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| Name | Humanitarians in the Antipodes: Newcastle & the Hunter Valley |
|---|---|
| Description | A visualisation of the investigative tours of British Quakers, James Backhouse and George Washington Walker, who were 'travelling under concern' in the Southern oceans in 1830s. This section relates to their excursions around Newcastle and the Hunter Region in New South Wales. |
| Type | Journey |
| Content Warning | |
| Contributor | Heidi Ing |
| Entries | 30 |
| Allow ANPS? | No |
| Added to System | 2024-06-24 19:08:41 |
| Updated in System | 2024-06-24 19:12:36 |
| Subject | colonialism, religious society of friends, quakers, colonial history, james backhouse, george washington walker, transnational human rights activism |
|---|---|
| Creator | Penny Edmonds |
| Publisher | |
| Contact | penny.edmonds@flinders.edu.au |
| Citation | |
| DOI | |
| Source URL | https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634 |
| Linkback | |
| Date From | 1836-04-22 |
| Date To | 1836-07-19 |
| Image |
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| Latitude From | |
|---|---|
| Longitude From | |
| Latitude To | |
| Longitude To | |
| Language | English |
| License | |
| Usage Rights | |
| Date Created (externally) |
Sailing from Moreton Bay to Newcastle, the ship Isabella carrying Backhouse & Walker arrived 'into Port Hunter, tacking first to one side, and then to the other, close to the breakers' until they 'reached a place of safety, under a natural, though imperfect breakwater, terminated by an islet, called The Knobby'.
- Placename
- Nobbys Head, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, pp. 377-378
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Backhouse & Walker were welcomed in Newcastle by the Colonial Surgeon George Brooks. Newcastle was described as 'only a village of about forty houses, inclusive of a jail, a hospital and military barracks'
- Placename
- Newcastle, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- George Brooks
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 378
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
While working with George Brooks, Backhouse & Walker 'passed the burial ground, in which a detachment of an ironed-gang was at work, under an overseer, and three sentries'. Backhouse considered that 'these men had been occupied here about a month, in making improvements, that a quarter of their number of industrious men, would have effected in the same time' as 'work without wages proceeds slowly, by a natural consequence that is not at all reversed, by the work being imposed as the punishment of crime'.
- Placename
- Church Street, Newcastle, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Convicts
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 379
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Unable to proceed to Sydney because of storms, Backhouse & Walker decided to visit Ebenezer, on Lake Macquarie, where Lancelot Edward Threlkeld was employed by the Government, as a Missionary. They engaged Beerabahn, otherwise known as M'Gill asa guide. Beerabahn was described as 'a tall, intelligent man' and the 'chief' of the local Aboriginal people 'resorting thither'. Together they set out fro Ebenezer with another Aboriginal man called 'Boatman' or 'Boardman' and arrived at the home of L.E. Threlkeld as the sun set on 27 April 1836.
- Placename
- Ebenezer Mission, Lake Macquarie, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Aboriginal men; Beerabahn; M'Gill; Boatman; Boardman; Lancelot Edward Threlkeld
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, pp. 379-381
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Lancelot Edward Threlkeld had 'applied himself diligently to attaining the language' of Awabakal Aboriginal people and 'reducing it to writing, compiling a grammar, preparing a translation of the Gospel according to Luke, and some smaller selections from Scripture, also a vocabulary'. While operating the mission he also had to provide for his own family, which consists of nine children. Threlkeld walked with Backhouse & Walker to a woody point extending into the lake and spoke to some Aboriginal people who were fishing.
- Placename
- Coal Point, Lake Macquarie, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Aboriginal men; Lancelot Edward Threlkeld
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 381
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Three Aboriginal men rowed Threlkeld, Backouse & Walker to the site of the old missionary station at the head of Lake Macquarie. This station had been abandoned by the London Missionary Society and the Aboriginal people who had lived there were reported to have 'become dispersed among the settlers, towards Newcastle'.
- Placename
- Threlkeld Reserve, Coal Point, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Aboriginal men; Lancelot Edward Threlkeld; London Missionary Society
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 381
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Threlkeld conveyed Backhouse & Walker, along with their guides Beerabahn and Boardman by boat to the head of Lake Macquarie to take the road to Newcastle.
- Placename
- Teralba, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Aboriginal men; Beerabahn; M'Gill; Boatman; Boardman; Macquarie; Lancelot Edward Threlkeld
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 383
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
On the way to Newcastle they were joined by an Aboriginal man named Macquarie. When the party reached Newcastle, the guides 'received their wages in bread, tea, sugar, and tobacco'.
- Placename
- Newcastle East, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Aboriginal men; Beerabahn; M'Gill; Boatman; Boardman; Macquarie;
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 384
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Backhouse & Walker returned on the ship Ceres from Newcastle to Sydney, where they were visited several times by Aboriginal men Beerabahn (also known as M'Gill) and Boatman (also known as Boardman), who had been their guides and interpreters when travelling to the Ebenezer Mission. These Aboriginal men were in Sydney in order to act as interpreters at a trial alongside Lancelot Edward Threlkeld.
- Placename
- 195 Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Aboriginal men; Beerabahn; M'Gill; Boatman; Boardman; Macquarie;
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 385
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
While staying in Sydney, Backhouse and Walker were 'much occupied in sending books, and tracts to persons' whom they had visited over the course of their journey.
- Placename
- 195 Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- Objects
- Correspondence
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 388
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Backhouse & Walker were 'furnished with letters of introduction' from their 'kind friend, the Colonel Secretary, to several settlers on the Hunter River', so they 'sailed by the Ceres steamer, for Maitland, and had a fine passage, the sea being so smooth as scarcely to give motion to the vessel'.
- Placename
- Darling Harbour, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Colonial Secretary Alexander McLeay
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 388
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 388
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Maitland was described as being 'aobut three miles from Green Hills' and consisting of 'a considerable number of houses, scattered by the sides of a soft road, for upwards of two miles, some of which' were 'substantially built of brick'. Backhouse & Walker found 'good accomodation at a hotel between Green Hills and Maitland'.
- Placename
- Newcastle Street, East Maitland, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 389
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Backhouse & Walker found that in Maitland 'a considerable number' of Aboriginal people 'were working for the inhabitants, as hewers of wood and drawers of water'.
- Placename
- Maitland, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Aboriginal people
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 389
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Backhouse & Walker 'visited the Jail' which was described as 'a place of temporary confinement' before prisoners were transferred to Newcastle'. The Maitland Jail consisted 'of a few cells, enclosed within a high, wooden fence' and was 'said to be sometimes so crowded' that prisoners had 'to be brought into the yard to avoid suffocation'.
- Placename
- Maitland Gaol, 18 John Street, East Maitland, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Convicts
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 389
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
After holding a meeting in the Maitland Court House, Backhouse & Walker 'visited an ironed-gang, employed on the roads, under a military guard' and 'found them locked up in their caravans, out of which only one-third were allowed to come at a time, for exercise'. Backhouse reported that when the convicts were locked in 'only half of them can sit up, on the ends of the platforms, on which half of them sleep; the rest must sit back, with their legs at a right angle with their bodies'. On the arrival of Backhouse & Walker, these convicts 'were all turned out, counted, and then marched to a place, at a short distance, where they stood, with the guard of soldiers, under arms, behind them' in order to be addressed by the Quakers.
- Placename
- Maitland court house, 1 John Street, East Maitland, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Convicts
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 390
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Backhouse & Walker 'travelled westward through open, grassy forest, towards Harpers Hills' where an 'ironed-gang' were stationed. These convicts at Harpers Hills 'were working on the road, at a place where... there were marine fossils, sparingly imbedded in basalt'.
- Placename
- Harpers Hill, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Convicts
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 391
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
While journeying from Dalwood to Busby's Kirkton vineyard, Backhouse saw a kangaroo, which he noted was an animal that had 'become scarce in the settled parts' of New South Wales, 'where flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle... consume the thin grass of the continuous forests'.
- Placename
- Elderslie, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- James Busby
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 392
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
In June 1836 the 'town reserve of Muscle Brook' was 'marked by a small, weatherboard inn'. A few miles away was 'Arthurs Vale, a large farming establishment, belonging to Henry Dumaresq'. At Arthurs Vale, the prisoner-servants were numerous, and under excellent management'. Most were 'lodged in ten, neat cottages, with gardens attached' with 'wives of several of those of good conduct... permitted to join their husbands'.
- Placename
- Muswellbrook, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Henry Dumaresq
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 393
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Backhouse & Walker 'received a most kind welcome' at 'St Aubins, the residence of William Dumaresq', a property that they reported was 'conducted on a similar plan to that at Arthurs Vale, and with a similarly beneficial result'. At St Aubins Backhouse & Walker met the Quaker Charlotte Anley, author of 'The Prisoners of Australia'.
- Placename
- St Aubins Street, Scone, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Convicts; Charlotte Anley; Henry Dumaresq
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 393
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Convicts
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 395
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Backhouse & Walker 'proceeded by the steamer Ceres' from Maitland to the 'mouth of the Williams River, and walked from thence to Raymonds Terrace'. At Raymonds Terrace they inspected 'a manufactory of superior, brown earthenware' which was 'one of the most successful of the few attempts that have been made to manufacture pots in the Australian Colonies'.
- Placename
- Raymond Terrace, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- Objects
- Earthenware pots
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 398
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
A 'boat belonging to the Australian Agricultural Company' conveyed Backhouse & Walker 'from Sawyers Point on the south-west of the estuary of Port Stephens, to Tarlee House, the residence of Henry Dumaresq, the Company's First Commissioner' whose family received them kindly.
- Placename
- Tahlee, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Henry Dumaresq; Australian Agricultural Company
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 399
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Backhouse & Walker 'visited the little village of Carrington' which was 'on the north shore of Port Stephens', and was 'composed of a few weather-board cottages, occupied by officers and servants of the Agricultural Company'. Backhouse reported that the few Aboriginal people who lived in the village of Carrington were 'kindly treated'.
- Placename
- Carrington, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Aboriginal people; Australian Agricultural Company
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, pp. 399-400
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Aboriginal people; Australian Agricultural Company
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, pp. 400-401
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
At Wallarobba, Backhouse & Walker 'were very cordially received by a settler and his wife' who had 'maintained a kindly feeling' toward the local Aboriginal people, who lived 'about them in quietness and confidence, but who have been reduced in this neighbourhood, by various causes, among which has been the Small Pox, from about 200 to 60'.
- Placename
- Wallarobba, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Aboriginal people
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 402
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
On 23 July 1836 Backhouse & Walker left the Hunter Valley to return to Newcastle by the steamer Sophia Jane.
- Placename
- Maitland, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- Objects
- Sophia Jane
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 403
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Convicts
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 403
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
Backhouse & Walker 'visited a detachment of fourteen men, belonging to a bridge and road-party, at the Iron-bark Creek, about eight miles from Newcastle, toward Maitland'. This group 'were gathered up' and 'at length collected in an overseer's hut' where Backhouse & Walker 'were strengthened to extend to them an invitation to turn to the Lord.'
- Placename
- Ironbark Creek, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- People
- Convicts
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 403
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
Sources
On 30 July 1836, Backhouse & Walker 'embarked on board the steamer 'William the Forth' which left Newcastle for Port Macquarie where they arrived the following day.
- Placename
- Newcastle Harbour, New South Wales
- Type
- Other
Details
Description
Extended Data
- Journey_Title
- Newcastle & Hunter Valley
- Objects
- William the Forth
- Source
- Backhouse, Narrative of a Visit, p. 405
- Link
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10371634
