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TitleFreak of Nature - Front View, 1898Date Created1898PhotographerBenjamin Hurst Taylor (1857-1916)Laura Jane Taylor (nee Harris) (1857- )StudioI.X.L. Studio
Location
City & StateIpswich, QueenslandGeo Coordinatesnot specified
Description
DescriptionIpswich photographer Benjamin Taylor organised a fundraising event for the Ipswich Hospital in July 1898. Curios included a three-legged cat, belonging to a Constable Fagg, of Lowood, and the “Freak of Nature” depicted in this image.
The freak was first found in 1856, at South Head, Sydney. Mr. W. Leftwitch, an hotelier, found the freak in a load of wood.
Attracted by its resemblance to a headless man, Leftwitch saved the freak from the fire and put it on display in his hotel, where it became ‘an object of great attention’, with Leftwitch claiming that the ‘man-tree’ was worth £50 a year to his business.
The freak was part of the trunk and branches of a stunted honey-suckle tree, and had been ‘in no way “improved” by the hand of man’.
By 1898, the honey-suckle wood was with Mr. Leftwich’s daughter, Mrs. Thompson of Mount Crosby.
The images of the freak of nature were published in ‘The Queenslander’ and were available for purchase at the exhibition, with all proceeds going to the hospital. The evening ended with a magic-lantern display by Mr. J. Hermann.
In total, £5 7s. 6d. were raised on the day, with the three-legged cat and the “man tree” proving ‘a source of great amusement to the juveniles’. References (offline)‘An Exhibition of Curios’, The Queensland Times, Saturday 9 July 1898, p.4‘Exhibition of Curios’, The Queensland Times, Tuesday 12 July 1898, p.4‘A Freak of Nature’, The Queenslander, Saturday 16 July 1898, p. 120‘The Ipswich Hospital: Meeting of the Board of Management’, The Queensland Times, Saturday 23 July 1898, p.3
The freak was first found in 1856, at South Head, Sydney. Mr. W. Leftwitch, an hotelier, found the freak in a load of wood.
Attracted by its resemblance to a headless man, Leftwitch saved the freak from the fire and put it on display in his hotel, where it became ‘an object of great attention’, with Leftwitch claiming that the ‘man-tree’ was worth £50 a year to his business.
The freak was part of the trunk and branches of a stunted honey-suckle tree, and had been ‘in no way “improved” by the hand of man’.
By 1898, the honey-suckle wood was with Mr. Leftwich’s daughter, Mrs. Thompson of Mount Crosby.
The images of the freak of nature were published in ‘The Queenslander’ and were available for purchase at the exhibition, with all proceeds going to the hospital. The evening ended with a magic-lantern display by Mr. J. Hermann.
In total, £5 7s. 6d. were raised on the day, with the three-legged cat and the “man tree” proving ‘a source of great amusement to the juveniles’. References (offline)‘An Exhibition of Curios’, The Queensland Times, Saturday 9 July 1898, p.4‘Exhibition of Curios’, The Queensland Times, Tuesday 12 July 1898, p.4‘A Freak of Nature’, The Queenslander, Saturday 16 July 1898, p. 120‘The Ipswich Hospital: Meeting of the Board of Management’, The Queensland Times, Saturday 23 July 1898, p.3
Connections
Defining Tulmur | Defining IpswichBoom & Bust: Entertainment & The ArtsBoom & Bust: Health & WelfareRelated ItemsFreak of Nature - back view, 1898
Asset Details
Reference IDqips-2018-09-18-0022Asset TypeImages - JpegImages, Maps and Artefacts (Trove mapping field)imageColour or Black & White ImageBlack & WhiteOrientationPortraitGenreAbstractPhysical DescriptionGlass PlateHigher Resolution Available (contact Picture Ipswich)YesCopyright NoticeThis work was created prior to the 1st January 1955. It has been identified as being free of known restrictions under the Copyright Act 1968.
You can use this work without asking permission.
Moral rights remain and the work MUST be correctly attributed to its creator (photographer, studio, author, etc.) with acknowledgement of Picture Ipswich as the source of the work.
If you require a higher resolution copy of this work, please contact Picture Ipswich.CopyrightPicture Ipswich Copyright Information
You can use this work without asking permission.
Moral rights remain and the work MUST be correctly attributed to its creator (photographer, studio, author, etc.) with acknowledgement of Picture Ipswich as the source of the work.
If you require a higher resolution copy of this work, please contact Picture Ipswich.CopyrightPicture Ipswich Copyright Information
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Copyright
This work has entered the Public Domain and is free of known copyright restrictions
This work was created prior to the 1st January 1955 or it is an orphan work (photographer unknown) created more than 70 years ago. It has been identified as being free of known restrictions under the Copyright Act 1968.
You can use this work without asking permission.
Moral rights remain and the work MUST be correctly attributed to its creator (photographer, studio, author, etc.) with acknowledgement of Picture Ipswich as the source of the work.
If you require a higher resolution copy of this work, please contact Picture Ipswich.
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Freak of Nature - Front View, 1898. Picture Ipswich, accessed 13/09/2026, https://www.pictureipswich.com.au/nodes/view/12712