Captain Goldsmith, the Parrock Hall and playwright David Burn, Sydney 1844

CAPTAIN EDWARD GOLDSMITH merchant mariner
PARROCK HALL barque
DAVID BURN playwright



State library NSW
La Hogue, sailing ship, outside Sydney Heads ca.1860s
Watercolour by Frederick Garling 1806-1873 Call Number SV / 77


On Tuesday, November 5th, 1844, Captain Edward Goldsmith (1804-1869) sailed into Sydney Harbour in command of the merchant barque the Parrock Hall, 425 tons, departing Portsmouth on July 22, 1844, bringing mail, cargo and passengers via the Cape of Good Hope. The voyage was exceptionally fast (105 days). According to The Shipping Gazette and Sydney General Trade List of Nov. 9th, "she had a fine passage" and on the way, "she did not speak any thing." The ship may have acquired its name from the old manor of Robert de Parrock, where Parrock Avenue and Parrock Road are now located in Gravesend, Kent, UK. Parrock Hall was built by Peter Moulson, Lord of the Manor of Milton, in 1761, and by 1821 it was owned by Colonel Dalton. In 1991, Parrock Hall, a Grade II listed building, was said to be in a dilapidated state with calls for its preservation.

"A very fine day" was how journalist and playwright David Burn described Tuesday, November 5th 1844, in his diary (SLNSW Call No. B 190 / 2). He was watching the signals on Flagstaff Hill, Millers Point, for news of Captain Goldsmith's arrival in Sydney Harbour. The Marryat flag for the Parrock Hall, No. 9376, signalled the barque as it sailed on towards Fotheringham's Wharf "in the Cove" where it would remain until being cleared out for London on January 15th, 1845.



Code of Signals for the Colony of NSW
Marryat Signals, Colonial Signals
Sydney, Port Jackson, January 1st, 1834
State Library of NSW Ref:a7225190h

While loading and repairs to sails on the Parrock Hall continued at Sydney, Captain Goldsmith boarded the brig Louisa, Captain Tucker master, for Hobart, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) as a passenger on December 6th, 1844. As neither his wife, Elizabeth Goldsmith nee Day nor their two sons Richard (b.1830) and Edward (b. 1837) were listed as passengers on the Parrock Hall, they may have stayed home at Gad's Hill House, their new residence completed in 1842 on six acres in the village of Higham, Kent, and Captain Goldsmith would have stayed at his house in Hobart at 19 Davey Street. The Gad's Hill property was situated at the top of Telegraph Hill: its beacon was the last in line before Chatham, signalling ships coming up the Thames.

Captain Goldsmith had two purposes in mind on his visit to Hobart while the Parrock Hall was delayed in Sydney. His primary task was to attend to his business dealings with the colonial administration and seek to secure future export charters with pastoralists and nurserymen. However, most important for David Burn, Captain Goldsmith would deliver news of the progress of Burn's literary success and endeavours to Catherine Burn nee Fenton, his second wife. He would also deliver vital legal documents to solicitor Mr. Harrisson on Burn's behalf to be presented at a CAVEAT hearing (Hobart, reported 21st February 1845. Launceston Examiner) concerning several serious matters: the insolvency of David Burn and his mother Jacobina Burn in 1844; the validity of his divorce in England from his marriage in Scotland to his first wife Frances Maria Eldred, and whether he had committed bigamy if Scottish law did not recognize his English divorce (1829); his mother's large property (more than 4000 acres) at Ellangowan Tasmania which would only pass to his second wife Catherine Fenton if his second marriage was legitimate, and from which he wished to provide for his mother's welfare until her death and for his child by his first marriage, Jemima Frances Irvine nee Burn who arrived with him in Tasmania in 1826. Jemima Irvine nee Burn achieved a reputation as an accomplished artist and conchologist. She found the Cypraea irvineanae which was named after her (Cox, 1889).

Business concluded, and letters safely placed in Catherine Burn's hands, Captain Goldsmith returned to Sydney on the brig Louisa as a passenger three weeks later, arriving December 26th, 1844, and loading continued on the Parrock Hall.



State Library of NSW
From Blackwood's panorama of Sydney & Harbour from Government House, [1858]
Call Number PXA 426

The Parrock Hall with Captain Edward Goldsmith in command had departed London on July 15, 1844 and arrived at Sydney Cove via the Cape of Good Hope on November 5, 1844 bringing mail, cargo and passengers. The ship stayed "in the Cove" for weeks before reloading cargo and passengers for London at Fotheringham's Wharf. In total, the barque was docked at Sydney for two months, the delay during the height of a Sydney summer no doubt most enjoyable to captain and crew alike. The Parrock Hall finally cleared out for London on January 15th, 1845.







State Library of NSW
Blackwood's panorama of Sydney & Harbour from Government House, [1858]
Title Blackwood's panorama of Sydney & Harbour from Government House, [1858]
Creator Blackwood, W. (William), 1824-1897
Collection Date of Work[1858]
Call Number PXA 426
Link: https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/n88Eg0Ln/xJMRlrKEa0l56

Notices: Parrock Hall 1844-45
Sources: Shipping Gazette and Sydney General Trade List,
https://www.nla.gov.au/ferg/issn/14403897.html
Sydney Morning Herald
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12876674#

November 5, 1844:



TRANSCRIPT
November 5. Parrock Hall, barque, 425 tons, Captain Goldsmith, from London, the 15th, and Portsmouth the 22nd July, with a general cargo. Passengers - Mrs. Campbell, Mrs. R. Campbell, and four sons, Mrs. Fotheringham, Miss Jepherson, Miss How, Miss M. How, Miss Wright, Mr. W. L. Hay, Mr. T. L. Hay, Mr. Nowland, Dr. Morse, Mr. W.H. Morse, Mr. W. H. Hunt, Mr. T. Jones, Mr. T. W. Turner, Mrs. Sarah Trump, Mis E. Gray, Mr. H. Lynch, Mrs. E. Jusseauma, Mr. amd Mrs. Bartlett, son, and two daughters, and Mr. J. Anderson.

November 6, 1844: Imports per Parrock Hall



TRANSCRIPT
IMPORTS.
November 5.-Parrock Hall, barque, 424 tons, Captain Goldsmith, from London : 1 box apparel, A. Gravely; 6 tierces tobacco, Thomas Smith and Co. ; 3 casks lead, Watkin ; 28 kegs 12 tierces tobacco, Smith and Campbell; 30 hogsheads and 50 barrels beer, and 100 casks bottled beer, Lyall, Scott, and Co.; 12 cases, 1 cask, 5 bales, 60 coils line, and 6 coils rope, 20 firkins, 4 casks oil, and 1 box, F. Whit-worth; 1 case, F. Mitchell; 4 cases, J. and S. Willis; 4 bales slops, 33 tierces tobacco, 4 bales slops, 20 trunks shoes, and 8 bales shirts, Lamb and Parbury; 1 case apparel, and 1 box candles, Bishop of Australia ; 2 boxes black lead, Ray and Glaister; 43 hogsheads rum, R. Towns ; 1 case silver plate, Miss Howe ; 1 case silver plate, R. Campbell, junior; 100 hogs-heads beer, 100 casks bottled beer, 1 case, and 4 bales, Flower, Salting, and Co. ; 1 case ap-parel, J. Purser; 2 cases apparel, and 3 bales, Rev. Dr. Ross ; 1 case, W. Walker and Co. ; 1 parcel books, Colonel Shadforth ; 8 trusses and 1 trunk, J. J. Giblett ; 7 packages plate glass, Solomon ; 5 boxes soap, Miss Wright; 3 bales and 8 cases, M. Joseph; 1 case, Quaife ; 1 case books, W. A. Colman; 1 case and 1 trunk, J. G. Raphael, 1 case, Fullerton; 1 case, Mr. Hamilton ; 8 bales, 19 cases, H. G. Smith ; 33 cases and 39 bales, 29 1/2 tierces, and 5 tierces tobacco, Griffiths, Gore, and Co. , 1 case, D. Davis ; 1 case, J. F. Milne , 2 cases, 2 trunks, 1 bale, Swain, Webb, and Co ; 1 case, G Mason ; 45 coils rope, A. Fothering-ham ; 1 case, 10 bales, 5 trunks, T. Smith and Co ; 30 hogsheads beer, 3 cases whips, E. Goldsworth ; 3 bales and 3 cases, R. Ramsay, sen., and Co. ; 1 case preserves, J. Parnell; 8 cases cottons, Dreutler and Wagner ; 38 cases Portugal wine, E. C. Weekes ; 1 box boots, Judge Stephen ; 36 bales linens, 8 cases sta-tionery, 28 casks shoes, I bundle measures, 4 bundles tarpaulins, 9 bundles, 38 table boards, 79 kettles, 52 pots, 50 shovels, 27 pieces iron, 400 ash felloes, 12 spades, 3 coils rope, 1 hand-cart, 100 fathoms cable, 4 gun-carriages, 4 handspikes, 16 bundles iron, 5 baskets oil, 10 cases iron work, Government stores ; 1 case (a carriage), 1 case hardware, 34 casks bottled, and 1 hogshead beer, order. R. Towns, agent.

Source: IMPORTS. (1844, November 6). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW), p. 2.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12427310

November 9, 1844:



TRANSCRIPT
The Parrock Hall has had a fine passage from Portsmouth of 105 days; her mail is not a very large one, and she did not speak any thing during the voyage. Immediately that her cargo is landed, she will be laid on the berth for London.



TRANSCRIPT
Parrock Hall, barque, 425 tons, Goldsmith, at Fotheringham's Wharf. R. Towns, agent. Discharging, and advertised for London.



Captain Goldsmith's agent Robert Towns
State Library NSW
Robert Towns, merchant and entrepreneur, 1873 / photographer Freeman, late Oswald Allen
Call Number P1 / 1797, Digital Order No. a4364097
Link: https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/nZNv4lmn/WbDWdREBZOqVO#viewer

November 16, 1844:



TRANSCRIPT
Parrock Hall, barque, 425 tons, Goldsmith; 12 casks tallow, on board.

November 27th, 1844:
Memorandum of Agreement between Captain Edward Goldsmith of the Parrock Hall and agents J. Woodall, and W. Samson to supply labour to load wool at Sydney dated 27th November 1844:



Held at the Mitchell Library, SLNSW
Robert Towns & Co - Records, 1828-1896 Call Number MLMSS 307
Photos copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2016

TRANSCRIPT
Memorandum of Agreement between Captain Edward Goldsmith of the Barque Parrock Hall on the one part, and J. Woodall and W. Samson, Stevadores, of Sydney, on the other part, that is to say the said J. Woodall, and W. Samson do hereby agree to stow the said Vessell with Wool, [inserted - and other Merchandise], and to find Press, Screws, Planks, Samson Posts, Toms, Hand-hooks, Lashings and a foreman and find all Labour at 4s per Bale the whole of the Cargo to be taken from the Shore and hoisted on board by the Stevendores with the useof the Ship's boats
No allowance for Broken Stowage of any Kind - Bones - Hoofs and Horns being of that description
The terms of this agreement is to this effect - the whole of the Labour to be performed by the seven Stevadores without any extra change beyond the sum above stated and to the entire satisfaction of the said Captain Goldsmith
We also agree to stow the Dead Weight on board the above Vessel, at Nine Pence per Ton. Ship finding labour ....
Witness our hands this Twenty seven day of November One thousand eight hundred and forty-four
We also agree to Employ what men you have to spare at the rate of 2/5 pr day and to ? at the rate of 2/6 etc etc [ page torn ]
For Woodall and Samson
signed R Towns
Jno Wood etc
On December 6th, 1844, Captain Goldsmith departed Sydney for Hobart as a passenger on board the brig Louisa, and returned three weeks later, on Boxing Day, 26th December 1844.



Above: The brig Louisa: Captain Goldsmith's departure from Sydney to Hobart on 6th December. Meanwhile, loading on the Parrock Hall in Sydney continued while repairs were made to the sails.

December 20th, 1844:



TRANSCRIPT
Parrock Hall, barque, 425 tons, Goldsmith; 401 casks tallow, 801 bales wool, 2 tons dyewood, 7 tons copper ore, 4 tons manganese, 10 tons horns and bones, 2 casks neats'-foot oil, and 200 salted hides on board.

January 4th, 1845



TRANSCRIPT
The Parrock Hall has bent sails, and will get away in the course of the ensuing fortnight.



Campbell's Wharf and Sydney Cove from Dawes Point / possibly by Freeman Brothers or Prout
https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/YezEOJW9/Azl8vJrM6gwA4
Sydney Cove 1850s
SLNSW Ref: a128716h

January 15th, 1845:



TRANSCRIPT
January 15. Parrock, Hall, barque, Captain Goldsmith for London. Passengers - Mr. and Miss Mead, Mr. Wade, Dr. Johnson, Mr. and Mrs Gard, Misses Agnes, Elizabeth, and Emma Gard, Master William Gard, Mr. Ashford, Mr. Atkins, Mr. R. Bailey, Master Conolly, Mr. John Whaling, Mr. and Mrs. Donovan and son, Mr. and Mrs. Curtis and five children, Mr. John Hazard, Mr. Henry Granhow, Mrs Luke, Mrs. Chapman, Mr. George West. Mr. Joseph Hoyle, Mr. Charles Swindels, Mr. W. Copeland, Mrs. Copeland, and Mr. W. Taylor.

EXPORTS January 11th, 1845



TRANSCRIPT
EXPORTS
January 11.— Parrock Hall, barque, Captain Goldsmith, for London : 222 bales wool, 19 casks tallow, R. Ramsay and Co. ; 238 bales wool, 19 casks tallow, Gilchrist and Alexander ; 21 bales wool, Brown and Co. ; 155 bales wool, 63 casks tallow, 3 casks hog's lard, 1 case ap-parel, 1 case of specimens of natural history, Thacker, Mason, and Co.; 218 bales wool, Donaldson, Dawes, and Co. ; 186 bales wool, W. Walker and Co. ; 13 casks tallow, C. Ap-pleton and Co. ; 137 casks tallow, 2 casks neats-foot oil, 240 hides, Robert Towns ; 20 casks tallow, Thomas Smith and Co. ; 9 tons copper ore, 3 tons manganese, 10 cwt. dyewood, Beattie and Taylor ; 3 casks ironmongery, B. Boyd and Co. ; 1 case jewellery, 4 casks and 8 cases ironmongery, R. Lamb; 10 tons dyewood, C. Abercrombie ; 12 tons bones, R. Hill.
Exports: January 11th, 1845, the Parrock Hall and January 13th, the Louisa.
Source: EXPORTS. (1845, January 13). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW), p. 2. Retrieved March 12, 2023
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12876674

Captain Goldsmith and David Burn
Tasmanian photographer Thomas J. Nevin's future uncle-in-law, Captain Edward Goldsmith, was a mariner of exceptional skill. Commander of great merchant ships trading between Europe, the Americas, South Africa and Australia from the 1830s to the 1850s, his services to the colonists and officials of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in the 1840s and 1850s, and especially to governor Sir John Franklin and his wife Jane, Lady Franklin, brought many rewards and enduring friendships, not least among them the affection of David Burn, journalist and playwright who had accompanied Sir John and Lady Franklin on their visit to the west coast of Tasmania in 1842. Burn described the visit in his Narrative of the Overland Journey … From Hobart Town to Macquarie Harbour, 1842 (Sydney 1955, G. Mackaness): read the full transcript here. David Burn also wrote about his trip to Port Arthur in the 1840s, which was republished by Beattie in 1898.

Although not a mariner himself, David Burn was conversant enough with the code of signals to determine shipping movements. He was on the lookout for Captain Goldsmith's return into Sydney Harbour from London on the barque the Parrock Hall on November 5th, 1844 when he wrote in his diary:

Tuesday: 5: [November 1844] A very fine day the most of which I spent in writing up my book on the promising land of Australia - regaled the while by the delightful band of the 99th - exercising in the Barrack Square. The Barrack Hall [sic - Parrock Hall], Goldsmith, late of the Janet Izak [sic - the brig Janet Izatt], arrived from London, bringing news to the 22nd July. Goldsmith has only been 8 months and seven days since he sailed homewards from Hobart.

A few weeks later, when Captain Goldsmith and the Parrock Hall were "still in the Cove" at Sydney, David Burn visited Captain Goldsmith with an important request - to deliver letters and gifts to Catherine Burn. David Burn wrote in his diary:

Saturday: 16 [November 1844] Occupied throughout the morning inditing a voluminous epistle to my darling wife. A smoking morning. Bought a p. of scissors. Called upon Mr. Murphy. Came on a wet evening. Melville left us. Saw Captain Goldsmith. No one at home. Killed the weary hours at the play.

With the delay to the Parrock Hall's departure at Sydney, Captain Goldsmith left for Hobart on 6th December as a passenger on board the Louisa. and returned to Sydney within the fortnight with news, and letters. On 19th December 1844, David Burn left for Norfolk Island on the 'Agincourt' under Captain Neatby, returning to Sydney on 29th December 1844.

A fortnight later. David Burn noted in his diary that the weather in Sydney was "blistering and lowering" when he watched the signals for the departure of Captain Goldsmith on the Parrock Hall for London, and for the Louisa to Hobart which was carrying more letters to his wife:
Wednesday: 15: [January 1845] Another blistering and lowering morning. Duval honourably acquitted of all participation in Warne’s murder. Writing my Norfolk Island notes for transmission to Frasers Mag. Called at the Australian Office.Parrock Hall, Goldsmith, sailed - Louisa not gone. John Inches and Mr. Pringle dined with us, and Inches and I eased them of 2/6 at whist.
Source:
State Library of NSW
David Burn - journal of a voyage from London to Hobart in the barque Calcutta, 31 July-22 Nov. 1841, and journal, 1 Aug. 1844-19 Feb. 1845
Creator Burn, David, 1798-1875
Collection Date of Work 1841-1845
Type of Material Textual Records
Call Number B 190 / 2 Issue Copy Microfilm - CY 846, frames 1-144 (B 190/2)

THE JOURNAL
Source: images and transcript
State Library of NSW
https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/1l4dBwK1

David Burn mentions Captain Goldsmith on three occasions in this journal:

1.



1.TRANSCRIPT OF A1502180
176 [1844]

[November] Monday: 4: A foggy morning which a horrid Brickfielder blew away. Called upon Mr. McIntosh and heard of Sir E. Forbes’ estate. Waiting all day.

[November] Tuesday: 5: A very fine day the most of which I spent in writing up my book on the promising land of Australia - regaled the while by the delightful band of the 99th - exercising in the Barrack Square. The Barrack Hall [sic - should be the barque Parrock Hall], Goldsmith, late of the Janet Izak [sic - should be the brig Janet Izatt], arrived from London, bringing news to the 22nd July. Goldsmith has only been 8 months and seven days since he sailed homewards from Hobart.

[November] Wednesday: 6: This day twelve years I was made blest with the coveted possession of my Catharine’s hand. Many are the vicissitudes we have, both, since encountered - many the lands wherein we have sojourned, and sore and sad the trials and tribulations we have experienced. But when each gave the other their hand, the altar witnessed an equal exchange of hearts. Time and trial have but proved each other’s truth - and, unworthy as I may be of the inestimable treasure of her love, she could have conferred it on none more sensible of its value or more devoted to its regard. Oh that on this day we should be so widely sundered. God grant us a speedy reunion no more to dream life away in divided misery.
The day passed heavily and gloomily by, the 19th part of Tom Burke sufficing to kill a portion and a perusal of the progress of the French aggression upon Morrocco getting over another. Three years and a half since I returned to pronounced war with France a mere question of time which, when she dreamt herself prepared, she would provoke - “Coming events cast their shadows before”. The shadow is darkening. The note of preparation sounds louder and, ere long, De Ivinville, in the plenitude of his presumption will, in all human probability, prove the worthless instrument of a bloody, but not doubtful contest. If they do force us again, I trust the pen may never more relinquish the solid triumphs that the sword may acquire. H.M.S. Nestal, 26, arrived from Hobart also the Waterlily, so I shall have a dear letter in the morning I hope. Mr. Watson kindly called, and we had a long chat about farms and else.

2.



2. TRANSCRIPT OF A1502183
179 [1844]

[November] Friday: 15: Went to the Theatre to arrange the cast, and day of performance of “Our First Lieutenant”. From thence to the ibrary to read the British and Foreign (as I already had the Foreign) Review on the Ivinville pamphlet which I rejoice to observe has aroused Englishmen “to do their duty”. From the Reading Room to the Circular Wharf where with Inches and Mrs. Atkinson I crossed to Watsons. The day proved a smoking one. We had a nice lunch, finding Mr. Blankenberg there. For the first time I eat the passion fruit which is not unlike to the Pomegranate. There was a good deal of thunder overhead, and Melville and I were caught in the rain in the domain. Dropped a card at Govt. House. Had a note of acknowledgment from Mr. Barker thanking me for my book, and giving me a general invite. A rainy evening, a portion of which I beguiled to the Theatre.

[November]Saturday: 16: Occupied throughout the morning inditing a voluminous epistle to my darling wife. A smoking morning. Bought a p. of scissors. Called upon Mr. Murphy. Came on a wet evening. Melville left us. Saw Captain Goldsmith. No one at home. Killed the weary hours at the play.

[November] Sunday: 17: It rained hard during the night and morning dawned upon a day of damp and gloom. there were no church goers among us. I passed the day in a review of the Ivinville pamphlet, except a brief space occupied in a stroll with Inches in the domain where we were caught in a heavy thunder shower.

[November] Monday: 18: Went to the Theatre to arrange about my farce & found the engagt. of Mr. & Mrs. Coppin [see note and photos below] likely to interfere with its production. Mrs. C. is, I find, the runaway wife of Watkins Burroughs of Surrey celebrity. Thence to the Australian Office with my review of De Ivinville. Accompanied Dr. Gannon in a stroll through the domain and on board the Dublin. Met my old shipmate Barry Cotter. Went to the Theatre in the evening with Mr. Semple, a very full house to see the Lady of Lyons and Turnpike Gate. Mrs. Coppin evidently a scientific actress. Mr. Griffiths, a man who might “go ahead” in a better school.

3.



3.TRANSCRIPT OF A1502238
234 [1845]

[January] Monday: 13: From 9 a.m. until 5.30 p.m. I was in Court listening to the trial of Lucius O’Brien for the sanguinary assassination of Dr. Joseph Meyrick. The murder was clearly established, and the plea of insanity gone into proof when I left. The aspect of the prisoner betrayed no indications of insanity and all the evidence I heard went the other way, but there were 28 witnesses to the then ex. It is a shocking case, whatever the verdict may be. Met O’Reilly and Mends on my way back. Found they had dined at 5 and the house tossed up for a fete given by Gannon. A signal for a ship flying - a Nova Scotia whaler - Mathew McAlister in town. Called at the Australian Office. Gannons party kept it up in great style, until the long hours grew short, Dr. Munro, R.N. acting fiddler with great good will.

[January] Tuesday: 14: At 2 this morning O’Brien declared to be insane - Fudge! Who is safe now against the assassins’ aim. Wrote a few lines to Kate, my beloved, per Louisa. Wrote a Catch Notice for the Burlesque - a scorching day. In the afternoon we had heavy thunder and lightning with every appearance of a torrent of rain which wore away after the discharge of a few hot drops. Capt. Turner, Mr. Downes and [indecipherable] talking of their own parts of Auld Ireland. Went to the Theatre where I met Walsh, O’Reilly and Mends - Walsh does not go per Agincourt - Louisa not yet sailed.

[January] Wednesday: 15: Another blistering and lowering morning. Duval honourably acquitted of all participation in Warne’s murder. Writing my Norfolk Island notes for transmission to Frasers Mag. Called at the Australian Office. Parrock Hall, Goldsmith, sailed - Louisa not gone. John Inches and Mr. Pringle dined with us, and Inches and I eased them of 2/6 at whist.

etc etc ...

NOTE on GEORGE COPPIN and "Mrs C"
In his journal entry for November 18th, 1844, David Burn not only expressed a fear that the engagement of George Seith Coppin's theatre company and the actor's tendency toward vulgarity would interfere with the production of his play, his reservation was compounded by Coppin's adulterous status with the American "runaway" wife of a theatrical agent and actor, Maria Watkins Burroughs, whom George Coppin met in Dublin at the Abbey Theatre while he was still in his teens. She was nine years his senior. They eloped to Sydney in 1843, and lived together until Maria Watkins Burroughs' sudden death from illness in 1848. Burn also seemed unconvinced by her methods of role interpretation: - "evidently a scientific actress" was his conclusion on watching her perform in the Lady of Lyons, a five act romantic melodrama written in 1838 by Edward Bulwer-Lytton.



George Coppin in costume as Jem Bags the Wandering Minstrel.
Edmund Cosworth Waddington & Co, photographer. 1888
In collection: George Selth Coppin, Papers, MS 8827
State Library of Victoria



E.C. Waddington & Co. (Melbourne, Vic.).
[Portrait of George Selth Coppin in Milky White], [between 1885 and 1900]
National Library of Australia
https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-142849290



NSW Public Record Office
Ref: 45/35940 Photographs of Sydney taken between 1860 and 1880


RELATED POSTS main weblog

Thomas Nevin's VIP commission 1872



To Adventure Bay, 31st January 1872
Between 31st January and 2nd February 1872, Hobart photographer Thomas J. Nevin accompanied two parties of VIPs on boat trips down the Derwent River: to Adventure Bay at Bruny Island, and to Port Arthur on the Tasman Peninsula. On the 31st January he took a series of photographs of a party of "colonists" which included Sir John O'Shanassy, former Premier of Victoria, on their day trip to Adventure Bay on the eastern side of Bruny Island. They travelled on board The City of Hobart, commanded by Captain John Clinch.





Title: The Tasmanian Steam Navigation Company's Screw Steam Ship 'City of Hobart' 618 tons (Captain John Thom)
Passing Gravesend on her trial trip Feb. 23rd 1854 / J.W. Deering Del et Lith. ; Day & Son Lithrs to the Queen
Creator: Deering, John W., 1838-1923
Publisher: [S.l. : s.n.], 1854
Description: 1 print : lithograph ; sheet 44 x 61 cm. within frame
Format: Print
ADRI: AUTAS001124068164
Source: Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts

It was a busy week for Thomas J. Nevin and his camera. The colonists' trip to Adventure Bay took place on Wednesday 31st January 1872. It was initiated by townsman John Woodcock Graves (the younger) who chartered the steamer the City of Hobart with costs defrayed by subscription, and who requested Thomas Nevin's services as photographer of the official party among the 400 subscribers to the event. The VIP's on the trip included the Hon. Mr. James Wilson (Premier of Tasmania), Alfred Kennerley, (Mayor of Hobart and Police Magistrate), the manager of the Van Diemen's Land Bank (?), the Hon. John O'Shanassy (former Premier of Victoria), Mr John Miller (Cape of Good Hope), Father Sheehy, Mr. Tobin (Victoria), John Woodcock Graves jnr (barrister Tasmania), Captain Clinch (commander of the City of Hobart), the Hon. James Erskine Calder (Surveyor-General), Robert Byron Miller (barrister Tasmania), the band of the Workingmen's Club, not to mention the many women and children, notably teenager Jean Porthouse Graves, daughter of John Woodcock Graves jnr, who collected Nevin's photographs of the excursion in a family album.

On board the "City of Hobart"
Thomas Nevin photographed this group of dignitaries on board the City of Hobart early in the trip and took another on board when they returned (TMAG Collection). He printed this earlier stereograph on an arched buff mount which now bears the inscription recto in ink "My Father" referring to John Woodcock Graves jnr, added by his teenage daughter, Jean Porthouse Graves who joined him on the trip.


The Colonists' Trip to Adventure Bay
VIPs on board The City of Hobart, 31st January 1872
Stereograph in buff arched mount by Thomas J. Nevin
Private Collection KLW NFC Group copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2015

From left to right:
Sir John O'Shanassy (seated), John Woodcock Graves jnr, Captain John Clinch, the Hon. Alfred Kennerley and the Hon. James Erskine Calder (seated). Standing behind Captain Clinch and Alfred Kennerley is R. Byron Miller.



VERSO WITH RARE NEVIN LABEL
The square royal blue label with T. Nevin's modified design of Alfred Bock's stamp from the mid-1860s and the wording in gold lettering, framed on a cartouche within gold curlicues, is unique to this item, not (yet) seen on the verso of any of his other photographs. Similar wording appeared on Nevin's most common commercial stamp from 1867 with and without Bock's name but always with the addition of a kangaroo sitting atop the Latin motto "Ad Altiora". Here, Bock's name is still included within the design although Nevin acquired Bock's studio five years earlier, in 1867: "T. Nevin late A.Bock" encircled by a buckled belt stating the firm's name within the strap, "City Photographic Establishment". The address "140 Elizabeth Street Hobarton" appears below the belt buckle and inside the badge motif.

The name "Graves" with a half-scroll underneath in black ink was most likely written by Thomas Nevin himself as a reminder of the client's name for the order. The handwriting is similar to his signatures on the birth registrations of his children in the 1870s.

The pencilled inscription "On board City of Hobart, Cap Clinch, Visitors Trip Jay 1872" and the deduction of the years "1947-1872=75 ago" was written by a descendant of the Graves and Miller families, probably by daughter Jean Porthouse Graves who wrote "My Father" above the right hand frame on the front of the stereograph and a partial arrow pointing to John Woodcock Graves (jnr), She had pasted this photograph, and others taken by Thomas J. Nevin of the same group, into a family album (KLW NFC Private Collections 2015).





Another stereograph of the VIPS by Nevin on board the City of Hobart 31st January 1872
Stereograph with T. Nevin Photo blindstamp impress recto on right hand side
Verso with T. J. Nevin's government contractor's stamp with Royal Arms insignia.
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Collection Ref: Q1994.56.2



State Library of Victoria
The Hon[oura]ble J. O'Shanassy Chief Secretary [ca. 1858]
Attributed to Antoine Fauchery.
Photoprints at LTA 355.
https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/294397

At Adventure Bay
Men of premier social status dressed in full Victorian attire from head to toe rarely allowed themselves to be photographed in reclining and recumbent poses, so these captures by Nevin of Sir John O'Shanassy and Sir James Erskine Calder lolling about in bush surroundings are quite remarkable. Their ease and familiarity with Thomas Nevin was in no small part due to his work already performed for surveyors James Calder and James and John Hurst on commission with the Lands and Survey Dept., for which he was issued with the Colonial Government's Royal Arms warrant by authority. The men in the foreground of this series taken on the Adventure Bay trip in January 1872 were the lawyers and the legislators who were Nevin's patrons and employers throughout his engagement as photographer in Hobart's prisons and courts from 1872 into the 1880s.





Group photograph of the colonists at Adventure Bay 31st January 1872
Figures on lower left, recumbent: John Woodcock Graves jnr and Sir John O'Shanassy
Between them: John Graves' teenage daughter, Jean Porthouse Graves
Above her in topper: Robert Byron Miller
On right: sitting with stick, Hon. Alfred Kennerley, Mayor of Hobart
Head in topper only on extreme right: Sir James Erskine Calder.

Stereograph in double oval buff mount with T. Nevin blindstamp impress in centre
Verso is blank. Photo copyright © KLW NFC 2014 ARR
Taken at the TMAG November 2014 (TMAG Collection Ref:Q1994.56.5

This is the same image, printed by Nevin from his negative as a carte-de-viste, stamped verso with his most common commercial studio stamp. More of the figure of the Hon. James Erskine Calder leaning into the frame on lower right is visible. Jean Porthouse Graves is indicated by an ink mark, and so is the man in the white summer hat who is leaning on top of a man-made stone structure, perhaps Lukin Boyes, son of artist and administrator G.T.W. Boyes. Surname and initial appearing to be "L Boyes" is written on verso.




Verso inscriptions include these identifiable figures at the "Picnic":
Father = John Woodcock Graves jnr,
Sir John O'Shanassy = former Premier of Victoria,
Self = Jean Porthouse Graves, daughter of John W. Graves,
L. Boyes = Lukin Boyes (?), son of G.T. W. Boyes

From an album compiled by the families of John Woodcock Graves jnr and R. Byron Miller
Private Collection © KLW NFC Imprint 2015



Another configuration with more members of the VIP group at Adventure Bay, 31st January 1872. The man laughing, sitting between the Hon. Alfred Kennerley (lower left) and Sir John O'Shanassy, is Hugh Munro Hull, Parliamentary librarian. He seems to have appreciated comments coming from Nevin at the point of capture, while Sir John O'Shanassy (with stick), reads on, oblivious. The figure running into the scene at centre is John Woodcock Graves (the younger), organiser of the excursion.

Nevin's blindstamp impress is on the mount at centre. This stereo is badly water-damaged.
It is held at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Ref: Q1994.56.24.
Photo taken at TMAG 10th November 2014
Photo copyright © KLW NFC 2014 ARR



Thomas Nevin took this photograph of the group as they emerged from the bush onto the sand at Adventure Bay, 31st January 1872. He printed the image as a stereograph on yellow card, with his blindstamp impress "T. NEVIN PHOTO" on the right, which was applied somewhat hurriedly. The inscription and arrows in ink on the left - "Father" and "Me" and "?" point to John Woodcock Graves jnr and his daughter Jean Porthouse Graves.



Verso inscription: "Pleasure Trip to Adventure Bay when I was a girl."
From an album compiled by the families of John Woodcock Graves jnr and R. Byron Miller
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2015

A letter to the Mercury by "One of the Party" praised the trip as "the happiest marine pleasure excursion that has ever happened in Tasmania":
All went to bed, I guess, in good time, and slept and dreamt about nothing worse than
"Silvery fish for the foam-hunting falcon,
Sea-weed and pearls for my darling and me."
And thus ended the happiest marine pleasure excursion that has ever happened in Tasmania, and one that will leave a pleasant mark in the history of the colony....
ONE OF THE PARTY.
Source: WHAT STRANGERS THINK OF OUR RESOURCES. (1872, February 2). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 3. Retrieved March 28, 2015, from https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8921623

Very well taken
Thomas Nevin advised readers of the Mercury, 2nd February 1872, that those group photographs taken on the trip to Adventure Bay were ready and for sale. The Mercury also reported that Nevin's photographs of the event were "very well taken" in the same edition. The day previously, Nevin's close friend Henry Hall Baily advised that prints of his "instantaneous photographs" taken of the Champion Gig Race at the Regatta on 30th January were ready.



Visitors' photographs on hand ready for sale
The Colonists' Trip to Adventure Bay
Thomas Nevin's advertisement, Mercury 2nd February 1872
Henry Hall Baily's "Instantaneous Photographs", 1st Feb 1872





Mercury, 2nd February 1872
THE TRIP DOWN THE RIVER.- A photograph of the "Colonists' Trip" has been very well taken by Mr. Nevin, which will be of special interest to those who took part, and will probably like to secure this remembrance of so memorable event.

Both Baily and Nevin had forwarded copies of their photographs to the Mercury to merit these notices. Those copies would have been displayed in the newspaper window because printing them - as real photographs and not just as lithographs - was still beyond the technological means of newsprint reproduction.

To Port Arthur, 1st February 1872



TRANSCRIPT
VISIT TO PORT ARTHUR.- Mr. Trollope and the Hon. Howard Spensly, Esq., Solicitor-General of Victoria, accompanied the Hon. the Premier, J.M. Wilson, Esq., and the Hon. the Attorney-General, W.R. Giblin, Esq., embarked in the Government schooner late last night, some time after Mr. Trollope had concluded his lecture on “Modern Fiction, as a recreation for young people,” and left for Port Arthur. Their visit to the Peninsula will be a very hurried one, and will afford them only scant opportunity of inspecting the penal establishment, it being the intention of Messrs. Trollope and Spensly to leave Hobart Town for the North, en route for Victoria in a few days …
Source: Mercury 2 February 1872

Thomas Nevin printed the Adventure Bay trip photographs in different formats, some as plain single-image cartes-de-visite, others as stereographs in oval, arched or square mounts on buff or yellow card. He must have worked in situ and later all evening of the 31st January (1872) on returning to Hobart to have prepared prints from the Adventure Bay trip for sale by 2nd February, because one day later, on 1st February (1872), he attended British author Anthony Trollope's lecture on modern fiction at the Odd Fellows Hall before joining Trollope's party heading to Port Arthur with the Tasmanian Premier, the Hon. J. M. Wilson, Esq. Thomas Nevin was the official photographer of the Loyal United Brothers Lodge. A. & I.O.O.F. at the inauguration and grande soiree of the new Odd Fellows' Hall on July 6, 1871, attended by the Premier. His VIP commission was extended once again to join the Premier, members of the legal profession, and Anthony Trollope at Port Arthur.



Anthony Trollope, Melbourne 1871
Hibling & Fields Photographers
State Library of Victoria Ref: H96.160/1669

Anthony Trollope's party left late in the evening of 1st February (1872) on board the government schooner for the Port Arthur prison on the Tasman Peninsula. Accompanying Anthony Trollope and Premier J. M. Wilson were lawyers Howard Spensley, Solicitor-General of Victoria, and the Tasmanian Attorney-General W.R. Giblin, Nevin's family solicitor since 1868, who had requested Nevin join them to organise facilities on site and procedures for photographing prisoners in accordance with recent legislative provisions in Victoria and NSW (see newspaper report below). They stayed a few days while Trollope gathered information from interviewing prisoners, including Denis Dogherty, whom Nevin photographed among other recent absconders. He took photographs as well of the derelict state of the buildings, of costly but unfinished engineering works, and general vistas across the site.



Attorney-General W. R. Giblin ca. 1874
Photo by T. Nevin, stamp verso
TAHO Ref: NS1013-1-1971



Trollope's Port Arthur interviewee prisoner Denis Dogherty
Photo by T. Nevin, stamp and verso inscription "Calder".
Private collection KLW NFC Imprint.



Thomas J. Nevin’s mugshot of prisoner Denis Dogherty, 1870s, reprint held at the NLA
Surname is spelled Dougherty by Edwin Barnard in Exiled: The Port Arthur Convict Photographs NLA (2010).
Photos copyright © KLW NFC 2011 ARR. Watermarked.


More Newspaper Reports
The colony of New South Wales had already introduced the practice of photographing prisoners twice, firstly on entry to prison and secondly near the end of their term of incarceration by January 1872 when this report was published in the Sydney Morning Herald. The purpose of the visit to the Port Arthur prison by the former Premier and Solicitor-general from the colony of Victoria with photographer, Thomas Nevin and the Tasmanian Attorney-General the Hon. W. R. Giblin in the company of Anthony Trollope, was to establish a similar system for the relocation and processing prisoners through the central Municipal Police Office, Hobart Town Hall from the Port Arthur prison to the Hobart Gaol in Campbell St.


Photography and Prisons
The Sydney Morning Herald 10 January 1872

TRANSCRIPT
PHOTOGRAPHY AND PRISONS.-We understand that, at the instance of Inspector-General McLerie, Mr. Harold McLean, the Sheriff, has recently introduced into Darlinghurst gaol the English practice of photographing all criminals in that establishment whose antecedents or whose prospective power of doing mischief make them, in the judgment of the police authorities, eligible for that distinction. It is an honour, however, which has to be " thrust " upon some men, for they shrink before the lens of the photographer more than they would quail before the eye of a living detective. The reluctance of such worthies in many cases can only be conquered by the deprivation of the ordinary gaol indulgencies; and even then they submit with so bad a grace that their acquiescence is feigned rather than real. The facial contortions to which the more knowing ones resort are said to be truly ingenious. One scoundrel will assume a smug and sanctimonious aspect, while another will chastise his features into an expression of injured innocence or blank stupidity which would almost defy recognition. They are pursued, however, through all disguises, and when a satisfactory portrait is obtained copies are transferred to the black books of the Inspector-General. The prisoners are first " taken" in their own clothes on entering the gaol, and the second portrait is produced near the expiration of their sentence. When mounted in the police album, the cartes-de-visite, if we may so style them, are placed between two columns, one containing a personal description of the offender, and the other a record of his criminal history. Briefer or more comprehensive biographies have probably never been framed. Copies of these photographs are sent to the superintendents of police in the country districts, and also to the adjoining colonies. To a certain extent photography has proved in England an effective check upon crime, and it is obviously calculated to render most valuable aid in the detection of notorious criminals. New South Wales is, we understand, the only Australian colony which has yet adopted this system ; but the practice is likely soon to become general.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald. (1872, January 10). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13250452



Anthony Trollope at Port Arthur
Mercury, 2 February 1872

TRANSCRIPT
VISIT TO PORT ARTHUR.- Mr. Trollope and the Hon. Howard Spensley, Esq., Solicitor-General of Victoria, accompaniedby the Hon. the Premier , J. M. Wilson Esq., and the Hon. the Attoney-General, W. R. Giblin Esq., embarked in the Government schooner late last night, some time after Mr. Trollope had concluded his lecture on "Modern Fiction as a recreation for young people," and left for Port Arthur. Their visit to the Peninsula will be a very hurried one, and will afford them only scant opportunity of inspecting the penal establishment, it being the intention of Messrs. Trollope and Spensley to leave Hobart Town for the North, en route for Victoria, in a few days.
THE MERCURY. (1872, February 2). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved April 3, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8921624

JAMES ERSKINE CALDER wrote a lengthy piece on the history of Adventure Bay in the days preceding the actual trip to acquaint those with subscriptions to the trip of its significance.
OUR VISITORS' TRIP.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE MERCURY.
Sir,-It was s good idea, whoever originated it, to have pitched on Adventure Bay for the scene of the pleasure trip and picnic, which the inhabitants of Hobart Town have got up as a fitting and kindly compliment to the many visitors now amongst them from Continental Australia, who have chosen this place for their summer residence.
I know quite enough of Adventure Bay to be able to assure you that the selection is a happy one ; and though a long list of pleasant places offer themselves to choose from, none could be better for a day's enjoyment in the land of the beautiful, than this retired inlet of Storm Bay .....
It was in this very Adventure Bay to which our citizens are about to escort their friends, that the quarrel between the rudely imperious Bligh and his lieutenant, grew into irreconcilable hatred of each other. According to a most unwilling participator in the meeting that followed, and who became its historian, " the seeds of eternal discord were sown between Lieutenant Bligh and some of his officers, while in Adventure Bay, Van Diemen's Land." etc etc
OUR VISITORS' TRIP. (1872, January 26). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 3. Retrieved March 28, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8923452



HOBART TOWN. (1872, February 8). Launceston Examiner (Tas. : 1842 - 1899), p. 3. Retrieved March 28, 2015, from https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39686009

TRANSCRIPT
Mr Anthony Trollope's lecture at 'the Odd-Fellows' Hall, last week, was attractive, and the object in aid of which it was given, the Cathedral Building Fund, did not render it less so. If the question were asked whether Mr Trollope be a better lecturer than novelist, it would not be difficult to answer in the negative, and probably some of the delighted readers of "Dr. Thorne," "The 'MacDermotts," "Barchester Towers," etc experienced a shade of disappointment at the lecture. However, Mr Trollope was greeted with a hearty welcome, and his lecture was "vociferously" (that's the word, I think) applauded from beginning to end. The subject " Works of Fiction as a means of recreation for young people," was appropriately chosen, and ably treated ; and I presume the northerners will have an opportunity of testing for themselves the respectable lecturing powers of the "great novelist."
Mr Graves's design of a pleasure excursion to Adventure Bay, last Wednesday, succeeded admirably. About 400 visitors from the other colonies and citizens well freighted the good steam-ship City of Hobart, and a most agreeable trip was enjoyed. There was abundant fishing in the bay and adjacent waters, and black perch, white perch, and bream were caught by the lady and gentlemen anglers. Bags and baskets were filled with the finny treasures, and it was quite curious to see the excursionists landing and trudging homewards with their burdens. It is, of course, understood that it was a subscription affair, the charge for chartering the vessel having been more than met by the contributions of the citizens, who cheerfully supported the project. I should not be surprised if the visitors proposed to return the compliment by giving a trip to the citizens. People are beginning, though late, to devise means for the amusement of visitors, for we have a great many visitors left in Hobart Town, notwithstanding the numbers who have gone to take part in the Launceston Carnival. There is to be an afternoon steam excursion tomorrow, got up by the Foresters; a quiet excursion on Thursday, to and from New Norfolk; an organ recital at the Town Hall to-morrow evening, when professionals from the different colonies are expected to perform on the grand organ. This evening, the sixteenth concert of the Orchestral Union is to come off, when Bellini's Sonambula is to be a performed, Mr Tapfield conductor. Then there is the Japanese troupe at the Theatre Royal, which is being well patronised; and several other entertainments are on the tapis; so that by hook or by crook, a tidy programme of amusements has been arranged for a week to come, at least.





State Library of Tasmania
Stereographs of Port Arthur, T. Nevin 1872
Ref:AUTAS001124851726
Ref:AUTAS001124851759

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