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9660940

Title
Marcus Oxen notebook containing sketches of goldmining equipment and buildings, and technical notes and drawings
Creator
Marcus Oxen, 1829-1894
Call number
PXB 1750
Level of description
fonds
Date

probably between 1847 and 1860
Type of material
Graphic Materials, Textual Records, Watercolours, Design Drawings, Drawings, Prints
Reference code
9660940
Physical Description
1 item - chiefly watercolour and ink - 17 x 11 cm
ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

Marcus Jacob Oxen, variously spelled Oxon and Axen (Holstein, 1829 - Sydney, 1894), attended the Baugewerkschule in Holzminden, Lower Saxony, Germany, probably in the late 1840s and early 1850s. Arriving in Sydney in May 1857 on board the ship Pauline (listed under the name Marcus Axen), it is probable the ship also called at Port Phillip en route for Sydney, and Oxen may have travelled to the Victorian goldfields. Oxen was living and prospecting in the Hill End area (Tambaroora) from around 1858, and by the late 1860s had purchased a substantial mining claim which was registered on the Sydney stock exchange as Oxen Gold Mining Company (Limited) in 1872.

In 1869 he married German-born Mary Wilhelmina (Minnie) Bender (1848-1929). The family settled on Sydney’s North Shore and had twin daughters Lena and Lenda in 1881.

Reference:
Library correspondence file
Collection history
Private collection, California, USA. Reference: Library correspondence file
Scope and Content
Notebook (397 pages, with additional blank pages), with original green calf over boards, pocket, pen holder and soft leather flap, comprising watercolour, ink and pencil drawings probably of the goldfields and diggings in Victoria (likely Daylesford and Bendigo districts) and New South Wales (Hill End district), ca. 1857-1860 , with design drawings, technical notes and illustrations. Includes student and technical notes compiled at the Holzminden building trade school in Germany, ca. late 1840s to early 1850s.

Front page of notebook is decorated with 9 small cut-out prints of the Australasian Steam Navigation Co. emblem and views of German cities, buildings and monuments. The front section of the book includes:

Watercolour and ink drawings of goldfield buildings and flora (9 pages):
Zelte an den Diggings [Tents on the Diggings] (2 drawings on 1 page) ;
General Store [two views of a timber building with sign General Store and flag] (2 drawings on 1 page) ;
Royal George Inn [frontal view of timber and brick building with sign Royal George Inn] (1 page) ;
Henry Schulz General Store [frontal view of timber building with sign Henry Schulz General Store and Sorbian flag] (1 page) ;
[Timber building with brick chimney] (1 page) ;
Dennis Hamburch Hotel [timber building and street light] (1 page) ;
[Timber hut alongside mine shaft covered by timber structure] (1 page) ;
[Australian tree] (1 page) ;
[Ferns and flowers] (2 drawings on 1 page) ;

Drawings, mostly watercolour and ink, of gold mines and goldmining equipment (39 pages) - including rope and pulley systems ; mine shafts and extraction systems ; dam and sluicing systems ; pits with bellows ; sluicing systems ; pit and circular wheel structures ; dams and wooden channel systems ; rolling systems ; equipment (cradles, shovels, picks, barrels and troughs) ; timber and rope pulley systems ; cross-sections of mine shafts and tunnels ; wagon ; mine shafts ; shafts with fire pits ; a mine entrance ; drawings of mine shafts lined with timber structures, accompanied by numbered components of timber frame.

Technical and design drawings (58 pages) - including geometrical drawings ; three-dimensional and two-dimensional shapes ; brick arches (titled Persifiher Bogen, Gothifiher Bogen and Neugotisiher Bogen) ; and alphabet, letter and number designs.

Technical notes and drawings, including measurement conversions (40 pages).

At the back of the notebook are technical notes and drawings (249 pages) titled 'Auszug aus der Technischen Naturlehre vorgetragen auf der Baugewerkschule zu Holzminden. ausgearbeitet von M. Oxen', with topics including engineering, physics, mechanics, density of metals, geometric formulae, and illustrated with various diagrams and graphic designs. A clipping relating to astronomy is attached to back cover of book, and back page is decorated with 9 small cut-out prints including views of German cities and buildings.
Language
German
Copying Conditions
Out of copyright:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
Subject
Alphabets.
Buildings--Australia--Pictorial works.
General stores--Australia--Pictorial works.
Gold mines and mining--Australia.
Gold panning--Australia.
Hotels--Australia--Pictorial works.
Mining engineering.
Oxen, Marcus, 1829-1894--Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc.
Taverns (Inns)--Australia--Pictorial works.
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