Diary of James Craig, 23 September 1873-07 February 1877

 
Component identifier:
File 1
Content Summary:

The first part of the diary records a collecting trip to southern France, leaving Paisley, Scotland, in September 1873 and visiting Bordeaux, Pau, Biarritz and Cauterets, returning to Paisley in August 1874. It mostly describes his excursions catching butterflies, moths and other insects, frogs, birds and reptiles.

The major part of the diary records Craig's visit to Australia, his voyage from Greenock to Williamstown on the Ben Cruachan (29 Aug.-14 Nov. 1974), collecting in the Dromana district, visits to Healesville (March 1875) and Ballarat (April 1875), a short visit to Sydney and Parramatta, his arrival in Brisbane (10 June 1875), collecting in the Sandgate district, his move to 'The Gap', a property near Warwick, in the Darling Downs (Jan. 1876), his return to Sydney (Nov. 1876), and the voyage back to Britain on the Ben Cruachan (12 Nov. 1876-7 Feb. 1877).

The diaries contain very little about Craig's personal life but deal very largely with his zoological, ornithological and botanical activities and his growing interest in the Australian Aboriginals. They refer to his shooting and collecting birds, snakes, lizards, koalas, kangaroos, kangaroo rats, possums, platypi, ants, butterflies, and plants. Craig records meetings in Brisbane with the ornithologist Silvester Diggles and the naturalist Charles Coxen (Jan. 1876).

Craig visited an Australian Aboriginal settlement at Healesville, near Melbourne, in March 1875, and his interest in the languages, arts and social organisation of Australian Aboriginals became a major preoccupation when he was living in Brisbane and the Darling Downs. In Jan. 1876 he met the Lutheran missionary J.G. Hausmann (1811-1901) and talked about his experiences in working with Indigenous Australians since his arrival in Moreton Bay in 1838. Craig had many meetings and conversations with Indigenous Australians, including 'King Sandy', made notes about their weapons and tools, and recorded their vocabularies. He also dealt with Australian Aboriginal-settler relations and the murders of Australian Aboriginals.

The entries in the later part of the diary tend to be more detailed than in the earlier part. They contain a number of small sketches.

Processing information:
M978

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Available for Access.
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Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
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