Alice Manfield [‘Guide Alice’] (1878-1960), c1925-35. Flexible base negative. Gift of Ms Anne Shannon, 2003.

Alice Manfield was born into a family of tourism pioneers who had run a chalet on the slopes of Mt Buffalo since the 1850s. A keen amateur photographer and naturalist, ‘Guide Alice’ divided her time between conducting alpine tours, writing on the local flora and fauna and serving behind the bar at her mother’s Temperance Hotel, famous for beer so good that it was suspected of being alcoholic. Alice caused a stir with her mountaineering trousersuit. From 1912 to 1927 she ran her own guesthouse, catering for the likes of Percy Grainger and Sir John Monash, with whom she maintained lively correspondence. In the evenings, guests were regaled with lantern slide presentations, covering everything from Guide Alice’s tours to her lyrebird studies.