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Flindersland and Sturtland; or, The inside and outside of Australia

William R. H. Jessop (c1831-c1862)
London: Richard Bentley, 1862

Rare Books & Special Collections
Rare Books Collection RB 919.4 J58

We thank our donor...

Conservation treatment of Flindersland and Sturtland... was funded through the generosity of an anonymous donor in May 2018.

Synopsis

Though Jessop’s works have been frequently referenced, very little is known about the man.  The son of James, shopkeeper at Crayford in the historic county of Kent, and Harriet, William Rowlestone Henry Jessop was baptised in March 1831.[1]  He matriculated in 1850, gained a B.A. in 1854 and M.A. in 1857, putting his talents to good use as Mathematical Master at Trinity College, Glenalmond.[2]  Though he reportedly died just five years later (3 Feb 1862), he managed, during his short life, to produce a couple of very different yet historically important texts.[3]  In 1855 A complete decimal system of money and measures was published, followed by Part II in 1856.  In 1862 Travels and adventures in Australia appeared, with the identical text published again that year but in a book titled Flindersland and Sturtland.

The unillustrated Flindersland and Sturtland was divided into two volumes.  Jessop began the first, Flindersland; or, The outside of Australia, by describing the journeys and discoveries of those who had gone before him to Australasia.  Captain Cook received a mention, so too Matthew Flinders and George Bass.  He then described the beginning of his own journey, having set sail in July 1861 and entering the “glory of Australia” in September.[4]  He was clearly enthralled by what he saw, exclaiming on his arrival near the Heads of Port Jackson: “… wonder and admiration took hold upon me.  We were nearing the shore; the rocks, in grand enormous layers, were piled up high; pillars of monstrous size and marvellous forms, came out boldly into the sea; curved recesses, of attractive and terrible shape, fell back towards the land; blocks and massy crags, beds and balconies of huge dimensions, impossible to climb; the Heads themselves, towering aloft, and guarded at their feet by rocks innumerable, of low stature, dangerous to behold…”.[5]

His awe was short-lived though, for his description of Sydney town was not at all positive.  Not one to hold back, Jessop wrote: “The city, as a collection of buildings, may be called aged and unsightly; with its people, it may be fitly compared to some stage or state of life.  Sydney, I should say then, is an old and foolish man, who has spent a vicious and stupid youth.  Wherever you go, the bad and the good are always fighting, with the bad mostly uppermost.  There is always the good struggling for breath, and there is always the bad trying to choke it.”[6]

Sadly, this view continued as he journeyed not twenty miles from the metropolis, where he observed: “as we rode along, I was mournfully struck with the desolate and dilapidated state of everything around.  It was like riding through a country forsaken of its people; the huts, the roadside inns, houses by the way, the very road itself, were all smitten with the fever engendered of neglect.  No signs of tillage, no token of labour; listlessness, apathy, a living death, reigned everywhere.”[7]  He thought little of the Colonial Parliament, even less of the schools and the museum, and as for the state of the Church – it, too, was “militant against social propriety”.[8]

Of Tasmania Jessop’s notes were more brief.  He described the land has having: “the character of impenetrability… though many believe it a land of great fertility, a good place for agriculture, with a fair climate; many also believe it to be a land where there is gold”.[9]

Melbourne received some praise.  “… I was amazed beyond measure.  On every side there were signs of wealth, signs of vigour, signs of sense; all was good, much was great; convenience and adaptation met the eye at every turn; things new were visible, but because they were useful; throughout the length and breadth of the city life prospered most gloriously.  Men had the cheerful face produced by progress, not the wrinkles caused by the struggles at home; there was no token of poverty in the streets…”.[10]  He still found time to criticise the city, though, claiming twice that Melbourne was unfortunately situated in a “gulley” where water ran downhill.[11]

The second volume, Sturtland; or, A peep at the inside of Australia was largely dedicated to the more rural regions of Australia.  In it, Jessop expressed opinions about the Country’s first people which were indicative of those prevalent at the time, and his admiration for South Australia, in particular, was likely influenced by the fact it was a free colony, with no convict settlers.  However, of the landscape he could not have been more approving; his views on it were much the same as those expressed in volume one in which he wrote of Mount Lofty: “…we look down a gigantic valley, having on our left the colossal peak, round and round which, with its adjuncts, we have been slowly ascending… behind us the plain is opening wider and wider every moment.  Now we turn a little to the right, and after being among the trees for some distance, still going up, we emerge at last upon the summit of Mount Lofty, turn round, and behold the great plain in all its significance.  No man, no thoughtful man, can stand there without emotion.  His soul must be moved by the immense view which nature rapidly pours out before him; his inmost soul must be stirred by the sight of that city and those houses which he sees in the centre, and by the solemn thoughts of the beings that have hence departed for ever.”[12]

He was impressed with Willunga Meadows too, claiming: “it was charming and delightful.  A man could not weary in a country where there was so much to commend – where there was such a strong outward appearance of people living happily – where the road was lined with farms, and, above all, where the road was so good, that a rider would be tempted to ride over it merely to try how good it was.”[13]  It was clear that South Australia reminded Jessop of England.  He remarked: “All these places, so much like home, are found in the part of the Colony below the parallel of Mount Remarkable, above which there is altogether another world.”[14]  Of Willunga itself Jessop mused: “Everybody seems happy in the place, happy after the good old fashion at home; and I mention so much about it, because it is the place which in all Australia reminded me the most of home.  From the summit of the ranges the view is grander still; the whole of the south coast is beautiful to excess; the variety is so charming that I must here check myself by force.”[15]

Jessop’s writing style was dramatic to say the least.  He was opinionated and refused to sugar-coat what he perceived to be the truth of colonial life – at least in certain parts of Australia.  Perhaps above all, he had a wit that kept the reader engaged, describing his voyage over rough seas as “like riding over the waves in a nutshell…”[16] and poking fun at the strange notions of earlier navigators who thought the earth was “of course, as flat as a pancake.”[17]

Original Condition

Blind-stamped cloth binding.  Cloth cover lifting along front and back joints and a significant portion detached entirely from the spine, revealing the lining.  Front endpaper torn along the hinge exposing both the lining and sewing system. Severe bumping to head and tail of spine, with page damage compounded due to a lack of headbands, a common omission of bindings of this era. Plastic call number label adhered to cloth spine, loss of material to board corners and board corners themselves beginning to separate.  Textblock beginning to split in places.  Item requires rebacking and resewing.

Restoration by Anthony Zammit

Remaining spine cloth carefully removed, along with plastic call number label.  Textblock resewn.  Existing spine lining removed and new card lining applied.  Headbands applied to head and tail of spine and new custom-dyed cloth inserted under the existing front and rear board cover and around the spine, to complete a full reback.  Remains of previous cloth spine readhered to new spine material.  Separating board corners consolidated with PVA and new tan cloth applied to inner hinges for added strength.

Footnotes:

[1] Venn, John and Venn, J.A., Alumni Cantabrigienses: A biographical list of known students, graduates and holders of office at the University of Cambridge, from the earliest times to 1900, vol. 2, part 3, P. 572
[2] Venn, John and Venn, J.A., Alumni Cantabrigienses: A biographical list of known students, graduates and holders of office at the University of Cambridge, from the earliest times to 1900, vol. 2, part 3P. 572
[3] Venn, John and Venn, J.A., Alumni Cantabrigienses: A biographical list of known students, graduates and holders of office at the University of Cambridge, from the earliest times to 1900, vol. 2, part 3P. 572
[4] Jessop, William, Flindersland and Sturtland…, 1862, p. 40
[5] Jessop, William, Flindersland and Sturtland…, 1862, p. 42-3
[6] Jessop, William, Flindersland and Sturtland…, 1862, p. 56
[7] Jessop, William, Flindersland and Sturtland…, 1862, p. 59
[8] Jessop, William, Flindersland and Sturtland…, 1862, p. 73
[9] Jessop, William, Flindersland and Sturtland…, 1862, p. 122
[10] Jessop, William, Flindersland and Sturtland…, 1862, p. 165
[11] Jessop, William, Flindersland and Sturtland…, 1862, p. 167, 171
[12] Jessop, William, Flindersland and Sturtland…, 1862, p. 280-1
[13] Jessop, William, Flindersland and Sturtland…, 1862, p. 283-4
[14] Jessop, William, Flindersland and Sturtland…, 1862 p. 285
[15] Jessop, William, Flindersland and Sturtland…, 1862 p. 289
[16] Jessop, William, Flindersland and Sturtland…, 1862 p. 93
[17] Jessop, William, Flindersland and Sturtland…, 1862, p. 105-6

Lee Hayes
June 2018