Family correspondence of the Bourke Family (45 letters), 1822-1855

 
Component identifier:
File 3
Content Summary:

Most of the letters were written to Bishop J. Jebb, Bishop of Limerick, his nephew Rev. J. Jebb and Fanny Jebb, the daughter of Sir Richard Bourke. The principal correspondents are Governor Richard Bourke, his wife Elizabeth Bourke, his son Richard Bourke, and his daughter Anne Bourke, who married Edward Deas Thomson in 1833. Other correspondents include T. Spring-Rice (later Lord Monteagle), Rev. C. Forster, J. Kinchela (Sydney), and Sophia Gordon.

13 of the letters were written from Sydney and Parramatta, 1832-1837. They deal with the voyage to Australia, first impressions of Sydney, the work of the Governor, convicts and emigrants, aborigines, the Australian flora, the Blue Mountains and a visit to Bathurst, life at Parramatta, Sydney society, the economic progress of N.S.W., the closure of the Bank of Australia, the death of Bishop Jebb, the illness and death of Elizabeth Bourke in 1832, the marriage of Anne Bourke in 1833, and the return of Richard Bourke Junior to England in 1834. There are references to Rev. S. Marsden, Rev. W.G. Broughton, Sir John Jamison, A. Macleay and E. Deas Thomson.

The other letters discuss conditions in Ireland, Bourke evidence before the House of Lords Committee on Ireland in 1825, the voyage to South Africa and impressions of Cape Town, Lord Charles Somerset, colonial legislation, economic conditions in Cape Colony, the marriage of Fanny Bourke to Rev. John Jebb, the novels of B. Disrael and the death of Sir Richard Bourke in 1855.

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M1863

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Available for Access.
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Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
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