Charles Nettleton (1826-1902) was a prolific outdoor photographer who worked over a period of forty years in Australia, after moving to Melbourne from the United Kingdom in 1854. In 1867, he was appointed official Royal photographer in Australia and he also worked as the official police photographer for over 25 years in the 1860s - 1880s. His photographs were exhibited at international exhibitions in Dublin in 1865, Paris in 1867 and Sydney in 1879. Nettleton retired in 1890, as new dry plate photographic technology made the wet place process he employed redundant. His photographs are held by major institutions around Australia.
His work features significant Melbourne buildings and streets including Parliament House, the Treasury Buildings, St Patrick's Cathedral, the Royal Exhibition Building and Melbourne University Colleges. Few people feature in the photographs, which are predominantly focused upon architecture. His catalogue is significant as it provides a visual record of Melbourne's early development, and also reveals the work of an important local photography studio.
(Information provided by Museums Victoria.)