Richard Ryther Steer Bowker - Journals on the Georgiana, 1840-41, and the Caroline, 1841-42

MLMSS 7612/Box 1X

fonds

1840 - 1842

447148

Microfilm : Georgiana journal).
Microfilm : Caroline shorthand journal).
Microfilm : 'Universal Stenographer', 1823).

0.16 metres of textual material (1 outsize box)
Textual Records - (manuscript)

Richard Ryther Steer Bowker, physician and surgeon arrived in Australia in 1841. He sailed on the whaler Caroline in 1841 before moving to Sydney and then settling in Newcastle where he practised medicine and also represented the region in the Legislative Council.

27 September 1840 - 23 February 1841; 25 March - 30 May 1841; 10 August 1841; Journal kept by Dr Richard Bowker, ship's surgeon, during a voyage in the Georgiana carrying emigrants from England to Port Phillip, Victoria. The Georgiana arrived on 23 February 1841. Bowker's journal continues from 25 March to 30 May 1841, with an account of his life in Melbourne. The entry for 10 August 1841 was written in shorthand on board the Caroline.
10 August 1841 - 16 June 1842; Journal kept by Bowker on a whaling voyage in the barque Caroline. It is written in a system of shorthand similar to the system described by William Harding in his book 'Universal Stenography', 1823. A copy of this book, provided by the donor, is included with this collection.

A transcription of Bowker's journal in the Georgiana is located at MLMSS 7548 (microfilm copy: CY 4559, frames 197-236).
An account of the voyage of the Georgiana based on Dr Bowker's diary was published in 'Perilous Voyages to the New Land', by Michael Cannon, 1997
A transcription of Bowker's journal in the Caroline is located at MLMSS 7739.