Guide to the Papers of Sir Roderick Murchison, 1st Baronet (as filmed by the AJCP)
M1686
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Created: 2018
Collection Summary
- Creator
- Murchison, Roderick Impey, Sir, 1st Baronet
- Title
- Papers of Sir Roderick Murchison, 1st Baronet (as filmed by the AJCP)
- Date Range
- 1832 - 1870
- Collection Number
- M1686
- Extent
- 4 items
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- Australian Joint Copying Project
- Sponsor
- The Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) online portal was created with the assistance of the Australian Public Service Modernisation Fund, 2017-2020. The National Library of Australia gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the other foundation AJCP partners, the State Library of New South Wales and The National Archives of the UK, and all other organisations which supported the work of the AJCP, the world's most extensive collaborative copying project, operating from 1948 to 1997.
Introduction
Scope and Contents
Correspondence dealing with Australian exploration, gold and other mineral discoveries, collecting of fossils and appointment of geologists.
Correspondents include Sir William Denison, Sir Redmond Barry, Charles Sturt, W.S. Macleay, Sir George Bowen, J.L. Stokes, J. Crawfurd and Sir Ferdinand von Mueller.
Conditions Governing Access
Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use
Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the British Library. For more information visit: How I use the images I order?-The British Library [https://www.bl.uk/help/how-can-i-use-the-images-i-order].
Preferred Citation
Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.
Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.
Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)
Archival History
Material selectively filmed as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project, 1981 (AJCP Reels: M1686). Original microfilm digitised as part of the AJCP Online Delivery Project, 2017-2020.
Existence and Location of Originals
British Library, 96 Euston Road, London. Collection reference: Add MSS 46125-46128. For further information see Sir Roderick Murchison at the British Library (http://hviewer.bl.uk/IamsHViewer/Default.aspx?mdark=ark:/81055/vdc_100000000037.0x0000e4)
Existence and Location of Copies
The original AJCP microfilm of the records filmed from this collection is available at the National Library of Australia [https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn735324] as well as other institutions holding AJCP microfilm.
Finding-aid Notes
This finding aid is a revised online version of the original finding aid prepared by the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP), published by the National Library of Australia in 2018. The original AJCP finding aids were unpublished typescripts or photocopies available from libraries that held copies of the original microfilm.
Dates used in this finding aid refer to the date range of the records selected for filming rather than to the date range of the Series or Files.
Advisory Statement
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this Finding Aid contains material and descriptive information which may be considered culturally sensitive and may cause distress, including names and images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people now deceased. This Finding Aid contains terms that reflect authors' views or those of the historical period, but which may not be considered appropriate today. While the information may not reflect current understanding, it is provided in an historical context.
Subjects
Australia: exploration; Australia: geology; Barry, Sir Redmond; Bowen, Sir George F.; Crawfurd, J.; Denison, Sir William T.; Exploration: land; Fossils; Geologists; Golds and goldfields: Australia; Macleay, William S.; Minerals; Murchison, Sir Roderick, 1st Baronet; Stokes, John L., Admiral; Sturt, Charles, Capt.; Von Mueller, Sir Ferdinand, Baron
Bibliography
Originally cited in Australian Joint Copying Project Handbook. Part 8: Miscellaneous (M) Series. Third Edition, published 1998. Entry 332, p125.
Biographical / Historical
Sir Roderick Impey Murchison (1792-1871), 1st Baronet (created 1866). Served in British Army, 1807-14. Began scientific studies in 1820s, attending lectures at Royal Institution, and was made a Fellow of the Geological Society in 1825. Undertook many geological fieldtrips, often in conjunction with Adam Sedgwick, in Britain and Europe, including Russia, and published Silurnian system (1838), Geology of Russia and the Ural Mountains (1845) and 180 papers on geology and geography. President of the Geological Society 1831-33, 1841-43, President of the British Association 1846, President of the Royal Geographical Society 1843-45, 1851-53, 1856-59, 1862-71, Director General of the Geological Survey, Museum of Practical Geology and Royal School of Mines 1855-71.
Item Descriptions
Volume I, 1851 - 1870 (File Add MS 46125)
13 itemsFilmed selectively.
Sir Redmond Barry (Melbourne) to Murchison, 4 January 1870 (Item ff.117-20)
Seeks advice on syllabus for proposed Ballarat School of Mines.
Although described individually, this letter was originally microfilmed with a page from another letter. The last page of the letter described can be found at the beginning of nla.obj-752395205
Sir George Bowen (Brisbane) to Murchison, 30 April 1860 (Item ff.197-98)
Thanks for Terra Australia; progress of Queensland.
Sir George Bowen to Murchison, 1 December 1860 (Item ff.199-202)
Sends reports of exploring expedition to north east coast; establishment of Pt. Denison; proposed settlement on Gulf of Carpentaria; spread of pastoral frontier; extension of telegraph to Rockhampton; route of Indo-Australian telegraph should pass through Queensland; political stability and economic growth of Queensland.
Angela Burdett-Coutts to Murchison, 30 April 1869 (Item ff.326-29)
Funeral of Sir James Brooke; his achievements in Sarawak.
J.E. Cairnes (Dublin) to Murchison, 9 November 1858 (Item ff.356-57)
Research on consequences of gold discoveries in California and Australia.
Chambers and Finke (Adelaide) to Murchison, 20 May 1861 (Item f.377)
Sends specimens collected by A. McD. Stuart on overland expedition; introduces S.W. White.
Chambers and Finke to Murchison, 26 November 1861 (Item ff.379-80)
New expedition led by Stuart to cross Australia; hopes of founding settlement at River Adelaide on north coast; deaths of Burke and Wills.
Sophia Cracroft to Murchison, 2 June 1856 (Item ff.457-58)
Search for Sir John Franklin; Lady Franklin refers to discovery of La Perouse's ships 40 years after disappearance.
Sophia Cracroft (San Francisco) to Murchison, 22 August 1861 (Item ff.467-70)
Request by King of Hawaii that Queen Victoria be sponsor to his son; American Civil War; establishment of church at Hawaii by Lady Franklin; wishes Murchison would visit Hawaii.
Although described individually, this letter was originally microfilmed with a page from another letter. The last page of the letter described can be found at the beginning of nla.obj-752395389.
Volume II, 1861 - 1867 (File Add MS 46126)
6 itemsFilmed selectively.
Sir Dominic Daly (Adelaide) to Murchison, 26 December 1862 (Item ff.1- 2)
Sends journal and chart of expedition of A.McD. Stuart.
Sir William Denison to Murchison, 10 August 1867 (Item ff.37-38)
Autobiography; decline in N.S.W. gold returns.
Volume III, 1832 - 1869 (File Add MS 46127)
14 itemsFilmed selectively.
A. Langel to Murchison, 12 January 1866 (Item f.50)
Introductions sought by Prince de Condé travelling to India, China, Java, Philippines, Australia.
J. Lockhart to Murchison, 1 March 1852 (Item ff.107- 8)
Article in Quarterly Review on effects of Australian gold discoveries on free trade policies.
Sir Richard McDonnell (Adelaide) to Murchison, 26 October 1860 (Item ff.142-43)
Need for boundaries of South and Western Australia to be extended to north coast; expedition of A.McD. Stuart; criticism of Chambers.
W. Macleay (Sydney) to Murchison, 3 April 1841 (Item ff.160-61)
Fossils collected by Beagle on north coast of Australia; fossil fish found at Newcastle.
J. McMaster to Murchison, 22 August 1861 (Item ff.166-67)
Seeks advice on agricultural potential of Queensland.
F. von Mueller to Murchison, 28 August 1867 (Item ff.239-40)
Plans to reorganize Leichhardt search expedition; visit of General Carey.
Although described individually, this letter was originally microfilmed with a page from another letter. The last page of the letter described can be found at the beginning of nla.obj-752395764.
G.C. Mundy to Murchison, 17 April 1852 (Item ff.241-42)
Inclusion of note on gold discoveries in book Our Antipodes.
Duke of Newcastle to Murchison, 26 May 1861 (Item f.269)
Presentation of gold medal to A. McD. Stuart.
Lord Palmerston to Murchison, 4 October 1861 (Item f.342)
Proposed visit to England of King of Hawaii.
Volume IV, 1852 - 1870 (File Add MS 46128)
8 itemsFilmed selectively.
W.H. Smyth to Murchison, 7 August 1852 (Item ff.81-82)
Expeditions sent to search for L. Leichhardt.
J.L. Stokes to Murchison, 8. Dec (Item ff.144-45)
Sends correspondence with W.E. Gladstone on steam communication with Australia and establishment of settlement on north coast; French interest in Australia.
P.E. Strzelecki to Murchison, 12 November 1861 (Item ff.155-56)
Erection of memorial to Lord Herbert.
C. Sturt to Murchison, 9 February 1861 (Item ff.161-62)
Introduces Burr, Deputy Surveyor of South Australia; A. McD. Stuart's journey across Australia; aborigines of Cooper's Creek.
E. Deas Thomson (Sydney) to Murchison, 20 April 1866 (Item ff.195-96)
Appointment of A. Thomson to University of Sydney.