A collection of 15 glass negatives which recently came to light has been developed and forms a small display in Manly Library. The images proved to be of Manly Ocean Beach, Shelly Beach, and Fairy Bower, and evidently date from circa 1905-1910. One of the images shows a father and his two girls in front of a house named Ossory, since demolished, which was at the top of Darley Road, near the Cardinal's Palace. The owner of Ossory was a Mr Thomas Fitzgerald, which makes it likely that the photographs were taken by a member of his family, though we don't know for sure.
Two of the images show one of the young Misses Fitzgerald in the back garden of Ossory, with a view over to St Patrick's Seminary. The remainder of the images appear to have been taken on a day when Manly was in holiday mood. One image shows a motor launch for hire at Fairy Bower, with a long queue of eager trippers waiting to go on board for a 20-minute journey, presumably to Shelly Beach. The long dresses of the women must have been in danger of a soaking. Another image shows bathers at South Steyne, some of whom are perched on top of a ramshackle diving board in the middle of the surf: you'd have to time your dive just right or you would be in trouble. The detail of costume in some of the images is very good, and the collection as a whole has a real period charm.
