Commander John Thomas Ewing Gowlland letters to his wife Genevieve

MLMSS 12057/Boxes 1X-2X

fonds

1861-1876, transcribed 2015

9675974

0.94 metres of textual material (2 outsize boxes) - manuscript, typescript
16 text files - digital

Genevieve Elizabeth Lord (1845-1905), also known as 'Gennie', was born in Bathurst and was the youngest daughter of the Hon. Francis Lord (1812-1897), Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, and Mary Lord (nee Ainsworth or Hanesworth). She was one of four daughters and three sons and resided at the family estate 'Masalou', St. Leonards. Genevieve married John Thomas Ewing Gowlland on 12 October 1865 at St. Thomas’ Anglican Church, North Sydney on the same day as her eldest sister, Mary Lord, who married Richard Randolph Machattie. Genevieve had three children with John Gowlland, John Vancouver Richards (1866-1948), Percy Hartwell (1867-1920) and Mary Maud 'Maudie' (1870-1959). After John Gowlland’s death, Genevieve remarried in 1880 to Donnelly Arthur Fisher (1850-1919), a Sydney solicitor with whom she had three more children, then died at Pennant Hills on 4 August 1905.

References:

1. Gowlland Family Website. "Commander Thomas Ewing Gowlland RN (1838-1874)." Accessed 27 October 2023.
http://www.gowlland.me.uk/biography_john_thomas_ewing_gowlland.htm

2. Kirkpatrick Family History. "Genevieve Elizabeth LORD, 1845-1905 (60 years)." Accessed 27 October 2023.
https://kirkpatrickaustralian.com/getperson.php?personID=I10874&tree=No1

3. "Marriages." The Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 17 October 1865, 1. Accessed 27 October 2023.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/31125701

4. Parliament of New South Wales. "Mr Francis LORD (1812-1897)." Accessed 27 October 2023.
https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members/Pages/Member-details.aspx?pk=385

5. Vink, Joanna. My dearest Gennie. (Calwell, A.C.T.: Inspiring Publishers, 2013), 338.

6. Library correspondence file
John Thomas Ewing Gowlland (1838-1874) was born in Leysdown, Kent, England, the eldest son of Lieutenant Thomas Sankey Gowlland and Mary nee Ewing. He was educated at the Royal Naval School, Greenwich. John Gowlland joined the Royal Navy at the age of fifteen in 1853, as master’s assistant. During the Crimean war he saw service in the Baltic aboard the HMS ‘Archer’ under the command of Captain Heathcote. It was during this campaign that at the age of sixteen, he received a medal for successfully returning a captured vessel under his charge, the ‘Anna Maria’, back to England.

His predominant role in the Royal Navy was that of a marine surveyor. He was initially engaged in the survey of the Chincha Island off Peru aboard the ‘Cockatrice’. In November 1858, he joined the ‘Plumper’ in the survey of Vancouver Island and straits to determine the American-Canadian boundary. In 1861 he transferred to the ‘Hecate’, which completed the Vancouver Island survey, then sailed back to the UK via Hawaii and Sydney, this being his first opportunity to visit Sydney. In May 1864 he was appointed first assistant surveyor aboard the ‘Hydra’, deployed in the Mediterranean. In 1865 he joined the Australian survey initially as chief assistant. By 1867 he had risen to the rank of Captain, commanding the Australian survey until 1873, which compiled Admiralty charts from Cape York to Victoria that would be in regular use for a century.

On 12 March 1868 Gowlland was in attendance at a charity picnic at Clontarf when an attempt was made to assassinate the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred. Lieutenant Gowlland was one of a number who assisted in keeping back the crowd intent upon lynching the would-be assassin. In 1871 he commanded the ‘Governor Blackall’ in a trip to Cape York to view the total eclipse of the sun. The following year Gowlland commanded a relief expedition to search for survivors of the brig ‘Maria’, which had been wrecked off Bramble Reef, Queensland, resulting in the rescue of thirty-four survivors.

John Gowlland married Genevieve Lord on 12 October 1865 at St. Thomas’ Anglican Church, North Sydney on the same day as Genevieve’s eldest sister, Mary, who married Richard Randolph Machattie. John had three children with Genevieve, John Vancouver Richards (1866-1948), Percy Hartwell (1867-1920) and Mary Maud 'Maudie' (1870-1959). ‘John Thomas Gowlland – Master, Royal Navy’ is also named as the father of twin girls Ada Agnes and Ellen Elizabeth born to Jane Young of Plumstead, Kent on 14 November 1864.

In 1873 he was promoted to Staff Commander. On Friday, 14 August 1874, while surveying Port Jackson, Gowlland’s boat was capsized by a blind roller that broke off the bombora near Dobroyd Point, resulting in the drowning deaths of Gowlland and another crewman. He was buried with military honours at St Thomas’ Anglican Church Cemetery, North Sydney. In 1984 Gowlland Bombora off Dobroyd Point was named for him by the Geographical Names Board.

References:

1. Barron, Eleanor E. “John Thomas Ewing Gowlland (1838-1874).” Australian Dictionary of Biography. Accessed 20 November, 2023.
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gowlland-john-thomas-ewing-3646

2. “Commander Gowlland.” Australian Town and Country Journal, Saturday 22 August 1874, 13. Accessed 20 November, 2023.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/70484425

3. Gowlland Family Website. "Commander Thomas Ewing Gowlland RN (1838-1874)." Accessed 10 November 2023.
http://www.gowlland.me.uk/biography_john_thomas_ewing_gowlland.htm

4. "Marriages." The Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 17 October 1865, 1. Accessed 27 October 2023.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/31125701

5. Morcombe, John. "Gowlland Bombora ended a brilliant career." The Daily Telegraph, 26 February 2016. Accessed 23 November 2023.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/northern-beaches/gowlland-bombora-ended-a-brilliant-career/news-story/e948265ad8f16c1c8ce2f84b041e98e1

6. Library correspondence file

The donor Joanna Vink is the great granddaughter of Commander John Thomas Ewing Gowlland and Genevieve Elizabeth Gowlland (nee Lord). She inherited the collection from her mother, Eleanor Ewing Barron (nee Gowlland) who died in 2005. The letters had been gifted to Eleanor by a family member from Canada, Gladys Gowlland (1896-1984). The donor is uncertain how Gladys came to have the letters but speculates, when Genevieve remarried, she returned the letters to John’s relatives, probably his brother in England, Richard Sankey Gowlland (1845-1885). The collection then passed to another relative who moved to Canada. Reference: Vink, Joanna. My dearest Gennie. (Calwell, A.C.T.: Inspiring Publishers, 2013), 5-8.

This collection contains 120 manuscript letters in three folders from John Gowlland to Genevieve Lord, written before and during their marriage. John mostly refers to himself as ‘Jack’ in his letters to Genevieve, and her as ‘Gennie’. A fourth folder contains other letters to Genevieve including 18 family letters of condolence written after the death of her husband, John. In addition, the collection contains born-digital transcripts of all letters in original digital format. A printed hardcopy of these transcriptions is included with the original letters.

Box 1X

Folder 1: Manuscript letters from John (‘Jack’) to Genevieve (‘Gennie’), July 1863-November 1868. Note, seven oversized letters have been removed from Folder 1 and transferred to Folder 3.

Folder 2: Manuscript letters from John (‘Jack’) to Genevieve (‘Gennie’), June 1869-July 1874, including some undated letters towards the rear of the folder.

Folder 3: Seven oversized letters from John (‘Jack’) to Genevieve (‘Gennie’) removed from Folder 1, 1865-1867.

Box 2X

Folder 1: Family manuscript letters of condolence to Genevieve, 1874-1876. Folder also includes the following:
Letter from Edward Aspinall Palmer to Genevieve Lord declining an invitation to a rural entertainment, 2 February 1861;
Letter of recommendation, undated;
Card invitation to 'the Reception of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh to admit Lieut. Gowland, R. N. to the Enclosure, Circular Quay', between January - March 1868.

Folder 2: Typed transcriptions of the letters by the donor, Joanna Vink, 2015 (Hard copy).

Born-Digital

Attached Item: 16 text files containing typed transcriptions of the letters by the donor, Joanna Vink, 2015 (Digital).

Arranged chronologically by donor.

Out of copyright:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

This collection of letters formed the basis of the donor's book, which is available in this Library: Vink, Joanna. My dearest Gennie. (Calwell, A.C.T.: Inspiring Publishers, 2013). Call Number: H 2013/2664

Some of the letters make derogatory remarks about First Nations groups. As the donor states in the introduction to her book based on the letters:

‘Jack’s view of the world is very much that of an Englishman of the mid-Victorian era. The letters and logs reflect the time when as British colonies circled the globe, the Royal Navy ruled the seas and safeguarded the Empire. Jack is typical of his age and therefore I have included views and accounts which, although unacceptable in today’s postcolonial world, are a faithful reflection of attitudes of the time.’

Reference:
Vink, Joanna. My dearest Gennie. (Calwell, A.C.T.: Inspiring Publishers, 2013), 7.