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First known date: 1878 Issue Details: First known date: 1878... 1878 Early Experiences of Colonial Life in South Australia
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

"Bull arrived in Adelaide with his wife and children in 1838. He conducted a business in Hindley Street and had a share in a sheep station four miles north of Adelaide, before moving with his family to settle on a wheat property near Mount Barker. There he invented a mechanical reaper, the credit for which he claims was appropriated by John Ridley. Bull attempts to write a history of the colony from its earliest days until around 1845, basing his narrative on his own experiences, the experience of others 'taken down from their lips', and from sources such as diaries and newspaper articles. His recollections of events in his own life are detailed and lively; they include descriptions of landing in Adelaide in 1838, attending a ball given by Governor Hindmarsh at Government House. witnessing an execution, the burning of Government House, the opening of the town of Gawler, journeying with his family to Mount Barker, and his farming experiences and inspiration for the invention of his reaper. He also includes gossipy reminiscences of acquaintances such as Governors Hindmarsh and Gawler, the Reverends C.B. Howard and T.Q. Stow, Pastor Kavel and the German settlers at Hahndorf, businessman Emanuel Solomon, William Light, Osmond Gilles and other public officials" (Walsh and Hooton 29).

Sources

Walsh, Kay and Joy Hooton. Australian Autobiographical Narratives : An Annotated Bibliography. Canberra : Australian Scholarly Editions Centre, University College, ADFA and National Library of Australia, 1993.

Notes

  • Also exists in eBook format. 
  • Extent not available for some editions. 

Affiliation Notes

  • 19th-Century Australian Travel Writing

    John Wrathall Bull (1804-1886) was an agent and farmer who influenced the development and use of mechanised farming techniques and co-invented the harvesting machine. Early Experiences of Colonial Life in South Australia was previously published as a serial in the South Australian Chronicle, and later revised, extended, and republished in Adelaide and London in 1884. The work is a retrospective account of the author's adventures and travels within the colony. Romantic and sensational in tone, Bull’s narrative describes crime, bushrangers, clashes between the Aboriginal population and settlers, travels through the bush, and the situation of government in the colony.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Serialised by: The South Australian Weekly Chronicle 1858 newspaper (167 issues)
Notes:
Published in serialised format in the South Australian Chronicle. (Issue details not yet known.)
    • Adelaide, South Australia,: Advertiser and Chronicle General Printing Offices , 1878 .
      image of person or book cover 2810102273279781480.png
      Link: 20329153Full text document Sighted: 06/10/2020
      Description: illus.

      Holdings

      Held at: State Library of Tasmania State Library of Tasmania
      Local Id: CRO 919.42 BUL

      Holdings

      Held at: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies AIATSIS Library
      Local Id: RB B935.38/E1

      Holdings

      Held at: Adelaide University Barr Smith Library
      Local Id: 919.42 B93

      Holdings

      Held at: Burnside Library
      Local Id: 994.2 413

      Holdings

      Held at: City of Port Adelaide Enfield Port Adelaide Library
      Local Id: 994.23 BUL

      Holdings

      Held at: Flinders University of South Australia
      Local Id: 994.2 B935

      Holdings

      Held at: National Library of Australia
      Local Id: N 994.2 BUL

      Holdings

      Held at: Newcastle Region Libraries Newcastle Library
      Local Id: RSB/BUL/1.1 (NOT FOR LOAN)

      Holdings

      Held at: City of Onkaparinga Libraries Noarlunga Library
      Local Id: 994.23 BUL SOUTH AUSTRALIAN HISTORY

      Holdings

      Held at: Royal Geographical Society of South Australia Inc Royal Geographical Society of South Australia Library
      Local Id: rga 919.42042 B935

      Holdings

      Held at: Royal Historical Society of Victoria Inc. Royal Historical Society of Victoria Library
      Local Id: 920.942 BUL

      Holdings

      Held at: South Australian Museum SA Museum Library

      Holdings

      Held at: Salisbury Library Service Salisbury West Library
      Local Id: 994.23 7LP

      Holdings

      Held at: State Library of Victoria
      Local Id: RARELT 994.202 B87E

      Holdings

      Held at: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW
      Local Id: DSM/993/B

      Holdings

      Held at: State Library of South Australia State Library of SA
      Local Id: 994.2T B935

      Holdings

      Held at: State Library of Western Australia
      Local Id: 994.2 BUL

      Holdings

      Held at: University of Melbourne The University Library
      Local Id: 919.42 B935
    • Adelaide, South Australia,: E. S. Wigg , 1884 .
      Alternative title: Early Experiences of Life in South Australia : And an Extended Colonial History
      Extent: xvi, 416p., [4] leaves of platesp.
      Edition info: 2nd ed. (First published 1878.)
      Description: illus.

Works about this Work

South Australian Settler Memoirs Amanda Nettelbeck , 2001 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , no. 68 2001; (p. 97-104; Notes: 233-235)
This article looks at the ways in which settlers from the first wave of migration to South Australia constructed a sense of regional identity in the colony through the genre of memoir, and at the consequent process of mythologising a regional legend of foundation.
South Australian Settler Memoirs Amanda Nettelbeck , 2001 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , no. 68 2001; (p. 97-104; Notes: 233-235)
This article looks at the ways in which settlers from the first wave of migration to South Australia constructed a sense of regional identity in the colony through the genre of memoir, and at the consequent process of mythologising a regional legend of foundation.
Last amended 6 Oct 2020 09:59:14
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