Where Practised: Chandler & Co, Wallaroo (1919-1920); VanDyck, King William St, Adelaide, SA (1920-1922); Rembrandt, King William St, Adelaide (c1922 to 1935); Blodwen Thomas Photographers, 3rd Flr, Industrial Building, cnr 86 GIlbert Place and 55 King William St, Adelaide, SA (1937-1965).
Agnes Blodwen “Wyn” Thomas, was the second daughter of Evan Thomas and Agnes Jane Watson.[1] She was born on August 11, 1892, at Compton Downs near Mount Gambier, South Australia, where her father served as Head Teacher.
Evan Thomas’s profession in education meant the family often had to move. They spent several years moving throughout South Australia, settling in various towns where they sometimes welcomed new additions to their family. Their eldest child, Lorna, Blodwen’s elder sister was born in 1890 in Compton Downs. In 1893, the family moved to Port Broughton, and then, in 1897, to Riverton, where their third daughter, Elvira “Vi” Beatrice was born. Their first son, Evan Watson, was born in November 1900, in Naracoorte,[2] but sadly died in Norwood nearly a year later. A second son, Idris David, known as “Tom”, was born in 1904.
A cabinet card portrait of Blodwen Thomas’s mother, Agnes Jane Thomas c.1900. Courtesy Judith Bunney
The three Thomas sisters. From left: Blodwen, Vi and standing is Lorna, c1900. Courtesy Judith Bunney
In 1908, the family returned to Riverton before relocating to Wallaroo in 1911 and then to Gawler in 1913.[3] The family stayed in Gawler until Evan’s retirement in 1927, after which they purchased a home at 15 Avenel Gardens Rd in Medindie, an inner northern suburb of Adelaide, and settled permanently.[4]
Blodwen’s move away from the family came when she went to study photography with a Wallaroo photographer,[5] boarding with the Harman family during this period. Although no record exists of her attending art school, she was also skilled in embroidery and china painting, and examples of her work still survive today.[6]
This fruit bowl, expertly painted by Thomas, exhibits an appreciation of symmetry in a relaxed style. c1930. Courtesy Judith Bunney
This beautiful example of embroidery shows Blodwen Thomas’s steady hand and eye for detail. Image courtesy of Bronwen Blight
In 1915 Wyn was in Adelaide, boarding with the Kitson family on Barton Terrace. Her sister Vi was there too, studying at Adelaide High School. Wyn also stayed with her grandmother, Agnes ‘Gran’ Watson who was a formative influence. Another influential figure was her uncle, Gomer Thomas, who frequently took Wyn to the Art Gallery of South Australia. He also shared his interests in art and music with the whole family, before and after his army service during World War I.
According to Vi, Blodwen taught lower grades at Prince Alfred College for a period and is believed to have taken the photograph of the school gates featured on the cover of one of the school’s anniversary publications.[7]
The cover of the book Prince Alfred College : The Story of the First Eighty Years 1869-1958, by J. F. Ward, OBE, MA, Gillingham & Co, Ltd Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 1951. A black and white version of Blodwen’s photograph appears opposite page 84. Photoria Collection
The exact date of her first collaboration with photographer Stanley Withrington Stump is unknown. However, Blodwen worked at the Van Dyck Studio,[8] where Stump also worked before leaving in October 1920 to establish Rembrandt Studio on King William Street. She was certainly at Rembrandt Studio shortly afterward. Although it may be difficult to identify specific “Rembrandt” photographs as her work, those signed by her are definitively hers, and many portraits—particularly of family members—are likely her work as well.[9]
As confirmed by Vi, Blodwen was poorly treated by Stump, who assigned her to do all of the night work and, unlike her male colleague Murphy, did not pay her for photographing people in their homes until she specifically requested compensation.[10]
After Blodwen’s father died in 1933, her mother mortgaged the family home in 1937 [11] to help her establish a photography studio. That same year, Blodwen declined offers from Stump and Dickinson Monteith, and instead purchased Davies Gray’s Studio, located on the third floor of the Industrial Building at 55 King William Street (also known as 56 Gilbert Place, as it was located on the corner). Stump was reportedly furious when Blodwen left Rembrandt Studios to launch her own business, Blodwen Thomas Studio.
The Industrial Building, c1900s. State Library of South Australia: B 2037
From 20 March, 1937, Blodwen’s portraits began appearing in the local press, particularly in The Advertiser, The News, and The Mail, credited under the name “Blodwen Thomas.” [12]
Over the years, the studio employed at least 34 staff members,[13] and a group photograph shows 10 of them together.[14] The longest-serving employee was retoucher Gwen Whittle (1937–1965), who had been engaged to Blodwen’s brother, Tom, before he died. Laurel “Snow” Thomas, the daughter of her cousin Ivor, also worked at the studio. Many of the employees were young women who eventually left to marry, resulting in considerable staff turnover in the course of the studio’s 28-year history.[15]
A group photo of some of the Blodwen Thomas Studio staff thought to be taken around 1948. Some staff have been identified. Courtesy Judith Bunney
Blodwen Thomas staff lists. Courtesy Judith Bunney
Helen Godlee, one of the employees, recalled with fondness a moment that occurred more than 50 years earlier, when Blodwen praised her retouching work on a photograph, saying, “That’s very good. That can go in the window,” referring to the display window on Gilbert Place. Later, on 11 September, 1948, a classified ad in The Advertiser read: “PHOTOGRAPHS professionally coloured by H. M. Godlee, late of Blodwen Thomas Studios. 58 Barker Rd., Prospect M2979, after 6:30 p.m.”[16]
During World War II, many service women and men, along with regular clients, visited the studio. Numerous letters of appreciation pay tribute to Blodwen’s photography, highlighting her work as a treasured memorial. Several of her portraits are featured in the Australian War Memorial collection.[17]
Blodwen Thomas continued working at her studio in the Industrial Building until her retirement in 1965. In 1966, a business named Rembrandt Blodwen Thomas began operating from the same address. Unfortunately, several pieces of studio furniture were auctioned in September 1990, without reference to their provenance.
Blodwen and Vi shared a lifelong, close companionship, sharing a bedroom at their home in Medindie and dreaming of travelling the world together once they retired. Unfortunately, by the time they retired, their older sister Lorna was in poor health and needed constant care until her death in 1979. Blodwen’s sudden death at the Royal Adelaide Hospital on 8 December, 1975 was a terrible blow for Vi and deeply saddened all who knew her. The Medindie house was eventually sold in 1991, just before Vi’s death in 1992.
A Personal Postscript by Judith Bunney
Agnes Blodwen “Wyn” Thomas and my mother, Margaret Myfanwy “Peg” Gibson (née Thomas), were double cousins, which created a very close bond between our families. After my mother died at the age of 48 on 6 May, 1952, Wyn and her sisters, Lorna and Vi, became like mothers to me and my sister Pat. [18]
For Pat and me, visiting the city often included taking a ride up in the rickety lift to Aunty Wyn’s studio, with its big lights and camera, friendly staff, and a balcony from which we could watch the passing parade on King William Street and also gather annually for a privileged view of Johnnie’s Christmas Pageant. The third-floor studio in the Industrial Building was a captivating place: bustling in the workroom yet serene in the studio itself, which was furnished to enhance the photographs taken by Wyn, often hidden under a dark cloth behind the large camera and tripod. She had a remarkable talent for relaxing her subjects and kept a collection of toys to entertain or distract the younger sitters. Several of her loveliest portraits feature her goddaughter, Rosalind Bevan, taken over the years. [19]
Outside of work, Wyn was an enthusiastic gardener and an active member of the Soroptimist Society. One of the fondest childhood memories for many—whether related or not—was visiting the “Medindie Aunts.” Serious Lorna, charming Wyn, and playful Vi greeted us with love, toys, and delicious food. Their beautiful home was filled with fascinating old furniture, paintings, treasures, and pictures of their beloved brother, Tom, who had tragically died at the age of 27 from typhoid fever. I was married from their home on 18 December, 1954, with Rhonda Buckley from the studio taking weddings photographs under Wyn’s guidance. [20]
Endnotes
[1] Evan Thomas and his brother Gomer arrived in South Australia from Wales as young boys. They married sisters Agnes Jane Watson and Jessie Elizabeth Watson, both born on Kanyaka Station in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges
[2] On 29 September, 1903, the Naracoorte Herald reported on a charming farewell speech given by 11-year-olds Mollie Attiwill and Blodwen Thomas to Miss Melbourne, a beloved teacher retiring from the school at which Evan Thomas was employed at the time.
[4] A photo shows Blodwen’s sister Lorna in the front garden at the family home in Medindie.
[5] Vi recalled that the name of the photographer was Jones, but there is a photo of Blodwen taken by Chandler in Wallaroo c.1914.
[6] It is believed by the family that another very beautiful bowl, hand painted with roses, by Blodwen, was given to the State Library of South Australia by Blodwen’s goddaughter Rosalind Bevan, along with many photographs.
[7]Prince Alfred College by J. F. Ward 1951 (Pulford, Kate PAC 2024)
[8] Photograph of Blodwen’s mother, Agnes Jane Watson, c.1920. It is signed Van Dyck Adelaide in Blodwen’s handwriting.
[9] In the hundreds of photos in newspapers and magazines of the 1920s and ’30s, as well as studio studies, it is tempting recognise Blodwen’s hand and eye. The credits from her studios vary from Stump Rembrandt, Rembrandt, Blodwen Thomas Rembrandt, and Blodwen Thomas, with no clear date sequence.
[10] Even under the award rate of pay that covered Blodwen Thomas Studio in 1942, male employees earned nearly double the salaries of their female counterparts, as per The South Australian Government Gazette, 22 October,1942
[13] Between 1937 and 1965, some of the staff at the Blodwen Thomas Studio included: Gwen Whittle (Retoucher), Laurel “Snow” Thomas, Dulcie Adelaide Bath (Receptionist), Winifred Joyce Jenner (Retoucher), Helen Godlee (Retoucher), Ruth Synett or Symet, Barb Thompson, Marg Weyland or Weylandt, Dulcie Steer, Ida Hanks, Una Lavis, Barb Bishop, Teddy Hig, Pat Small, Pat Symonds, Rhonda Buckley, Rhon Marchant, Jean Aldenhaven, Jean Taylor, Dulcie Bolk, Marg Pynor, Gwen Arthur, Mrs Hammond, Dorothy Colliver, Barb Wooley, Rosemary Powell, Jean Cockington, Brenda Lock, Bert Ludgate, Helen Ward, Fay Binns, Pat Dean, Barb Bishop, and Pat Whisson.
[15] On 7 April, 1947, The Advertiser ran a classified employment ad: “GIRL, with mounting experience, or one willing to learn. Blodwen Thomas Studio.” On 30 July, 1947 another ad stated: “RETOUCHER. BLODWEN THOMAS STUDIO. King William St., requires Finished retoucher for full time or piecework.” Finally, on 29 January, 1953, an ad read: “PHOTOGRAPHY. Blodwen Thomas Studio, 55 King William Street requires FULLY QUALIFIED RETOUCHER.”
[18] The sisters played the same role in the lives of cousin Ivor Thomas’s daughters, Annette and Laurel, after the passing of their mother, Gladys (née Harman) on 17 September, 1950.
