John Septimus Roe letters, 1807-1829

fonds

1807-1829

877639

201 manuscript letters

John Septimus Roe (1797-1878) naval officer, surveyor and explorer was born in Berkshire England in 1797. He was schooled at the Mathematical School at Christ’s Hospital, London where he formed the habit of writing lengthy letters to his parents. In 1813 Roe joined the crew of the HMS Rippon and served in the Napoleonic Wars before being posted to the NSW survey service in 1817.

John Septimus Roe is one of the most important surveyors of the Australian coastline. In four major voyages Roe assisted Phillip Parker King on Mermaid (three voyages) and Bathurst (one voyage) to complete the work of Matthew Flinders. These voyages charted the coastline from Hervey Bay, Queensland, to Torres Strait and from Cape Arnhem on the north-west coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, west along the north coast and down the south coast to Cape Leeuwin, at the south west corner. In 1824 Roe joined the Tamar under Captain James Bremer sailing north to Port Essington establishing a settlement and taking possession of the northern coast of Australia. He went on to accompany the Tamar to the India Station where the ship's company saw action in the war against Burma. During this time Roe prepared three charts of portions of the Arabian and African coasts. On his return to England the Hydrographic Office appointed Roe to prepare The Australia Directory for publication in 1830, however in December 1828 he accepted the position of surveyor-general in the new colony of Western Australia (Swan River). On January 8, 1829 by special arrangement, Roe married Matilda Bennett, of the Isle of Man, a few weeks before sailing from Portsmouth in the Parmelia.

Roe arrived in Western Australia in June 1829, and by the time of his retirement in August 1870 he had made a successful career as the new colony's surveyor-general. He decided and laid out the sites of Perth, Fremantle, and several minor towns and by 1849 he had made sixteen voyages of exploration, mostly into the southern interior of the colony. John Septimus Roe died in Perth on 28 May 1878.


References:
Australian Dictionary of Biography. http://adb.anu.edu.au/ (accessed February 22, 2012)
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23941 (accessed February 22, 2012)

Collection of 201 letters from John Septimus Roe to his family. Includes several small ink sketches and many of the letters have address and delivery stamps extant. The letters are lengthy, with some extending up to 10 pages, providing an important new account to accompany those written by Phillip Parker King on these landmark voyages. Roe reports on the charting, the dangers, the Aboriginal people, the wildlife, life in Sydney, taking surveyor John Oxley and botanist Allan Cunningham on shore at Port Macquarie to work on their surveys, and daily life on board a surveying ship. The letters encompass Roe's early life and his entire naval career providing a snapshot of the workings of early nineteenth-century military life.

SERIES 01
John Septimus Roe letters, early childhood 17 June 1807 – 21 May 1813

SERIES 02
John Septimus Roe letters, apprenticeship: the Napoleonic Wars and the first years of peace 14 June 1813 – 13 February 1817

SERIES 03
John Septimus Roe letters, to New Holland: the voyage of the Dick 17 February 1817 – 5 June 1817

SERIES 04
John Septimus Roe letters, first major surveys of the Australian coast: the three voyages of the Mermaid 6 August 1818 – 26 February 1821

SERIES 05
John Septimus Roe letters, the Australian survey completed: the voyage of the Bathurst 2 June 1821 – 1 June 1823

SERIES 06
John Septimus Roe letters, return to England: preparing for the voyage of the Tamar 23 June 1823 – 13 February 1824

SERIES 07
John Septimus Roe letters, the experienced navigator returns to Australian waters: the voyage of the Tamar 15 February 1824 – 18 July 1825

SERIES 08
John Septimus Roe letters, the return to England and a new career: preparing for the voyage of the Parmelia 29 November 1827 – 21 February 1829

Note, each individual letter is numbered and the numbering is continuous throughout Series 01-08.