Letter from William Charles Wentworth to Robert Towns, 24 April 1844

MLMSS 11355

fonds

24 April 1844

9580633

0.03 metres of textual material (1 folder) - manuscript

William Charles Wentworth(1790-1872) was the son of D’Arcy Wentworth and Catherine Crowley and was one of the most influential figures in the colony. He was an explorer, author, barrister, journalist and politician. He crossed the Blue Mountains with Blaxland and Lawson in 1813 and published an early account of the colony 'A Statistical Historical and Political Description of the Colony of New South Wales' in 1819. He was also a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1843–1854 and 1861–1862.
Robert Towns was a significant Sydney merchant who married Wentworth’s half-sister Sophia in 1833. In 1844 he bought Jones’ Wharf at Millers point (most likely the wharf discussed in the letter) and set up as a mercantile agent. The wharf had been acquired by Wentworth when it became available from a sub-division by Edward Macarthur in 1839.
Reference: Library acquisition file

Manuscript letter to Robert Towns from William Charles Wentworth in Maitland, with a contemporary transcription. The letter discusses the renting of Wentworth’s wharf in Sydney. Wentworth writes that he will soon see Towns in Sydney and that “My wharf is under offer to Macnab at £250 a year upon certain conditions. If he does not take it you shall [sic] the next refusal …”. The letter is stamped Maitland Ap 1844 and General Post Office, Sydney Ap 27 1844.
This brief letter documents communication between two of the colony’s most astute businessmen and gives context around the sale of one of the colony’s many wharves, most likely Jones’s Wharf. It is an important letter discussing potential ownership of a wharf in Sydney at a time when the wharves were the primary source of trade for the colony.

Out of copyright:
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