Barcroft Capel Boake

Barcroft Capel Boake (12 November 1838 – 1921) was an Australian photographer. He is most famous for his mosaic of the New South Wales Contingent produced in 1885 which represents the soldiers returned from the war in Sudan.

Personal life

Barcroft was born in Dublin, Ireland on 12 November 1838, the son of Barcroft Boake, DD. Boake migrated after seeking advice from his cousin who was rector of Holy Trinity Church, Balaclava, Victoria. He moved to Melbourne, Victoria in the 1850s, and then moved on to live in Sydney in 1858. He arrived with some experience and knowledge of photography and worked at Freeman's studio in Sydney for many years. In 1865 he married Florence Eva Clark at St John's Church Darlinghurst, Sydney and they both moved to Vergemont cottage in Waterview Bay, Balmain. After a time working for Freeman Brothers he set up a photographic studio at 330 George St, Sydney which he ran until he was declared bankrupt. Quote box "Barcroft Boake Junior inherited from his father a poetical brain...which refined is conception to a pitch of genius...Had he lived...had fortune favored, Boake might easily have won recognition as the foremost poet of Australia." B.C. Boake's son Barcroft Henry Thomas Boake was born in Vergemont cottage, Balmain, on 26 March 1866. This was the year B.C. Boake left Freeman's studio to set up his own business. His son was a talented poet who left home at the age of 17, and after struggling with bouts of depression was found dead in 1892, after returning to his father's home. By this time B.C. Boake was bankrupt and he was a widower.Quote box "Barcroft Capel Boake was one of our best photographers. He was a fine man. He did not deserve what life did to him." He was 83.

Photography career

After migrating to Australia, Barcroft Capel Boake spent the majority of his working life in Sydney. Capel practised in many different photographic printing and developing techniques. The heliograph and the instantaneous process were ways Boake was able to maintain the fine art quality of his execution. The competitors from other local studios moved to larger prints, while Boake maintained his artistic reputation, working on finer photographs.