Letters Illustrative of the Early History of the Colony single work   diary  
Alternative title: Diary Illustrative of the Early History of the Colony
Issue Details: First known date: 1880-1882... 1880-1882 Letters Illustrative of the Early History of the Colony
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Notes

  • Editor's note: Amongst the earliest settlers in Western Australia was a gentleman well known, to old colonists. Mr. George Fletcher Moore, late Advocate General of the colony, who for many years past has been resident in England. Mr. Moore, from his first arrival at Fremantle in 1830, kept a diary recording the events of his daily life which, as opportunity occurred, he sent home to his friends. This diary, full of details of the greatest interest to all West Australian colonists, most graphically illustrates the early life and progress of the Swan River settlement. Of Mr. Moore's letters, those written prior to 1834 were published in England, but have long been out of print, and, with the remainder, which carry on the record of events to a much later date, are now in the hands of his relatives in this colony. These letter-diaries seemed to us of so much interest that we asked, and were kindly granted, permission to publish them serially in the West Australian. The first instalment we give to-day [19 November, 1880].
  • Title varies.
  • This version of Moore's 'letter-diaries' was edited by Sir Thomas Cockburn-Campbell (q.v.), half owner and editor of the West Australian 1879-1887.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1880-1882
Serialised by: The West Australian 1879 newspaper (1860 issues)
Notes:
Published in serialised format in The West Australian newspaper between 19 November 1880 and 26 December 1882 in 56 irregular instalments.
Notes:
For publication dates see J. M. R. Cameron , 'Appendix I: Sources of the Text', The Millendon Memoirs (2006): 493-495
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Related Works

y separately published work icon Extracts from the Letters and Journals of George Fletcher Moore, Esq. Now Filling a Judicial Office at the Swan River Settlement George Fletcher Moore , Martin Doyle (editor), London Dublin : Orr and Smith W. Curry, Jun. and Co. , 1834 Z1569072 1834 single work diary
y separately published work icon Diary of Ten Years Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia; and, Also a Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language of the Aborigines George Fletcher Moore , London : M Walbrook , 1884 Z844670 1884 selected work diary criticism poetry

In his 'Preface: Introductory and Explanatory' to this 1884 version of his Diary, Moore describes 'the "Diary or Journal" herinafter contained ... It was commenced soon after my embarcation from Dublin ... for the space of ten years in the colony, until my first return home on leave of absence. It was not continued after that time. ' (vi) The 'original letters' were first 'carefully preserved by those to whom they were sent in [Ireland]' and later 'confided to the care of a near relative in the colony, who had expressed a great desire to see them.' (vii). They were shown to Thomas Cockburn-Campbell, half owner and editor of the West Australian newspaper who requested permission from Moore to 'publish extracts from them seriatim in his paper, according as space would admit of.' (vii). Cockburn-Campbell sent Moore 'a copy of each paper which contained an extract.' Moore 'cut out those extracts and gummed them into an album ... enabl[ing] me to publish them all here afresh.' (vii)

With the Diary of Ten Years, Moore added 'a "Descriptive Vocabulary" of the language of the Aborigines...' (vii) originally published in 1842 and 'long out of print'. (ix)

J. M. R. Cameron in his introduction to The Millendon Memoirs (2006) notes that the Diary 'brought together the 1834 Extracts as they appeared originally, edited by Doyle not Campbell, and Campbell's edited excerpts for the later period.... [However] Moore deleted entries for the period from 10 April to 11 June 1836 which had appeared in the [West Australian] newspaper on 4 April 1882. (viii-ix)
y separately published work icon The Millendon Memoirs: George Fletcher Moore's Western Australian Diaries and Letters, 1830-1841 George Fletcher Moore , J. M. R. Cameron (editor), Carlisle : Hesperian Press , 2006 Z1600053 2006 single work diary

After having been approached to write an article on George Fletcher Moore's contribution to Western Australia in the pre-convict period (published as Ambitions's Fire: The Agricultural Colonization of Pre-Convict Western Australia (1981)), J. M. R. Cameron went back to Moore's original letters held by the J. S. Battye Library of Western Australian History in Perth, Western Australia. Here Cameron found much material not published in the 1834 version edited by Martin Doyle, or the 1880-1882 serialisation edited by Thomas Cockburn-Campbell and the subsequent selected work compiled by Moore and published by Walbrook in 1884.

Source: J. M. R. Cameron, 'Introduction' The Millendon Memoirs: George Fletcher Moore's Western Australian Diaries and Letters, 1830-1841 (2006): x.
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Last amended 7 Oct 2009 09:49:52
Subjects:
  • Western Australia,
  • 1830-1841
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