William James "Jack" Mildenhall (1891–1962) photographed construction of the new Australian capital,

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, during its development in the 1920s and 1930s. Mildenhall was a Commonwealth public servant, initially employed as paymaster in the

Department of Works and Railways The Department of Works and Railways was an Australian government department that existed between November 1916 and April 1932. At its abolition, its functions were absorbed into the Department of the Interior. Scope Information abou ...

, he later became the Information Officer for the

Federal Capital Commission The National Capital Authority (NCA) is a statutory authority of the Australian Government that was established to manage the Commonwealth's interest in the planning and development of Canberra as the capital city of Australia. Timeline of the ...

in 1926. Mildenhall had seen the need to officially document the growing national capital in photographs, and offered his services to the Department of Works & Railways in 1921; an offer which was readily accepted. He often took photographs in his own time, and on an ad hoc basis alongside his full-time clerical position, continuing in this role until 1935, when complaints concerning his monopolisation of departmental photography resulted in an inquiry that forced the arrangement to be discontinued.

Mildenhall photographic collection

The Mildenhall photographic collection in the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

contains more than 7,700 photographic images on glass negatives of

in the 1920s and 1930s. The photographs were taken by William James Mildenhall.

Some images from the collection

File:WJMildenhall1927.jpg, Mildenhall in 1927 File:ManukaPoolNLApic583alb827.jpg, Manuka Pool File:CapitolTheatreManukapic583Alb827.jpg, Capitol Theatre, Manuka File:CollinsParkAndEastlake.jpg, Collins Park and Eastlake File:Yarralumla nursery 1923.jpg, Yarralumla Nursery from the air in 1923 File:MolongloRiver1920.jpg, Molonglo River at Acton, 1920 File:AlbertHallMildenhall.jpg, The Albert Hall about 1928

External links

''Discovering Mildenhall's Canberra''

Museum of Australian Democracy Old Parliament House, formerly known as the Provisional Parliament House, was the seat of the Parliament of Australia from 1927 to 1988. The building began operation on 9 May 1927 after Parliament's relocation from Melbourne to the new capit ...

''Mildenhall collection of photographs of Canberra''

''Fact Sheet 222: Mildenhall Photographic Collection''

National Archives of Australia The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that serves as the national archives of the nation. It collects, preserves and encourages ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mildenhall, James 1891 births 1962 deaths Australian photographers People from Canberra