Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- matilda_m-p [2026/01/31 11:50] – [Matilda Murray-Prior nee Harpur] judith
+++ matilda_m-p [2026/01/31 11:57] (current) – judith
@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 The //Lord Western's// passenger list((https://jenwilletts.com/searchaction.php?page=1&surname=&ship=lord%20western&firstname=)) reveals that the Harpurs sailed with 233 'bounty emigrants', that is, people who emigrated with the assistance of money from the Colonial Government. The Harpurs, like TLM-P, were 'cabin passengers', paying their own way in superior accommodation. As well as 'Miss Matilda Harpur' and her father and step-mother 'Mr. and Mrs. Harpur', there was an elder and younger brother along with two sisters: 15 year-old Thomas Harpur,((In her memoir //My Australian Girlhood//(1902, p.40.), Rosa claims that Thomas's wildness led him to be 'wrecked and murdered' in the Pacific when he was 20 years old. Other sources are more pragmatic: he died aged 23 when a purser on board a ship which was wrecked on [[wp>Eromanga|Eromanga]] in Vanuatu, //Sydney Morning Herald//, 31 July 1848, p.3.)); Miss E[lizabeth] Harpur((She married William Barker in 1847, //The Australian//, 29 July 1847, p.2)); Miss Rosa Harpur((she married Charles Robert Haly of Lachinga, Burnett District,  //Sydney Morning Herald//, 21 September 1853, p.8.)) and 9-year-old Master A.H. Harpur.((the latter died aged 58 on Kangaroo Island in 1889,//South Australian Register//, 11 September 1889, p.4. The other listed passengers were Dr Robert Little, M.D. and his unnamed wife; Mrs Hollinworth, Miss Hollinworth, Miss M. A. Hollinworth, Miss C. Hollinworth and Master Hollinworth; Mr Blondel; Mr and Mrs Owen and their unnamed child; Mr and Mrs Martyr; Mr and Mrs Lewellyn; Mr J. Smyth; Mr Coley; and Mr and Mrs Newman and their unnamed daughter.))\\
 \\
-Thomas Harpur first tried farming on the Parramatta River, then moved his family to [[wp>Cecil_Hills,_New_South_Wales|Cecil Hills]], north-west of Liverpool.((Patricia Clarke, 'Rosa Praed's Irish Connections', //The Australian Journal of Irish Studies//, vol. 1, 2001, p.119.)) His and Mary Jane Harpur's daughter Emily Anne was born in 1843.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 15 June 1846, p.3; //The Brisbane Courier//, 17 September 1868, p.2; NSW BDM, 3295/1843 V18433295 27A.)) The birth notice inserted in the paper gives scant recognition to Mary Jane: it simply states that 'On the 4th instant, the Lady of Thomas Harpur, Esq., of Cecil Hills, of a daughter'.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 6 September 1843, p.3.)) Like her step-sisters Matilda and Elizabeth, Emily married and lived in Queensland.((//The Brisbane Courier//, 17 Sep 1868, p.2.)) Matilda's step-mother, described as Mary Jane Harpur nee Speer, the widow of Thomas Harpur late of Cecil Hills, died in London in 1887. Only one offspring was mentioned: Richard Harpur of Barmundoo, Gladstone.((//The Brisbane Courier//, 14 January 1887, p.4; Another Mary Jane Harpur, possibly a daughter, died in Sydney in 1899 - NSW Death notices,2269/1899))\\
+Thomas Harpur first tried farming on the Parramatta River, then moved his family to [[wp>Cecil_Hills,_New_South_Wales|Cecil Hills]], north-west of Liverpool.((Patricia Clarke, 'Rosa Praed's Irish Connections', //The Australian Journal of Irish Studies//, vol. 1, 2001, p.119.)) His and Mary Jane Harpur's daughter Emily Anne was born in 1843.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 15 June 1846, p.3; //The Brisbane Courier//, 17 September 1868, p.2; NSW BDM, 3295/1843 V18433295 27A.)) The birth notice inserted in the paper gives scant recognition to Mary Jane: it simply states that 'On the 4th instant, the Lady of Thomas Harpur, Esq., of Cecil Hills, of a daughter'.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 6 September 1843, p.3.)) Like her stepsisters Matilda and Elizabeth, Emily married and lived in Queensland.((//The Brisbane Courier//, 17 Sep 1868, p.2.)) Matilda's stepmother, described as Mary Jane Harpur nee Speer, the widow of Thomas Harpur late of Cecil Hills, died in London in 1887. Only one offspring was mentioned: Richard Harpur of Barmundoo, Gladstone.((//The Brisbane Courier//, 14 January 1887, p.4; Another Mary Jane Harpur, possibly a daughter, died in Sydney in 1899 - NSW Death notices,2269/1899))\\
 \\
-Thomas Harpur was not a success in the new colony. His granddaughter Rosa Praed was an imaginative novelist rather than reliable biographer but she did have her mother's letters when she wrote about her. Rosa considered that Thomas Harpur was unsuited to the life of a colonial bushman. Rosa quoted Matilda writing to her fiancée bemoaning that their property was plagued by drought and bushfire while "Papa, while his bush is burning and his beasts are perishing, sits in the little parlour writing poetry... He is now writing a piece on Life which is very pretty, but mama does not like his confining himself so much to the little parlour, for besides injuring his health, poetry also makes him neglect the station. But papa, she mournfully adds, was never cut out to be a bushman; he is much fonder of writing poetry than of riding after cattle."((Rosa Campbell Praed, //My Australian Girlhood//, London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1902, pp.39-40.)) Thomas Harpur's poetry appeared in a Sydney Weekly called //Atlas// under his pseudonyms 'Harmonides' and 'Cecil Hills', and in 1847 his major epic poem, //A Land Redeemed//, was published.((Patricia Clarke, 'Rosa Praed's Irish Connections', //The Australian Journal of Irish Studies//, vol. 1, 2001, p.119.))\\
+Thomas Harpur was not a success in the new colony. His granddaughter Rosa Praed was an imaginative novelist rather than reliable biographer but she referred to her mother's letters when she wrote about her. Rosa considered that Thomas Harpur was unsuited to the life of a colonial bushman. Rosa quoted Matilda writing to her fiancée bemoaning that their property was plagued by drought and bushfire while "Papa, while his bush is burning and his beasts are perishing, sits in the little parlour writing poetry... He is now writing a piece on Life which is very pretty, but Mama does not like his confining himself so much to the little parlour, for besides injuring his health, poetry also makes him neglect the station. But Papa, she mournfully adds, was never cut out to be a bushman; he is much fonder of writing poetry than of riding after cattle."((Rosa Campbell Praed, //My Australian Girlhood//, London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1902, pp.39-40.)) Thomas Harpur's poetry appeared in a Sydney Weekly called //Atlas// under his pseudonyms 'Harmonides' and 'Cecil Hills', and in 1847 his major epic poem, //A Land Redeemed//, was published.((Patricia Clarke, 'Rosa Praed's Irish Connections', //The Australian Journal of Irish Studies//, vol. 1, 2001, p.119.))\\
 \\
-Presumably because of his neglect of his property in favour of poetry, by May 1844 Thomas Harpur was bankrupt. He even had to hand over his clothes to his creditors.((//Government Gazette//, 14 May 1844 [Issue No.45] Private Notices, p.687.)) In 1846, in a flowery letter defending himself against the charge of providing 'sly grog' (home-made alcohol) and noting he was acquitted of the charge, he described himself as a 'farmer'.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 15 June 1846, p.3.)) He, his wife, and two younger children had a lucky escape that year: the house caught on fire and when fighting it, a large chest was dragged out of the house, then was discovered to contain gunpowder. Thomas Harpur had brought it out 'from home', and forgotten about it! It does not suggest the kind of practical man who thrived in the colonies. The account of the 1846 fire mentions only two of his younger children, suggesting that the others had all left home.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 12 June 1846, p.3.)) Thomas Harpur was still living at Cecil Hills in 1847.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 12 April 1847, p.2.)) He died in 1848, aged 51.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 27 October 1848, p.4; //The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser//, 1 November 1848, p.3.))\\
+His neglect of his property in favour of poetry had serious consequences: by May 1844 Thomas Harpur was bankrupt. He even had to hand over his clothes to his creditors.((//Government Gazette//, 14 May 1844 [Issue No.45] Private Notices, p.687.)) In 1846, in a flowery letter defending himself against the charge of providing 'sly grog' (home-made alcohol) and noting he was acquitted of the charge, he described himself as a 'farmer'.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 15 June 1846, p.3.)) He, his wife, and two younger children had a lucky escape that year: the house caught on fire and when fighting it, a large chest was dragged out of the house, then was discovered to contain gunpowder. Thomas Harpur had brought it out 'from home', and forgotten about it! It does not suggest the kind of practical man who thrived in the colonies. The account of the 1846 fire mentions only two of his younger children, suggesting that the others had all left home.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 12 June 1846, p.3.)) Thomas Harpur was still living at Cecil Hills in 1847.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 12 April 1847, p.2.)) He died in 1848, aged 51.((//Sydney Morning Herald//, 27 October 1848, p.4; //The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser//, 1 November 1848, p.3.))\\
 \\
-Given her father's love of poetry and lack of desire to tackle alternative employment, it is understandable that numerous writers have assumed that Thomas was the brother of the prominent colonial poet, Charles Harpur. Additionally, Matilda also was a talented writer, though her talent was used mainly used to educate her children to appreciate English literature and history. Charles Harpur, like Matilda, was also to die of tuberculosis.((http://www.middlemiss.org/matilda/2009/10/reprint-obituary-the-late-mr-charles-harpur.html)) However, a shared surname appears the only traceable family connection.((Patricia Clarke, 'Rosa Praed's Irish Connections', //The Australian Journal of Irish Studies//, vol. 1, 2001, p.119; Patricia Clarke, The //Other// Harpur, Or, How I stumbled across an unknown Colonial Poet', //National Library of Australia News// Vol. 8, no. 6, March 1889, pp.18-21.)) None who assert that Charles and Thomas Harpur were brothers have provided any evidence of the supposed relationship. Thomas Harpur was born in Ireland in 1797, migrating to Australia in 1840. Charles Harpur was born in Australia in 1813; his parents were both convicts and married in 1814. Charles' father, who had been a school master, was transported for highway robbery in 1800.(({{https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/harpur-charles-2158}}:__ BROKEN-LINK:[[https://australianroyalty.net.au/individual.php?pid=I52597&ged=purnellmccord.ged]]LINK-BROKEN__ [[https://www.geni.com/people/Joseph-Harpur-Convict-Royal-Admiral-1800/6000000006583612112]]))\\
+Given her father's love of poetry and lack of desire to tackle alternative employment, it is understandable that numerous writers have assumed that Thomas was the brother of the prominent colonial poet, Charles Harpur. Additionally, Matilda also was a talented writer, though her talent was used mainly used to educate her children to appreciate English literature and history. Charles Harpur, like Matilda, was also to die of tuberculosis.((http://www.middlemiss.org/matilda/2009/10/reprint-obituary-the-late-mr-charles-harpur.html)) However, as biographer Patricia Clarke has outlined, a shared surname appears the only traceable family connection.((Patricia Clarke, 'Rosa Praed's Irish Connections', //The Australian Journal of Irish Studies//, vol. 1, 2001, p.119; Patricia Clarke, The //Other// Harpur, Or, How I stumbled across an unknown Colonial Poet', //National Library of Australia News// Vol. 8, no. 6, March 1889, pp.18-21.)) None who assert that Charles and Thomas Harpur were brothers have provided any evidence of the supposed relationship. Thomas Harpur was born in Ireland in 1797, migrating to Australia in 1840. Charles Harpur was born in Australia in 1813; his parents were both convicts and married in 1814. Charles' father, who had been a school master, was transported for highway robbery in 1800.(({{https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/harpur-charles-2158}}:__ BROKEN-LINK:[[https://australianroyalty.net.au/individual.php?pid=I52597&ged=purnellmccord.ged]]LINK-BROKEN__ [[https://www.geni.com/people/Joseph-Harpur-Convict-Royal-Admiral-1800/6000000006583612112]]))\\
 \\
-What little we know about Matilda is all positive. In 1900, her daughter Rosa recalled her mother in idealistic terms, remembering the log on which they would sit and with her 'tired mother ... [her] pale sweet face, the bright eyes, the fragile form, in which spirit strove sometimes vainly to overbear weakness of flesh ... [talking of] aspirations after higher things.... Our mother was a wise woman and most tenderly sympathetic' and so first planned the //Maroon Magazine//. It was educational in purpose, Rosa realised, but it was also play 'and therein lay our joy'.((Rosa Praed, "My Literary Beginnings', //Brisbane Grammar School Magazine//, pp.15-22, Praed papers Box 2, item 120) One piece of evidence tells us more about her: a book that belonged to her, with her name, address and a dedication as seen below ('Miss Matilda Harpur as a very slight expression of my estimation of her superior moral & intellectual qualifications & scientific attainments.'). The book was the //Companion to the Bible. Intended for Bible Classes, Families, and Young Persons in General//, published by the [[wp>Religious_Tract_Society|Religious Tract Society]].((Provenance: J. Godden to T.A. & M.T. M-P)) It confirms that the Harpurs were Protestant with evangelical leanings, and that they lived in College Square, Belfast. It also provides evidence that Matilda Harpur was considered exceptionally bright.\\
+What little we know about Matilda is all positive. In 1900, her daughter Rosa recalled her mother in idealistic terms, remembering how she would sit on a log with her 'tired mother ... [her] pale sweet face, the bright eyes, the fragile form, in which spirit strove sometimes vainly to overbear weakness of flesh ... [talking of] aspirations after higher things.... Our mother was a wise woman and most tenderly sympathetic' and so first planned the //Maroon Magazine//. It was educational in purpose, Rosa realised, but it was also play 'and therein lay our joy'.((Rosa Praed, "My Literary Beginnings', //Brisbane Grammar School Magazine//, pp.15-22, Praed papers Box 2, item 120) Another piece of evidence tells us more about Matilda: a book that belonged to her, with her name, address and a dedication as seen below ('Miss Matilda Harpur as a very slight expression of my estimation of her superior moral & intellectual qualifications & scientific attainments.'). The book was the //Companion to the Bible. Intended for Bible Classes, Families, and Young Persons in General//, published by the [[wp>Religious_Tract_Society|Religious Tract Society]].((Provenance: J. Godden to T.A. & M.T. M-P)) It confirms that the Harpurs were Protestant with evangelical leanings, and that they lived in College Square, Belfast. It also provides evidence that Matilda Harpur was considered exceptionally bright.\\
 {{:whewell_dedication_enhanced.jpg?300|}}   {{:matilda_dedication.jpg?300|}} Title page and dedication of the book presented to Matilda Harpur.\\