Guide to the Diary of John Bond (as filmed by the AJCP), 1853-1855

 

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Collection context

Summary

Collection number:
M724
Creator:
Bond, John James
Extent:
1 item
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:
Diary (89 p.) written in 1915 by Bond recalling his voyage to, and stay in, Australia in 1853-1854. He quotes from letters he wrote to his mother at this time and adds some details gathered from letters written to him from Australia in 1868 and 1874. The first part of the diary describes the voyage to Australia in the Lady Flora. He continued his voyage to Sydney and returned to Melbourne in the steamer Waratah. He stayed with his uncle at Benalla, Victoria, for some months and gives a detailed account of the town and its residents. He also gives his impressions of Sydney and Melbourne and notes in some detail the features of buildings and the prices of certain commodities. Before sailing from Melbourne in the Marco Polo Bond visited the Victorian goldfields of Ballarat and Bendigo and describes problems experienced on the diggings, such as lack of water and poor communications.
Biographical / Historical:

John James Bond (1831-1922) sailed to Australia in 1852, apparently with the intention of visiting his uncle, who lived at Benalla in Victoria. He stayed for about two years and visited several of the goldfields, although as a tourist rather than a digger. He returned to England on the Marco Polo in 1855. In his later years he was a farmer in Somerset.

In 1897 Bond discovered the letters that he had written in Australia to his family and in 1915 he and his daughter-in-law transcribed parts of them to make a kind of diary of his time in Australia. In 1969 the original letters were still in the possession of his family, but were too fragile for microfilming by the Australian Joint Copying Project. They had, however, been filmed by Margaret Kiddle in 1954 and copies of this film are held in the State Library of New South Wales and the State Library of Victoria.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use:
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.
Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact: