James Walker commonplace books and sketchbooks

MLMSS 10494/Box 1X

fonds

approximately 1819-1836

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Drawings

9650516

0.21 metres of textual material (1 outsize box), includes some drawings

A Scottish officer of the Royal Marine Artillery on half-pay, James Walker arrived in the colony of New South Wales in September 1823. With his younger brother William Walker and two nephews, he had earlier set up a merchant, coastal shipping and whaling company with a wharf and warehouse at Dawes Point, Sydney. Walker was granted 2,000 acres of land at Wallerawang in the Lithgow area west of Sydney, settling there in 1824 and running sheep and cattle. He acquired further land during the 1840s and by 1854 had extensive pastoral holdings in the Central West and North West Slopes regions of NSW. He served as a member of the NSW Legislative Council from May to November 1856.

Reference:
Parliament of New South Wales. “Mr James Walker (1785 - 1856)”. Accessed 1 December 2020. https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members/formermembers/Pages/former-member-details.aspx?pk=226

Vendor catalogue states that the collection was in the custody of the Yuille family, thence by descent to private collections in the United Kingdom and Melbourne, Australia

Two commonplace books and two sketchbooks documenting the interests, insights and activities of James Walker before and soon after his arrival in New South Wales in 1823.

1. Red-brown leather-bound notebook used as commonplace book, approximately 1819-1825. Includes diary entries, poems, quotations, recipes and information on a range of subjects including British monarchism, asthma, physiology and agriculture.

2. Light brown leather-bound notebook used as commonplace book, inscribed ‘Collectanea’ on spine. Includes notes on Laurence Sterne's ‘The Koran’ and Robert Watson's ‘History of Philip II of Spain’.

3. Brown leather-bound sketchbook containing pencil and ink landscapes and portraits of colonists and Indigenous Australians.

4. Red leather-bound sketchbook, inscribed on inside cover ‘J. Walker, Paris, December 1820’, containing various writings and pencil and ink drawings, approximately 1820-1836. Includes sketches of buildings and machinery, Wallerawang and Warrumbungle Mountain landscapes, maps and house plans and information on mills.

Out of copyright:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales