A manuscript journal kept by an English emigrant to the Australian and Californian goldfields, most likely one Henry Robinson, between December 1848 and December 1852. It includes details of the voyage, accounts of time on shore in Adelaide, Hobart Town, Tahiti and Hawaii, and several pages recounting prospecting near Ballan
Small quarto (205 × 165 mm), [93] pages of a blank notebook.
Original half leather and marbled papered boards a little marked, rubbed and slightly worn; a very good copy with the contents in excellent condition.
The diary is headed 'Journal of Voyage from London to Hobart Town via Robinson then sails in the 'Scout' under captain Cundell on 2 May 1849 (apparently cutting short his plans to sail through to Melbourne), arriving on at Hobart on 9 May: 'The first sight very prepossessing ... most pleased with the town. trade flat'. A Mr W. 'gave me bad prospects for here. recommended me to try California which is here all the go'. During his time in Hobart (occupying 14 pages of the journal) he meets various colonial dignitaries, visits a coal mine, goes shooting, attends a concert by Marie Carandini ('wretched'), and attempts to sell the cargo of shoes and leather he has brought from England (some damaged on the voyage, and some stolen from a Hobart warehouse). Not finding any employment in Hobart he books a passage for California, and sails on the 'William Melville' on 4 July 1849. Stopping at Tahiti between 9 and 19 August (3 pages), Robinson exchanges gifts with Crown Prince Ari'iaue, and is particularly complimentary about the local inhabitants. On 2 September he lands at Kealakekua Bay in Hawaii, the site of Captain Cook's death, before continuing the voyage. This portion of the journal ends with the coast of California in sight. After a short section in which the leaves are left blank, Robinson has returned to Australia, and sets out from Melbourne towards the goldfields, via Keilor and Bacchus Marsh. There follows a short account of prospecting near Ballan (9 pages), in which Robinson refers to himself in the third person (save for one slip-up): '... leaving George and Henry Robinson's is the only name that appears in the passenger lists for the voyages of the 'Spartan', 'Scout' and 'William Melville'. Furthermore, on the fourth page of the manuscript he has written (presumably much later) 'Unfit for publication | I deny this | H.R.'. While Robinson may not have found a willing publisher, his account of emigration to the goldfields is interesting nevertheless. We have not established further details of Robinson's time in California or of his subsequent career, but he was obviously from some money. He travels in cabin, not steerage, enjoys shooting, and has connections with merchants and local dignitaries.Port Phillip Adelaide on board Ship 'Spartan'. Captain J.B. Pain. December 18, 1848'. The 'Spartan' left Plymouth on 23 December 1848 and anchored off Holdfast Bay on 16 April 1849. The first 52 pages comprise Robinson's entertaining account of the voyage. He is less than complimentary about the fledgling colony of South Australia: '17. At daylight alongside the wharf (the first sight of Port Adelaide must strike terror into any one the most wretched place you can possibly imagine. | 18. Went to Adelaide 7 miles from the Port. between the Port and this celebrated Place there are no roads and the only conveyance a cart. | 19 to May 1. At Adelaide amused oneself by shooting fishing &c. took a walking excursion to Mount Barker considered the finest place about these parts. the scenery very fine but like the rest of South Australia spoilt by mosquitoes sand and bad or no roads...'. myself Robinson to dig - built a miami [sic] and prospected the rest of the day'. At some point he is visited by a group of Aboriginal women: 'Three lubras visited this morn[ing] en negligé - were entertained with cold tea by the Doctor.' A further page of text at the end of the volume contains a list of expenses incurred in his trip to the goldfields indicates that it took place in October 1851.
Item #105241
Sold