Lieutenant of the Calcutta.[1] Its author was a man of merit, sensibility, and taste, and, despite his amusing prediction of the future of Port Phillip, his book—which is now rare—deserves a reprint. Some extracts from Knopwood's diary were given in a so-called life of William Buckley, "the wild white man,"[2] but that portion which is of historical value is now made public for the first time.
Many matters of curious interest respecting the inner life of the two settlements will be found in Mr. Knopwood's diary. Consequences we know are inexorable; but comment on these doings, and on the personal conduct of those who have long since passed away, may be properly left to other hands and to other pages.
Governor Collins died suddenly at Hobart Town on the 24th March 1810. It has been stated that immediately after the Governor's death two officers of the Government placed soldiers at the door of the apartment, and busied themselves in burning all his papers.[3] A kindly notice of his character and a description of his funeral were written in the "Derwent Star," published on the 3rd of April 1810, by Mr. George Prideaux Harris, the Deputy Surveyor. Three copies only of this paper are known to be in existence, but it has been reproduced as a literary curiosity at the "Hobart Town Mercury" office.
The Reverend Mr. Knopwood was one of the chaplains to the fleet, and a clergyman of the old school. He was born 2nd June 1761, died 18th September 1838, and was buried in the cemetery of a little Tasmanian village named Rokeby.
Mr. Charles Grimes, Deputy Surveyor-General of New South Wales, came to that colony in H.M.S. Gorgon in September 1791. He succeeded Mr. Alfred Alt, the first Surveyor-General, who was invalided, and was himself succeeded by Lieutenant John Oxley, R.N., previously First Lieutenant of the Porpoise. In 1808 Mr. Grimes acted as the Judge-Advocate at the trial of Mr. McArthur, subsequent to the deposition of Governor Bligh.
Some particulars of the career of others of the early settlers will be found in the "Van Diemen's Land Anniversary and Hobart Town Almanac" for the year 1831, and Mr. Calder has contributed much information on this subject to the Tasmanian Press.
Captain Woodruff in November 1805 made a heroic defence of the Calcutta against a powerful French squadron, but was captured and
- ↑ An Account of a Voyage to establish a Colony at Port Phillip: by J. H. Tuckey. 1 vol. Longman and Co. 1805.
- ↑ The Life and Adventures of William Buckley, thirty-two years a wanderer amongst the Aborigines of the then unexplored country round Port Phillip: by John Morgan. 1 vol. Hobart Town, 1852.
- ↑ Curious Facts of Old Colonial Days: by James Bonwick, F.R.G.S. Sampson Low. London, 1870.
