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(1 ms box + 2 security binders + 1 large folio item + 6 folders)
Abstract Or Scope
The collection consists chiefly of letters by Grant to his mother and sister Matilda in England, 1803-1810, and a journal, Jan. 1805 - March 1810, written in French and transcribed and translated by W.S. Hill-Reid, Yvonne Cramer and others. The letters and journal contain detailed accounts of Grant's voyage on the Coromandel, his experiences in the colony and descriptions of the people he encountered, including Major George Johnston, Jude Richard Atkins, Charles Bishop, Sir Henry Hayes, Simeon Lord, John Palmer, Governors King, Bligh and McGuene. A transcription of John Grant's journal by W.S. Hill-Reid, Joan O'Hagan and others forms part of the collection. The collection also includes correspondence with Robert Campbell while John Grant was on Norfolk Island and a copy of his 'Bond of union', 1805, his instrument of protest that resulted in his deportation to Norfolk Island. Also included in the collection are petitions; certificates; legal documents; correspondence with Robert Campbell, 1806-1807; a notebook kept on his return to Sydney from Norfolk Island, 1809; poetry written while at Parramatta and Norfolk Island, 1804-1805; and other papers.