Cirrus@Austlit

19th-Century Australian Travel Writing

Richard Tangye (1833-1906), F. R. G. S., machine tool manufacturer and engineer, opened firms across the empire following the success of his company's hydraulic lifting jacks that launched the Great Eastern steamship. Having previously published Reminiscences of Travel in Australia, America and Egypt (1883), Tangye stated that his Notes of My Fourth Voyage was "written in lieu of letters to my home circle; but, in compliance with requests from my many friends, I have had them printed for more general circulation." In keeping with this audience, it was casual and conversational, set out in a diary form, and described life on board ship, the colony of Tasmania (in particular the people Tangye encountered, the hotels, and the weather), Melbourne's urban improvements, the climate, and excursions into the Victorian bush. He also travelled to Sydney and the Blue Mountains, before travelling home via New Zealand. He published an autobiography, One and All in 1890.