Estate of John Dickson further papers

MLMSS 10489
ON 666

fonds

1833-2004

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Photographs, Cartographic Materials

9605888

0.80 metres of textual material (5 boxes)
2 negatives - 16.5 x 12 cm or smaller - glass, black and white
2 negatives - 8 x 10 cm - black and white

John Dickson was born in Scotland in 1774.  In 1798 he took out a patent 'for steam-engines, pumps, and other hydraulic machines’ and began to manufacture steam engines. In 1813 he arrived in Sydney bringing with him goods and machinery including a steam-engine. Governor Macquarie granted him 15 acres on Cockle Bay and 3000 acres at Bringelly as a grazing farm. The steam-engine was erected on Cockle Bay (Darling Harbour), and was used mainly for milling grain. Dickson was one of the original members of the Agricultural Society, and as a merchant traded to China, Mauritius and Van Diemen's Land. He also established a brewery and a soap-and-candle works near his flour mill. In 1833 his mill and its associated manufactories were advertised for sale. In the same year he was prosecuted for forgery and absconded to England while on bail. He died in London in 1843.

Reference:
Walsh, G.P., 'Dickson, John (1774–1843)', Australian Dictionary of Biography. http://adb.anu.edu.au. Published first in hardcopy 1966 (accessed online 5 May 2020)

By descent to the donor.

Accounts, correspondence, legal records and business records relating to the estate of the John Dickson. Includes mill leases, land title deeds, and marriage settlements. Also includes photographic prints and negatives of Dickson's mill and the Salting House at Darling Harbour.

BOX 1
Folder 1
Correspondence with John Perkins regarding properties at the Hawkesbury near Pitt Town; rental accounts collected by Frederick Beddek at Windsor and remitted to Thomas Barker, then to Perkins in London; 1840-1849.

Folder 2
Accounts relating to John Dickson's personal estate including dividends and payments to children; commercial estate, including tenancy of mill sites, inventories, caretaking and repairs; legal documents including action against the estate by Elizabeth Dickson, mill leases, promissory notes, petition by purchasers of Dickson land to open access between Liverpool and Goulburn Streets; opinion re liability for sureties posted by Colonial Treasurer Riddell by Thomas Barker; 1845-1857.
Payments including Susannah Daintrey's marriage settlement; Allan McGaa from the estate for David Dickson's education; John Morris for checking accounts at Thomas Woore's request; 1846.

Folder 3
Legal accounts including bills of attorney costs; mortgage payments, including scheduled repayments to General Darling; promissory notes; 1828-1845.

Folder 4
Accounts and receipts relating to the construction of the mill: labour hired by Cooper and Holt, ironmongery, clothes, wood, lime, cartage; David Dickson's school fees at Sydney College, Miss Dickson's tuition at Misses Thompsons' Erskinevilla; and sundries for Miss Dickson and Lilly Dowling; 1842-1843.

Folder 5
Legal bills and accounts relating to properties including dispute re Mary Cluer's (Clewer?) property at Bathurst and George Streets, rent on it and Scarwell's property in Bathurst; John Dickson's bank book extracts; Allan McGaa's accounts for management of Dickson's personal estate; 1851-1868.
Creditor claims on Willoughby James Dowling and agreement for settlement by Dickson's estate; letter from Vincent George Dowling re finalising Dickson's estate; Grinwood's building and repair accounts; 1839-1857.

BOX 2
Folder 1
Union bank receipts for payments of allowances to various beneficiaries and requests from them; builder's accounts (Brodie & Craig) for work on mill and house; legal accounts, and conveyance of land to form a street between Sussex, Dickson and George Streets, 1846-1847.
Current accounts with Cooper & Holt Accountants including costs of construction of new mill: cartage of machinery, costs of new engineer Thomas Martin & wife's passage, wages, some beneficiaries and materials, 1842-1845.
Claims relating to bad beef sold by Dickson to John Manning and Captain Cliffe; sale of soap and cheese to Launceston; correspondence with Thomas Barker, 1872; sale of Dickson's land in 1833; dissolution of livestock partnership between Barker and John Wilkinson, 1839; 1833-1839.
Correspondence with Allan McGaa re rental of Dickson's mills with various tenants including D Craig, E Hogan, Mr Fisher, Mr Raynor, J.W. Tooth, Thomas S. Morton, W. Drake, George Rattray; also with Henry Bond, the builder of houses on Dickson Street which were to be demolished; 1837-1857.

Folder 2
Bonds and correspondence between Edwin Daintrey and trustees of Dickson's estate re his marriage settlement; insurance premium payable on mill and associated buildings, 1845-1850.
Contract and negotiations for repairs and maintenance and alterations at Dickson's mill; detailed description of buildings at the mill site for insurance, rental agreements, 1845-1852.

Folder 3
Cash accounts for Thomas Barker for Dickson relating to pastoral stations Nonorrah, Mummel and Orielton, the steam engine property, bonded store, Mr Dowling's cottage, family and personal expenses and sales of cattle, sheep and horses; 1834-1838.

Folder 4
Cooper & Holt Accountants payments made for work done at Dickson's mills and general building supplies, cartage and repair; tuition of David and Elizabeth Dickson and some goods for them; payment to Thomas Martin, engineer; to Willoughby James Dowling as guardian of Lily Dickson, and to Thomas Woore and J.W. Woore as portions of their marriage settlements; 1842-1844.

Folder 5
Elizabeth Dickson's claim on the estate, correspondence between Thomas Barker and English and Scottish solicitors re the claim and resistance from the Australian beneficiaries, 1856-1869; miscellaneous accounts and receipts for work done at the mills; 1844-1845.

BOX 3
Folder 1
Agreement to pay Willoughby James Dowling, Lily Dowling and Edwin Daintrey; Daintrey's legal accounts, building quotes and works on the mill; 1846-1851.
James Norton and Thomas Barker's accounts to the estate; Vincent George Dowling's account to the estate; accounts for school fees, clothes and maintenance and payment of Willoughby James Dowling's allowance 'on terms'; 1842-1845.
Receipts of payments to Lily Dowling and Elizabeth Woore, repairs, purchase of books and payment to Thomas Woore for collecting cattle; 1848.
Receipts of payments to Lily Dowling and Elizabeth Woore, part payment of Susannah Daintrey's marriage settlement, James Norton's postage and mill council rates, 1849.
Vincent George Dowling's accounts to the estate, 1843-1853.
Council rates for mills, repairs and fire insurance premium, 1851.
Notebooks (3) with handwritten notes by Henry Basil Turner concerning Dickson, including from letters of Vincent George Dowling.

Folder 2
Repairs and quote by Brodie and Craig for cottage in Dickson Street; correspondence [illegible] between Dickson and Barker re leasing mills (?); reduced fire insurance premium on cessation of woollen cloth manufacture; National Education Office finding property suitable for a school; 1850.
Accounts relating to maintenance, leasing and rental, insurance, rates, advertising and legal costs of various properties in Sydney and Campbelltown; letters Edwin Daintrey to Thomas Barker and James Norton regarding tenants, Vincent George Dowling and insurance payouts; reference to legatees entitlements; James Norton's fee for receiving David Dickson as a law student; correspondence between the Colonial Secretary and Barker re the request to extend wharf into Darling Harbour, survey accounts re the proposal; 1848-1865, predominant 1850-1853.

Folder 3
Accountants' files, legatees' accounts and legal costs of Daintrey and Chapman referring to various outstanding legal matters including date of Dickson's death and probate, Woore's conveyance and Scarwell's property in Bathurst; 1850-1869.
Land allotments granted and sold, tenancy lists and an account for David Dickson, 1841-1851.
Cash journals for John Dickson, James Dickson, Mrs John Woore, with Vincent George Dowling and real estate accounts and ratification of leases of mill and dwellings by F.L. Dowling; 1843-1861.

Folder 4
Appointment by Vincent George Dowling and Supreme Court of NSW requirements of Administrator of the estate; correspondence between tenants, other workers and Allan McGaa, Thomas Barker and Edwin Daintrey, including dispute with W Howson at the mills, Mrs Hoy at Liverpool and Patrick McEvoy at Byrne's Farm, Camden; Edwin Daintrey's request for Vincent George Darling's consent to marry Susannah and authority to pay legacy; 1843-1845.
David Dickson's receipts for payments from the estate by Thomas Barker and two accounts for commission on rent collected by R.L. Scrutton; 1851-1854.

BOX 4
Photographic prints (3), including 'The front view of the New Mill Building across the west end of Goulburn Street'; 'Back view of the New Mill Building showing the tower of the Trades Hall at the eastern upper right hand corner'; 'The Salting House recently demolished along the boundary of Little Harbour Street' (captions in pencil on verso of photographic prints)
Henry Basil Turner, notes, accounts, published material; approximately 1837-1944
Notes concerning Dickson, including 'John Dickson and the steam engine'
Correspondence including letter from Basil Turner to Mr Breillat, 1929; letters sent and received by Thomas Barker, 1838-1869
Papers concerning Dickson including handwritten copies of entries in the Sydney Gazette, the Australian and historical records
Copies of extracts of John Dickson's wills and codicil, death certificate, family history notes, 1930s-2004
Basil William Turner's documents relating to Dickson, approximately. 1835-1868

BOX 5
Accounts books (3) re estate of John Dickson, approximately 1840s-1850s.
Basil William Turner's documents relating to Dickson, including copies of articles, Thomas Woore correspondence, and letters from Barker to Dowling; approximately 1845-1869.

ON 666/nos. 1-2
Glass negatives (2): 'Back view of the New Mill Building showing the tower of the Trades Hall at the eastern upper right hand corner' (captions from photographic prints in Box 4).

ON 666/nos. 3-4
Negatives (2): 'The front view of the New Mill Building across the west end of Goulburn Street; 'The Salting House recently demolished along the boundary of Little Harbour Street' (captions from photographic prints in Box 4).

MAPS
8 Maps from this collection catalogued separately at call numbers: M Ser 4 000/1 MLMSS 10489/1-8

Access via appointment - Applies to ON 666/nos. 1-2
This material is held in cold storage and requires 3 working days notice to retrieve. Please submit your request through Ask a Librarian - Applies to ON 666/nos. 3-4

Copyright restrictions may apply:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Contents list for boxes 1-3 provided by donor.