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professional photographer, was born in Gelderland, Holland. He migrated to New South Wales in 1854 and was on the Sofala goldfields until the early 1860s then went into partnership with the Sydney photographer Henry Hunt. On 2 February 1864, Hunt and Gorus advertised in the Sydney Morning Herald that 'the PARTNERSHIP hitherto subsisting between the Undersigned, as Photographic Artists, expired by effluxion of time on the 28th January, 1864’. In fact, the previous day Gorus alone had advertised four cartes-de-visite for 10 shillings, having already opened his own studio at 101 King Street.

Gorus continued to advertise cdvs of varying quantities and prices as well as 'diamond cameos’ (giving four views of the face) until 2 July 1866. Then two shops in King Street were destroyed by fire and Gorus’s adjacent first floor gallery was considerably damaged by water. Fortunately, reported the Herald , it was insured for £400. Ironically, the same issue of the newspaper carried Gorus’s advertisement for 'a new and commodious Gallery, in which he has the light so arranged, that he will be able to take portraits unsurpassed by any other establishment in Sydney’. When publicly thanking the firemen and gentlemen who had helped save his property, Gorus wrote that he had received only £25 for loss of chemicals since his recent improvements had not been covered. Business resumed on 6 July.

The following year Gorus was advertising 'Cabinet portraits in Water Colours and Plain, unsurpassed by any Photographer in Sydney’ at two for 10 shillings. He remained at the King Street studio until 1891 and seems to have prospered. He was advertising for an assistant operator and printer on 28 May 1867, 'also, a respectable and intelligent lad’. Numerous cdv portraits survive, including several of Rev. John Dunmore Lang and others of various Campbelltown residents (most in private hands). A major photographic work was a mosaic portrait of the members of the eighth New South Wales Parliament. He also photographed at least one, possibly all, of the illuminated addresses that Lewis Steffanoni had decorated, obviously as a record (the books are still in the family) but probably also to sell to those who contributed towards the presentation as a memento.

Gorus lived at St Peter’s, where he was an alderman in the early 1870s. In 1878 he purchased the Eshcol Park estate at Campbelltown as his private residence. He was active on local school boards and in other community affairs, becoming an alderman on Campbelltown Municipal Council in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Gorus sold Eshcol Park in 1902 and moved to Parramatta, where he died on 7 July 1916. His wife, Elizabeth, had died in October 1893.

Writers:

Liston, Carol

Date written:

1992

Last updated:

2011