This Breathing photograph consists of a screenshot of the Breathing Photograph in the
Secondary Breathing Category based on 9x12
sheet film PJU-2412, a 10000 Leone banknote including the famous
Cotton Tree in central
Freetown, and a picture of the "Premisses of
Dr. T.G. Reffel at the corner of Percival and Siaka Stevens (formally [sic]
Westmoreland street. The site is now occupied by Electricity House.
The Breathing Photograph was appropriated by a descendant of Dr. Reffel's and, in turn, shared with Rex Leopold, who is an active members of a
Facebook group devoted to Old Photos of
Sierra Leone.
The following information was added to the photograph(s):
"As was hoped, a nephew to Dr Thomas George Reffell Jnr reacted to my RFI in a most educative telecon of a family home rich in history, although neither its year of construction nor the source of that smashing photograph could be pinpointed.
My understanding however is that the house was built by the Doctor’s father and namesake; the Hon Thomas George Reffell, a member of the then Legislative Council, who lived there with wife Winifred and their two children T.G.R Junior and daughter Ola, for “very many” years until his death in 1930.
Dr T.G. Reffell ran a Surgery and Nursing Home adjacent to the building on Percival StreeT until his death in 1952.
The property was eventually sold by the surviving family to the GoSL during the tenure of Alhaji Hon Dr Muhammad Sanusi Mustapha as Minister of Finance in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Sir Albert Margai (1964-67), which led to the building’s demolition followed by the construction of Electricity House before Sir Albert left office in 1967.
The home’s marvellous interior as mentioned by Melbourne, was said to have indeed been akin to a premium class Museum, decorated with topnotch paintings, sculptures and sparkling artefacts signed by world renowned heavyweights."
In response to this Breathing Photograph the following comment was sent by Charles Nicol:
"Stunning pictures thank you! Dr T. G. Reffell's daughter Ola Bruce married Victor Bruce and moved to Trinidad where he was Governor of
the Central Bank at one time also. She was a gracious lady, a generous doyen of the arts for many years in Trinidad - and in Tobago,
her husband's family home."