Comfort and Sparkes family

Photographs relating to the Comfort and Sparkes family of Wellington and their vacations, 1927-1972. Photographs taken by a range of unidentified photographers. Many photographs are captioned on the back of the print in various hands and loose album pages have typed captions underneath the photographs.

Featured people are Frederick Comfort and his wife Esme Comfort (née Sparkes), Mr and Mrs Sparkes (Esme's parents), and Dan Sparkes (Esme's brother). Also includes a photograph of two people, possibly Comfort's parents, at Diamond Harbour, Lyttelton. Group portraits show Frederick Comfort and his classmates in the 1927 Standard IV class and the 1930 Standard V-VI class at Miramar South School as well as a group photograph from the school's 50th Jubilee. A dog sits in the front row with the children in the 1930 portrait. Another informal portrait, taken in the school grounds in 1931, shows Comfort [in Scout's uniform?] and another unidentified boy [in cadet uniform?]. Esme (at 12 years old) and Dan Sparkes are photographed outside a Seatoun Heights house; and "Mum Pop and Dan [Sparkes]" are photographed on a [Wellington?] beach.

Holiday and recreation photographs feature the Bay of Plenty and Wellington regions. Photographs include "Dad" and Esme (the front end of a pantomime horse) at Hongi's Track (1939); unidentified Māori boys at Ohinemutu (1939); bridge at Whakarewarewa (1940); Bentley [family?] and Comfort family's Dannevirke campsite and cars (1947); cars on the roadside at Fitzgerald Glade (1948) [Tukorehe Scenic Reserve]; Esme Comfort at gate to Whakarewarewa Pa (1951); camping [breakfast?] interior scene at Kennedy Park [Napier?] (1951); caravan at Paraparaumu Motor Camp (1957) with teenagers "Bruce and Jenny" standing beside car; campsite on shore of Lake Waikaremoana; Comfort and others with dead boar during pig hunting trip in Ruahine Ranges (1957); an unidentified group stand outside hut in Tararua Valley [tramping?]; three boys, including Rex Milward, by a yacht on Petone Beach in an image captioned "Heretaunga Boating Club"; and unidentified boys and yachts on Worser Bay beach. Also includes group on trip to Titahi Bay beach and three boys, including William Rigg and Comfort, leaning on a car at Worser Bay (1933).

Quantity: 37 photograph(s) with 10 prints stuck to two unbound album pages. 3 item(s) of photographic ephemera.

Physical Description: Silver gelatin photoprints, some of which are stuck to loose album pages

Transfers: Slides originally held in annotated envelopes are to be found at PA12-11546.