[Sketchbook of views of Bass Strait, Sydney, Sydney Harbour, Coogee, Manly, Grafton, and the Clarence River, 1869 / possibly by James Francis Turner or Mary Turner]

PXB 476

fonds

1869

Graphic Materials, Drawings, Watercolours

913334

1 sketchbook - watercolour and pencil - 14.0 x 25.5 cm

James Francis Turner (1829-1893), an Anglican bishop, was born at Yarmouth, England in 1829. He was nominated to the see of Grafton and Armidale, N.S.W. and was consecrated in Westminster Abbey in February 1869. Accompanied by his wife Mary (nee Sorsbie) and the Rev. F. Farrer, he arrived in Sydney on board the 'Commissary' on 13 August 1869 and was installed at Armidale the next month.

There were a number of houses in Sydney named Bishopscourt. Bishopscourt [i.e. Bishops Court] built near Moira Crescent, Randwick, was the official residence of the Church of England Bishop of Sydney. It was constructed in 1859 and was the official residence of the Bishop of Sydney until 1909. The property was taken over by the Roman Catholic Church and operated as a convent until 1924 when a fire destroyed the building.

Bishopsthorpe (also known as Argyle Villa) was situated on the Clarence River, near Grafton, N.S.W..

References:
Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition. http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/ (accessed 1 December 2010)
Randwick City Council. http://www.randwick.nsw.gov.au/ (accessed 1 December 2010)
The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 July 1869, and The Brisbane Courier, 17 October 1932, on Trove. http://www.trove.nla.gov.au/ (accessed 1 December 2010)

A leather-bound sketchbook containing thirteen watercolour, pencil and watercolour, and pencil drawings, mostly double-page:

1. [Sugarloaf, Devils Rock, and Curtis Isd. [i.e. Island], Bass Strait]
2. Rocks & Islands seen in Basses Straits, Augst. 8 - pencil and watercolour view of Kents Group and Judgement Rocks
3. [Preliminary coastal view]
4. Pigeon House, 9th Augst.
5. First view of Sydney, 13th Augst. [18]69
6. Entrance to Sydney Harbour, 13th August [18]69
7. View from Bishopscourt nr. [i.e. near] Sydney, Augst. 21 [18]69
8. Manly Beach, Augst 26th 1869
9. Steyne Hotel, Manly Beach, Augst 28th 1869
10. Bishopsthorpe, 30th Sept. [18]69
11. View of Clarence River from Bishopsthorpe, Oct. [18]69
12. Clarence River nr. [i.e. near] Bellevue 14th Oct. [18]69
13. Grafton from the opposite side, Oct. [18]69

Out of copyright: Artist died before 1955
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Most sketches titled and dated

Inside front cover contains manufacturers label 'Winsor & Newton, Manufacturing Artists' Colourmen, to Her Majesty & H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, 38, Rathbone Place, London, W.'