By Museums Victoria
Historic images from the collections held at Museum Victoria, Australia
Archibald James Campbell
"...tall, somewhat lean, but suggesting energy and tireless activity, small shrewd eyes … with a decidedly humorous twinkle … a thick crop of stiff hair, face well covered with a moustache and beard, dressed always in rough surfaced tweed such as Scotchmen love'. from the Australian Dictionary of Biography
A picture tells a thousand words
Campbell participated in many field trips, for example with the Field Naturalists Club and the Bird Observers Club. He photographed life on these as well as the lives of early settlers in Australia.
Camp View, Field Naturalists ' Club Expedition to King Island (1887 - 1888) by Archibald James CampbellMuseums Victoria
Field Naturalists' Club Expedition to King Island in 1887-1888
Bertie's Hut, Field Naturalists ' Club Expedition to King Island (1887 - 1888) by Archibald James CampbellMuseums Victoria
Bertie's Hut, Field Naturalists' Club Expedition to King Island 1887-1888
Pioneer women in land clearing (1890) by Archibald James CampbellMuseums Victoria
Pioneer women at their camp in the Dandenongs, Victoria, 1890
Living a challenging life
The Hatter's Hut (1891 - 1892) by Archibald James CampbellMuseums Victoria
The Hatter's Hut
1890-1891
Forester's hut, Ferntree Gully (1900 - 1901) by Archibald James CampbellMuseums Victoria
Forester's Hut
Dandenongs, 1900
Ladies' Bath (1903) by Archibald James CampbellMuseums Victoria
The Ladies' Bath
Creature comforts in the bush - after a fashion
A passion for the wattle
Campbell established the Wattle Club in 1899 to celebrate Australia's Floral Emblem and published a seminal book about the tree in 1921
Campbell's daugher-in-law, Amy
Coastal Wattle, Acacia longifolia
Cootamundra Wattle (1921) by Archibald James CampbellMuseums Victoria
Cootamundra Wattle, Acacia baileyana
The A.J. Campbell collection at Museum Victoria consists of 2,772 images made up of a combination of black and white prints and glass negatives. Many of the images of birds and nests were used by Campbell in his book Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds, including the Geographical Distribution of the Species and Popular Observations Thereon, published in 1900. There is also a significant number of images taken by Campbell on his various field trips around Australia with groups such as the Ornithologists Union, Victorian Field Naturalists, The Working Men's College Photographic Club and his family.
More images from the A.J. Campbell collection can be viewed on MV Collections
