Mystery stash of old photos found dumped in suburban garden

The discovery of hundreds of photographs, dumped mysteriously in bushes, has sent a history buff on a quest to find out where they were taken and who owns them.

One of the hundreds of old photographs found by House Histories' Magnus Eriksson at Auchenflower at the weekend.

The discovery of a treasure trove of old photographs at the weekend has sent a history buff on a quest to find out where they were taken and who they belong to.

Magnus Eriksson, who researches Queensland’s vernacular architecture and suburban history, found a bag containing hundreds of slides and negatives, and a newspaper cutting, on his Kellett St, Auchenflower, property on Sunday morning.

“My mind is blown,” Mr Eriksson said.

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“I have no idea how the bag ended up in my bushes - discarded from a house burglary?

“They were hidden and there was other junk in the bag.

“My strong sense is that someone has rummaged through the bag, picked out anything of value and thrown it into the bushes.”

After scanning several of the images he thought they were scenes and people from the 1930s to the 1980s.

None were prints so there were no notes on the back to provide clues, although “Barton” was on written on a paper envelope.

Do you recognise this town?

This farm scene was among the photos found by House Histories' Magnus Eriksson.

A coastal scene.

Swimming in another era.

Followers of his House Histories Facebook page have helped to possibly identify some of the locations they were taken.

“We are now confident that the little township is Collinsville, and that the building under construction is the present Collinsville Uniting Church, built in 1947/48,” Mr Eriksson said.

“The earliest photos seem to be taken in the late 20s or possibly early 30s, so we’re following the history of a family over at least a decade.

An envelope of negatives was among the discarded images.

“Other photos have been confirmed to be from Bowen, possibly the Bowen meatworks, and we suspect (but haven’t yet proven) that the photos from the river are from some township on Bowen River.”

Mr Eriksson said there was some water damage but the images were generally OK.

“The negatives from the 30s – 50s are naturally degraded, but most are good enough to reproduce,” he said.

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