Guide to the Letters of Sir Edmund Frederick Du Cane (as filmed by AJCP), 1851-1856

 

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Collection context

Summary

Collection number:
M835
Creator:
Du Cane, Edmund Frederick, Sir
Extent:
16 items
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:
16 letters from Du Cane in Western Australia to his mother and brothers, Arthur and Richard. The first two letters were written on board the Anna Robertson, one describing in detail the passengers, eating and sleeping conditions, and shipboard life. The content of his letters from Western Australia varies from details of social life to sketches and written descriptions of the settlements at Perth and Guildford and discussions of the convict system. Events recorded include the Governor's expedition in February 1852 to Champion Bay, the wreck of the Eglinton in September 1852 and rumours of the cessation of transportation in 1853. His letters include sketches of settlers and officials, Indigenous Australians, buildings and animals.
Biographical / Historical:

Edmund Frederick Du Cane (1830-1909), the son of Major Du Cane (d. 1832) was born at Colchester, England. He entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in 1846 and obtained his commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in 1848. In 1851 Du Cane was sent to Western Australia to direct the work of convicts employed on public buildings, under the command of Captain Edmund Henderson. He built a house at Guildford and was responsible for public works in York, Toodyay and the eastern district. In 1852 he accompanied Governor Fitzgerald on a journey on horseback to Champion Bay. He was later a visiting magistrate. In 1855 he married Mary Dorothea Molloy, the daughter of Captain John Molloy and his wife, the botanist Georgiana Molloy. They had eight children.

Du Cane and his wife returned to England in 1856. Under the Inspector-General of Fortification, he was responsible for the design of new defences of dockyards and naval bases in southern England, including Dover and Plymouth. In 1863 he was appointed director of convict prisons and an inspector of military prisons. In 1869 he succeeded Edmund Henderson as Inspector-General and Surveyor-General of Prisons. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general in 1873 and was knighted in 1877. He retired from the Army in 1887 with the rank of major-general.

Reference:

Alexandra Hasluck. Royal Engineer: a life of Sir Edmund Du Cane (Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1973)

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use:
Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.
Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact: