Item #3751 Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River [bound with] Further Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River. Lieutenant Governor James STIRLING, John Septimus ROE, Ensign Robert DALE.
Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River [bound with] Further Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River
Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River [bound with] Further Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River
Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River [bound with] Further Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River

Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River [bound with] Further Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River

London: House of Commons, 1831. Two foolscap parliamentary reports paginated 32 pp. and 20 pp. respectively (including the docket titles), bound in recent quarter crimson morocco with gilt spine lettering by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Fine. Scarce and important foundation document for the settlement of Western Australia, being the first two British parliamentary reports on the nascent colony.

The first report, titled Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River, and dated 28 February 1831, principally comprises a dispatch from Lieutenant Governor James Stirling to Sir George Murray, then acting Secretary of State for the Colonies. Beneath the polished gloss of a seasoned naval commander lies a description of the rough early months of settlement, marked by shipwreck and acute food shortages. Poor soils, unfamiliar seasons and a truly alien geography confounded the settlers; nonetheless Stirling is optimistic about future prospects with regard to flax and hemp, viticulture, olives, opium and tobacco. The fisheries are abundant and he mentions the prospect of drying and curing fish for export to Mauritius.

Nonetheless, the disappointment and conflicts inherent in the first year are obvious in the final paragraph of Stirling's report, where he laments 'many of the Settlers who have come should never have left a safe and tranquil State of Life; and if it be possible to discourage one set of people to encourage another, I would earnestly request that for a few years the helpless and inefficient may be kept from the Settlement, while to the active, industrious, and intelligent there may be assured with confidence a fair reward for their labours.'

In addition to Stirling's dispatch of five pages, the first report includes a General Muster of all persons in the colony (with personal details and occupations), a shipping report, land grants and livestock tables.

The second report, titled Further Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River (printed 30 March 1831) contains more varied and interesting content regarding maritime and inland exploration. Two reports by John Septimus Roe concern recent coastal surveying voyages, with an eye to soils, fisheries and other pressing concerns of the settlers. A further three page report by Ensign Robert Dale details inland exploration; and a final despatch by Captain Frederick Irwin concerns armed conflicts with Aboriginal inhabitants, with the usual unhappy reprisals. Ferguson 1439 & 1440. Item #3751

Price (AUD): $4,500.00