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Backhouse, James A Narrative of a Visit to the Australian…
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Auction Location:
Melbourne
Date:
15-Jul-2018
Lot No.
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Description:
Backhouse, James A Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies. [Hamilton, Adams & Co., London, 1843] Octavo, xviii, 560pp, cxliv (appendices) pages with in-text woodcut illustrations (by Backhouse) plates and 3 large folding maps loosely held in pockets. Contemporary half-leather and marbled boards; marbled end-papers, gilt edges. James Backhouse (1794-1869), naturalist & Quaker missionary, travelled throughout Australia with George Washington Walker. 'From their arrival at Hobart Town in 1832 until their departure from Fremantle in 1838, they visited from house to house in most of the scattered Australian settlements and found much demand for their services. During their three years in Van Diemen's Land (1832-34) Lieutenant-Governor Arthur found many useful tasks for them. His ready co-operation and disregard of red tape contrasted with that of the naval authorities in London who had refused their proffered services in a Sydney-bound convict transport because they lacked official status. In later voyages in convict ships in Australian waters Backhouse's medical knowledge helped the sick and wounded. Arthur granted the missionaries free access to all penal and Aboriginal establishments, encouraged their investigations and urged them to suggest improvements. They gave Arthur eight valuable reports on the penal settlements of Macquarie Harbour and Port Arthur, the Aboriginal establishment on Flinders Island, the conditions of road-gangs, chain-gangs, assigned servants and their masters, and the Van Diemen's L& Co., with the result that some newspapers labelled them government spies. In New South Wales and its dependencies Governor Sir Richard Bourke encouraged similar work in 1835-37, and in three reports to him they described the penal settlements of Norfolk Island, Moreton Bay and Port Macquarie, and the Aboriginal station in Wellington Valley' ('Australian Dictionary of Biography').
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Unclassified