photos and stories from the Powerhouse Museum
This is another image taken by the Sydney based photographer Henry King of the parade of the New South Wales Contingent through Sydney on their departure for the Sudan on 3 March 1885. It is taken from the same vantage point as the previous image and shows troops in dress uniforms with bayonets gleaming, marching down Oxford Street alongside Victoria Barracks. The contingent consisted of an infantry battalion of 522 men and 24 officers and an artillery battery of 212 men.
The colonial government had declared a public holiday and the public crowed every vantage point to watch the parade. Men and boys can be sitting on top of the high stone wall around Victoria Barracks and well dressed men, women, children and even a dog are pictured lining the road. At the time, the send-off was described as the most festive occasion in the colony’s history.
Post by Lynne McNairn, Digital Media
Photography by Henry King studio (85/1285-461)
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