Glass plate negative - Members of vice-regal party standing around three Dort cars, central Australia, photographed by Herbert Basedow, 1923

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Type: Glass plate negatives
Date: 1923
Place: Central Australia, Australia; Depot Sandhills, Northern Territory, Australia; Arltunga Goldfield Historical Reserve, Northern Territory, Australia; Oodnadatta, South Australia, Australia; Terowie Station, South Australia, Australia; Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia; Hamilton Creek Bore, South Australia, Australia; Horseshoe Bend, Northern Territory, Australia; Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; Charlotte Waters, Northern Territory, Australia; Central Mount Stuart, Northern Territory, Australia; Hermannsburg, Northern Territory, Australia
Materials: Glass, Photographic emulsion
Collection: Dr Herbert Basedow collection
Accession number: 1985.0060.2783.001

Description

Black and white glass plate negative showing members of the vice-regal expedition to central Australia in 1923 with their cars.

Members of the vice-regal expedition to central Australia in 1923: (from left) Herbert Basedow, Captain Hambleton (aide-de-camp to the governor), Murray Aunger the owner of the three modified Dort four-cylinder cars used for the expedition, Sir Tom Bridges (Governor of South Australia), William Webb (Chief Commissioner of the South Australian Railways), Sir Henry Barwell (Premier of South Australia), Thomas McCallum (Member of the Legislative Council of South Australia) and Norris Bell (Commonwealth Railways Commissioner). Taken by an unknown photographer using Basedow's camera at an Unknown place. Reproduced from a glass plate negative. Governor Bridges was keen to encourage the opening up of Central and Northern Australia by building a north-south railway, and decided to inspect the region himself. The expedition left Adelaide by train on 15 June 1923 for Oodnadatta, and collected the cars at Terowie. The party drove to Alice Springs via Hamilton Bore, Charlotte Waters, Horseshoe Bend, and the Depot Sandhills. Side trips were made from Alice Springs to Central Mount Stuart, the Arltunga Goldfields, and Hermannsburg Mission, before the group once again entrained for the return trip to Adelaide on 5 July 1923, after covering 2300 kilometers.

Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 5:52:58 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2026-09-30. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.