Manuscript Journal - Watercolours & Pencil Drawings of Australian Pioneers & Settlers - First Voyage of Renowned British Wine Merchant & Founder of Australia's Wine Trade - RMS Oceana by BURGOYNE, Gerald Achilles - 1893

Australia, 1893. Australia, January - March 1893. Journal of pencil sketches and watercolours with an interesting connection to early Australian viticulture, featuring caricature pencil sketches of historical Australian personalities including two premiers of Queensland, a successful businessman, and a convict brought from England, also with nautical watercolour scenes from the voyage, each captioned in manuscript. Made by a notable and artistically inclined passenger identified as G. Burgoyne on the illustrated frontis leaf which is also dated in the artist's hand, January 1893. Contains 14 pages of watercolours, 16 pages of pencil drawings. 8vo. Beige cloth boards representative of the period, with integral wrap-around cloth strap. Very good condition, a pleasing and entertaining volume featuring significant colonial persons from Queensland and New South Wales. This volume illustrates the first voyage made to Australia by renowned English wine merchant Peter Bond Burgoyne (1844-1929) founder of Australia's wine trade and the first importer of Australian wine to Great Britain, which resulted in the acquisition of property for his first own vineyard and cellars. The artist is Gerald Achilles Burgoyne, his eldest son, who accompanied him on the voyage. The artist, Gerald Achilles Burgoyne (1874-1936) served as Captain for the 3rd Dragoon Guards during the Boer War of 1899-1902, and then as Major in the Royal Irish Rifles (Special Rerseve) during the Great War. He wrote his account of the war as experienced from the trenches just south of Ypres, in "The Burgoyne Diaires." He was killed near Lake Ashenge in Ethiopia by an Oromo rebel. The London Metropolitan Archives, part of the National Archives, holds an outgoing letter book of Peter Bond Burgoyne and Company, dating from 1884 to 1886. The Imperial Museum holds a collection of his son's private papers, Major G. A. Burgoyne. Capturing the historian's attention, the pre-Commonwealth volume contains pencil drawings of several pioneers, settlers, and politicians with diverse legacies, from three Australian colonies. Two watercolours together on one leaf also illustrate King George Sound, on the south coast of Western Australia, originally named King George the Third's Sound by Captain Vancouver. The caption suggests an approach to the city of Albany. Following are some of the people sketched by young Burgoyne: "Tommy McIlwraith, Queensland Premier," Sir Thomas McIlwraith (1835-1900), a dominant figure of colonial politics in Queensland being three times Premier of Queensland (from 1879 to 1883, in 1888, and in 1893), and an influential businessman, especially in the pastoral industry. "Judge & Mrs. Boucaut"(Two sketches) Justice Sir James Penn Boucaut (1831-1916), judge, deputy governor, former Premier of South Australia in office three times in 1866-67, 1875-76 and 1877-78, and also a breeder of Arab horses. "Mr. Robertson - Wool King" Thomas Robertson (1824-1904), owner of a 167,000 acre sheep station in Toganmain (aka Singorambah East), NSW, with 100,000 beasts from which to produce wool, and a vast mansion he called Merioola, situated on Edgecliff Road, Woollahra, Sydney. "Dr. Morgan" a pioneer medical officer and member of the Central Board of Health, who examined and cared for diphtheria patients in Laura, Queensland, 1893, according to an Adelaide newspaper printed in October that year. "Mr. Dunn," English felon Michael Dunn, born 1820 in London, and exiled to the penal colony in 1838. [Michael Dunn was indicted for stealing, on the 11th of August, at St. Giles in the Fields, 25 yards of kerseymere, value 14 shillings, the goods of Caleb Robinson, in his dwelling-house. He received a Life Sentence and was transported on the "Emma Eugenia", arriving in Botany Bay NSW 9 February 1838. A notice of his conditional pardon appeared in The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser on the 13 November 1850.] He was also the father of nefarious bushranger John Dunn (1846-1866) who was hanged for the murder of Constable Samuel Nelson, and whose family lived in Murrumburrah. [On 18 March 1846 in the Parish of Yass, NSW, Michael Dunn married Margaret Kelly who was born in Ireland in 1823. John Dunn was their first child, born precisely nine months later.] "Mr. Coomber" - most likely of the Coomber family that had settled in Surry Hills, New South Wales, possibly Henry Wynford Coomber, Esq. (1845-1921) who married Sarah Swain Johnson (1847-1882 Bathurst, NSW). "Captain Johnson, Navy" - possibly a brother or relation of Sarah Swain Johnson, and serving in the Royal Australian Navy. "Mr. Harvey" - possibly a son of English miner John Harvey (b. 1800) and his wife Elizabeth George who came emigrated from Redruth, Cornwall, with a free passage to the newly formed South Australian Colony. The couple and their five children set sail on the 'Waterloo' from London to arrive in Port Adelaide on 9 November 1840. Further sketches are drawn of the ship's crew, specifically her commander Captain Stewart, Chief engineer Mr. P. Smith, the purser [A.M. Darkin], the doctor/surgeon [Dr. B.G. Sumpter]. A scant few passengers with peculiar or noteworthy personalities also captured the artist's attention. Of viticultural interest, this journal of drawings and watercolours represents the introduction of Australian wine to the global market in the nineteenth century, by illustrating the first of a leading wine trader's visits to Australia. Burgoyne became a name largely associated with the wine trade in Australia. Trading as P.B. Burgoyne & Co., the London based wine merchant established his firm and cellars in 1871 at 50 Old Broad Street. He began importing Tintara wine from Australia in 1872, and by 1873, through his agents, Burgoyne was established in Australia as the first importer of Australian wine to Great Britain, although he had not yet stepped foot on the continent. In January 1886 the company, by then described in directories as "Australian merchants and vineyard proprietors", moved to 6 Dowgate Hill with cellars at the Dowgate Vaults, Cannon Street. It also had premises at 146 Pelham Street (Spitalfields) and in Adelaide and Melbourne. Finally, in 1893, Burgoyne made this voyage, personally accompanied by Queensland Premier Sir Thomas McIlwraith, to investigate further opportunities in the Australian wine industry. In 1893, on his first visit to the colonies, Burgoyne invested in vineyard and cellar accommodation, establishing his own winery on Mount Ophir in the Rutherglen district of north-east Victoria. The Mt Ophir Estate became the largest state-of-the-art wine making facility in the world, known as the very center of viticulture. The Rutherglen district is considered one of the world's premier wine regions today. Now a boutique winery owned by Ruth Hennessy, the Mount Ophir Estate contains an extensive National Trust brick winery complex built between 1891 and 1903 in absentia by the Burgoyne family, purveyors of fine wine to the King of England. At its peak, 2.73 million litres of wine went to England each year. Burgoyne made several subsequent visits, evidently expanding his wine enterprise. The Rutherglen Estate, located in the easterly corner of the Murray River valley plains of Rutherglen, some 275km north east of Melbourne, also comprises an original Burgoyne Vineyard and winery, operated by Peter Bond Burgoyne in the nineteenth century. Author Nicholas Faith, in "Australia's Liquid Gold," remarks that "For a whole generation, the dominant individual in both countries [Australia and England] was Peter Bond Burgoyne, who sold wines under his own name after founding his import business in 1872. Burgoyne bought Hardy's Tintara claret in bulk - up to 250 hogsheads, or 750,000 bottles each month. He was the sharpest of operators... In 1889 he was rich and important enough to offer a prize of 50 guineas at the Centenary Exhibition... Of this voyage, the The Argus newspaper (Melbourne, Victoria), reported on 14 March 1893, "The R.M.S. Oceana of the P and O Co.'s line, Captain E. Stewart Commander, arrived yesterday from London via ports. The Oceana has again shown her high steaming capabilities, her average speed throughout being over 15 knots per hour. She has brought out a large number of passengers including Sir Thomas M. McIlwraith, of the Queensland Government who is accompanied by ..... and Mr. P. B. Burgoyne who is visiting Australia with Lady McIlwraith with a view to investigating the condition of the wine industry. The Oceana left London at noon on Friday, February 3 with 237 passengers on board..." The article continues to describe the entire voyage, to.Gibraltar, Malta, Brindisi, the Suez Canal, Colombo, and finally Australia, all of which is elegantly illustrated herein with watercoloured drawings by Burgoyne. Watercoloured nautical scenes, and some village sketches are made during the voyage, at Gibraltar, Cape Trafalgar, Valetta, Brindisi Harbour in South Italy, on the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Coast of Aden, and from Mount Lavinia, Colombo. Article from the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, by George Bell: Burgoyne, Peter Bond (1844-1929), wine merchant, was born on 7 February 1844 at Dodbrook, Kingsbridge, Devon, the son of John Trist Burgoyne (c.1812-1856), beer and porter merchant, and his wife, Mary Ann Bond (c.1808-1854). Of his early years and education nothing is known, but in 1858, two years after his father's death, Burgoyne went to Newfoundland. He may have been apprenticed to Messrs Brooking & Co. of St John's, where he worked as a clerk, as he remained in the colony for no more than seven years. On his return to England in 1865 Burgoyne took employment as an estate agent before becoming a clerk to a London wine shipping firm of which he later became manager and where he was largely responsible for the introduction of Hungarian wines into England. In 1871 he set up in business on his own account, trading from offices and cellars at 50 Old Broad Street, London. On 28 March 1872 he married Marie Henrietta Johanna (1848/9-1934), daughter of Charles Achilles, artist of Acton. Following an introduction to Dr Alexander Charles Kelly, manager and principal shareholder in the Tintara Vineyard Company of McLaren Vale in South Australia, Burgoyne agreed to represent the company, and the Tintara Vineyard Association was established in 1872. Existing prejudices for the wines of the Old World made sales difficult to secure, and by the end of year the agency was relaunched as the Australian Vineyards Association, dealing in Australian wines generally. The difficulties experienced by those attempting to introduce Australian wines to the British public at this time were not easily overcome and the debts mounted up. In 1876 the Australian Vineyards Association was purchased by Walter Watson Hughes, a wealthy expatriate and owner of the Fairfield vineyard in South Australia's Clare valley. Wiping the slate clean, Hughes entered into partnership with Burgoyne, who reverted to selling European wines while the Australian wine trade was developed. The greatest impediment to the trade was the duty structure which tended to penalize Australian wine merchants, who invariably had to pay a surcharge of 150 per cent over and above the standard duty of 1s. per gallon on wines above 26 degrees of proof spirit. In his evidence before the select committee on wine duties in May 1879, Burgoyne repeatedly stated that the natural wines of South Australia contained an average of 29 degrees of proof spirit, and claimed that vineyards in the colony were going out of production because of the high rate of duty in Britain. Not one to miss a marketing opportunity, he was quick to produce five samples of Fairfield wines for the committee to taste. Burgoyne's fortunes took a turn for the better in 1886 when the duties were modified to accommodate colonial wine growers. This prompted a move to larger premises at Dowgate Hill, London, and the offer of a prize of 50 guineas to be awarded to the exhibitor of a claret style of wine at the Jubilee International Exhibition, to be held in Adelaide in 1887, and other prizes to be offered under the auspices of the South Australian Agricultural Society. In 1888 agents were appointed in Adelaide and Melbourne. In 1893, on the first of several visits to the colonies, Burgoyne invested in vineyard and cellar accommodation in the Rutherglen district of north-east Victoria. Despite competition from the South Australian government's bonded depot in London, and other importers, Burgoyne soon became the leviathan of the trade, selling half a million gallons of wine annually, mainly blends which were marketed under a number of registered brands. In 1903 the business of P. B. Burgoyne was converted to a limited company. A publicity brochure from this period, "The quality wines of the empire", quoted the chancellor of the exchequer, Sir Michael Hicks Beach, who remarked in the Commons in 1899 that "Messrs. Burgoyne have annually during twenty-eight years paid more duty on Australian wines than all the rest of the trade put together". The wines of the Cape were another departure for Burgoyne, whose name was commemorated by an award at the Western Province Agricultural Society's annual show for many years after his death. Burgoyne died at his home, Broadlands, Ascot, Berkshire, on 4 September 1929. Numerous bequests were made to long-term members of his domestic and business staff, and a bequest of £1000 was made to the National Hospital for Consumption, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, which Burgoyne served for a total of thirty-eight years, twenty-six of them as chairman. The family business of P. B. Burgoyne & Co. Ltd was continued by Burgoyne's son Cuthbert John (1875-1955), and grandson John Fenner Burgoyne (c.1900-1976). [End] SS Oceana was a P&O passenger liner and cargo vessel, built in 1888 by Harland and Wolff of Belfast. Originally assigned to carry passengers and mail between London and Australia, her maiden voyage from London began on 19 March 1888, sailing to Melbourne and Sydney via Colombo in Ceylon. She sailed this route until 1905. Author Mark Twain traveled from Sydney to Ceylon aboard the Oceana in 1895. In "Following the Equator", he described the ship, "Oceana is a stately big ship, luxuriously appointed. She has spacious promenade decks. Large rooms; a surpassingly comfortable ship. The officers' library is well selected... For meals, the bugle call, man-of-war fashion; a pleasant change from the terrible gong." . Very Good. Manuscript.