Conrad Martens in Newcastle and the Hunter

The State Library of New South Wales has digitised a selection of Conrad Martens‘ drawings. Among them are drawings that document his travels though the Hunter in the years 1841 and 1852.

Conrad Martens (1801-1878), artist, was born in London England. In 1832 he joined the scientific team aboard the Beagle with Charles Darwin, replacing Augustus Earle as artist. He left the Beagle in October 1834 making his way eventually to Sydney in 1835. There he made his living selling water colour paintings among the Sydney elite. But the 1840s brought hard times and he was forced to travel to find a new market for his works among the settlers and squatters of New South Wales and Queensland. This economic downturn thankfully brought him to the Hunter Region in 1841 and again in 1852 where he was commissioned by a number of local landowners to paint their homesteads and environs. These land owners included Edward Charles Close Esq (Morpeth), Mrs Dumaresq (Port Stephens and Tahlee), Captain P.P. King (Tahlee, Lady Parry’s Seat, Buchan Mountain and Stroud), Alexander Walter Scott Esq (Burwood, Ash Island, Newcastle, Morriset’s Baths, Christ Church), H. Scott (Glendon), J. W. White Esq (Stroud, Tahlee), Captain Marcus Freeman Brownrigg, R.N. (Carrington, Port Stephens and Stroud) and C Kemp (Stroud) [Thanks to Conrad Martens "Account of Pictures Painted in N.S. Wales" Name Index to Patrons 1835-1878 Compiled by Michael Organ (1989)]

We have selected those drawings relating to Newcastle and the Hunter Region, and have re-arranged them in chronological order. The original sketches themselves are included across a variety of sketchbooks and are not in date order. The item number, title and link to the source album’s entry on the State Library’s site is included below each image. This allows us to course Marten’s journey through the region in a methodical manner. We are delighted that the State Library has digitised these works, and hope they continue making these treasures accessible. The drawings were obviously done before the paintings themselves, so it would be an interesting exercise to track down where the paintings of the scenes are now located. An exhibition of these selected drawings and their accompanying paintings would make a great attraction for art lovers and historians of the Hunter Region if it were to ever be assembled and curated.

80. View from Lady Parry’s Seat, Tahlee, 8th April 1841 by Conrad Martens

 Item 80 View from Lady Parry’s Seat, Tahlee, 8th April 1841
from Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 by Conrad Martens (1801-1878)
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=457268#

View from Lady Parry’s Seat, Tahlee. Unsigned. Undated.

f.74 View from Lady Parry’s Seat, Tahlee. Unsigned. Undated. Titled at lower right.
From: Album of cloud studies, mountain, bush and harbour scenes, ca. 1841-1850 drawn by Conrad Martens
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=825948

Carrington, Port Stephens 10th April 1841

Item 56. Carrington, Port Stephens, 10th April 1841
From Conrad Martens sketches [of New South Wales 1835-1842]
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=446239

Valley of the Glouster

Item 57. Valley of the Glouster [sic] – 16th April 1841
From Conrad Martens sketches [of New South Wales 1835-1842]
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=446239

58. Pass of the Buckan 16th April 1841

58. Pass of the Buckan [i.e. Buchen] 16th April 1841
From Conrad Martens sketches [of New South Wales 1835-1842]
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=446239

69. Tahlee, Port Stephens 21st April 1841

 Item 69 Tahlee, Port Stephens 21st April 1841 from Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 by Conrad Martens (1801-1878)
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=457268#

23. The Buckan Mountains on the “Gloucester”

Item 23. The Buckan [i.e. Buchen] Mountains on the “Gloucester”, 17th April 1841
from Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 by Conrad Martens (1801-1878)
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=457268#

59. Tahlee. 23rd April 1841

Item 59. Tahlee. 23rd April 1841
From Conrad Martens sketches [of New South Wales 1835-1842]
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=446239

Mirranni from above the Station

60. Mirranni from above the Station, 30th April 1841
From Conrad Martens sketches [of New South Wales 1835-1842]
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=446239

The Hunter at Glendon 3rd May 1841

Item 6 The Hunter at Glendon 3rd May 1841
from [Album of] Pencil sketches, watercolours, etc.
by C. Martens, O.W. Brierly, S.T. Gill, John Rae, C. Rodius and others, ca. 1823-1863
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=404878

The Yellow Rock, Wollombi Range, 3rd May 1841 by Conrad Martens

Item 66 The Yellow Rock, Wollombi Range, 3rd May 1841
from Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 by Conrad Martens (1801-1878)
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=457268#

f.67 Yellow Rock, Wollombi Range. Unsigned. Undated.

Item f.67 Yellow Rock, Wollombi Range. Unsigned. Undated. Titled at lower left.
From: Album of cloud studies, mountain, bush and harbour scenes, ca. 1841-1850 drawn by Conrad Martens
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=825948

83. Tangorrin and Glendon Brook from near the Station, 4 May 1841

Item 83. Tangorrin and Glendon Brook from near the Station, 4 May 1841
from Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 by Conrad Martens (1801-1878)
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=457268#

f.70 Glendon. Unsigned. Dated 5th May 1841

f.70 Glendon. Unsigned. Dated ‘May 5th, 41’. Titled at lower right.
From: Album of cloud studies, mountain, bush and harbour scenes, ca. 1841-1850 drawn by Conrad Martens
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=825948

46. Harpurs Hill, 7th May 1841

Item 46. Harpurs [i.e. Harpers] Hill, 7th May 1841
from Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 by Conrad Martens (1801-1878)
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=457268#

f.13 On the Paterson River. Unsigned. Undated.

Item f.13 On the Paterson River. Unsigned. Undated. Titled on back in unknown hand.
From: Album of cloud studies, mountain, bush and harbour scenes, ca. 1841-1850 drawn by Conrad Martens
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=825948

4. Church at Morpeth 10th May 1841

Item 4 Church at Morpeth 10th May 1841
from [Album of] Pencil sketches, watercolours, etc.
by C. Martens, O.W. Brierly, S.T. Gill, John Rae, C. Rodius and others, ca. 1823-1863
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=404878

87. From Burwood near Newcastle, 11th May 1841, Shepherds Hill

Item 87 From Burwood near Newcastle, 11th May 1841, Shepherds Hill
from Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 by Conrad Martens (1801-1878)
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=457268#

Ash Island 12th May 1841 by Conrad Martens

Flyleaf Ash Island 12th May 1841
from [Album of] Pencil sketches, watercolours, etc.
by C. Martens, O.W. Brierly, S.T. Gill, John Rae, C. Rodius and others, ca. 1823-1863
View Album:http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=404878

61(a). Staghorn, 13th May 1841

Item 61(a). Staghorn, Acrostium Elkruomi [?], 13th May 1841
From Conrad Martens sketches [of New South Wales 1835-1842]
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=446239

61(b). Staghorn, 13th May 1841

Item 61(b). Staghorn, 13th May 1841
From Conrad Martens sketches [of New South Wales 1835-1842]
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=446239

Newcastle Church 13th May 1841 by Conrad Martens

Item 3 Newcastle Church 13th May 1841
from [Album of] Pencil sketches, watercolours, etc.
by C. Martens, O.W. Brierly, S.T. Gill, John Rae, C. Rodius and others, ca. 1823-1863
View Album:http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=404878

76. Morrisets Bath, Newcastle, 13th May 1841

Item 76 Morrisets Bath, Newcastle, 13th May 1841
from Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 by Conrad Martens (1801-1878)
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=457268#

77. Nobby Rock, Newcastle, 13th May 1841

Item 77 Nobby Rock, Newcastle, 13th May 1841
from Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 by Conrad Martens (1801-1878)
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=457268#

Untitled – Possibly Newcastle Harbour 13th May 1841

Item 78 [Untitled] Possibly Newcastle Harbour 13th May 1841 ?
from Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 by Conrad Martens (1801-1878)
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=457268#

79. View looking North from Churchyard, Newcastle, 14th May 1841

Item 79 View looking North from Churchyard, Newcastle, 14th May 1841
from Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 by Conrad Martens (1801-1878)
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=457268#

Humes Craigs on the Gloucester 18th Sept 1842

Item f.75 Humes Craigs on the Gloucester. Unsigned. Dated ‘Sept 18th 42’ at lower right. Titled at lower right in unknown hand.
From Album of cloud studies, mountain, bush and harbour scenes, ca. 1841-1850 drawn by Conrad Martens
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=825948

Hume’s Craigs, on the ‘Gloucester’. Unsigned. Undated.

f.68 Hume’s Craigs, on the ‘Gloucester’. Unsigned. Undated. Titled at lower right.
From Album of cloud studies, mountain, bush and harbour scenes, ca. 1841-1850 drawn by Conrad Martens
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=825948

f.5 Nobby’s Newcastle. Unsigned. Undated. Untitled.

f.5 Nobby’s Newcastle. Unsigned. Undated. Untitled. [1843?]
from Portfolio collection of views, mainly in New South Wales, volume 5, ca. 1836-1873 drawn by Conrad Martens
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=825931#

99. Stroud, 8th May 1852

Item 99 Stroud, 8th May 1852
from Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 by Conrad Martens (1801-1878)
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=457268#

54. Kerua River, Tilligherry, 8th May 1852

Item 54. Kerua [i.e. Karuah] River, Tilligherry, 8 May 1852
from Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 by Conrad Martens (1801-1878)
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=457268#

Booral near Stroud, 10th May 1852

f.15 Booral nr. Stroud. Unsigned. Titled and dated ‘May 10th/52’ at lower right.
from Album of sketches in Sydney, New England and Queensland, ca. 1852-1878 drawn by Conrad Martens
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=825940

67. Carrington, Port. Stephens, 11th May 1852

Item 67 Carrington, Port. Stephens, 11th May 1852
from Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 by Conrad Martens (1801-1878)
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=457268#

64. Valley of the Glocester

Item 64 Valley of the Glocester [1852?]
from Sketches in Australia, 1835-1865 by Conrad Martens (1801-1878)
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=457268#

19b. Newcastle – 16 May 1855

Items 19b. Newcastle, showing the soil reclaimed by enclosure from the sand – 16 May 1855
From Colonial sketches: an album of views of Sydney and NSW by E. West, F. Terry, Conrad Martens et. al.
View Album: http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=449077#

Pencilled map of a region’s memory – H1 11 Feb 2012 p.14

Conrad Martens drawings digitised by The State Library of New South Wales.
Hunter Region related items sourced and chronologically arranged by Gionni Di Gravio
February 2011

River Stories – Raymond Terrace to Maitland

On Tuesday 15 November 2011 I had a wonderful day recording Episode 20 of Phil Ashley Brown’s River Stories, retracing the paddlesteps of the 1801 Survey mission’s journey from Raymond Terrace to Greenhill (Morpeth) then onto Maitland (Shanks’s Forest Plains).

The Radio Show can be heard on ABC 1233 Radio’s website here:

Tracing the Hunter’s history – River Stories, Episode 20

And images from the day taken by Phil Ashley Brown are here:

Phil Ashley-Brown’s images of Tracing the Hunter’s history

Our map for the excursion was Francis Barrallier’s 1801 Survey of the Hunter.

Francis Barrallier – Coal Harbour and Rivers ..1801 (Courtesy of National Archives of the UK)

Ensign Francis Louis Barrallier. ‘Coal Harbour and Rivers, On the Coast of New South Wales, surveyed by Ensign Barrallier, In His Majesty’s Armed Surveying Vessel, “Lady Nelson”, Lieut. James Grant, Commander, in June and July, 1801. By Order of Governor King’. CO 700/ New South Wales 16/

Here is an overlay of the Barrallier map with modern day (2011) Google

River Stories Overlay (Click for larger image)

We began our journey at Raymond Terrace.

Here is a link to the 1853 engraving of the township from the Illustrated Sydney News with text:

http://coalriver.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/raymond-terrace-hunters-river/

Two versions of Francis Barrallier’s Survey Plan for June – July 1801 is here: http://coalriver.wordpress.com/history/

The 1801 Survey Mission  – The Object of the Mission

1801

GOVERNOR KING TO LIEUT.-COLONEL PATERSON (King Papers.) (HRNSW V.4:389)

Sydney,
8th June, 1801

Dear Sir,

It being my intention to send the Lady Nelson to survey and examine Hunter’s River, and the Service not permitting me to be absent from this settlement, I am much gratified by your offer of going in that vessel, and making such observations as may be of public benefit to this colony.

I have directed Lieut. Grant to accommodate you in the best manner the brig will allow of, and to give you such assistance as you may require.

I enclose you a copy of my orders to Lieut. Grant, together with the object of inquiry I wish to be informed of respecting that place, [the enclosures were copies of instructions to Lieut. Grant, post, p. 390, and Governor King’s memorandum, post, p. 391.) and I have to request your information on those points on your return to this place.

I am, &c.,

PHILIP GIDLEY KING

1801

GOVERNOR KING TO LIEUTENANT JAMES GRANT (King Papers)  (HRNSW V.4: 390-391)

Instructions

9th June, 1801

As the winter is now advancing, which renders it unsafe for the Lady Nelson being sent to renew the survey of Bass’s Straits and the south-west coast of this country until the spring, and as the surveying Hunter’s River, lying between this place and Port Stephens, is of the utmost consequence to be ascertained, - you are hereby required and directed to receive Lieut.-Col. Paterson and the persons on board, as per margin, [these persons were – Ensign Barrallier, Mr. J. Harris, six soldiers, two sawyers, a pilot, a miner, and one native] bearing them on a supernumerary list for provisions, and proceed without loss of time to Hunter’s River, for which place you are provided with a pilot.  When arrived there, you will give every assistance to Ensign Barrallier, in making as complete a survey as possible of the entrance and inside of that river, its shoals, depth of water, and every other particular, as pointed out by the second paragraph of your former orders.

You will take under your command the Francis, colonial schooner, and cause her to be laden with the best coals that can be procured ; and should that vessel be laden before the survey is completed, you will dispatch her to this place without loss of time.

If the weather will admit of your going into Port Stephens, which Lieut.-Col. Paterson is desirous of visiting, you will make every observation on that place, as well as Hunter’s River, agreeable to the second paragraph of your former instructions and the directions added to this instruction.  As the Service will require your returning to this port by the first of August, you are not to make a longer delay, delivering me a journal of your proceedings, and such specimens as you may be able to collect, as pointed out by your orders from the Duke of Portland, and my instructions of March 5th.

Given, &c.,

PHILIP GIDLEY KING

MEMORANDUM BY GOVERNOR KING  (King Papers.) (HRNSW V.4: 391)

[Enclosure.]

9th June, 1801

OBJECTS to which Governor King requests Col. Paterson, Lt. Grant, and the other gentlemen going in the Lady Nelson to Hunter’s River will pay a particular attention.

The nature of the soil in general.

Whether the grounds are overflowed, either by high tides or by land floods.

Whether the place may be thought healthy or unhealthy on account of the mud banks which I am told surround the sides of the river.

If the water is sweet and good.

The size of the trees and whether there is plenty of timber for building, stone, lime-stone, or shells.

How far it may be practicable for vessels to frequent that port with safety, the quantity of coals that may be procured there, the facility of procuring them, and what proportion of labour would be necessary to keep a supply ready for vessels going thither for that article.  To assist the gentlemen in forming an idea on this head, a miner who has been there before will accompany them.

To examine where the most eligible place would be to form a settlement, both with respect to procuring coals and for agricultural purposes.

PHILIP GIDLEY KING.

Our Starting Point – Raymond Terrace (at the junction point of the Hunter River (their Paterson’s River) and our Williams River (their Hunter’s River)

REMARKS, &c., on board His Majesty’s armed surveying vessel, Lady Nelson, in Hunter River, 1801. By LIEUT. GRANT, COMMANDER – HUNTER  RIVER (HRNSW V.4: 404-409)

Sunday, 28th June, 1801. -  Wind, N.W.  P.M. – moderate and cloudy weather.  At 4 p.m., the tide serving, we dropped up into the entrance of Paterson’s River, and at 6 came too in 3 fathoms water for the night.  At 7 in the morning we dropped up into 9 feet water, and was informed by the second mate, who was ahead in the boat sounding, that he had only 7 and 6 feet.  I immediately brought up.  In order the better to satisfy myself on this head, I went with Colonel Paterson in the boat at the top of high water, and found no more than two, three, and four feet at most, a little further above where our boat had been.  We then returned, and sounded the other entrances to this arm, but found no more water, and in many places less.  Judging that the vessel might touch at low water where she lay, the rise of the tide not being less than four or five feet, I got up the anchor and brought her back into two fathoms water, giving up the idea of getting further up this arm with the vessel.  We moored with the kedge

Morpeth – Greenhill

LIEUT.-COLONEL PATERSON’S JOURNAL AND DISCOVERIES AT HUNTER RIVER (HRNSW V.4: 448-453)

June 29. -  Accompanied by Mr. Harris and Mr. Lewin, I left the Lady Nelson with the launch to carry our provisions and what we thought necessary for an excursion of seven days, and a little boat belonging to Mr. H., which we found very useful ; indeed if it had not been [for] it we could not have proceeded as far as we did.  This day we got on about 16 miles, and rested the night on a rising ground which I called Greenhill.  The soil is good but does not extend to any considerable distance.  Here the water is fresh enough for use.  The tide rises about four feet.  Nearly half a mile above this the river, which your Excellency has done me the honor to name Paterson’s River, formerly called the Cedar Arm, falls into Hunter’s River.

LIEUT.-COLONEL PATERSON’S JOURNAL AND DISCOVERIES AT HUNTER RIVER (HRNSW V.4: 448-453)

June. 30 -  Proceeded about 14 miles, the country generally low, covered with wood ;  very little of it fit for cultivation – not from the soil but from the lowness of the situation.

Compare with the Town of Morpeth in 1865, engraving from the Illustrated Sydney News:

http://coalriver.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/the-town-of-morpeth-in-1865/

Click the image for a higher res version.

Morpeth 1865 - 2011

Maitland – Shanks’ Forest Plains

LIEUT.-COLONEL PATERSON’S JOURNAL AND DISCOVERIES AT HUNTER RIVER (HRNSW V.4: 448-453)

July 1. -  This day we concluded ourselves 12 miles higher up, and as the banks of the river in most places are very low and swampy, we fixed upon the first dry ground for our headquarters, where we built a small tent hut, thatched with grass which grows luxuriant.  Here is an extent of country for about three miles to the southward with several lagoons and rather low, but except on the banks of the river not subject to floods.  The soil in most places is good, thinly interspersed with fine lofty trees.  This I named Shanks’ Forest Plains in honor of Captain Shanks, the projector of the Lady Nelson, a gentleman much interested in the prosperity of this colony.  The wood generally known by the name of cedar does not abound much in this place.

The camp at Shanks’ Forest Plains

LIEUT.-COLONEL PATERSON’S JOURNAL AND DISCOVERIES AT HUNTER RIVER (HRNSW V.4: 448-453)

July 4. -  Having fixed on Shanks’ Forest Plain as our place of rendezvous, in the neighbourhood of which is a large lagoon reported to be 9 miles across, and as the weather was very variable, I thought it better to convince myself of the nature and extent of this large sheet of water as described, and supposed to be the source of the Paterson River, than to undertake a larger journey towards the mountains until the weather became more favourable.  About a mile higher up the river is a deep creek to the right, which from its direction gave us every reason to believe that it had communication with the lagoon.

Sightings of Aboriginal People

LIEUT.-COLONEL PATERSON’S JOURNAL AND DISCOVERIES AT HUNTER RIVER (HRNSW V.4: 448-453)

July 5. -  We dispatched the boat with three men up the creek while we proceeded by land in expectation they would be able to join us.  After traveling about 3 miles, and passing some ponds with quantities of wild ducks in them, but exceeding shy, we had from the top of a rising ground a view of the large lagoon, and was much disappointed in its appearance and extent.  It is merely a chain of large ponds, and forms several small islands covered with reeds.  The circumference may be 12 or 14 miles, but no part of it is 1 mile broad.  From the number of black swans and wild ducks were saw here, we had no doubt of killing many, and with the assistance of the boat, provided it arrived, we should be able to get them out of the water.  After waiting till late in the day, and neither hearing nor seeing anything of our people with the boat, we considered they had met with some difficulty in getting up the creek.  We therefore returned to our hut after traveling from 9 in the morning till half-past 3 in the afternoon without resting or having the least refreshment.  To-day we heard some natives, and saw a new canoe on the banks of the creek where we expected to have met our boat.  From what I observed of trees cut down by the natives, which must have been a much sharper edged tool than what their stone maga is, and from their shyness, I have little reason to doubt but that some of the European deserters are among them.  The country round this lagoon is tolerable soil, and certainly affords food for the natives.  The surface is much grub’d up, particularly where roots of fearns, orchises, and a species of arum grow, which had nearly been fatal to some of our people.  Later in the evening the boat returned, but could not find any communication the creek had with the lagoon.  The men said they had seen very fine trees of cedar and ash.

The extent of the Mission to Mount Elizabeth (today’s Mt Hudson) and Mount Ann (today’s Bolwarra Heights)

REMARKS, &c., on board His Majesty’s armed surveying vessel, Lady Nelson, in Hunter River, 1801. By LIEUT. GRANT, COMMANDER HUNTER  RIVER (HRNSW V.4: 404-409)

Wednesday, 8 July, 1801. -  Wind, S.W.  The distance we were from the ship might be 15 or 16 miles.  We started at daylight and proceeded onwards.  So far, the ground on each side appears to be less or more overflowed every fresh, and is full of lagoons and swamps.  The soil is black and good ad full of brush, with trees of great magnitude and of different kinds.  The grass is thick and long where it grows, but so far the ground is low and swampey, though, no doubt, from the height of the hills inland there is good ground free from all floods.  We breakfasted about nine miles further up on a rising ground clear of brush and swamp.  The ground appeared open, the grass luxurious and long.  I travelled a mile and a half on this sort of ground, and came to a pleasant rising mount which afforded an extensive prospect.  It was covered with long luxuriant grass and very large trees of different kinds ; some rocks are interspersed on its top, with plenty of water at hand.  The land here is high above the source of the river.  Here is plenty of land for agriculture.  The soil is black, but mixed with a sort of sand or marley substance.  However, its natural productions warrant it fit for anything.  A creek that boats might lay in clear of the violent floods runs along the foot of the mount.  The cedar grows here in plenty about the sides of the river, so that there is plenty of wood and stone with water and ground much preferable to any I have seen about Sydney for agriculture.  This is the first spot for cultivation we have yet met with since we left the ship that is desirable about the waterside.  The evening brought us up to the Colonel, where we found them in a comfortable hut and a good fire.  This place might be nine or ten miles further up.  In the morning the Colonel and Dr. Harris in his boat, and Mr. Barrallier and myself in our small boat, proceeded up the river to a mount, similar in productions and soil to the above described, but much higher and of greater magnitude.  The view was extensive and picturesque, as it commanded a great extent of country.  Colonel Paterson had before visited this place and named it Mount Ann.  [Named Mount Ann by Colonel Paterson in honor to the Governor’s wife, Mrs. King.]  On our passage up we had passed five rapid falls, which we were obliged to drag the boats over.  We proceeded onwards, and after passing four more falls, some of which were very rapid and troublesome from the trees being in many places washed right across there, we took-up for the night about three miles above Mount Ann.  On the opposite side was a lagoon, where we shot a brace of ducks in.  We saw several traces of the natives, both young and old, and passed some canoes, which are small and rudely put together.  Here the river still was extensive and wide, but the freshes had left their marks in many tops of trees not less from the source of the river than 25 feet perpendicular height.  The next day brought us to the foot of a high hill, [Colonel Paterson named this hill Mount Elizabeth, in honor of his wife] which was still higher than Mount Ann, and connected to the same by a chain of lesser hills forming a semi-circle nearly.  From the top of this we could see the island in the entrance of the harbour, all the range of blue mountains which we had now got to the nor’w’d of, and also the river for a great way inland winding in various ways.  The production and soil here is nearly what I have before described, and, like the first, is steep on one side.  Here we found some new plants of the fearn tribe, and others, particularly a sort of balm which grows here to a great size, the stem of it approaching nearly to the texture of wood, and is of a sweeter smell than the common balm.  This mount was named Mount Elizabeth.  On it will be found a tree with the letters W.P.,  J.G.,  J.H., F.B.,  [These initials evidently stood for William Paterson, James Grant, John Harris, Francis Barrallier] with the year 1801.  In another tree we cut a piece of the wood from it, which will stand a long time visible.  We saw that the river took so long a sweep and returned to nearly the same place, that it would take us the next day to get almost to the place we were ;  [it would appear from this that they went up the river to about the spot where Singleton now stands.]  therefore we determined on returning, as our stock of provisions would not allow a longer stay.  The country we saw from this hill is an immense level, extending from hence to the Blue Mountains, which we saw until lost to the eye, stretching in a northerly direction into the interior.  I presume this is about 15 or 16 miles higher up than the hut.  We passed the night, as usual, on the banks of the river, and next day proceeded downwards.  On our passage up from the hut we passed in all fourteen different falls.  We again visit Mount Ann, and arrived at the hut in the afternoon.  Mr. Barrallier, it is to be observed, had obtained the survey so far as we had been up.  Cedar grows along the banks of the river in great abundance and great magnitude.  The ash, gum-trees of all sorts, the swamp-oak, and tea-tree is also in great plenty and very large, together with various other woods.  Of minerals there appears not to be any great variety;  those that are about the river in general are volcanick.  Birds and plants nature has been bountiful in bestowing here ; fish also are plenty, and I suppose, from their leaping, are of the trout kind.  Of shells we found a black sort of bivalve and much resembling the shells I have seen searched for in the river in Scotland, particularly the Doun, which in general are found to contain small pearls.  Having now seen as much as I could up this arm, I was anxious to return.  The colonel wished much to examine the other arm of this extensive river, which runs in a northerly direction and branches out apparently towards Port Stephens.  [Doubtless the Williams River.]

Thanks to Mrs Margaret Fryer who transcribed all the original documents.

Gionni Di Gravio
November 2011

The Town of Morpeth in 1865

The Town of Morpeth - Engraving from The Illustrated Sydney News 16 October 1865 page 5

 

Morpeth - from The Illustrated Sydney News 16 October 1865 page 3

 

MORPETH

(The Illustrated Sydney News 16 October 1865 page 3)

The town of Morpeth is situated on the Hunter River, at the highest point navigable for steamers of any size. It is, properly speaking, the port of Maitland, from whence it is distant about four miles. It is connected with Maitland, Newcastle, and Singleton, by the Great Northern Railway, the extension of which will greatly tend to advance the interests of Morpeth; and a few years we may expect it not only to be the principal depot of the entire agricultural produce of the Hunter River District, but also of the immense tract of country lying between the Bogan, Nammoy, and the sea coast. Trade with Sydney is at present carried on by two lines of steamers, the A.S.N. and Hunter River S.N. Companies, who vie in providing the finest accomodation and the fastest boats. Passengers leaving Sydney at 11 p.m. arrive in Morpeth next morning, and are enabled to leave again for Sydney the same evening.

Edward Charles Close Sketchbook on Sothebys

A sketchbook of Edward Charles Close, founding father of the township of Morpeth, is up for auction on Sothebys. According to the Sothebys website it consists of 30 folios (three cut out), containing 26 watercolours, two monochrome wash drawings and six pencil sketches or rough notations, together with a separate ink drawing by another hand and two handwritten sheets, of Whatman wove paper (watermarked with the date 1816), bound in morocco. The Sketchbook is expecting to fetch between $400,000 – $600,000 AUD.

 

Signal Hill and Nobbys from the Close Sketchbook

 

The Sketchbook is believed to have been executed between 1816 to 1840. The illustration above of Signal Hill (now the site of Fort Scratchley) and Nobbys shows no evidence of the construction of the Macquarie Pier.  There is also a scene of Morpeth contained within the book.

It would be fantastic if such a work could be purchased by a consortium of Newcastle and Hunter Regional organisations and businesses. To be realistic we have to hope that the Mitchell Library will purchase it so that the greater public will have access to this treasure.

Here is more detail from the Sotheby‘s site:

PROVENANCE

Private collection, United Kingdom; by descent through the family of the artist.
LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

James Broadbent and Joy Hughes (eds.), The age of Macquarie, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press / Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, 1992, pp. 113, 148-149 (illus. pp. 33, 90, 150)

Cedric Flower, Clothes in Australia: a pictorial history 1788-1980s, Kenthurst: Kangaroo Press, 1984, cover (illus.), p. 49 (illus.)

Caroline Jordan, Picturesque pursuits: colonial women artists and the amateur tradition, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2005, pp. 53-60, 85 (illus. p. 56, plates XII, XIV)

Joan Kerr & Hugh Falkus, From Sydney Cove to Duntroon: a family album of early life in Australia, London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1982 pp. 12, 24-49 (illus. pp. 8-9, 27, 28-29, 32, 34-35, 36-37, 39, 40, 41, 45, 47, 48)

Joan Kerr (ed.) The dictionary of Australian artists: painters, sketchers, photographers and engravers to 1870, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1992, pp. 132-133 (illus. p. 132)

Joan Kerr (ed.), Heritage: the national women’s art book, Sydney: G+B Arts International, 1995, pp. 34 (illus.), 324-325.
CATALOGUE NOTE

RELATED WORKS
Edward Close (attrib. Sophia Campbell), Sketchbook circa 1817-1840, 22.8 x 28.9 cm (each sheet), National Library of Australia, Canberra (PIC R7249-7276 LOC 8631)

Edward Close, Album circa 1805-1840, 23 x 33 cm (or less, each drawing), Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales (PXE 868)

Edward Close, Panorama of Newcastle 1821, watercolour, 41.5 x 364 cm, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales (PXD 576)

(The following descriptions are in order of appearance. Except where specifically described otherwise, all works are watercolours, and are drawn on single sheets. A fully-detailed, folio-by-folio listing can be found on the Sotheby’s website.)

- (inside front cover) Rough sketch map of the southern side of Sydney Harbour. Inscribed: Bondi Bay (lower right) and with the letter C on the west side of Double Bay. Bears supplier’s label inscribed: R. ACKERMANN’S / REPOSITORY OF ARTS / 101, Strand, London. (top left). Pencil

- Panoramic view of Rio de Janeiro from the sea, with the Sugarloaf and Corcovado mountains and the Point São João, a boat with officers in the foreground. Double-page spread

- Panoramic view of Madeira from the sea, with a fishing vessel in the foreground and a sailing ship in the distance. Inscribed Madeira taken on board the Mattilda [sic]. – (upper right). Double-page spread

- Two coastal profiles of the Curtis Group (Curtis Is., Cone Islet and Sugarloaf Rock), Bass Strait. Inscribed Ba∫se’s Straits (upper centre); Appearance of Sir Roger Curtis’ Isle & peaks as pa∫sed at 10 am by Mitilda [sic]. (upper centre); Sir Roger Curtis’ Group bearing N.N.E. (lower centre)

- Two coastal profiles: Porto Santo Island, Atlantic Ocean, and the Kent Group (Deal, Erith and Dover Islands), Bass Strait. Inscribed Porto Santo bearing S ½ W. to S.E. (upper left); Kent’s Group & Judgement rock Ba∫se’s Straits. E.N.E. (centre left)

- Two coastal profiles of Île St Paul, Atlantic Ocean. Inscribed St Pauls (upper left); NE by E. (upper left); E. by N. (upper right); St Pauls (centre left); Bearing N.W. (centre)

- Paddle steamer, river’s edge and buildings – preliminary sketch for detail of finished watercolour ‘Morpeth, from above the new Steam Co.’s wharf’, in National Library of Australia sketchbook, Pencil

- Catalan Bay, Gibraltar, with houses and fishermen in the foreground. Inscribed Cataline [sic] Bay / Gibraltar (upper right)

- The Katra Mosque, Murshidabad, Bengal (after an engraving in William Hodges’s Select views in India, 1788, vol. 2 plate 17). Inscribed View of the Cuttera, built by / Jaffier Cawn at Muxadabad. / East. Indies. (upper right)

- Panorama of Hyde Park Barracks and Sydney Hospital, from the Domain – sketch for finished watercolour in related sketchbook, National Library of Australia. Pencil. Double page spread

- Sydney in all its glory. Inscribed with title (upper right). Double-page spread

- Storm above Red Point and the Five Islands, Illawarra, with Aborigines in the foreground. Inscribed Five Islands (upper right)

- Lake landscape with settler’s hut and Aborigines. Inscribed Tom Thumb’s Lagoon (upper right)

- Lake and mountain landscape with Aborigines in a canoe in the foreground. Inscribed Tom Thumbs Lagoon (upper right)

- Coastal landscape with settler’s hut, Illawarra. Inscribed Five Islands (upper right)

- Settler’s huts and fenced enclosure, with a family of Aborigines, Illawarra. Inscribed Illawarrha [sic] (upper right). Ink and brown wash

- View of Newcastle. Ink and brown wash

- Studies of a hat and two figures – preliminary sketches for ‘The costume of the Australasians’. Pencil

- The costume of the Australasians. Inscribed with title (lower left)

- Sketch: huts, cart, tree, figure. Pencil

- Sydney Church and Regimental Mile from the Main Guard. Inscribed with title (lower left)

- Morpeth, from above the new Steam Co.’s wharf – sketch for finished watercolour in National Library sketchbook. Pencil

- Panoramic view of Barrack Square, Sydney. Inscribed old Barrack Square (upper right). Unfinished – closely related to (though not a direct study for) finished watercolour in National Library sketchbook. Pencil, ink and coloured wash

- Two portrait studies: John Jacques, Keeper of the Sydney Gaol; and Michael Massey Robinson, Chief Clerk to the Colonial Secretary. Inscribed Jaques (upper left, vertical); Michl [sic] Robinson (upper right); bears inscription The Poet Laureat [sic] (upper right)

- Courtroom scene, Sydney: the ‘Philo Free’ civil libel trial, 1 December 1817. Inscribed G. Allen (upper right, vertical); G. Crosley (upper right, vertical)

- Forest landscape with kangaroo and waratah

- Forest landscape with man chopping wood

- Stream running through ravine

- Landscape with crops, fence, stream and distant mountains

- Landscape with cleared paddocks and homestead under mountains

- (separate sheet) Artist unknown (probably Francis Allman, 1780-1860), My house as Police Magistrate, Goulburn, 1834. Inscribed with title (upper right); inscribed View from the / Church Yard (lower centre)

- (separate sheets) Notes by a daughter of Sophia Campbell (Sophia Ives or Sarah) containing a list of witnesses and a transcription of the beginning of William Bligh’s opening speech, from the court-martial of Major George Johnston, 7th May 1811

This sketchbook is one of the most beautiful, charming and significant artefacts of early Australian colonial culture to come onto the art market in recent years. Its early date and direct, family provenance are unquestionable, and its component watercolours constitute a notable part of the rich visual culture of the Macquarie era (1809-1821).

The sketchbook and its companion volume in the National Library of Australia¹ have long been attributed (on the basis of family tradition) to Sophia Campbell (1777-1833), née Palmer, sister of Commissary John Palmer (1760-1833) and later wife of the colonial merchant and pioneer pastoralist Robert Campbell (1769-1846). It is here confidently re-ascribed to Edward Close (1790-1866), soldier, engineer, magistrate, Legislative Councillor, Morpeth settler and ‘Father of the Hunter’.

In this period there are relatively few readily identifiable and clearly documented artists working in New South Wales: the convict forger Joseph Lycett; the professional natural history painter John Lewin; the explorer and surveyor G.W. Evans and the military officers Edward Close, James Taylor and James Wallis. However, the often obscure origins of early works on paper, their common topographical subject matter and Picturesque style and the dearth of unequivocal signatures and other inscriptions means that the edges between these artists’ respective oeuvres are somewhat blurred.

Moreover, in early settler Australia the contemporary habit of copying other artists’ work was exacerbated by the need for multiple, accurate copies of singular, remarkable colonial scenes and subjects in order to satisfy the demands of patrons, printers and the public both within the colony and at home in England. Transcription was a common colonial practice: Lewin is known to have copied from the Van Diemen’s Land surveyor George Prideaux Harris; Taylor copied Evans; while Lycett copied Wallis, Evans and (possibly) Taylor. Indeed, the longstanding confusion between the works of Wallis and those of Lycett was only resolved in 2006, with the exhibition and publication Joseph Lycett: convict artist, while as recently as 2005 Close’s panorama of Newcastle was still being attributed to Sophia Campbell.²

Finally, as Caroline Jordan has observed, in the small, even intimate world of antipodean polite culture, the loan of cultural materials was part of an informal but important non-financial economy of gift and exchange, and 19^th century sketchbooks and scrapbooks often contain work by multiple hands, executed over a lengthy period.³

In the case of the present work, the provenance (although clear and uninterrupted) does not assist with attribution, as there are very close familial links between the two main candidates for authorship: not only did Edward Close marry Sophia Campbell’s niece (Sophia Susannah Palmer), but in turn his daughter (Marrianne Collinson Close) married one of Sophia’s younger sons, George. The dynastic connection between the two families is further evidenced in the fact that Close gave two of his boys the middle names Palmer and Campbell.

There are, however, a number of good reasons for identifying the book as by Close. First, it should be noted that it is a ready-made sketchbook from the London art materials and fancy goods supplier Rudolf Ackermann, incorporating paper watermarked 1816. Sophia left New South Wales with her husband in 1810, and returned to the colony five years later, arriving in Sydney in March 1815, before the sketchbook was made. Then there are the eight watercolours at the start of the book which describe the voyage to Australia. These island views and coastal profiles match precisely the recorded route of the barque ‘Matilda’, the vessel which brought Close’s regiment (the 48th North Hamptonshire Regiment of Foot) to the colony in 1817; two are inscribed as having been taken from on board the ‘Matilda’.

The seemingly random insertions of views of India and Gibraltar also resonate with Close’s life story. Son of an East India Company trader, he was himself born in Rangamati, Bengal, and he served in the Peninsular War in 1808-1814, being stationed at Gibraltar from September 1808 to May 1809. In New South Wales, following colonial service as engineer at Newcastle, Close resigned his commission and was granted land on the Hunter River. A corner of his river front property ‘Illaulang’ became the township of Morpeth, and Close funded the construction of St James’s Church of England, which was dedicated on 31 December 1840. The town and its church feature in a pencil sketch in the present work and a watercolour in the National Library sketchbook. Sophia Campbell died in 1833, well before the church was built.

Finally, the apparent stylistic inconsistencies, even anomalies between the various component drawings in the twin sketchbooks can be explained by reference to Close’s amateur status. As a military officer he would have had some training in topographical rendering, and the coastal and landscape watercolours are the most detailed, polished and spatially convincing of the drawings in the book. Lacking academic training, he is naturally rather less comfortable with anatomy, which explains the naïvete of his figure compositions. A similar wide variety of subject, theme and finish is also to be found in a third collection, a scrapbook in the Mitchell Library which bears the dedication (in a hand very close, if not identical, to that found in sketchbook inscriptions): ‘The Paintings and sketches of / Edward Charles Close Esqre H.M. 48th Reg.t / His gift to his only daughter Marrianne Collinson Close / Morpeth February 17th 1844.’⁴

This reattribution represents a substantial shift in the canon of early colonial art. The twin sketchbooks were first published by Joan Kerr in 1975, and Sophia Campbell entered and settled in the art-historical literature as a spirited pioneer and exemplar of that important category of colonial artist, the amateur female sketcher. After more than 30 years, Prof. Kerr’s attribution can be shown to be more optimistic than precise. Not without some regret, the lady vanishes. However, as works by Edward Close, both the present work and the National Library sketchbook can now be matched to his signed Newcastle panorama and Mitchell Library scrapbook, and thus reveal him fully as a complex and intriguing artistic and social personality, and one of the most accomplished of the Lycett-Taylor-Wallis circle of early colonial artists.⁵

In any event, the remarkable contents and vigorous style of the sketchbook (and its National Library companion) proclaim the artist’s undoubted importance in the history of Australian art. They are eyewitness records of remarkable acuity and wit, and the sketchbook provides a unique and invaluable record of colonial life in the age of Governor Macquarie.

To begin with, it traces the common immigrant’s journey to Australia by way of the ‘Great Circle’. In the initial sequence of watercolours, Close describes his passage from Ireland to Madeira and St Paul’s, across the Atlantic to Rio de Janeiro, then south and east past Porto Santo and through Bass Strait before the final arrival at what an inscription calls (perhaps in some relief after the long voyage) ‘Sydney in all its glory.’

The sketchbook then shows us the layout, architecture and ongoing development of the infant colonial capital in several detailed townscape views: of the convict barracks and the Rum Hospital, the original St Phillip’s Church, and the old Barrack Square. It also documents several tours to more remote settlements: there are a number of views of the newly-occupied Illawarra coast south of Sydney, including Five Islands and Tom Thumb’s Lagoon; and there is one drawing from the north, a study of Close’s military-engineering assignment, the convict station at Newcastle. (Close’s 1821 Newcastle panorama is recognised as a masterpiece of its kind, while an extended group of Novocastrian subjects is the key feature of the National Library sketchbook.)

Finally and spectacularly, the present sketchbook contains two of the most important, well-known and widely-discussed of early 19^th century colonial watercolours. The first is that inscribed ‘The Costume of the Australasians.’ In addition to its considerable value as a primary source for the history of clothing in Australia, this drawing is particularly distinctive in its social inclusiveness and its tone of amiable satire. Images of convicts are extremely rare in early colonial art, and this picture of the prisoners’ apparent easy co-existence with free settlers and with their military gaolers is truly remarkable. Here we see a total of ten figures, from the Governor’s aide-de-camp Lt John Watts to an officer, soldier and bandsman of the 73rd Regiment (McLeod’s Highlanders); from wealthy colonial ‘nabobs’ to convicts on government service, all happily going about their business in a bustling, crowded Sydney street.

The other is a courtroom scene, which Joan Kerr perceptively identified as the ‘Philo Free’ trial held in Sydney in 1817, the first libel case heard in the colony.⁶ In this matter, Rev. Samuel Marsden accused Colonial Secretary John Campbell (no relation to Sophia) of libelling him through a letter published in the Sydney Gazette which suggested that under the aegis of the Missionary Society, the ‘Christian Mahomet’ had operated as a gun-runner and moonshiner in the Pacific islands. This unique visual document of early colonial politics and jurisprudence includes gentle caricatures of several notable figures, amongst them a portly, grumpy Marsden at the right, the defendant Campbell on the left and possibly Judge-Advocate John Wylde behind him, as well as the lawyers Frederick Garling, William Moore, George Allen and George Crossley.

The Edward Close sketchbook is a precious, informative and delightful relic of colonial culture, and has remained in the hands of the artist’s direct descendants for almost 200 years. Sotheby’s is delighted to be able to present this unique object for public sale and ongoing research and discussion.

We are most grateful to Louise Arnmatt, Mary Eagle, Elizabeth Ellis, John McPhee, Heather Mansell, Richard Neville and Michael Rosenthal for their assistance in cataloguing this work.

1. Both sketchbooks are of the same dimensions, and several subjects (the panorama of Hyde Park convict barracks and the Sydney hospital, the Sydney military barracks and the Morpeth river front) are very closely repeated across both books.

2. John McPhee, Joseph Lycett: convict artist, Sydney: Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, 2006. The Newcastle panorama was originally ascribed to Campbell in the exhibition The work of art: Australian women writers and artists (Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, August 1995-February 1996), and this attribution is maintained in Caroline Jordan, Picturesque pursuits: colonial women artists and the amateur tradition, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2005, pp. 57-59.

3. ibid., passim.

4. This collection includes several subjects clearly comparable to those in the present work, notably a number of views in Spain, several Illawarra landscapes and even a caricature of the New South Wales Corps surgeon and settler Dr John Harris, which parallels the figures and faces in the present sketchbook’s costume and courtroom subjects.

5. It is hoped that the new attribution will be firmly and finally confirmed and explored through continuing documentary research and through the close comparison of pictorial and handwriting manners, both within the sketchbook and by reference to other contemporary watercolours and drawings.

6. In From Sydney Cove to Duntroon…, Prof. Kerr presents a suggested account of the circumstances of the picture’s making, and successfully identifies a number of its various actors (pp. 44-48). However, while she states that the work depicts the criminal libel trial held 21-23 October 1817, it is here proposed that the drawing was made on the occasion of the later (1 December) civil action. On the adjacent page are two small portraits: of John Jacques, Keeper of the Sydney Gaol, and of the Chief Clerk to the Colonial Secretary (and the colony’s ‘poet laureate’) Michael Massey Robinson. Robinson was not in fact involved in the earlier criminal case, but did appear as a witness in the civil trial.

Newcastle Herald 22 April 2009 p.5

Newcastle Herald 23 April 2009 p.5