Journal of William Charles Wills, 30 October 1841-13 January 1844

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William C. Wills. Journal kept on a voyage from London to Sydney and in his first two years living and working in Sydney, 30 October 1841 – 13 January 1844. (c. 400pp)

The journal is addressed to John Brownlow, who was secretary of the Foundling Hospital in London. Wills despatched it in instalments, for instance in May 1842 and December 1842. For most of this period, Wills wrote daily entries, often of considerable length. However, after 10 August 1843 the entries are intermittent and often very brief. The last entry on 13 January 1844 records his decision not to continue, on account of the monotony of his life and the time that it took writing up the diary.

The first part of the journal documents the voyage from Gravesend to Sydney, 30 October 1841–14 April 1842, on the barque Louisa, commanded by Joshua Pallot. There are references to the seasickness of many of the passengers, sighting of the Channel Islands and Tenerife, winds and weather, the character of the captain, crew and fellow-passengers, the monotony of the voyage, sighting of flying fish and albatrosses, Wills' study of the French language, shortages of fresh water, fishing, the heat of the tropics, storms, Christmas celebrations, the sighting of ships, Wills' angry exchanges with the captain, the captain's wife, games of chess, meals, petty feuds, the sighting of St Pauls in the Indian Ocean and the arrival at Port Jackson. From 5 March to 4 April there was a break in the entries, due to problems with his eyesight, but Wills then described the period retrospectively.

The next part of the journal describes Wills's quest for employment, his first impressions of Sydney, the Botanic Gardens, Australian College and other educational and cultural institutions, meetings with Reverend John McGarvie and Sir Thomas Mitchell, services at St James's Church and other churches, conversations with Sydney residents, a review of the 28th Regiment (19 May 1842), walks in Sydney, concerts, and finally Wills' appointment as a clerk with the merchant and landlord Felix Wilson of Castlereagh Street (June 1842).

Wills remained with Wilson until December 1842. The entries for this period refer to his clerical duties, stocktaking and rent collecting, living conditions, his observance of a convict chain gang, Indigenous Australians in Sydney, inscriptions on tombs in the burial ground, attendance at quarter sessions (July 1842), a public meeting of the directors of the Benevolent Asylum (27 July 1842), news of killings of Indigenous Australians, including children, auctions, Jewish businessmen in Sydney, visits to the Insolvent Court, relations with Wilson and Wilson's wife, a Homebush race meeting (23 September. 1842), canvassing for Wilson in the elections for the Sydney Council, ship arrivals and news from England, asthma attacks, accounts of bushrangers, criminal trials, the first Sydney Council elections (1 November 1842), journeys to Liverpool and Parramatta (November 1842), Wills' scheme for bringing German immigrants to New South Wales (17 November 1842), meetings of the Sydney Council, visits to the North Shore, bushfires, drought, French and American ships visiting Port Jackson, observation of exams at Sydney College (13 December 1842), and the sudden dispute with Wilson and their parting.

The last part of the journal records Wills's renewed search for a clerical or teaching position, a visit on board HMS Beagle (14 January 1843), musical evenings, celebrations of the founding of the colony (26 January 1843), interviews with the mayor and aldermen of Sydney, sightings of a comet (3-6 March 1843), his appointment as secretary of the Mayor, John Hosking (21 March 1843), a dinner at the Mayor's house, parties, his duties as secretary, economic depression in the colony, the collapse of the Bank of Australia and difficulties of the Sydney Banking Company, English newspapers, the erection of military barracks by convict gangs, changes in lodgings, expenses, relations with Hosking, Queen's birthday celebrations (23 May 1843), a Government House ball (25 May 1843), proposed zoological gardens, charges made against the City Surveyor (June 1843), the first election of the expanded Legislative Council (15 June 1843), meetings with Alderman James R. Wilshire and the Town Clerk, the prevalence of measles and smallpox, the compilation of assessment books for the city wards, Wills' appointment as acting town clerk (19 July 1843), insolvencies, the resignation of Hosking following the bankruptcy of his company, the election of Wilshire as mayor, the drastic reduction of government salaries (December 1843), the state of the pastoral industry, and the materialism of colonial society.

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