amateur photographer and teacher, came to Western Australia in the Shepherd on 4 August 1838 with Rev. William Mitchell, his second wife and their family, as governess to the children. On 19 December 1840 she married Henry Camfield at Perth. In July 1848 they moved to Albany, King George Sound, where Henry had been appointed government resident and postmaster-general. Annie Camfield conducted a Native School there from 1852 until March 1871, first at Middleton Beach, then in her own home, Annesfield. When illness forced her to discontinue classes, the school for Aboriginal children was moved to Perth. After Henry died in October 1872 Camfield returned to England.
A Mrs Camfield exhibited a photograph of Hali and his Sister in the South Australian section of the London International Exhibition in 1862. For this contribution to 'ethnological studies of the aborigines’, she was awarded an honourable mention (the only recipient of a prize in the South Australian photography section). No Camfield is known to have been working in South Australia at this time and the photographer must have been Annie, exhibiting in the South Australian Court for lack of official Western Australian representation in London.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
