Edwin Haviland

professional photographer, botanist and businessman, was born in Gloucestershire, England, on 20 July 1832. He came to Sydney in 1843. Listed as a photographer at 246 George Street in 1857 and at 341 George Street in 1858-59, Haviland specialised in coloured collodiotype portraits which, he advertised in 1857, 'for beauty of finish, colouring and durability are acknowledged to stand unrivalled'. His process, comparable to that of the sennotype, involved finishing hand-coloured photographs to make them look like painted miniatures on ivory. He described his techniques in an article, 'Process for a Hot Climate', published in the London Photographic and Fine Art Journal in October 1857, where he was identified as a member of the London Photographic Society. In May 1859 Haviland was declared insolvent and the contents of his photographic studio were auctioned. This seems to mark the end of his professional photographic career. He re-established himself as a merchant and became known for his interest in botany, becoming a fellow of the British Linnaean Society and a council member of the New South Wales branch. He published papers on botany in the 1880s. Haviland died in Sydney on 22 May 1908.

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