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| Advertisement, The Bay of Plenty Times, 28 Mar 1889 |
“Mr Chissell” announced his arrival on the Tauranga photographic scene in late March 1889 with some fanfare.[1] Having leased Charles Spencer’s studio for a few weeks, his emphasis was clearly on studio portraiture, with a list of prices for carte de visite, cabinet and boudoir portraits. (Note: the boudoir portrait was a larger mounted format measuring 5¼ x 8½ inches, nothing to do with the modern fad of so-called boudoir photography.) The advert also prominently displayed his late partnership with well known Auckland photographer R.H. Bartlett and, by dint of the latter’s claim to an appointment to the royal family, a coat of arms.[2]
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| Carte de visite portrait of unidentified young man Taken by G.A. Chissell, probably at Tauranga, Mar-Apr-May 1889 Image courtesy of The Elms Foundation Collection, Westlake Album Ref. 2002.0170 |
For much of the 1880s Charles Spencer had operated a photographic studio behind his chemist’s shop on the Strand, Tauranga, taking portraits, landscapes and capturing a number of local events.[3] Many fine views of the Bay of Plenty during this period carry his imprint, usually blind stamped on the print itself or printed in ink on the card mount.[4] Towards the end of the decade, however, Spencer appears to have either lost interest in the commercial portrait studio, or found it not sufficiently remunerative to warrant much attention. Chissell was the first of a couple of lessees before Spencer left Tauranga for Auckland in August 1890.[5]
Chissell repeated his advert periodically until the end of April, with encouraging reports in the Times:
2 May - Yesterday eight of our staff were photographed by Mr Chissell.
6 May - We have seen a photograph, showing the whole length of the Strand, taken by Mr Chissell. The subject makes a good picture, and will convey to strangers a pleasing idea of our town.
Despite announcing that his departure was imminent – a common trick of the trade – he did seem to be kept fairly busy:
16 May - Mr Chissell, photograper, seems to be doing good business previous to leaving us. On Saturday we noticed him taking (in a photographic sense of course) the premises and staff of Mr Dames, cabinet maker. At a later period he was busily engaged with several members of the Gymnasium Club, who were collectively posed in a pretty but muscle-straining position on the parallel bars. Observing that Mr Chissell seemed to be finished with them almost as soon as they had taken up their respective positions; we found on enquiry, that both groups were taken with the instantaneous shutter — the first negative with an exposure of the 25th part of a second, and the second with the l5th part of a second. "We have since seen the proofs, and they are really capital photographs of such difficult subjects.
A final advertisement indicated confirmed his departure, and notified his customers that all of his negatives had been retained by Charles Spencer, from whom prints could be obtained.[6]
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| Advertisement, Daily Telegraph (Napier), 4 Dec 1884 |
But who was Mr Chissell, where had he come from, and where did he go to? It was believed that he was William Chissell, a Napier storekeeper and carpenter who had emigrated from England in 1883.[7] Further evidence shows that the former partner of R.H. Bartlett and lessee of Spencer’s studio was in fact William’s third son George Alfred Chissell, who arrived in Napier in late 1884, more than a year after the other members of his family, and opened a hair-dressing salon.[8] In September 1886 he moved his business to Ruataniwha Road, Waipawa and restyled the premises as a “hairdressing saloon” offering “hairbrushing by machinery” and “tobacco, cigars and fancy goods.”[9]
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| Waipawa, Albumen print by Burton Brothers studio, c.1880s Collection of Te Papa Tongarewa, Ref. O.030758 |
In February 1888 George added photography to his repertoire, announcing in the Waipawa Mail a partnership with R.H. Bartlett, who had probably taught him the rudiments of the art, and advised him on the import of “all the latest appliances for the successful carrying on of landscape and studio work on the instantaneous principle” from England.[10] Although Bartlett was a well-known Auckland photographer, he was experiencing some financial troubles and in June 1888 would be declared bankrupt so, while his wife fronted the Auckland studio, he appears to have avoided his creditors by practicing in the provinces.[11] George Chissell then sold the hairdressing saloon in Waipawa to his brother Charles Henry in March 1888.[12]
Styled as the photographic studio of Chissell & Bartlett, they offered portraiture, copy work, enlargements, views and residences. The Waipawa Mail mentions in particular a “view of the assembled multitude at the Anglican picnic” in March 1888 and the ceremony marking the opening of the Tamumu bridge in April, but it appears they soon exhausted demand from what was a fairly small community. By May they had moved to new premises in Omahu Road, Hastings,[13] before the perhaps inevitable dissolution of the partnership in July.[14] It is surmised that Bartlett may have removed to Auckland after the conclusion of the bankruptcy proceedings. Chissell then continued on his own, advertising as “G.A. Chissell, late Bartlett & Chissell, Artiste Photographers” until mid-August 1888,[15] after which there are no sightings until his appearance in Tauranga.
After leaving Tauranga, it seems likely that George Chissell returned to Hawke’s Bay. An inventory of his father’s household being sold by auction in 1890 includes a “photographic studio.”[16] In March 1891 George Chissell was back in Napier and had, with his brother Charles, purchased the City Hairdessing Salon, operating as Chissell Brothers.[17] By mid-June, however, they were in financial trouble again and declared bankrupt.[18]
It appears that George Chissell then decided to try his hand across the Tasman, although a notice of several undelivered letters at the GPO in Sydney in January 1891 suggests he was leading a somewhat peripatetic lifestyle.[19] He took photographs of groups of schoolchildren at Port Macquarie on Arbor Day in August 1891,[20] but in January 1892 was drowned while attempting to cross a river at Kendall, New South Wales.[21]
The carte
de visite portrait displayed above is one of the few surviving images from
George Chissell’s stay in Tauranga. It may be that there are other images in
local collections, surviving either as original prints or as copies, which have
lost their attribution. The author (Email) would be very interested to hear from anybody
who has other information on his time as a photographer, Tauranga or Hawkes
Bay, or images taken by him.
[1] George Alfred Chissell, “Mr Chissell, Portrait and Landscape Photographer. Advertisment,” The Bay of Plenty Times, March 25, 1889, Vol XVI Issue 2401 edition.
[2] Tony Rackstraw, “Early New Zealand Photographers: Bartlett, Robert Henry,” Early New Zealand Photographers (blog), 2012, https://canterburyphotography.blogspot.com/2012/01/bartlett.html.
[3] Brett Payne, “Charles Spencer (1854-1933) – Part III – Serving the Community,” Tauranga Historical Society (blog), September 13, 2019, http://taurangahistorical.blogspot.com/2019/09/charles-spencer-1854-1933-part-iii.html.
[4] Brett Payne, “Charles Spencer, Photographer – Part II, The Rotorua Connection,” Tauranga Historical Society (blog), July 12, 2019, http://taurangahistorical.blogspot.com/2019/07/charles-spencer-photographer-part-ii.html.
[5] F.E. Stewart, “Photography. F.E. Stewart. Advertisement,” Bay of Plenty Times, August 21, 1890, Vol XVII Issue 2545 edition.
[6] George Alfred Chissell, “Chissell and Spencer. Advertisement,” Bay of Plenty Times, May 16, 1889, Vol XVI Issue 2416 edition.
[7] “Auckland City Library - Photographers Databases,” 2022, http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/photographers/basic_search.htm.
[8] George Alfred Chissell, “Hastings Toilet Club. Advertisement,” Daily Telegraph, December 4, 1884, Issue 4172 edition.
[9] George Alfred Chissell, “Hairdressing Saloon. Advertisement,” Waipawa Mail, September 25, 1886, Vol X Issue 988 edition.
[10] George Alfred Chissell and Robert Henry Bartlett, “G.A. Chissell, Photographer, Waipawa. Advertisement,” Waipawa Mail, February 14, 1888, Vol XI Issue 2098 edition.
[11] “Auckland City Library - Photographers Databases.”
[12] Charles Henry Chissell, “Hairdressing & Tobacconist Business. Advertisement,” Waipawa Mail, March 10, 1888, Vol XI Issue 2109 edition.
[13] Robert Henry Bartlett and George Alfred Chissell, “Bartlett & Chissell, Artiste Photographers. Advertisement,” Daily Telegraph, May 17, 1888.
[14] George Alfred Chissell, “Dissolution of Partnership. Advertisement,” Hawke’s Bay Herald, July 10, 1888, Vol XXIII Issue 8101 edition.
[15] George Alfred Chissell, “G.A. Chissell, Late Bartlett & Chissell, Artiste Photographers. Advertisement,” Daily Telegraph, July 10, 1888, Issue 5267 edition.
[16] Anon, “Baker & Tabuteau’s Sales. Land Sale. Advertisement.,” Hawke’s Bay Herald, March 31, 1890, Vol XXV Issue 8634 edition.
[17] Chissell Brothers, “Messrs Chissell Bros. The City Hairdressing Salon. Advertisement,” Daily Telegraph, March 4, 1891, Issue 6089 edition.
[18] Anon, “Meeting of Creditors. Bankrupt Estate of Chissell Bros.,” Hawke’s Bay Herald, June 16, 1891, Vol XXVI Issue 8999 edition.
[19] General Post Office (Sydney), “List of Letters Returned and Unclaimed, GPO Sydney,” Supplement to the New South Wales Government Gazette, January 21, 1891, No 53 edition.
[20] Anon, “Arbor Day.,” Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate, August 29, 1891.
[21] Anon, “A Photographer Drowned,” Australian
Star, January 12, 1892.
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