Gillies, Alexander, 1891-1982: Photographs

Date: 1916-1919

From: Gillies, Alexander, 1891-1982: Photographs

Reference: PA1-o-1940

Description: Photograph album compiled by Alexander Gillies, relating to his service with the YMCA (New Zealand Young Men's Christian Association) in Egypt and Palestine during World War One, 1916-1919. A small envelope stuck inside front cover is addressed to Miss Gillies, YMCA, Moray Place, Dunedin. All prints include captions that identify locations and people. Contains 12 prints relating to a garden party for 3,000 convalescing soldiers at Ezbekiah Gardens labelled “I” to “XII”. Prints show crowds of soldiers in conversation, eating lunch, and watching or participating in games (egg and spoon race, sack race, donkey rides). Prints also show the Ezbekiah Garden YMCA centre in detail (band rotunda, notices, decorations, tables, and chairs, plants), and other people at event (local Egyptians, a table of "Lady Helpers"). The print labelled “XI” includes an inscription on reverse saying “lighthouse about a mile from camp”. Two other prints depicting Ezbekiah Gardens show the notice board and two men at the entrance. Eight prints relating to the “Command Depot” at Sidi Bishr are labelled “I” to “VIII”. One print depicts convalescent officers in Gillies' “P.T. Class” (possibly meaning physical therapy class) and one print labelled "My Instructors" showing six men doing exercises outside a hut. Four prints show larger groups of soldiers doing exercises and parading during a review by Sir Reginald Wingate. Two prints show Wingate talking to his Aide-de-Camp, Major Owen, Colonel Alston, and Gillies. Remaining prints show nine people outside a YMCA tent and "Devotional Hut" at Zeitoun, a running race labelled “Egyptian Race”, and a group portrait of a Pierrot Troupe at Helouan. Title supplied by Library Inscriptions: Album page - centre - To Lil From Effie & Alex July 12 1921 Inside front cover of album is address to "Lil". This is likely Alexander Gillies' older sister Lillias Gillies (born 1877). Quantity: 1 album(s) containing 33 b&w photographic prints. Physical Description: One photograph album bound in green cloth, 19.5 x 14cm

Date: 1916-1919 - 1923

From: Gillies, Alexander, 1891-1982: Photographs

Reference: PA1-o-1936

Description: Photograph album compiled by Alexander Gillies, relating to his service with the NZYMCA (New Zealand Young Men's Christian Association) in Egypt and Palestine during World War One, 1916-1919. Some prints include captions that identify locations, mainly well-known sites in Jerusalem. Images mainly relate to YMCA centres and events. 36 prints depict a garden party for convalescing soldiers at Ezbekiah Gardens. Prints show crowds of soldiers in conversation, eating lunch, and watching or participating in games (egg and spoon race, sack race, donkey rides). Prints also show women serving food or drinks, and the Ezbekiah Garden YMCA centre in detail (band rotunda, notices, decorations, tables and chairs, plants). Photographs taken on different occasions depict further views of the entrance, main stage, indoor areas, and visiting soldiers or YMCA workers. Eight prints show different unidentified YMCA performances, tents, huts, vehicles, and workers in Jerusalem as well as other unidentified locations. One hut is labelled "Whaler Past". Portraits of identified individuals include a baby possibly called "Myanoir", "Minerva Page. North Vancouver. 1923", and Gillies himself (bottom right, page 12, with moustache). A postcard with a portrait of six performers is labelled "The Lena Ashwell YMCA Concert Party Egypt". The identifiable signatures on reverse are: Sylvia De Gay, Grace lvell, Marjorie Ffrangcon-Davies, Yvette Pienne, and [?] Flint. The final name is obscured. Portraits of unidentified individuals include a woman holding a lizard, a woman patting a donkey, a young girl, two boxers, and various men in civilian dress or military uniforms. Group portraits include a Pierrot Troupe at Helouan, unidentified performers (possibly in Heliopolis), and many groups of unidentified soldiers. One portrait of soldiers is labelled "34". Gillies appears in group portraits on pages 21 and 26. Images also relate to both routine and unusual military events. Five prints depict Erich von Falkenhyan and Jamal Pasha in Jerusalem (inspecting troops, surveying land, meeting a little girl). Other images show solders in a trench "near Birshaiba", the interior of a "Fancy Store", and a priest conducting a funeral with a group of soldiers around a grave. The print is labelled "W. Sant". Prints depicting a sports day at "Mahomediya Hospital" show convalescing soldiers either watching or playing hockey, volleyball, basketball, croquet, and clock golf. Four prints show a 1918 water polo match in the sea at Alexandria (Abbassia versus Sidi Bishir). Images related to sightseeing mainly show groups of unidentified soldiers at well-known locations around Jerusalem. Locations depicted in Egypt include Memphis, and Philae. Five prints show Gillies and other soldiers (Roy Clack, C.W. Whitehair, Corporal Gas, W. Boyd) with Egyptian guides at the Sphinx and Pyramids at Giza. Seventeen tourist prints show ruins at Karnak and Luxor. Sites photographed in Cairo include the Zoological Gardens, Luna Park in Helipolis, and the Royal Entrance at Cairo Station. Five prints show multiple interior and exterior views of the Mosque of Muhammad Ali. Other images show street scenes, daily life, and unidentified local people in Cairo, Alexandria, Gaza, and Jerusalem. Subjects include local workers, their machinery and animals, a wedding procession, and church dignitaries with the Bishop of Jerusalem at his enthronement (1918). Waterway images show Felucca boats in a canal, "headwaters at the Pyramids", and an unidentified bay with a breakwater, possibly Alexandria or Port Said. Title supplied by Library Arrangement: Album has become unbound and pages are loose. They have been left in order of delivery. Quantity: 1 album(s) containing 190 b&w photographic prints. Physical Description: One photograph album consisting of 16 loose pages and broken binding, 25 x 31.5cm Processing information: Album pages have been numbered on each side (1-32) by Library.

Date: circa 1917-1927

From: Gillies, Alexander, 1891-1982: Photographs

Reference: PAColl-10555

Description: Comprises nine loose pages from an unidentified photograph album compiled by Alexander Gillies, circa 1917-1927. Material mainly relates to Gillies’ service in Egypt during World War One, a Summer School for Physical Education in Italy, and Gillies’ work at the Shropshire Orthopaedic Hospital. Some prints include captions that identify locations and individuals. Gillies himself is often marked with an ‘x’. Approximately 16 prints show scenes in Egypt circa 1917. Images taken near Aswan show a Bisharin man, children at an “Arab school”, the sluice gates at Aswan Dam, a Felucca boat, a tank in the sand, the train station at Shellal, and three views of a flood at Philae, including the partially submerged temple complex. Other material related to World War One includes a sequence of images showing the destruction and aftermath of a “viaduct blown up by Anzac Demolition Party”. Group portraits of unidentified individuals show nine soldiers in the entrance to a tent, soldiers and Egyptian guides with donkeys, and 13 soldiers at the “Virgin tree” (Tree of the Virgin, El Matareya, Cairo). Approximately 12 prints relate to a “Summer School for Physical Education” in Italy, 1921. Material includes five group portraits of staff and students. A portrait of a swimming class is captioned “Instructor A.G”. Remaining seven prints show staff and students doing group gymastics, including lunges and balance exercises with wooden poles. Approximately 19 prints relate to Gillies’ work with children and soldiers at the Shropshire Orthopaedic Hospital circa 1923-1925. Six prints show the hospital grounds and buildings, including the open-sided wards. Other prints show scenes inside the hospital including patients and staff in the wards, staff working in the kitchen, patients doing exercises or receiving physical therapy, and medical equipment (a gurney, prosthetic limbs being stored and created). Also includes a group portrait of six hospital staff, including Gillies. Other images of people include an undated portrait of Gillies standing in front of a tree, and images of Gillies with his Uncle Tom and Aunt Bella in Glasgow, 1921. Also contains two portraits of a cricket team, and two portraits of a football team. Gillies is identified in the football team. Images of buildings include photographic prints showing a farm house in Lancashire belonging to “Mrs. R. Fell”, and “The Clinic and the Kahler, Rochester, Minn". One colour photo-mechanical prints shows “St Mary’s Hospital, Rochester, Minn.” (circa 1927). Material related to Scotland includes two prints show the interior of historic domestic buildings. One is one labelled “Highland interior – Clachan of Aberfoyle”. Two photo-mechanical prints show the exterior of the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh. Arrangement: Pages left in order of delivery. Quantity: 58 b&w original photographic print(s). 2 b&w photo-mechanical print(s). 1 colour photo-mechanical print(s). Physical Description: Nine loose album pages containing 58 black and white photographic prints, and three photo-mechanical prints.

Date: 1923-1925

From: Gillies, Alexander, 1891-1982: Photographs

Reference: PA1-o-1973

Description: Photograph album compiled by Alexander Gillies, circa 1923-1925. Material relates to the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Stadium, sightseeing in London, and a “Medical Tour” throughout continental Europe. Most prints include captions that identify locations or individuals. Some prints have been removed from album. Approximately 35 prints relate to the British Empire Exhibition, 1924-1925. Images show the exterior of Wembley Stadium, a man-made canal, brass bands, and views of exhibition pavilions (India, Burma, Palestine, East Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, British Malaya, and the Canadian Pacific). Other images show members of the British and Italian royal families visiting the exhibition, including King George V leaving in a carriage. Other British royalty photographed at the exhibition are Queen Mary, Prince Henry, the Duchess of York (Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon), the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire (Victor and Evelyn Cavendish), and Prince Arthur of Connaught. Photographs of Italian royalty show the King and Queen of Italy (Victor Emmanuel III and Elena of Montenegro). Material related to sightseeing in London includes three sets of tourist photographs showing famous sites and buildings around London. Other commercially produced photographs show “The King’s State Coach” and preparations for a court procession in the Royal Mews. Also contains one printed postcard advertising “Ye Olde George Inn, Southwark". Approximately 55 prints relate to a “Medical Tour arranged by Students International Union July - August 1925”. Images show medical equipment, hospitals and infirmaries in Leiden, Vienna, and Paris, as well as patients receiving treatments, including an “appendectomy under local anaesthetic” and “tuberculous children living on roof of hospital”. Other images show well-known buildings, sites, statues, and views of the places Gillies visited. These include: Leiden (Town Hall, geese, river and windmills); Potsdam (Sanssouci Park, the Orangery Palace, the New Palace); Berlin (Charlottenburg Gate, Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Cathedral); Vienna (Rathaus, the Danube, museums and art galleries); Prague (public gardens); Paris (the Louvre, Versailles, Stade Pershing, "Statue to the Triumph of Medicine over Disease", "Grave of the Unknown Warrior"); Brussels (the Danube, Town Hall, Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula); Zurich (the Limmat); and Amsterdam (canals, Basilica of Saint Nicholas). Portraits of identified individuals include “Professor Barge, Leiden” and “Mrs Zoe Ashurst [Cawdry?] Club 20 Cavendish Square”. Other photographs of people show a sleeping toddler “left at the door of a public house while Mother gets a drink”, people queuing to see “Dr Fosdick at the City Temple” in London, and “street singers”. Quantity: 1 album(s) containing 118 b&w original photographic prints and one postcard. Physical Description: One photograph album containing 118 black and white photographic prints, and one postcard, 25 x 31.5 cm.

Date: 1903 - 1982

From: Gillies, Alexander, 1891-1982: Photographs

Reference: PAColl-10452

Description: A mounted group portrait of Alexander Gillies and two other unidentified classmates from Albany Street Public School taken by an unidentified photographer, 1903. Alexander Gillies is seated on right, wearing a dark suit with a high-collar. A flower is pinned to his jacket. The other boys are also wearing dark suits. One boy has a high-collar and bow tie, while the other has a sailor collar. Mount is signed by Owen James Hodge (Headmaster) and H.E. Stephens (Chairman). Also includes a newspaper clipping of Gillies’s death notice, which briefly outlines his military service. Title supplied by Library Inscriptions: Mat recto - above image - 1903. Albany Street Public School. First Class; Mat recto - beneath image - My Classmates; Mat recto - bottom centre - Good Attendance; Mat recto - bottom left - Awarded to Alexander Gillies Albany Street Public closed in closed in 1933. Quantity: 1 b&w original photographic print(s). 1 Newspaper(s) clipping. Physical Description: One envelope containing a newspaper clipping mounted on cardboard and one photograph, 22 x 27cm on mount.