This week I moved on to the "Bowls Club" box of old photos. This box contains mostly historic old photos of Tasmanian bowls clubs, especially the club that my Grand Father (Arch Stephenson) belonged to. I was expecting to see lots of photos of bowlers and maybe the odd one of Arch and his wife (my Grand Mother) and bowling partner Florence. Except I didn't. What I found was bowlers and Masons galore with nary a relative to add any interest. This was fast becoming the most boring box of glass plates and large format negatives that I had ever digitised.

Then I came across a picture of some family in front of their shack. I couldn't identify them or the location, until my Mother dropped by and instantly identified Florence and her family at their shack at Blackman's Bay, just south of Hobart.

A little further in the box revealed some studio test shots. When the photographers received new film or equipment they often tested it before using it for paid work. And this is how I get most of the pictures of my family. You see they didn't take a lot of their own family photos, that was the last thing on their minds after they knocked off work for the day. So these test shots are what I have.

So if you're into bowls, you will be delighted.

On the non-bowling front, the Port Arthur series is just about complete. Over a hundred historic photos of Port Arthur and surrounds. Convict relicts and even photographs of Port Arthur when it was a working prison. These are some of the oldest glass plates in our collection. You may have seen some of these images in museums or elsewhere, but these are the glass plates fully restored. There is plenty of detail and clarity in these old photographs.