John Gilbert diary of the Port Essington Expedition, 18 September 1844 - 28 June 1845

SAFE/A 2586 (Safe 1/237)
A 2587

fonds

18 September 1844 - 28 June 1845

Textual Records, Drawings

457160

Microfilm : Please note that pages 11-80 are very faint and almost illegible in both the original and in the copies.
Microfilm : CY 157B, frames 888-1051 (A 2586; filed at Safe 1/237).
Photocopy : Xerox copy made from microfilm.
Microfilm : This is a typescript transcription of the original diary at A 2586).
Microfilm : Another microfilm copy of the original diary at A 2586.

0.03 metres of textual material (3 vols. in box ) - manuscript
Drawings

John Gilbert came to Australia in 1838 as assistant to ornithologist John Gould. He sailed for England in 1841, returning to Australia again in 1842. He a naturalist with Ludwig Leichhardt's expedition to Port Essington. On 28 June 1845 he was killed by Aborigines near the Mitchell River in far north Queensland.

Diary in two volumes, with a third volume containing fragments.
Volume 1 is a small field notebook. The account of the journey towards Port Essington, written in ink, begins on page 81, with the heading 'Port Essington Expedition', and covers the period from 18 Sept. to 31 Dec. 1844. This volume also includes entries for the last part of the diary, 23 to 28 June 1845, written in ink over pencil notes (pp.2-10). Includes pencil sketches of Biggs Range (p.126), Peak Range (pp.159-160) and Expedition Range (p.164). Pages 11-59 contain notes, mainly on birds, in very faint pencil. Pages 60-79 contain diary entries from 10 March to 21 May 1844, in extremely faint pencil, for a journey which began with a steamer trip from Sydney to the Hunter River near Maitland.
Volume 2 is written on sheets of paper which have since been sewn together. The account covers the period from 1 Jan. to 21 June 1845. The concluding part of the diary is contained in volume 1.
Volume 3 comprises fragments kept with the diary, including the entry for Sunday 22 June 1845.

Access via appointment - Due to fragility of original. A typescript transcript available at A 2587 and a microfilm copy available at FM4/749.

Transcript available online - acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/_transcript/2012/D15039/a4331.pdf

Pages 11-80 are very faint and difficult to read in the original and in the copies.
A typescript transcription of the diary is held at A 2587, available on microfilm at CY 456 (frames 1-235).

Further information about the diary can be found in two books by Alec H. Chisholm : 'Strange Journey: the Adventures of Ludwig Leichhardt and John Gilbert', 1973, and 'An Explorer and his Birds', 1945.