James Bonwick (1817 - 1906)

Born 8 Jul 1817 in England, United Kingdom

Died 6 Feb 1906 at age 88 in London, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

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James was born 8th July 1817^[1]. He passed away 7th February 1906.^[2] He was a historian of some note, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, so some of his books had "FRGS" after his name.

James Bonwick

James Bonwick

Wikipedia Biography

James Bonwick

James Bonwick

James Bonwick, by Edward Cecil Porter, 1885-1890
Born 6 July 1817
Lingfield, Surrey, England
Died 6 February 1906 (aged 88)
Southwick, Sussex, England
Occupation(s) teacher, author, historian and archivist
Known for Bonwick Transcripts
Spouse Esther Anne Beddow (m 17 April 1840)
Children 7 children (2 dying in infancy)
Parent(s) James Bonwick and Mary Preston

James Bonwick (8 July 1817 – 6 February 1906) was an English-born Australian historical and educational writer.

Early life
Bonwick was born Lingfield, Surrey, England, the eldest son of James Bonwick, carpenter, and his second wife Mary Ann née Preston. James Bonwick, the elder, was a man of some mechanical ability, but he suffered from ill health, and his children were brought up in poor circumstances. His eldest son was educated at the Borough Road school, Southwark, and at 17 years of age began teaching at a school at Hemel Hempstead and similar positions followed at Bexley and Liverpool. In April 1840 he married Esther Ann Beddow, the daughter of a Baptist clergyman, and in the following year obtained a position at the Normal School, Hobart, Tasmania.

Career in Australia
Teacher
Bonwick and his wife arrived at Hobart on 10 October 1841. He was a successful teacher in Hobart for eight years and published the first of his many school books Geography for the Use of Australian Youth in 1845. He went to Adelaide in 1850, and opened a private school. In 1852 made his way to the Victorian gold diggings after finding himself in debt. He did not find much gold, but his health benefited. He then went to Melbourne where he published The Australian Gold-Diggers' Monthly Magazine from October 1852 until its final edition in May 1853. In 1852 he also published "Notes of a gold digger: and gold digger's guide". He then established a successful boarding school at Kew now a suburb of Melbourne. He had already published several school books and pamphlets, when in 1856 he published his Discovery and Settlement of Port Phillip, the first of his historical works. About this time he joined the Victorian government service as an inspector of denominational schools, and in 1857 made a tour of inspection through the western district of Victoria. He then made Ballarat his centre and worked there for about four years. During his journeys he suffered from sunstroke and a coaching accident, and became so ill that he had to retire from the service. He was given 18 months' leave of absence, but was unable to continue this work. His head had been injured in the accident. He was never able to ride a horse again, and he was always liable to have an attack of giddiness. He visited England in 1860 and then returned to Melbourne in July 1862 and opened a school in the suburb of St Kilda, which became very prosperous. He paid another visit to England with his wife, leaving the school in the hands of a son and a friend of his. They, however, mismanaged the school, and Bonwick was compelled to return and put things in order again. He was doing much writing, and in the ensuing years travelled in various parts of Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

Author
Bonwick's initial works drew on his experience as a teacher and later of the Victorian gold diggings. He extended his repertoire, focusing on the history of Colonial Australia and religious subjects. Some of Bonwick's more important volumes were John Batman (1867); The Last of the Tasmanians, Daily Life and Origin of the Tasmanians, and Curious Facts of Old Colonial Days, all of which were published in 1870; Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought (1878), First Twenty Years of Australia (1882), Port Phillip Settlement (1883), Romance of the Wool Trade (1887) and Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions (1894).

Archivist
James Bonwick began examining historical records of Australian interest in London in 1884 and in 1887 he was authorised by the New South Wales Colonial Secretary, Sir Henry Parkes to transcribe Governors’ despatches from the Public Record Office as part of a drive to collect records for an official centenary history of New South Wales.

Bonwick was appointed archivist for the New South Wales government in 1888 and continued until 1902. He compiled what became known as the Bonwick Transcripts. These handwritten transcripts of records held in the Public Record Office, London (now The National Archives) were published in the series Historical Records of New South Wales (1892-1901). Later life

In 1900 he had celebrated with his wife the sixtieth anniversary of their wedding. She died in 1901 and he felt her loss keenly. He completed and published in 1902 his final volume, an autobiography, An Octogenarian's Reminiscences, and died on 6 February 1906. He was survived by five children.

Legacy
Bonwick was a religious man, full of nervous energy and passion for his work. History, religion, astronomy, geography, anthropology and trade were among the subjects of his books. Some of the more important have been mentioned, some fifty others are listed in "A Bibliography of James Bonwick" by Dr G. Mackaness (Journal and Proceedings, Royal Australian Historical Society, 1937). An even longer list of his writings is appended to James Bonwick by E. E. Pescott. His school books were of great value at a time when it was difficult to obtain suitable books in Australia, and his historical work was always conscientious.

Bonwick is best remembered for his transcripts of British Government records that formed the basis of the reference work: Historical Records of New South Wales. These records were his principal work until in 1902, at the age of 85, he resigned his position.

It is true that Bonwick's transcripts and the resulting 7 volumes of Historical Records of New South Wales received later criticism. His selections were arbitrary and he was accused of censorship and excluding material that reflected poorly on individuals whether government officials, the military and free settlers, or drew attention to convict origins.

However, these transcripts and publications had great utilitarian value for researchers, students and general readers who had no chance of seeing the original documents in Britain. Eventually the National Library of Australia and the State Library of New South Wales were to approach the Public Record Office with requests to microfilm these records comprehensively. This ultimately led to the two libraries signing an agreement with the PRO to establish the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP).

The Bonwick Transcripts were transferred to the Mitchell Library when it was founded in 1910 as the "Australiana" Wing of the Library.

In 1856, the Victorian government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller, named Euodia bonwickii (now Melicope bonwickii) in his honour.

Children

1. Mrs E. A. BEDDOW (b approx 1846, aged 88 in 1934, London)^[3]
2. James Josiah Bonwick, m Agnes Baines 1869^[4]
3. Walter Hall Bonwick, d 1854-01-20 aged 10 weeks^[5][6]
4. Edward Walker Bonwick d.1850^[7]

Take care checking BDM, his wife was Esther Ann Beddow, he may have had a Brother or relative Named William Priess Bonwick, who also married a Beddow (Sarah). Strangley his daughter called herself Mrs. Beddow.

Obituaries

Daily Telegraph (Launceston, Tas.) Sat 10 Feb 1906 Page 5^[8]
OUR HOBART LETTER
[BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
HOBART, Friday. — James Bonwick, the well-known Tasmanian historian, is dead. He wrote many books dealing with early Tasmanian history, which are valuable because they have long gone out of print. "William Buckley, the Wild White Man, and His Port Phillip Black Friends," was published in 1856, and "The Discovery and Settlement of Port Phillip" in the same year. "The last of the Tasmanians, or the Black War," was issued in 1870. In the year 1841 he published a geography in pocket edition, to meet the wants of young colonials, who were not at all certain in what part of the world England lay, or whether Tasmania was an island or not. The first part of this book (a copy of which is in one's possession) treated with New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, and contained an account of the then rising settlements of South Australia and New Zealand. Bonwick arrived in Hobart in 1841, in a brig of two hundred tons called the William Wallace. He acted for many years as a sort of inspector of schools, and carried out his work conscientiously. The voyage out from the old country lasted 120 days, and Bonwick had a bad time of it with the captain and crew. The historian thus relates the tale of his voyage : "The captain, mate, and surgeon," said he, "proved regular topers, and the skipper tried us with fit of delirium tremens. The crew imitated the officers, and made free with the cargo. One night, fortunately calm, all on deck were asleep from drink, and the rudder had no one in charge. It was not too late for piracy. Passing near Cape de Verde we were chased by a piratical craft, and were saved by our superior sailing before the wind. On the second day of our chase a British frigate came up, fired a shot, and with all sail set was after the craft. We some years afterwards heard of the capture of the Spanish pirates and our saving from treading the plank. When, at the end of 120 days' voyage, we sat down (October 10, 1841) to a civilised meal, with milk to our tea and fresh butter to our bread, we felt grateful for our preservation from nature's tumults and from man's vices. The vessel left us in port and went on to New Zealand, where, as we heard, the drunken captain was seized and imprisoned for stealing the ship's goods. The doctor many years later I met as teacher of a Roman Catholic school, who recognised in his inspector one of the victims of his former medical career." Some years ago Bonwick, who was between eighty and ninety years of age when he died, was employed by the Tasmanian Government in the compilation of a number of old-time records. He prepared quite enough of these to load up five or six wheelbarrows. What Bonwick did he did well. An attempt was made to secure him a pension from the Tasmanian Government, but it failed, and it is said the old gentleman took the refusal very much to heart.

The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.) Sat 17 Feb 1906 Page 4 OCTOGENARIAN BONWICK^[9]
OCTOGENARIAN BONWICK. By DONALD BONWICK With the death of James Bonwick, Australian historian, which took place in London last week, a remarkable career came to an honourable close. He was a fugitive historian, an active publicist, who saw much of the stirring early days in Tasmania and Australia, and has written of them in works, as strangely varied in form as in matter. He never achieved the fame that finds its memorial in uniform and costly editions, but his books and pamphlets numbered over sixty, and dealt with a great variety of subjects. He was a schoolmaster to begin with, and amongst his earliest publications were a geography, grammar and reader for young Australians. James Bonwick was an old man, and most of his earlier publications had been forgotten, when educationalists in Australia began to see the wisdom of attempting what he had done 50 years before. Within four years of his death, and at the age of 85, he brought out his last book, "An Octogenarian's Reminiscences." The incidents are a little jumbled, the threads of memory confused, and picked up sometimes in duplicate, but through it, as in all his publications, whether dealing with history, fiction, ethnology, astronomy, religion, or education, is the same note of cheerfulness and thanksgiving for the blessing of an active life. It is as the casual historian that James Bonwick appeals chiefly to Australians, for much that he gathered into modest little volumes—no two covers of which are alike—will be the basis of history in the future. He came to Australia in 1841, having been chosen with five others as Government teachers for the Tasmanian schools. His friend Chambers, whom he mentions as one of the party, was the father of Mr. J. S. Chambers, of Melbourne. Both were great temperance advocates all their lives. Mr. Chambers being what was then called a "long-pledged man," and Bonwick one of Stanhope's "short-pledged men." On the voyage out the captain, officers, and doctor of the brig William Wise were nearly always drunk, and Bonwick saw so much of the evils of intemperance in those early days that he said one day to Chambers, "Draw up any pledge you like, and I will sign it." It was a curious coincidence that years afterwards Bonwick, as an inspector of schools in Tasmania, discovered in one of his teachers the dissolute doctor of the William Wise. In Tasmania. Bonwick was in contact with many interesting people, who led stormy but picturesque lives amongst them was the Irish patriot, "O'Meagher of the Sword" who one day flung away his parole and bolted on horseback for the nearest port. The British Government, Bonwick explains, treated its rebels; courteously, as "misguided gentlemen." Amongst them were several of the Canadian rebels, who had taken part in the Papineau rebellion, quelled at Toronto in 1837. Bonwick described them as young Christian, temperate min who were much liked temperate men, and when give their liberty were publicly feted before leaving the colony. He came in contact with the island bushrangers, chief amongst whom were Martin Cash and Michael Howe. In a book which professes to be fiction, but is mainly fact, he told the life story of Michael Howe, and it was Mr. Duterrean, the catechist of Flinders Island, who first interested him in the "Black War," which obliterated the Tasmanian aboriginals, and the story of which was told later in "The Lost Tasmanian Race." Amongst the striking characters whom Bonwick met in those days was Henry Melville, a dreamer, whose book, "Veritas" is a strange blend of Oriental lore and Masonic symbolism, which was to supersede all religions. Even in the later years of his life Bonwick wondered whether "Veritas would not be dug up in after years by archæologists to become a great discovery, perhaps a new faith. Melville, like Ignatius Donelly, had a cypher which explained all mysteries, and which, as far as one can understand it, seems to have been an earlier form of children's picture books Another of the forgotten worthies was Horne, the teacher at Point Pear. There he found youthful convicts, steeped in every depravity, past masters in every crime, but by the blending of just and strict authority, with loving sympathy, he got at their inner natures and fanned the almost dead embers into the flame of a living humanity, until they held to him as the sheet anchor of their stormy, troubled lives. When he died the last words from his lips were, "My poor boys—my poor boys." Once Bonwick went on a pilgrimage through Bagdad, Jerusalem, Abyssinia, and Jericho, but it was no record of Eastern travel, for all these hamlets with historic names lay between Hobart and Launceston. On the way he came to a cottage and to a strange experience. The woman who lived in it told him that she had not been to church for four years until one Sunday her husband proposed that they should go to hear a new preacher. The sequel was dramatic —but whether due to evangelistic influence or religious mania is not quite clear. This woman told Bonwick she thought so much and felt so much better after the service that one day Christ came to the doorway, and sad, "Will you give up everything for me." "Everything," she replied, and He answered, "I will take only the child." She walked to a couch, drew aside a cloth, and showed the dead white face of a little child. "Woman, don't you feel?" Bonwick gasped in his astonishment, "Yes," she answered. "I feel as if I could sing all day long." Emotional natures were strangely wrought upon in those early days of loneliness. In Adelaide Bonwick knew Sturt, the famous explorer, who one day at dinner, said to him. "Ah' In all my journeys I never caused pain or sorrow to a black." He met many dreamers then, men whose change of fortune was always just ahead, but certain to come, and he notes as a coincidence that that they were nearly always miners. It was their dreams, not their knowledge that made them miners, and if they failed it was only because their day had not come. Bonwick was in Adelaide when he had his first mining experience on the Burra copper field, but it was at a time when the colony was being slowly depopulated with the rush across the Mallee deserts to the Victorian diggings. He joined the rush, and one of his mates on Forest Creek was a doctor, outside whose tent, as a special appeal to his countrymen, was the sign. "Dr. Tracey, from Limerick." Dr. Tracey was afterwards well know as one of the leading surgeons of Melbourne. On the way to the diggings they stopped for the night at a canvas shanty, and when Bonwick tuned down the blankets upon his stretcher, he found them soaked with blood. The party went out and slept in the bush for their health's sake. They had no sooner bottomed on gold at Fiery Creek than they gave up, and tramped back to Melbourne again. Hundred of ounces of gold were taken out of the same claim by the men who jumped it. Bonwick had only sampled the discovery, and it is hard to say whether, in "Notes of a Gold Digger," which he wrote soon afterwards for a Melbourne bookseller, he speaks of his own experience or that of more lucky diggers. The long-looked-for patch had been stuck. "No, it is not mica, the mother of gold, but beautiful little specks and nuggets of real gold I stuck all about the place like currants in a Christmas pudding. There is no mistake about it, as you pick them off bit by bit, the little darlings, and tumble them promiscuously into a pannikin." Many of the diggers believed that gol had fallen originally in the form of a volcanic shower. In Melbourne he started the "Diggers' Magazine," but society was too chaotic to stand by anything that came to it regularly —unless it happened to be gold. Bonwick's story of "Buckley, the Wild White Man," was written in 1852, for he had always an eye for the literary value of any picturesque character who came his way. Amongst other incidents of early days, he touches upon the disappearance of Gellibrand and Hesse, whose fates are still, in some measure a mystery. The story is familiar to me, apart from historical narratives, for my grandparents were living at Point Henry, Geelong, at the time these two settlers were lost. My grandfather helped to capture from amongst a mob of blacks upon the beach one man who wore a velveteen shooting jacket supposed to belong to Hesse. In this they were wrong, for the jacket had been given to the aboriginal by one of the settlers. Buckley, the wild while man, of whom Bonwick has also written—and of whose character and adventures I heard much in youth that is half forgotten—was persuaded to put on hit native dress, return to the tribe, and learn, if possible, the fate of the lost men. The mystery was long a matter of speculation in the West, though a sheppherd on Mt. Rouse found, years afterwards, the skeleton of a horse and the rusted ironwork of a bridle, which were supposed to be traces of the lost men. James Bonwick was at Ballarat when the famous Welcome Nugget, worth £10,000 was dug out during the last hour's work in a claim which was to be abandoned as a duffer. He saw the arrival at Geelong In 1857 of a party of Highland immigrants from the Isle of Skye, who being bred as shepherds in Scotland, became the faithful shepherds of the Western district, where their highland names are perpetuated in their children. Bonwick and his wife lived to celebrate their diamond wedding.

The Age (Melbourne, Vic.) Fri 9 Feb 1906 Page 5^[10] A PERSONAL SKETCH.
(BY A MEMBER OF HIS TEACHING STAFF.)
The late Mr. Bonwick was one of those remarkable men who, once known, can never be forgotten. I first met him in 1862, when, after his return from a trip to England, in search of health, he embarked on a lecturing tour throughout Victoria. His lectures, mostly illustrating the countries he had visited, were very popular; and though his magic lanterns and the views displayed through them very inferior to those we are are now accustomed to, they drew large audiences, and were highly appreciated. In 1863 Mr. Bonwick founded Carlton House School, St. Kilda, It was an immediate success, and before long he had over 159 boys under his charge, including beween 30 and 40 boarders, besides a special class of young men ranging from eighteen to five and twenty years of age, all of whom lived on the school premises, and who paid fees rising from £75 to £90. Mr. Bonwick was one of the most active men I ever met. He would dart from one classroom to another in the most erratic manner, and in a style peculiarly his own take the class for a few minutes completely out of the hands of the teacher in charge, and then depart as suddenly as he appeared to repeat the procedure in another classroom. His fund of information on all subjects seamed exhaustless, and while he never ostentatiously paraded his knowledge or appeared in the least pedantic, his conversation was always entertaining and enjoyable. He had little belief in home lessons, but he strictly insisted that all boys in the upper school should write as full an account as possible of his Friday afternoon lectures. These lectures were a feature of the school instruction, and it was certainly an inspiring sight to witness the whole 150 scholars, young and old, gathered into the big school room for their weekly treat. On a large blackboard he had previously jotted down the headings of the lecture, and the incidents he intended to describe in detail. The battle of Waterloo, the siege of Jerusalem, the Greek, Roman and Carthegenian war, the conquests of Mexico and Peru, &c. all formed the subjects of many a stirring lecture, and without doubt aroused his youthful audience (as many of them have since admitted) both patriotism and love of history and adventure. As the, lectures were prepared with great care and delivered in the most eloquent and attractive style, he was a very dull boy who could not (with the help of the notes he was allowed to copy from the blackboard) manage to write a page or two at least about the lecture. Though not a strict disciplinarian—in fact, there was much lack of method in his school system— yet he had a wonderful command over boys. I never personally knew him cane a boy, but I knew several boys who for their wrongdoing ought to have been caned, and who, in my opinion, would have been all the better for it; but they were merely kept indoors for a while, or set special tasks. The charge of so large a school entailed a severe mental strain, especially at the week end, and frequently his Friday lectures were followed by complete nervous prostration. Mr. Bonwick was a great walker, and thoroughly enjoyed the exercise. He thought nothing of walking from St. Kilda to Brighton, Cheltenham or Oakleigh and back, and always encouraged his pupils to lake long walks. On one occasion he told a class how when he was travelling in Switzerland a number of village children gazed at him in astonishment as he passed them walking at a rapid pace, with an umbrella over his head and his hat in his hand. I frequently saw him indulge in that same habit, which often raised a smile in those who did not know him. But as he said he liked to keep his head cool." He was also very fond of sea-bathing, taking his dip regularly summer and winter through, and setting an example that many younger people highly admired, but had not the courage to imitate. Mr. Bonwick's name was so well known) both through his position as an inspector and through the numerous books he had written, that boys were attracted to Carlton House from all the Australian colonies, as well as New Zealand. Among the boarders was a son of John Batman, founder of Melbourne: a son of Mr. Napier, who purchased a Collins-street allotment at the first land sale held in Melbourne in 1837; Sir. John Bird, ex-M.L.A., of Scarsdale who son Frank lost his leg in the South African war; Lieutenant-Colonel Umphelby, who was killed in the same year, and his brother Major Tom Umphelby, who saw service there. Dr. Felix Meyer was a day boy, and a future distinguished Australian cricketer, Frank Allan, who had not then developed the wonderful bonding power that earned for him the title of "the bowler of a century," could nevertheless fire a marble in a manner that I never saw any other boy equal.

Life in Primitive Victoria (1934, February 10). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. ), p. 6.^[11]
Life in Primitive Victoria.
A Pioneer Tells.
By E. A. BEDDOW
[Mrs Beddow who writes from London in her 88th year is a daughter of James Bonwick (1817 1906), the historian of early Australia.] These are a few unvarnished details of the early days of Melbourne immediately following the discovery of gold in February 1852. We were then residing in Adelaide. My father had built a brick house on the confines of the park lands where he was following his profession of school master. Directly the news of the discovery of gold was made known men of every rank and station left their professions, workshops, and occupations in a mad rush to the land of gold. My mother used to say that on the following Sunday the only man in the church was the minister. James Bonwick, who 10 years later was the master of a flourishing private school in St. Kilda, and Dr. Tracey, afterward the eminent surgeon of Collins street started off together, reaching Melbourne in a crowded steamer. Many men tramped all the way, or by waggons were helped on the tedious journey, where no made roads existed, through forests and across creeks to their goal. For the trip from Melbourne to Bendigo our little party managed to obtain a horse and trap, quite a luxury. Having pitched their tent among a motley crowd, they set to work with pickaxe and shovel to gain the precious metal, but hands unaccustomed to manual labour were soon blistered and great pain resulted. Privation, hunger, and thirst had to be endured, water was very scarce and expensive, bread cost 2/ a loaf a box of sardines cost 4/, and so on Flour and water mixed and baked in the ashes which went under the name of damper," and the same mixture fried in a pan and called "Johnny cakes," was their staple food. However, mutton was cheap and plentiful, hindquarters being bought for half a crown. Butter and milk were unknown. After six weeks of such wretched existence the gold found in a hole 8ft deep and 6ft in diameter, being far below their high expectations, my father and Dr. Tracey found their way back to Melbourne, seeking more congenial employment. Their decision not to return to Adelaide led to the young wives and children being urged to join them. A Wattle and Dab Cottage When my refined and delicate mother arrived the only place found for her receptlon with three little ones was a two roomed cottage of wattle and daub. Melbourne at that time consisted of a few scattered wooden houses. Tents were much in demand and as soon as one could be procured we were taken into the gum- tree forest of Boroondara, opossums being our only neighbours. In the moonlight they could be seen springing from tree to tree over his lonely tent. The only method of cooking was by a primitive camp oven placed over a fire of sticks and bark gathered by the children—and fire kept burning on the lid. In this our bread was baked and all other food was cooked. Whenever welcome rain fell a large sheet was tied by the four corners to different trees and a tub placed under the middle to receive the precious water filtering through. When this supply was not available my father in the early morning had to walk a mile and a half to the river and carry back two buckets of water, which was all the family had for 24 hours. Sometimes the eldest boy aged nine or ten years, accompanied his father and filled a smaller utensil but much was wasted on the journey. The bread-winner rode into Melbourne every morning, and on his return in the evening he had to 'coo-ee' until he received an answering call assuring him that he was near his forest home. When labour could be obtained land was cleared.

After six months of tent life my mother moved her family into this house. This was the first house built in what soon became the pretty suburb of Kew. I well remember that to reach Kew from Collingwood, a fast-growing suburb, we had to cross the river by ferry to Studley Park and had to rouse the ferryman for our conveyance across by a shrill "coo-ee," sometimes oft repeated. Among the quickly increasing population one good man opened his house on Sunday mornings for Divine worship and this was the for an owner of a small Baptist Church in which Mr. Foye, this same good man, was the minister for some years. Very soon a red brick building welcomed those who belonged to another body of Christians then bearing the name of Independents. The Rev Richard Connebee was their beloved minister for many years. Progress of Ballarat In 1857 Ballarat was already a fine town, having its churches, hotels and business houses in flourishing condition, for the gold mines there were very rich, the deep-sinking of which required expensive machinery, and gave employment to large numbers of men. Clothing was very dear, and good furniture was unobtainable at any price. Much of it came from America, as well as tools and machinery. Almost every little home had an American rocking-chair. Meanwhile Melbourne was fast becoming a city, with well laid-out streets, having good shops and great warehouses Paddy's Market was in full swing. By 1862 only 19 years after the "gold broke out." three handsome churches graced Collins street and many others were also gathering large congregations. From 1857 to the spring of 1862 we resided on an eminence near the foot of Mount Buninyong, surrounded by forests, with a marvellous and distant view Mount Macedon said to be 80 miles away, was clearly to be seen.

Threatened by Bush Fire
Bush Fires were no uncommon occurrence. On one never-to-be-forgotten Sunday morning a fire was raging not far away, and a strong wind was blowing in our direction in an alarming manner. For- tunately, it being a Sunday, men were free from ordinary occupations, and in true colonial fashion numbers came to the rescue, endeavouring to beat back the awful flames, but all in vain. At our church in the village, a mile or more away, earnest prayers were being offered for our safety. When the fire was within a quarter of a mile and it seemed that our homestead must in a very little time be a heap of ruins, suddenly, about 11.30 am, the wind veered round to exactly the opposite direction, and the flames were thrown back upon the wilderness they had devastated, and we were saved! But it was an awful experience, the high wind sent pieces of burning bark quite a distance and if any had fallen on our already heated shingle roof nothing could have saved our home. For two weeks afterward, during days and nights great forest trees were falling with an alarming crash. The enterprising residents of Melbourne soon began on the banks of the Yarra Yarra, a Botanic Garden, which before very long became known as one of the best in the world. They also laid out the lovely Fitzroy Gardens and planted many English trees which were a great loss to the fathers and mothers from the Homeland in this their adopted country. The building of Prince's Bridge soon led to St Kilda being a most desirable residential neighbourhood especially as sea bathing became possible in enclosures well protected from the numberless sharks in- festing the blue waters. What a great day it was when the first railway was opened between Melbourne and St Kilda with the station at Emerald Hill! In those very early days when men were attracted from many countries during the gold fever women were very scarce. In the latter part of 1852 a successful effort to remedy this resulted in a ship- load of women from "Auld Ireland" volunteering to go to the land of gold where husbands awaited them. When the vessel reached Port Phillip Bay a crowd of men rushed to the landing stage one at least declare that the first woman he set eyes upon should be his wife and although that lady possessed but one eye he kept his word. The women were allowed little choice and soon all were carried off by their captors, but there were not enough to go round and some poor fellows flushed and disappointed had to beat a retreat and await the next shipload of treasures.

Bibliography

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2. 1850: Geography of Australia and New Zealand
3. 1851: Grammar for Australian Youth (Adelaide)
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5. 185? Map of Victoria
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8. 1856 The Bushrangers; Illustrating the Early Days of Van Dieman's Land
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10. 1856: Discovery and settlement of Port Phillip; being a history of the country now called Victoria, up to the arrival of Mr. Superintendent Latrobe, in October, 1839. (Melbourne, Pub. for the author, by G. Robertson, 1856), also by William Westgarth
11. 1857: How Does a Tree Grow? Or, Botany for Young Australians (Gutenberg ebook)
    
12. 1857: Early Days of Melbourne J.J. Blundell & Co., 1857
13. 1857: Early Days of England
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15. 1858: A sketch of Boroondara Melbourne : J.J. Blundell & Co., 1858
16. 1863: The wild white man & the blacks of Victoria. (Melbourne, Fergusson & Moore, 1863)
17. 18?? Bible Stories For Young Australians
18. 1866:Astronomy for Young Australians (Gutenberg ebook) Trove https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-385967073
19. 18?? Spirit of a True Teacher
20. 1867: (first edition) Daily life and origin of the Tasmanians
21. 1867 John Batman, The Founder of Victoria founder of Victoria.] ... (Melbourne, S. Mullen, 1867)
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23. 1870: Curious facts of old colonial days. (London, Sampson Low, son & Marston, 1870)
    
24. 1870: The last of the Tasmanians, or, The black war of Van Diemen's Land. (London, S. Low, son, & Marston, 1870)
25. 1872: The Mormons and the silver mines. (London, Hodder and Stoughton 1872)
    
26. 1873: The Treasury of languages; a rudimentary dictionary of universal philology. (London : Hall and Co., [1873])
27. 1873 & 1881 Mike Howe, the bushranger of Van Diemen's Land / by James Bonwick.
28. 1877: Pyramid facts and fancies. (London, C. Kegan Paul,) (page images at HathiTrust)
29. 1880: Who are the Scotch? (London: D. Bogue, 1880)
30. 1880: Who are the Irish? (London: Bogue. 1880)
31. 1881: are the Welsh? (London, Aogne, 1881)
32. 1881: Who are the English? (London: D. Bogue, 1881) (page images at HathiTrust)
33. 1882: First twenty years of Australia. A history founded on official documents. (London, S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington; Melbourne and Sydney, G. Robertson, 1882)
34. 1883: Port Phillip settlement (London, S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1883) (With Bibliography on last pages)
35. 1884: The lost Tasmanian race. (London, S. Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1884)
36. 1884: (duplication) The lost Tasmanian race. / (London : Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1884)
37. 1886: The British colonies and their resources : Australasia / (London : Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1886)
38. 1887: Romance of the wool trade. (London, Griffith, Farran, Okeden, and Welsh, 1887)
39. 1894: Irish Druids and old Irish religions / (London : S. Low, Marston, 1894)
40. 1894: Irish druids and old Irish religions / (London : Griffith, Farran, 1894)
41. 1898: Daily life and origin of the Tasmanians / (London : Sampson Low, Marston & Co., 1898)
42. 1901: Captain Cook in New South Wales; Or, The Mystery of Naming Botany Bay (Gutenberg ebook)
43. 1902: An octogenarian's reminiscences (London, J. Nichols, 1902) (page images at HathiTrust; US access only)
    

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Trove search from 1841 to 1907 brings about 1800 results for "James Bonwick"

Sources

1. ↑ Teacher Record
2. ↑ THE LATE MR. JAMES BONWICK. (1906, February 12). Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. ), p. 4.
3. ↑ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11738052
4. ↑ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5816412
5. ↑ The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.): Saturday 21 January 1854- Page 4
6. ↑ VIC BDM Secondary Death Record Family name: BONWICK | Given name(s): Walter Hull | Event: deaths | Mother's name : Esther | Mother's family name at birth: BEDDOW | Father's name: James | Place of birth: BOROONDARA | Place of death: | Age at Death: 10 | Reg. year: 1854 | Reg. number: 394/1854
7. ↑ Family Notices (1850, November 27). Launceston Examiner (Tas. : 1842 - 1899), p. 6 (AFTERNOON)
8. ↑ Daily Telegraph (Launceston, Tas.) Sat 10 Feb 1906 Page 5
9. ↑ The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.) Sat 17 Feb 1906 Page 4 OCTOGENARIAN BONWICK
10. ↑ http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/196319941 The Age (Melbourne, Vic.) Fri 9 Feb 1906 Page 5
11. ↑ Life in Primitive Victoria (1934, February 10). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. ), p. 6.
12. ↑ A Literary Pioneer (1940, March 30). The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), p. 9.
13. ↑ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/36264174
14. ↑ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4788880