Historical information

This is a photograph of Samuel Smith, aged 92, with his dog outside his home, Gloucester House, near Cann River. He was the keeper at CapeEverard (Point Hicks) for five years.He retired from the lighthouse position in 1904. His life story was written in The Snowy River Mail, Orbost, Wednesday Evening – 27 January 1937 as "LIFE STORY OF SAMUEL SMITH".
He was born in Gloucestershire in 1844 and died in 1937 at the the Orbost Hospital. There was an obituary in The Argus (Melbourne) on Saturday 18 February, 1939.

Significance

Samuel Smith, of Noorinbee, East Gippsland, was the last survivor of the original crew of the frigate Victoria, the first vessel of the old Victorian Navy. When the Victoria arrived in Melbourne in 1861 after having landed soldiers in New Zealand for the Maori War, the crew was given a civil reception, and each member was presented with a sovereign in honor of the birth of the Victorian Navy.

Physical description

A black / white photograph of a bearded elderly man sitting and holding a cane. A dog is sitting at his knee. The photograph has ben taken outside in a garden.

Inscriptions & markings

on back - "Samuel Smith, Head Lighthouse Keeper at C. Everard, retired 1904"