Guide to the Collections held by the Rhodes House Library (as filmed by the AJCP)
M2119 - M2122
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Created: 2019
Online Items
Fonds MSS. Brit.Emp. S.444. Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 1834 - 1837
Abolition of slavery, January 1834 - July 1834 (File Vol.12)
Filmed selectively.
Abolition of slavery, September 1834 - 1835 (File Vol.13)
Filmed selectively.
J. Stephen to Buxton, 4 November 1834 (Item ff.258-66)
Use of Colonial Office frank for letters to Australia and New Zealand; need for tariffs to discriminate against imports from slave-owning countries.
Col. G. Arthur to Buxton, 18 September 1834 (Item ff.356-60)
Settlement of Tasmanian Indigenous Australians on Flinders Island; offer to Government to establish post of Protector of Natives; education of Indigenous Australians; ignorance of convicts; inquiry by J. Backhouse and G.W. Walker. (copy).
Abolition of slavery, July 1835 - January 1836 (File Vol.14)
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Letter in Whitehaven Herald and Cumberland Advertiser, 14 July 1835 (Item ff.70-73)
On the removal of Tasmanian Indigenous Australians to Flinders Island.
Fonds MSS. Brit. Emp.s.451. Papers of Henry Labouchere, 1855 - 1857
G.C. Lewis to Labouchere, 3 December 1855 (Item ff.8-15v)
Payment of salaries of governors from Imperial revenue; criticises Colonial Office argument on need for governor to be independent of majority of House of Assembly.
R. Lowe to Labouchere, 26 December 1855 (Item ff.25-28)
Papers on Synodical action of Church in Canada and Australia; refers to strange act of Synod of Bishops in Sydney in 1850.
Bishop C. Perry (Torquay) to Labouchere, 3 January 1856 (Item ff.29-30v)
Returns amended memorial; hopes to resolve much-disputed question.
Lord Cranworth to Labouchere, 10 January 1856 (Item ff.34-36)
Considers provision on Church affairs in Victoria Bill to be ultra vires; believes it should still receive Royal Assent.
E. Coleridge to Labouchere, 27 January [1856] (Item ff.44r-v)
Forwards letter from New Zealand; effort of Bishop G.A. Selwyn to quieten tribes at Taranaki.
H. Merivale to Labouchere, 28 January 1856 (Item ff.46-47)
Despatches to Victoria and Canada on appointment of Bishops.
Lord Cranworth to Labouchere, 30 January 1856 (Item ff.48-49)
Draft despatch to Victoria on Church question.
Labouchere to Lord Cranworth, 4 April 1856 (Item ff.52-53v)
Request of Swainson in New Zealand to be Q.C.
Lord Cranworth to Labouchere, 4 April 1856 (Item ff.54-55v)
Unable to comply with request of Swainson.
J. Wilson to Lord Palmerston, 19 May 1856 (Item ff.64-65)
Withdrawal by Labouchere of offer of Governorship of Victoria on personal grounds; resigns position in Treasury. (copy).
Fonds MSS. Africa.t.7. Papers of Sir Richard Bourke, 1826 - 1836
Letters to Bourke, June 1829 - January 1836 (File 8)
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Sir Herbert Taylor to Bourke, 20 June 1829 (Item ff.9-10v)
Possible appointment as Governor of New Brunswick.
Sir George Murray to Bourke, 30 June 1829 (Item ff.11-13)
Claims of Bourke to a colonial appointment.
Sir Herbert Taylor to Bourke, 9 November 1829 (Item ff.15-16v)
No vacancy at Nova Scotia; doubts there is prejudice against Bourke in Colonial Office.
Lord Goderich to Bourke, 23 December 1830 (Item ff.17-18)
Promises appointment when opportunity arises.
Judge W. Burton (Cape Town) to Bourke, 8 June 1831 (Item ff.27-28v)
Seeks support for appointment as Chief Justice.
T. Pringle to Bourke, 9 July 1831 (Item ff.29-30)
Case of convict D. Sturman; cost of passage from N.S.W. to Cape Colony.
Judge W. Burton to Bourke, 27 November 1831 (Item ff.33-36v)
Congratulations on appointment to N.S.W., marriage of Bourke's daughter; Cape affairs; Orders in Council on slaves; colonial appointments.
Sir Lowry Cole (Cape Town) to Bourke, 3 January 1832 (Item ff.37-41v)
Forwards address from Cape Town merchants congratulating Bourke on appointment; recommend import into N.S.W. of Cape wine and spirits on more favourable terms; introduces Ebden.
Sir Lowry Cole to Bourke, February 1832 (Item ff.42-44)
Introduces Wilson emigrating to N.S.W., Consolidated Slave Ordinance.
Judge W. Burton to Bourke, 16 August 1832 (Item ff.47-48v)
Sympathy on death of wife; offer of Judgeship at N.S.W., legal affairs at Cape Town.
Borchardo (Cape Town) to Bourke, 10 October 1832 (Item ff.49-53)
Sympathy on death of wife; transfer of Judge W. Burton to N.S.W., Order in Council on slavery; expansion of settlement towards Natal; Cape wine.
Fonds MSS. Australia.r.2. Diary of Ebenezer Hunt, 1852 - 1853
Diary of voyage from Plymouth to Melbourne on Lady Eveline (142 pp), 7 July 1852 - 12 March 1853 (File)
Very detailed account of voyage, referring to storms, health of passengers, activities of crew, church services. The second half of the diary deals with life in Victoria, including quarantine, attempts of seamen to desert ship, impressions of Melbourne (November 1852), journey to Forest Creek diggings, experiences at goldfields, return to Melbourne, attempts to find work as clerk in merchant house.
Fonds MSS.Australia.r.3. Diary of Alfred Joy, 1853 - 1854
Diary of a voyage from Gravesend to Melbourne on Thomas Harrison (typescript, 26 pp), 25 April 1853 - 29 June 1854 (File)
The diary contains brief entries referring to voyage, visit to Lisbon, storm, arrival at Melbourne (September 1853), purchase of land at North Melbourne; Oxford acquaintances, fishing, social events.
Fonds MSS. Australia.s.1. Letterbook of J.R. Phillips, 1850 - 1855
Letterbook of J.R. Phillips (156 pp), October 1850 - June 1855 (File)
Copies of letters to C. Piesse, T. Yule, W. Sandford, Rev.J.R. Wollaston, G. Stone, J.Wittenoom (Albany), Capt. G. Henderson, H.Camfield (Albany) and others from Sub-Guardian of Aborigines at Albany. They refer to the arrest of Indigenous Australians, aboriginal gatherings, offences by natives, travels, decisions of Bench of Magistrates, visits of foreign ships, employment of natives in whale fishery, purchase of horses for police arrests of escaped convicts, monthly police reports.
Fonds MSS.Australia.s.2. Australian Miscellaneous Papers (35 ff.), 1800 - 1870
Capt. Philip Gidley King (Sydney) to Lord Mornington, 9 May 1800 (Item ff.1-3)
Arrival in N.S.W., seeks assistance in preventing export of spirits from India to N.S.W., (photocopy and typescript).
T.P. Pratt (Bath) to Rev. W. Buckland, 15 April 1839 (Item ff.4-5)
Financial dealings with a settler in N.S.W.; initial outlay redeemed in 10-12 years.
St. Hubert (?). Manuscript entitled 'Foreign and colonial stations of British Empire: Van Diemen's Land' (Item ff.6-24)
Based on experience in 1830s, includes account of voyage, impressions of Hobart, lack of defences, military forces, impressions of Launceston, topography and resources, sports, Port Arthur, prospects of colony, treatment of Indigenous Australians.
J.P. Webber (Paterson River, N.S.W.) to Lord Strangford, 25 February 1831 (Item ff.25-27)
Thanks for help in obtaining selection; dire consequences of cessation of transportation; need for more assignment; employment by settlers far more conducive to reform than Government establishments. (typescript)
Fonds MSS. Australia. s.3. Reminiscences of George D. O'Byrne, n.d.
George D. O'Byrne. 'Reminiscences of my three voyages to Australia and sixteen years experience as a gold miner on the principal fields of Victoria' (typescript, 146 pp.), n.d. (File)
His reminiscences, written in the late 1880s, describes the voyage, impressions of Melbourne, Forest Creek diggings, work in hotels in Collingwood and Wangaratta. There are also papers entitled 'The goldfields of Victoria in 1851 and the modus operandi of obtaining gold from alluvial and quartz' (16 pp.) and 'The Stowaway' (25 pp.)
Fonds MSS. Australian.s.12. Australian mortgages, conveyances and deeds, 1854 - 1886
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Deeds and correspondence of George F. Leslie of Sydney, 1854 - 1860 (File 1)
Includes agreement with P.D. Anderson concerning partnership in cattle station at Moreton Bay (1854) and correspondence concerning management of his Australian interests following his death...
Certificates, 1855 - 1866 (File 7)
Marriage certificate of John and Penelope Harris of Ballarat (1855), death certificate of Penelope Harris (1856), and assignment and correspondence of John Harris 1862-1866. (19 ff.)
Australian mortgages, conveyances and deeds, September 1877 - February 1885 (File 8)
Australian mortgages, conveyances and deeds, December 1864 - November 1886 (File 10)
Will of Andrew Bonar of Bowen and Brisbane and certificate of probate (2pp., large), 18 September 1875 (Item)
Fonds MSS. N.Z.r.1. Letters of David Burn, 1849 - 1863
Letters of David Burn to Serle (24pp.), 1849 - 1863 (File)
Written from Auckland, the letters refer to Burn's work as editor of Maori Messenger and New Zealander, Capt. E. Stanley, Sir George Grey, theatre, gallery, operas, relations with Maoris, lack of rural development in New Zealand, 1845-46 Maori War, evils of convict transportation, New Zealand Constitution (1850), military colonisation of Waikato.
Fonds MSS. N.Z.s.1. New Zealand Miscellaneous Papers (13pp.), 1844 - 1867
Land grant to George De Blaquiere of one acre in town of Alexander East, Province of Auckland, 29 March 1867 (Item f.1)
E. Wakefield (Blois) to J. Backhouse (York), 17 July 1844 (Item ff.2-3)
Book by Backhouse; self-serving missionaries in New Zealand; murder of son; seeks material for account of New Zealand settlement; Maori race rapidly becoming extinct.
Fonds MSS. N.Z.s.5. New Zealand wills and conveyances, 1861 - 1882
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Declaration of trust, agreement, cheques, receipts and correspondence concerning Taranaki Steel Iron Co. Ltd., (44pp.), 1861 - 1865 (Item 1)
Conveyance of land in Eden Street, Oamaru, from Robert Holland and E.J. Holland (London) to John Allan (Oamaru), (3pp.), 15 November 1875 (Item 3)
Fonds MSS. N.Z.s.6. Journal of New Zealand sheep station, 1861 - 1872
Journal of a sheep station in the Canterbury district of New Zealand (183 ff.), 18 May 1861 - 9 May 1872 (File)
The entries in the first year record briefly the farmer's activities. The rest of the volume is a financial journal, recording food, clothing, implements and other stores issued to employees and some other transactions.
Fonds MSS.Pacific.s.2-12. Papers of Robert H. Codrington, 1867 - 1887
Series MSS. Pacific.s. 2. Diaries of Robert H. Codrington (165pp.), October 1869 - September 1883
Series MSS. Pacific. s.4. Letters of Robert H. Codrington (218pp.), 1867 - 1887
Letters of Robert H. Codrington (218pp.), 1867 - 1887 (File)
Letters are mainly 1867-1877. Written to members of his family, the letters were written from Auckland, Norfolk Island, Mota and Adelaide. They refer to Codrington's arrival at Norfolk Island (1867), Bishop J.C. Patteson, Sir William Martin, education of boys from Solomon Islands, crops, Pitcairn Islanders, holidays in New Zealand and Australia, English news, epidemics, visit of Duke of Edinburgh (1869), Pacific cruises, labour trade, progress of pupils, Tichborne Case, murder of Bishop Patteson (1871), retaliation by H.M.S. Rosaria, Codrington's unwillingness to accept Bishopric of Melanesia, Bishop G.A. Selwyn, Bishop J.R. Selwyn, Melanesian languages, translations, anthropological collections, plans for return to England (1887).
Fonds MSS. Pacific. s.41. Letters of Vernon Lee Walker, 1878 - 1887
Letters of Vernon Lee Walker to his mother (52pp.), 1878 - 1887 (File)
Written from Melbourne, Sydney and Noumea, the letters refer to a visit to Fiji (1878), impressions of Suva, meeting with King Cakobau, visit to New Caledonia (1882), work for brother Howard Walker, life in New Caledonia (1884-87), daily routine, trading trips to New Hebrides, savagery of natives, life on schooner, fever. The final letter, from Howard Walker (Mallicola), describes the murder of Vernon Lee Walker by natives at Pentecost Island on 21 December 1887 and plans for revenge expedition.