To coincide with the 70th anniversary of Old Parliament House, the National Archives produced an intriguing photographic exhibition about life in Canberra during the 1920s and 1930s.
Canberra's Early Years: Photographs from the Mildenhall Collection provides rare glimpses of a very different Canberra from the city we know today.
Back in the early 1920s, Australia's new capital wasn't much more than a vast paddock with just a few government buildings and an occasional church spire interrupting the undulating skyline.
In 1922, Canberra's population was a mere 2,500, and when Parliament House opened five years later, it was only just over 5,700.
The Mildenhall photographic collection is a remarkable record of events and activities in Canberra at this time. William Mildenhall was employed by the government as an information officer and in this capacity he carried out most of his official photographic work.
His collection of more than 7,000 photos covers all sorts of things from the construction of government buildings and hostels, roads and bridges, to sporting contests, the opening of Parliament House, social gatherings and cameo shots of those who lived in Canberra.
William James Mildenhall was born on 14 April 1891 and was appointed to the Commonwealth Public Service on 20 August 1906. From 1921, he was employed in the Federal Capital Commission whose responsibilities included the administration of the Federal Capital Territory and construction of the capital. From 1926, Mildenhall was the Federal Capital Commission's information officer and it was in this capacity that he undertook most of his official photographic work. In 1930, he was transferred to other duties but continued some photographic work recording construction progress in Canberra.