Manuscript letters from a South Australian colonist to his two brothers in London. Adelaide, 17 April 1854.

I.

Entire letter, [4] pp., octavo bifolium, manuscript in ink on watermarked wove paper; headed ‘Adelaide, South Australia, April 17th 1854’, addressed to ‘My dear Bob’, and signed ‘your affectionately attached Bro., G. E. Gladstones’; the letter is written in a very legible hand, and is complete and in fine condition; it is accompanied by the original mailing envelope (80 x 130 mm), the front addressed to ‘Mr Gladstones, 3 Little Love Lane, Wood Street, Cheapside, London’, annotated in the same hand ‘Per Steam Ship Sir John Harvey to Melbourne thence per Croesus – via Southampton’, and with circular ‘PAID / ADELAIDE / AP 1854’ in red; verso with boxed ‘LIVERPOOL SHIP / 21 JY 1854’ in black and circular ‘HV / JY 22 1854’ in brown.

The writer of this letter, G. E. (George Edward?) Gladstones, was a true cockney from Cheapside on the eastern edge of the City of London. Although Cheapside was surrounded by some of the poorest neighbourhoods in London, it was in fact one of the most prosperous parts of the city in the nineteenth century, even considered by some to be the busiest commercial thoroughfare in the world; it is perhaps no surprise, then, that from his writing we see that Gladstones was reasonably well educated and literate. He was almost certainly a member of the same Gladstones family who were associated with warehouse operation in Cheapside, at least from the 1820s and up into the 1840s. Gladstones had evidently emigrated to South Australia a year or two before the date of this letter, as in it he advises his youngest brother Robert (“Bob”) against “coming out” to the colony before their other brother, John, has had an opportunity to emigrate and establish himself. He continues with some personal observations of his social life in Adelaide – his comments in relation to Congregationalist minister Thomas Quinton Stow (1801-1862) being of particular interest:

‘Your friend Baburnie [i.e. Balbirnie] got married the day after Christmas to a lady he only knew a week or 10 days before he married her. He met her in the street and spoke to her first of all – a pretty beauty aint he – I have not seen anything of him since his marriage, neither do I want to – he is a regular humbug. I used to see him every Sunday at Mr Stow’s but he left there very shortly after he got married and now attends the Scotch Church. I do not like Mr Stow very much. I intend to go and hear Mr Hotham and if I like him shall give up my seat at Mr Stow’s and take a sitting there. I am glad you go to Mr Davis, he is a clever man – he was a favourite of mine. How is Mr Aucling – is he still at Kingsland? But I think Balbirnie told me he was going to winter at Malta. Well, I suppose the Old Place has not changed much since I left home. I hope to see it again before 5 years. I shall try to get home again in that time – get the missus and return again, but always looking forward to settling some day or other in Old England again, but there will be a fine day and a wet one before that takes place I expect….’

II. 

Entire letter, [4] pp., octavo bifolium, manuscript in ink on watermarked wove paper; headed ‘Adelaide, South Australia, April 17th 1854’, addressed to ‘My dear John’, and signed ‘your affectionately attached Bro., G. E. Gladstones’; the letter is complete but has been unfortunately cut into two parts close to the main fold, separating a narrow strip of each side from the main text (no attempt at repair has been made).

In this second letter, sent in the same mailing envelope as the first, the writer urges his other brother, John, to emigrate to South Australia as quickly as possible, and outlines a strategy for them both to achieve financial success in the colony:

‘… try everybody you can to lend you some money, with 2 or 300£ we could do well – take a store in the country, it will be rather rough work, do everything for ourselves – but that is nothing. I believe you would have better health here than in London – I have – and I think the heat would not do your legs any harm. You know for three months on the voyage you bathe your legs every day in sea water, which I should think would strengthen them very much … I am very certain we should both if us do much better than we are now doing and have the pleasure of being our own Masters. I have just returned from my friends, the Nicholls. I had a chat with a storeman there – he says the way is to see about the country well, and fix on some place likely to be populated and settle there, not minding much for the first year or so, and as the place increases you are sure to get on. He started in this way five years ago – he now talks about buying some land which will cost him 2000£, so you see he has done some good. Now just think over this – you may be quite sure – if I did not think there was a good chance of us getting on, I should not press the matter as much – now I leave it in your hands….’