ACT Heritage Library Manuscript Collections

HMSS 0363 Rupert Senior Photographic Collection

Scope and Content Notes

Call Number	0363
Collection	Rupert Senior Photographic Collection
Date Range	1920s-1964
Quantity	0.42m (1 manuscript box)
Access Conditions	open
Copying Conditions	with attribution
Related Collections

Flight Lieutenant Rupert Senior was posted to Canberra from mid-1940 to 1946 as one of two Meteorological Officers at Canberra Aerodrome. The second officer was Flight Lieutenant Reg Clarke, who lived next door. The two families lived in Boldrewood Street, Turner, overlooking the CS&IR, later CSIRO, experimental paddocks. The Met Officers alternated between home postings and away postings, mostly at bases in NSW and NT.

Rupert was, from his high school days, an avid photographer, doing all his own processing and taking an artisan’s view to the joys of photographic effects and experimenting with photographic paper. He was also fascinated by buildings and architecture, but, in Canberra, the emerging shape of the city, particularly as seen from the air, was his chief interest.

Other friends living in Boldrewood Street were the Hinder family. Margel and Frank Hinder are ranked among the influential artists of the Modern School in Australia, and were employed in Canberra during the years of the War to develop camouflage materials and identification kits for plane spotters. They worked in the basement of the Girls Grammar School. Margel later created the large aluminium sculpture in Woden Town Square.

The album was donated by Rupert’s daughter Judith, together with a brief history of the family. A typescript is included with the album.

The photographs belong to three main groups. None are specifically dated.

Rupert’s architectural interest is represented mainly by postcards of significant Canberra buildings, and by purchased photographs taken by R C Strangman. These typically date from the late 1920s to the early 1940s. Rupert also included some of his own photographs.

The second group is of the family and their home. While most of these were taken at ground level, there are some aerial photographs of Turner that identify the house in its surroundings. These date from 1940 to about 1945.

The third group is of Rupert’s aerial photographs, with a couple of what seem to be official photographs. It is possible that Rupert took these, but they do not conform to his usual style. The photographs in this group include buildings and suburbs under construction, and again date from 1940 to about 1945.

Box List

Image	Captions	Date	Size (cm)	Photographer
1	Old Parliament House, aerial view looking south to Red Hill; King George V Memorial in open ground, St Andrew’s Presbyterian church at upper left, St Christopher’s Roman Catholic Cathedral beyond		22.5 x 19	Rupert Senior
2	Parliament House, front view from the hill on the south bank of the Molonglo	Before George V	14 x 8.5	postcard
3	Old Parliament House and parliamentary precinct, aerial view northeast across Molonglo River flood plain to Anzac Park, Australian War Memorial and Mount Ainslie		13 x 10	Rupert Senior
4	Lombardy poplars and garden seats in interior courtyard, Old Parliament House		14 x 8.5	postcard
5	Old Parliament House, front facade from Senate end; drinking fountain and street sign identifying Parliament Square		14 x 8.5	postcard
6	Wisteria covered arbour and part of a fountain, interior courtyard, Old Parliament House		14 x 8.5	postcard
7	Old Parliament House, front view framed by conifers		14 x 8.5	postcard
8	Australian War Memorial, aerial view looking east to Canberra airport; the building is finished but no landscaping		21 x 16	Rupert Senior
9	Old Parliament House from the War Memorial steps, looking south through Anzac Park		11 x 8	Rupert Senior
10	Braddon, aerial view looking southeast across Haig Park to the Australian War Memorial		11 x 11.5	Rupert Senior
11	Australian War Memorial commemorative area; Inauguration Stone, Pool of Reflection and western cloisters		13 x 11.5	unknown
12	Australian War Memorial, front view with Mount Ainslie behind		11 x 8	Rupert Senior
13	Australian War Memorial, rear view looking southwest from Mount Ainslie		16 x 11.5	R C Strangman
14	Ainslie Primary School, aerial view looking northwest; Northbourne Oval at left, Haig Park upper right		13 x 11.5	Rupert Senior
15	Ainslie Primary School, frontage		14 x 8.5	postcard
16	Canberra High School, aerial view looking south; Institute of Anatomy behind the school, Canberra Hospital beyond the floodplain, Hotel Acton at mid left, Albert Hall, Hotel Canberra and West Block at upper left		13 x 12	Rupert Senior
17	Snow on the Brindabella Ranges, aerial view		13 x 9.5	Rupert Senior
18	View across rural ACT to snow-covered Brindabella Ranges		16 x 12	Rupert Senior
19	Telephoto view looking east across Royal Military College, Duntroon, to snow-covered Brindabella Ranges; staff housing visible on the lower slopes of Mt Pleasant at right		22 x 16.5	Rupert Senior
20	Cotter Dam spillway		14 x 8.5	postcard
21	View across rural ACT to snow-covered Brindabella Ranges		16 x 11.5	R C Strangman
22	Cotter Dam, aerial view from below the spillway into the catchment		16 x 11.5	R C Strangman
23	View across rural ACT to snow-covered Brindabella Ranges		11 x 7	Rupert Senior
24	Hotel Canberra, partly hidden by trees, looking northwest to Canberra Hospital, with the smoking chimney		16 x 11.5	R C Strangman
25	Beauchamp House		10.5 x 8	Rupert Senior
26	Hotel Civic		14 x 8.5	postcard
27	Hotel Ainslie, from Mount Ainslie looking southwest to Sydney and Melbourne Buildings, Civic		14 x 8.5	postcard
28	Government House, Yarralumla		14 x 8.5	postcard
29	Government House, Yarralumla		14 x 8.5	postcard
30	Prime Minister’s Lodge		14 x 8.5	postcard
31	Prime Minister’s Lodge, with sheep		14 x 8.5	postcard
32	Canberra Post Office, Queen Victoria Terrace, Parkes		14 x 8.5	postcard
33	St Andrew’s Presbyterian Cathedral, Forrest		14 x 8.5	postcard
34	Institute of Anatomy (Dr Clements, director)		10.5 x 8	Rupert Senior
35	Albert Hall, Yarralumla		14 x 8.5	postcard
36	Institute of Anatomy, Acton		10.5 x 8	Rupert Senior
37	Australian War Memorial, view from southwest, with bus stop and seats		14 x 8.5	postcard
38	Kings’ Hall, Old Parliament House		14 x 8.5	postcard
39	House of Representatives chamber, Old Parliament House		14 x 8.5	postcard
40	Bass Gardens, foreground, aerial view looking northeast across Griffith; Manuka Circle and Manuka shops at top		13 x 10	Rupert Senior
41	Forrest, aerial view looking northeast from the intersection of Monaro Crescent and Flinders Way; Bass Gardens centre, Manuka Circle and Telopea Park at top right, Collins Park top left		13 x 10	Rupert Senior
42	Manuka, aerial view looking east along Canberra Avenue; St Christopher’s Primary School in foreground, St Christopher’s Cathedral beyond, Manuka Oval at left, Capitol Theatre and Manuka shops centre and right, St Paul’s Anglican church upper middle, Hotel Kingston to left of Canberra Avenue		20 x 15	Possibly R C Strangman
43	Manuka, aerial view looking southwest along Telopea Park to Manuka Oval and shops to Forrest and Red Hill		6 x 6	Rupert Senior
44	Civic, aerial view looking northwest along London Circuit towards Turner, showing early plantings on City Hill and London Circuit; western side of Melbourne Building still under construction; Canberra Club to left of Melbourne Building		17.5 x 14	unknown
45	Central Canberra, aerial view looking southwest along Edinburgh Avenue; Canberra High School beyond the oval at centre right, Institute of Anatomy at top right, Hotel Acton to left of Edinburgh Avenue, Roman Catholic Archbishop’s residence centre left, early plantings in Commonwealth Park, Commonwealth Avenue Bridge at top left		24.5 x 19.5	Official aerial survey?
46	Civic, aerial view looking northeast; Melbourne and Sydney Buildings flanking Northbourne Avenue and facing London Circuit, Canberra Club far left, Bureau of Census and Statistics at centre left, Hotel Civic across Northbourne Avenue with Civic Theatre behind Hotel Civic, RSL Club		21 x 15.5	Rupert Senior
47	Colonnades of the Melbourne Building, Alinga Street, Civic, outside R A McKillop, Stock and Station Agents, looking east towards the Post Office; Recruiting Office at left in old Census and Statistics building		11 x 8	Rupert Senior
48	Colonnades of the Sydney Building, outside the Capitol Cafe, East Row, Civic, with Rosemary Senior and Mrs Lorna Senior, left		11 x 8	Rupert Senior
49	Ainslie and Reid, aerial view looking south; Haig Park, Northbourne Oval and Civic at centre right, Mount Ainslie at left		13 x 10	Rupert Senior
50	Reid and Civic, aerial view looking west along Ainslie Avenue; Northbourne Avenue from City Hill at left to Haig Park at right, Black Mountain at upper right		13 x 10	Rupert Senior
51	Civic and Reid, aerial view looking east to Australian War Memorial; Canberra Club lower centre, Melbourne and Sydney Buildings beyond, Hotel Civic and Civic Theatre to left of Alinga Street, St John’s church at upper right		21 x 15	Rupert Senior
52	Melbourne Building, Northbourne Avenue, Civic; old Census and Statistics building beyond		16 x 11.5	R C Strangman
53	Turner, aerial view with Boldrewood Street and stormwater drain in foreground, Hackett Gardens centre left, McCaughey Street at right, Haig Park and stormwater drain in the background		12.5 x 9	Rupert Senior
54	Turner, aerial view with Boldrewood Street and stormwater drain in foreground; the Senior house of red brick is in the centre of Boldrewood Street (5^th from left)		11 x 9	Rupert Senior
55	Turner, aerial view with Boldrewood Street and stormwater drain diagonally across foreground, Haig Park at upper right; Hinder’s house at left hand end of Boldrewood Street		11 x 9	Rupert Senior
56	Turner, aerial view looking southeast to Civic, Boldrewood Street at right, Haig Park at left		11 x 9	Rupert Senior
57	Turner, aerial view looking southeast to Civic, Boldrewood Street at right, Haig Park at left	Later than image 56	13 x 10	Rupert Senior
58	Senior house, then 27 Boldrewood Street, now possibly number 59		11.5 x 9	Rupert Senior
59	Rosemary Senior sitting on the front step of their house, Boldrewood Street, Turner		9.5 x 9	Rupert Senior
60	Senior house, Boldrewood Street, Turner		11 x 10	Rupert Senior
61	Rear of the Senior house, Boldrewood Street, Turner		6 x 6	Rupert Senior
62	Dahlias growing beside the Senior house, Boldrewood Street, Turner; printed in reverse		10.5 x 8	Rupert Senior
63	View from front of Senior house, Boldrewood Street, Turner, across CS&IR Paddocks		10.5 x 8	Rupert Senior
64	Newly developed garden, Senior house, Boldrewood Street, Turner		11 x 9	Rupert Senior
65	Newly developed garden at front of Senior house, Boldrewood Street, Turner		8.5 x 6	Rupert Senior
66	Dahlias in newly developed garden, Senior house, Boldrewood Street, Turner		11 x 6.5	Rupert Senior
67	Newly developed garden at front of Senior house, Boldrewood Street, Turner		11.5 x 9	Rupert Senior
68	Australian War Memorial from the rear; matte print		20 x 15	Rupert Senior
69	Australian War Memorial from the rear; gloss print, duplicate of number 68		18 x 14.5	Rupert Senior
70	Commemorative Area, eastern cloisters and dome, Australian War Memorial		13 x 8.5	Rupert Senior
71	VIP welcome at Canberra Aerodrome; Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt, centre, 4 July 1943	4/09/1943	21 x 16	Unknown; possibly Rupert Senior
72	Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt steps down from her aeroplane at Canberra Aerodrome, 4 July 1943	4/09/1943	22 x 17	Unknown; possibly Rupert Senior
73	Sunderland Flying Boat, in the air above a coastline		22 x 18	Rupert Senior
74	Sydney Harbour, aerial view of the Harbour Bridge, Bennelong Point and Government House		25 x 20	Rupert Senior
75	Canberra High School and University Avenue, aerial view looking south; Beauchamp House to left rear, Institute of Anatomy at right rear		16 x 14.5	Rupert Senior
76	Canberra High School from University Avenue		13.5 x 11	Rupert Senior
77	St Gabriel’s Girls’ Grammar School (Canberra Girls’ Grammar School)	1920s	14 x 9	Valentine-Palamountain postcard series no. 287
78	Looking southeast down Boldrewood Street, Turner, to Civic, from Hinder’s house on the corner		13.5 x 8.5	Rupert Senior
79	Judy and Rosemary Senior at Cotter Dam		13.5 x 11	Rupert Senior
80	View across rural ACT to snow-covered Brindabella Mountains		11.5 x 9	Rupert Senior
81	Looking west to Brindabella Mountains		11.5 x 7.5	Rupert Senior
82	Reid, aerial view looking northeast from Constitution Avenue, lower right, over the Glebe to the Australian War Memorial; Ainslie Avenue at left		11 x 8	Rupert Senior
83	Old Parliament House precinct; National Rose Gardens flank the site works for King George V Memorial in front of Parliament House; Hotel Canberra at upper right		10 x 7.5	Rupert Senior
84	Royal Military College Duntroon; aerial view looking northwest across the parade ground and cadet barracks to Black Mountain	1944	24.5 x 19.5	Rupert Senior
85	Frost-rimmed leaves of a hedge, Boldrewood Street, Turner		15 x 11	Rupert Senior
86	Judy, Lorna, Rosemary Senior, Christopher at front, under the prunus on University Avenue		12 x 9.5	Rupert Senior
87	Cotter Dam spillway		6 x 6	Rupert Senior
88	Sullivans Creek between Turner and Civic		11 x 8	Rupert Senior
89	Institute of Anatomy, aerial view of facade and landscaping (loose photograph inside back cover)		21 x 16	Rupert Senior