Birthday thoughts in New South Wales, Australia / John Bingle
- Bib ID:
- 6451487
- Format:
- Book
- Author:
- Bingle, John, 1796-1882, author, publisher
- Printer:
- Bolton Street, Newcastle : Daily Pilot Office
- Description:
-
- Newcastle, N.S.W. : John Bingle, 1878
- 3 unnumbered pages ; 27 cm
- Summary:
-
Printed for John Bingle's family and friends, this retrospect was written for his 82nd birthday on 15th May 1878 and offers recollections of the colony in 1821, with comparisons to the present day. Bingle still rankles over his treatment by Bourke in the 1830s with a comment about magistrate appointments remaining "one of the principal rewards of electioneering toadyies," but generally regards the changes in New South Wales as a story of triumphant progress and prosperity. In an appended "Retrospect and Further Glympses," written the following day, Bingle turns his attention to "dear old England," forsees the fall of London ("a second Babylon"), with "Revolutionary strikes in the working classes - leading to Communism - and puseyism in the upper ten, accelerating England's downfall..." If the calamity he forsees eventuates, "what is to prevent the transport of Royalty to the shores of Australia? which is considered by her Majesty the most precious gem in her Crown." Bingle proposes we should "welcome Royalty to our shores ... affording as I trust protection and British law to the whole southern hemisphere."
- Biography/History:
-
John Bingle, sailor, merchant and landholder, was born on 15 May 1796 at Gillingham, Kent, England. Educated at Chatham, and employed at the naval dockyard and joined the merchant marine from 1812 to 1817. He arrived at Port Jackson as a settler on 16 December 1821 in the Minerva and was commissioned by Governor Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane 'to survey the coast as far north as Moreton Bay and to explore the bay for fresh-water streams'. As master of the colonial cutter, Sally, Bingle entered Moreton Bay on 5 March 1822. He received Brisbane's commendation for his work and, with Robert Coram Dillon, was given permission to build a vessel for trade with Newcastle. After a short period as a commission agent and merchant in Sydney, Bingle settled in the Upper Hunter district, where he served as a magistrate, although after conflict with Governor (Sir) Richard Bourke he was removed from office in 1836. The following year Bingle agreed to carry to the British government a petition demanding Bourke's recall, but shortly before his proposed departure he was arrested on a charge of cattle-stealing. After his acquittal Bingle joined his wife and family in England, but financial problems forced his return in 1842 to salvage his property. Governor Sir George Gipps reinstated him as a magistrate and he remained an active, autocratic and powerful member of the Scone bench until 1850. Poor seasons accentuating his financial problems, Bingle sold his Hunter property and began business as an agent in Newcastle, also becoming a director of two banks. He retired from business in the 1860s, devoting his remaining years to writing his reminiscences, of which Past and Present Records of Newcastle (Newcastle, 1873) was his one significant publication.--Australian Dictionary of Biography.
- Notes:
-
- Caption title.
- Library's SR copy is inscribed by the author to the recepient: O.E. Middleton, Esq.; with Bingle's manuscript salutation, "My dear family & friends, 1878" between the title and text. An "Advance Australia" emblem printed in blue ink is pasted on the top of the first page. There are two manuscript corrections: On page 2, column b, the second s in Busses is struck out, and on page 3, column b, fifth line from the bottom, "fully" is corrected to "feebly".
- Subject:
- Copyright:
-
Out of Copyright
You may copy or order a copy through Copies Direct or use the online copy for research or study; for other uses Contact us for further information about copying.
- Reason for copyright status:
- Creator Date of Death is Before 1955
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Presumed date of death of creator (latest date):
- 1882
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 1878
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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