The Harden-Murrumburrah Historical Society holds this photograph taken by Joseph Check depicting the War Bonds Tank on the 18th of April 1918 in Neill Street, Harden.
A researcher, on all things ‘Check’, has approached the society to scan the War Bonds Tank photo. The researcher is on the look-out for a photograph taken by Check at a Christmas family reunion in 1926 at the Carrington Hotel in Harden. The information came from a newspaper article that declared Check took a photograph at the event. The family names connected with the reunion of about fifty relatives were: Staniforth, Frater, King, Whybrow, McDonald, Summerfield, Martin, Thurbon, McRae and Rogers. A descendant of any of these families may hold a copy.
Online, a large collection of Check’s work can be found. The collection, titled ‘European History of the Richmond River’ holds information about his work and several of his other pieces of work.
Buildings in our region were designed and built by our forefathers/mothers are important pieces of history and deserve respect/care, and should be included in the local education of our students to ensure that history isn’t lost through the spoken word.
This week, residents of the Twin Towns were shown more disrespect by Council that treats them with disdain.
The following media release was put out. “Hilltops Council is continuing to progress the reinstatement of the Harden Administration Building, with key milestones achieved in the tender and assessment process.
A Request for Tender for the reinstatement works was released on 31 March 2026 and closed on 13 May 2026.
Following the close of tenders, Council’s Tender Evaluation Committee (TEC) undertook a detailed assessment of submissions in accordance with the prescribed evaluation process. A preferred tenderer was subsequently identified and a Tender Evaluation Report prepared.
The report and supporting documentation were then provided to Council’s insurance provider for review as part of the insurance assessment process.
Following its review, the insurer requested additional information relating to the tender submissions. This information has now been supplied to support the ongoing assessment.
Council recognises the community’s strong interest in the reinstatement of the Harden Administration Building and will provide updates as the project progresses.”
One must ask what Council is doing?
Why has it taken this long to provide the information needed and why after nearly 14 months after the hailstorm are we at this point?
Do the Council have the necessary skills and abilities to get the job done in a timely fashion?
This week we saw the resolution that a Council owned building in Boorowa be sold to fund the upgrade of the grandstand at the Boorowa Showground. A grandstand that should have had funding set aside each year for maintenance.
The pictured Mechanic’s Institute in Harden took nine months before the glass was replaced. Is it really any wonder that community faith in Council is at an all-time low?
Council bounce from one disaster to another and everything appears to be done at a snail’s pace. Are there too many indoor staff clogging the way in and out of the town hall at Young or not enough? Who knows? Will we ever know?
You will know more about the operations of Council and their effectiveness, but that will come in time if and when a proposed Special Rate Variation SRV ever comes in, where your rates (and if you’re not a rate payer, your rent), go up.
Back to the History that shapes our future
https://richmondriver.com.au/check/ an introduction as follows:
“Joseph Check was much more than just a photographer. He was a real “showman”. He came to town and spent the days taking portraits and then in the evening he would put on a “limelight exhibition” with moving pictures of glass-plate slides, jugglers, dancing, fire-eating and whatever other skills his assistant at the time possessed. He would stay for a few weeks selling paintings and photos, collect the door sales from his shows, and then move on to the next town. He gained a reputation as a genial man and a superb showman. The newspapers gave him good, advanced publicity and he was obviously able to charm his subjects into posing for “staged” shots – a unique style not often copied at that time. He travelled all over the NSW countryside, revisiting towns many times. He often did series on the larger construction projects or installations in a town – like a mine, a woolshed, sugar mill or meat processing plants. He utilised his Masonic contacts and often hired the local School of Arts hall for his studio and show. He also visited some Victorian towns and travelled to Tasmania.”
Mr. Joseph Blascheck in private life is a quiet, unassuming little man, whose chief delight is to stroll about in a comfortable old suit of closes. He delights to haunt the picture galleries and the second-hand book shops. Nothing gives him greater pleasure than to pick up bargains in the shape of books, poetry, drama, and biography, being his favourite literature. Mr. Blascheck appears at the Town Hall in conjunction with Miss Mildred Wrighton, the charming vocalist and instrumental artist. En passant the three entertainments at the Town Hall will be the only opportunity of hearing these famous entertainers, as they are proceeding home to the old land. [Daily Post (Hobart, Tas.) 20th May 1912 p3]
A colourful and honourable career was closed by the death at Gunning on Saturday last of Mr. Joseph Check, aged 80 years. A travelling artist and photographer, Mr. Check arrived in Gunning about five months ago, and won the esteem of all. The late Mr. Check served in the Austrian Navy as a youth, and later came to Australia, where he was one of the first men to use a sheep-shearing machine, demonstrating for Mr. Wolsley, the inventor of the machine, of which he drew illustrations, which went all over the world.
He was one of the first to tour with a cinematograph. This machine was burnt at Narrabri, and he was £300 in debt. He went to a Mr. Rouse, of Kodaks, Ltd., who set him up with a plant valued at £400. Touring along the coast, he found that he could not get halls or audiences, and he then went to Tasmania, returning 21/2 years afterwards with a “clean sheet.” He became well known in the country districts of New South Wales. When the picture show plants had become installed in most towns, Mr. Check resumed his artistic and photographic work.
The late Mr. Check decided to settle down in Gunning and a few weeks ago presented the Gunning Literary Institute with some of his paintings and books. He was a life-member of the Institute. He is survived by two daughter, Mrs. S. Webber (Leichhardt), and Mrs. Lysaght (Parramatta). Mr. S. Stern (Oolong) is a son-in-law. The funeral took place on Sunday at Gunning. Mr. R. T. Wyatt officiating. The deceased was a member of the Masonic Order, and a number of Gunning brethren were at the graveside. [Goulburn Evening Penny Post, Wednesday 9th December 1936, p4]
Old Joe Check has made his last journey. In his Will, probate of which was granted last week, he directed that the following inscription be put on his headstone: “Here lied old Joe Check, aged 80, a traveller since babyhood, but anchored at last. Born in Bohemia, 1856.” Check, who died at Gunning left an estate of £597. He was a photographer and travelled the countryside in a caravan.
“I bequeath my caravan containing my travelling home, photographic plant, and materials to my friend, Edward Baker,” said the old man in his Will. The residue of the estate he divided amongst a number of beneficiaries. He directed that he was to be buried in the Gunning cemetery, the grave and headstone to cost not less than £50. In the 1880s and 1890s there was no better known or more widely respected man in the State, which he travelled from end to end, as a photographer and showman. A man of the highest principle, the acme of courtesy and consideration, and never known to say a word out of place, he was the friend of everyone, and it is doubtful if in the 1890s there was a home in any North Coast town that was not graced by one or more of “Honest Joe’s” specimens of the photographic art. His life was truly an example to all who knew him. [The Richmond River Herald 28 May 1937 p4]
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