Married Name & Dates: Mrs John Gregory Edwards (1900-1915)
Profession: Artist, Colourist, Retoucher
Professional Years: 1882-1886
Where Practised: A.J. Davis, Melbourne, VIC (1882) (as a pupil); Riise and Barnett, Elite Studio, 42 Macquarie St, Hobart (1883-1884) Harald Riise’s Gallery of Photographic Art, 42 Macquarie St, Hobart, TAS (1884-1885); Battery Point, TAS (1885-1886)
Frances Meliora St Clare Balfe emerged as a prominent figure in 1880s Hobart due to her excellent fancy work and skilful photographic colouring.
As time went on, she became an internationally recognised and passionate
advocate for the welfare and rights of women and children.
***
Frances Balfe, affectionately known as Fanny, was the youngest of the five children in the Balfe family. Her parents, Mary O’Reilly (c.1825-1902) and John Joseph Donellan Balfe (1816-1880) had married in Ireland in 1850.[1] In that same year, the couple left Ireland for Australia, where her father took a significant post as the assistant comptroller of convicts.[2]
Twelve years later Frances was born in Franklin, Tasmania on 11 August 1862[3] where her father was the local member for the Tasmanian House of Assembly, a role in which he was outspoken and often controversial.[4] However, tragedy struck the family with John Balfe’s sudden demise in December 1880 due to a stroke.[5] His death compelled the family to evaluate their circumstances. Living with her mother, and her sister, Katherine, at 23 Wellington (now Waterloo) Crescent in Battery Point, a suburb to the south of Hobart, Fanny embarked on a journey of creative self-discovery.
Mary Balfe, a schoolmistress at Battery Point Public School since the 1870s[6], encouraged Fanny’s burgeoning artistic talents. The local press recognised these talents when reporting on the 1881 Exhibition and Fancy Fair held in the Hobart Town Hall, organised to raise funds for the Catholic diocese:
“Conspicuous among the really excellent articles were a round table, prettily painted by Miss Balfe…”[7]
Faced with the prospects of becoming either a social butterfly, or marrying, or taking an occupation as an 18-year-old, Fanny deliberated on her immediate future and chose the latter. This decision was likely influenced by the family’s pressing need for income. The sudden passing of John Balfe, although he was the incumbent Legislative member for West Hobart, left uncertainty about whether he had a will, or if he had died intestate. Mary Balfe’s annual income as an educator amounted to £20 per annum[8] the equivalent to $22,300.00.[9] Fanny’s sister, Katherine, supplemented the family income by providing French lessons, though the fees for this service remain undisclosed.[10]
Roughly a year after Fanny completed the required period for mourning, the accomplished Misses Hall, Annie and Victoria, doyennes in the realms of art, painting and intricate fancy work in Hobart, announced their plans to initiate classes in early October of 1881.[11] It appears highly plausible that Fanny seized the opportunity to partake of these classes, which were held at the Hall’s residence located at 6 Grand View Terrace (now Hampden Rd) in St George’s Hill, conveniently close to Fanny’s own abode. Of the many offerings extended by Victoria Hall, one notable inclusion was Photographic Colouring at a fee of £4 4 shillings per quarter, the equivalent to approximately $742.07 AUD.[12]
Miss Balfe, c.1884/5. This simple, but striking, portrait of Fanny Balfe shows her strength of character. This portrait, identified as Balfe, was located in the Hall Family Papers at theTasmanian Archives.
Considering that Fanny and Victoria Hall moved in similar social circles, and despite the notable age difference—Hall being 42 and Fanny a mere 19—a connection between the two can be surmised. Furthermore, both women had another connection, the reality of recent paternal losses, the Halls having lost their father in July 1881[13], which suggests a shared need to turn their skills into generating income. Given this backdrop, it stands to reason that Fanny exhibited promise in photographic colouring. When Fanny considered her next step in life, it becomes plausible that Victoria Hall might have brought this opportunity to her attention.
The opportunity arose through advertisements in the Melbourne newspaper The Argus, in both November 1881 and October 1882. Aquila John Davis (1838-1885)[14], an English-born, Melbourne-based artist, photographer and colourist of considerable reputation, advertised an offer to teach the art of photographic colouring. Davis, then in his early 40s, had retired from full-time work as a photographer in late 1880. He closed his studio at 40 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, and opted to conduct his work from his home at 79 Webb Street in Fitzroy, an inner suburb of Melbourne.
The Argus, 12 November, 1881, pg 16. The Argus, 4 October, 1882, pg 1
Although the exact date of Fanny’s departure for Melbourne to train under Davis remains elusive, her return journey to Hobart, on 23 November 1882, was accompanied by a testimonial furnished by her instructor.[15] Armed with her training from both Victoria Hall and Aquila Davis, Fanny was favourably positioned when a new photographic studio emerged in Hobart—Riise and Barnett’s Elite Studio, which had opened at 42 Macquarie Street in July 1883.[16] In October, an advertisement indicated the studio required two young female apprentices to undertake retouching, spotting and colouring.[17] With testimonials to back up her claims as an expert colourist, Fanny likely secured one of the positions.
The studio, owned by Danish photographer Harald Riise and the Melbourne-born photographer Henry Walter Barnett (the latter subsequently became one of the early 20th Century’s preeminent photographers in the world), promised an exceptionally high standard of work.[18] This pledge naturally dictated an equally high calibre of staff.
Yet, the reality of working life went beyond painted pink rosebuds and happy clientele, or, for that matter, the contentedness of staff. On 26 August 1884, Fanny found herself in court as a witness in a case against her employer, Riise (Barnett had left in 1883). The plaintiff, Mr H. Eardmann, a fellow employee, artist and retoucher, had lodged a complaint against Riise. In her testimony, as reported in the press,[19] Fanny laid out the facts, offering a careful account of her observations. Six months later, in the aftermath of Riise’s disappearance and subsequent declaration of bankruptcy, Fanny Balfe embarked on self-employment.
The Mercury, 10 February 1885, pg 1
At the age of 22, Fanny became a breadwinner within her household, alongside her mother, who continued to derive income from her position as the headmistress of a local school. Over the preceding years, Fanny had honed her skills and was able to offer an impressive array of photographic colouring techniques. These included the meticulous application of oils, watercolours, crayons and assorted media for hand colouring, including Opal Work (aka Opalotypes). This technique was an innovative powder method to imbue paper with hues tailored for carte de viste or cabinet card photographs. Fanny had also embraced Chrystoleum photographs—a technique her colleague Victoria Hall had been teaching at Riise and Barnett’s Elite Studio throughout 1884.
In the subsequent 18 months, Fanny’s skills and reputation grew to a point where she was associated with the 1886 Mayor’s Annual Children’s Fancy Dress Ball.[20] Through the agency of a Hobart business establishment, T. L. Hood, Bookseller, which sold everything from books to footballs to Christmas cards, individuals could avail themselves of Fanny’s accomplished talents as a photographic colourist.[21] Fanny’s prowess as a photographic colourist garnered recognition from the inhabitants of Hobart, earning her an acknowledgment as:
“alady who has considerable ability at that kind of work.” [22]
It wouldn’t be until 1887 that the financial circumstance of the Balfe family, that is, Fanny’s mother, Mary Balfe, was brought to the attention of the Tasmanian Government.[23] Previously, in 1881, the Balfe Memorial Committee[24], which was set up to raise funds for a memorial statue, shifted from that plan and announced they would build a cottage for Mrs Balfe. This proved a problematic plan and instead they donated to her £150 (approximately $167,240.00[25]) of the funds raised and with the rest built the memorial. [26] A year later, an annual pension to be paid to Mrs Balfe was raised and within six or so weeks £60 per annum was appropriated for her in the Tasmanian Budget.[27]
Meanwhile, Fanny stepped away from her work as a photographic colourist as the pressing need for financial security had diminished. Mother and daughter then packed up, left Hobart behind and relocated to Launceston, where Fanny’s brother, the esteemed theatrical star Oscar Balfe, lived with his wife and children.
Free from the struggles that hinged on her finances, this move ushered in a phase of Fanny’s life in greater harmony with her social position. Much like her female counterparts within her social sphere, she actively participated in fundraising initiatives for various causes. However, it was her marriage in August 1900 to John Gregory Edwards (1841-1915),[28] a prominent newspaper proprietor from Bendigo in Victoria, that her potential came to the fore. As Mrs J. G. Edwards, she had financial resources, social standing, and, crucially, the determination to champion causes close to her heart.
Fanny was 77 years old when she died in 1939 at her home in Hobart[29] and over the past four decades, she had evolved into an unassailable force. Her work, dedicating herself to elevating the visibility of underprivileged children, women who were less fortunate than most, and those abandoned by society, was a passion she had acquired from her father. Stefan Petrow, reflecting on the work of Fanny and her colleagues, wrote that she:
“inherited her father’s lively tongue and desire to fight injustices”.[30]
Frances Meliora St Clare Balfe used her lived experience to better the lives of others, mirroring the way she had employed her artistic talents to better the life of her mother and siblings. Her employment, fuelled by her skills in photographic colouring, not only fostered her self-reliance and self-respect but also fuelled her desire to impart these notable attributes to others.
[2]L. L. Robson, ‘Balfe, John Donnellan (1816–1880), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Published first in hardcopy 1969, accessed online 22 May 2023.
[23] “Tasmanian Intelligence”, Launceston Examiner, 17 August 1887, pg 3. When a widow of a recently deceased Tasmanian public servant was being considered for a pension, the Tasmanian News claimed if Mrs Balfe has not yet received any such thing then no other widow should either.
[24] “Balfe Memorial Fund”, The Mercury, 5 February 1881, pg 1.
[26] “Tasmania. (From Our Own Correspondents)”, The Mercury, 3 September 1881, pg 3. The Fund’s decision to build a cottage for Mrs Balfe raised the problem that those who had already pledged money had done so for the erection of a memorial statue. In the end the Committe elected to use £70.00 for a memorial and they gave Mrs Balfe £150.00; Hutchison and Ploeckl, op. cit
[27] “The Assembly”, The Mercury, 27 October 1888, pg 1. The £60 pension would be an eqivalent income to approxiamately $62,360.00 in 2022 as per Hutchison and Ploeckl, op. cit
