper reporting: "Although the two latter left no doubt as to who they were meant for, the first was beyond the most perfect likeness, and Mr Gordon was loudly applauded on the completion of each sketch."
Museum Notebook.
The band was also lead by Gordon, and reports indicate the audience had a thoroughly entertaining evening in aid of Mrs Lake.
•Sandi Black is the Archivist at Whanganui Regional Museum.
