Alexander McCrae in the uniform of the 84th Foot Regiment
John Irvine, 1805-18881854
State Library Victoria
Melbourne, Australia
Captain McCrae enlisted in the 84th Foot Regiment and served in Ireland and the West Indies, where his grandfather had been a sugar plantation owner. He is shown here in the uniform of the regiment in which he attained the rank of captain in 1830.
The brother-in-law of artist Georgiana McCrae, Captain McCrae arrived in the Port Phillip District in June 1841. After a period of financial anxiety, he was appointed to a position in the Treasury by Lieutenant-Governor La Trobe in 1845. After the separation of Victoria from New South Wales, La Trobe appointed Captain McCrae as the inaugural Post-Master General, a position he held from 1851 until 1857, when he retired.
- Title: Alexander McCrae in the uniform of the 84th Foot Regiment
- Creator: John Irvine, 1805-1888
- Date: 1854
- Provenance: Gift of Mrs. Kathleen E. Gahan, 1990.
- Rights: This work is out of copyright. No copyright restrictions apply.
- lithograph: Painting
- View more information about this image in the State Library Victoria catalogue: http://search.slv.vic.gov.au/MAIN:SLV_VOYAGER1663111
- View a full-size version of this image: http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/271897
- Physical dimensions: 35.7 x 30.2 cm, in frame 50.7 x 45.6 cm.
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- A.E. Ferris: John Irvine made a name for himself in Scotland as a painter and portraitist, as well as in Adelaide and Dunedin, New Zealand. Actively involved in art societies, his portraits showed a romantic flair, while those of women and children were considered among his best.
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