Cirrus@Austlit

19th-Century Australian Travel Writing

In 1865 Alice Frere (Alice Mary 1842-1926) (Mrs Godfrey Clerk/Dame Alice Mary Clerk) embarked on a tour that saw her travel across the world as she travelled from Bombay to England, visiting Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and New Zealand, including Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. She then returned to Australia, visiting Tasmania and Adelaide before travelling to Ceylon, China, Mongolia, Japan, San Francisco and New York, returning to England. In the introductory chapter to the account of her global travels, Frere stated that she never intended to write a book of her journey, rather that on her return home she was persuaded by friends to turn the letters she had sent into a travel narrative, however she was concerned that the letters were written too much like a diary and would be dull to anyone but family and close friends. As such, Frere wrote a travel narrative from these letters, one that describes her adventures in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and America.