A. I. Diamond - Biography of Edwin James Turpin, an earlier settler in Fiji, 1881-1971

PMB 1183

fonds

441532

Microfilm : PMB 1183

microfilm reel 35 mm

Ian Diamond, was born (Jun 12, 1924) and raised in Adelaide. After completing war service, he enrolled at the University of Adelaide in 1948 where he graduated with a Masters degree in 1954. From 1958-1971 he was archivist with the Fijian colonial administration and the Western Pacific High Commission, eventually becoming Head of the National Archives of Fiji. In 1971 Diamond moved to Hong Kong as archival adviser to government. He was appointed Head of the Hong Kong Public Records Office and remained in that position until 1985 when he returned to Australia and retired in Adelaide
In these papers Diamond chronicles the life of Edwin James Turpin (1842-1917) an early British settler in Fiji. Edwin Turpin was born in Devonshire, England on 7 Nov 1842. Variously described as a settler, planter, lawyer and beachcomber, Turpin migrated to Fiji in 1866 where he initially prospered as a land agent during the Fijian cotton boom of the late 1860s/early 1870s. In 1872, however, Turpin's prosperity began to unravel following the rejection of his application for admission to the Fijian Bar Association. With the end of the cotton boom, Turpin went from one job to the next with brief attempts to establish himself in business as a planter and hotelier
By 1886 massive debts had forced Turpin and his family into bankruptcy and they lived in extreme poverty. He was frequently in court over disputed debts and at times faced near starvation. Despite these pressures, Turpin wrote articles and short stories for Fijian newspapers, gazetteers and almanacs. In 1901 or 1902 Turpin and his second wife May Lempiere moved to Auckland where they stayed until 1912. Turpin continued to make plans to return to Fiji, but never did so. In 1912 Turpin and his wife moved to Sydney. Turpin died there intestate on 31 May 1917. Mary Lempiere survived him by four years and died in February 1921

A. I. Diamond, "Edwin James Turpin, unpublished manuscript", Ts., 36pp, 1971; A. I. Diamond, "The Search for Edwin Turpin", Reprinted from Transactions and Proceedings of the Fiji Society of Science and Industry, vol. 10, 1964 & 1965; Composite photograph of portraits of European settlers, including Edwin Turpin, from the Cyclopaedia of Fiji, and enlargement of photograph of Edwin Turpin; Photograph of Waimanu River, tributary of the Rewa River. Hotel at junction with Nausori Mill in the background, 1881, and enlargement

PMB (Australian National University. Pacific Manuscripts Bureau) ; 1183
Available for reference
Microfilm. Canberra, A.C.T. : Produced for the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, Australian National University. 1 microfilm reel
Originals held by Mr Ian Diamond, Campbelltown, South Australia
Descriptive list available (2 p.)