Henry Prinsep's Empire: Framing a Distant Colony
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Henry Prinsep’s Empire: Framing a distant colony Henry Prinsep’s Empire: Framing a distant colony Malcolm Allbrook Published by ANU Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at http://press.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Allbrook, Malcolm, author. Title: Henry Prinsep’s empire : framing a distant colony / Malcolm Allbrook. ISBN: 9781925021608 (paperback) 9781925021615 (ebook) Subjects: Prinsep, Henry Charles 1844-1922. East India Company. Artists--Western Australia--Biography. Civil service--Officials and employees--Biography. Western Australia--Social life and customs--19th century. India--Social life and customs--19th century. Dewey Number: 759.994 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design by Nic Welbourn and layout by ANU Press Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2014 ANU Press Contents Dedication . vii Acknowledgments . ix Biographical Sketches of the Family of Henry Charles Prinsep (1844‑1922) . xi 1 . Introduction—An Imperial Man and His Archive . 1 Henry Prinsep’s colonial life . 1 Histories across space, place and time . 8 Accessing the Prinsep archive . 13 2 . Images of an Imperial Family . 27 A novelised and memorialised India . 27 Governing the others . 35 Scholarliness and saintliness . 42 A place to make a fortune . 48 Military might: The limits of violence . 54 A period of imperial transformation . 57 3 . An Anglo‑Indian Community in Britain . 81 Influence and patronage: Indian government in the metropole . 85 Family narratives on mid‑century India . 89 Popular narratives of Indian difference . 92 Departure for a colonial outpost . 96 Encounters with the others: ‘Sights most curious’ . 99 4 . Indian Ocean Connections . 117 Outposts of a subimperial empire . 119 ‘Fate has been against you’ . 125 5 . Meeting Aboriginal people . 145 ‘Fatigue, fear and anxiety’ . 148 ‘This strange young Englishman’ . 154 George Coobul and Henry Prinsep . 159 Fanny Balbuk and Ngilgie . 162 Almost one of the family . 164 6 . ‘Stationed but not sedentary’ . 183 Letters from around the world . 188 7 . ‘Received into the very best society’ . 199 Politics laid bare . 206 John Gribble and the Church of England Mission Committee . 209 A colonial bull market . 214 8 . Chief Protector of Aborigines . 237 ‘Complete separation from their savage life’ . 242 ‘Like tribes of Arabs’ . 248 A ‘firm course of action’ . 251 9. ‘Move slowly in a difficult matter’ . 271 Calling ‘Aboriginal expertise’ . 274 ‘The dire necessity of a suffering race’ . 277 ‘Neck‑chaining has not a pleasant sound’ . 283 10 . A ‘southern home’ . 287 ‘A Christian gentleman of the old school’ . 290 Bibliography . 299 Index . 339 Dedication Dedicated to the memory of my mother, Mary Allbrook (née Wilsdon), 1921-1998, whose love and belief were unwavering and unconditional, and whose passion for music, song and story infused my life-long interest in history. vii Acknowledgments This book began life as a doctoral thesis completed at Griffith University in 2008 and developed through progressive drafts over the intervening years until publication by ANU Press in 2014. After two years working at a busy history and heritage consulting business in Fremantle, a move to Canberra and employment as a Research Associate in the School of History at The Australian National University gave me the scope to complete revisions and placed me in an environment conducive to the task of publication. It was in 2011 that Melanie Nolan, General Editor of the ANU.Lives Series in Biography for what was then known as ANU E Press, first expressed interest in receiving a manuscript and encouraged me to launch into the arduous and exacting task of preparing the thesis for publication. I am grateful for Melanie’s support and advice, as I am to the anonymous readers whose detailed comments on the manuscript were of great value in transforming it into a book. I also record my thanks to all those at ANU Press for their help in reaching my objective. It has been an eight-year journey since I began researching the archives of Henry Prinsep, and many people deserve my thanks for helping the book come to fruition. Firstly, I am grateful to my supervisors at Griffith University, Bruce Buchan and Fiona Paisley. Their supervision was exceptional and both were unwavering in their support and belief in my research, the speed with which they read and commented on numerous and wordy drafts, and their generous, sensitive and inquiring advice and suggestions. So too has the support of Anna Haebich, then of Griffith University and now of Curtin University in Perth, been appreciated, particularly her penetrating and insightful comments and suggestions on chapters dealing with Aboriginal peoples. It was Anna who first suggested that I consider Griffith University as a postgraduate venue and noted that, in a digital age, my residence in Western Australia was no impediment to enrolment. I would like to record my appreciation to Griffith University, especially Dean of Arts Professor Kay Ferres, for providing me with a scholarship to pursue my studies. The University also provided me the opportunity to give papers at a number of conferences which were of value for my research and general academic experience. These included the ‘Contact Zones’ RHD Conference (Brisbane 2006), the ‘Australian Lives’ Conference (Cornwall 2006), the ‘Victorian Beginnings’ Conference (Perth 2007), and ANU and National Museum of Australia sponsored postgraduate workshop on biography ‘Using Lives’ (Canberra 2007). Since moving to Canberra, I have benefitted from the advice and interest of my colleagues in the ANU School of History, particularly Angela Woollacott, Pat Jalland, Nicholas Brown, Samuel Furphy, Allison Cadzow, Brett Bennett and Blake Singley. I am indebted to Ann McGrath, Director of the Australian Centre for Indigenous History, who employed me as a Research Associate on her ARC ix Henry Prinsep's Empire Discovery Project on the ancient and recent history of Lake Mungo. Not only was this an absorbing and fascinating area of historical research in itself, Ann’s flexibility and support, along with other staff and students in the ACIH, namely Maria Nugent, Shino Konishi, Julia Torpey, Rob Paton and Jeannine Leane, provided the perfect environment to complete the book. Those who assisted and supported me in various ways are, of course, too numerous to mention. They include library staff members and archivists in Perth, Canberra and London, and historians from around the world who have taken the time to respond thoughtfully to my email inquiries and provide suggestions and references. I am grateful for the initial support of Emeritus Professor Laksiri Jayasuriya and Professor Bob Reece who refereed my initial application to Griffith. Many members of the extended Prinsep family have been eager to help. I am appreciative of my mother-in-law, Mrs Ailsa Smith, who has shared not only her knowledge and ideas, but her library and collection of Prinsep letters, paintings and photographs. Phillip Reynolds from Dunsborough, Diana and Rory McLeod from London and Nora Naish from Bristol have also been generous in their hospitality and interest. My many friends, particularly Ranil Ratnayeke, Greg Rowse and Helen Cattalini, after overcoming their initial surprise at my unexpected change in career, have been supportive and interested in my progress, and willing to put me up when I have visited London, Brisbane, Canberra and Tasmania. I wish to record special appreciation for my friend Tim Lindholm, of Palo Alto, California, whose shared interests have been the subject of an endless chain of email correspondence. Tim has been generous in his willingness to share his considerable collection of Prinsep images and documents, many of which appear in this book. Patrick Bunbury’s support and generosity has been limitless. He has always been ready to share his combination of family history and knowledge of the Prinsep archive in the Battye Library. Dr Om Prakesh Kejariwal generously provided a rare copy of Augustus Prinsep’s The Baboo, which was of enormous value for the chapters dealing with the Prinseps in India. My family, of course, have been my closest and dearest supporters over the past three years, particularly my children and their spouses, Charlie Jebb, Bree Lipinski, Sarah Vincent and Nick Allbrook, my father David Allbrook, my siblings Roland, Bruce and Maryon, my brother-in-law Mike Woodcock, and sisters-in-law Nicky Partridge and Kate Smith. My greatest supporter and confidante has been my partner, Mary Anne Jebb. She has shared my delights and agonies, constantly reassured and cajoled me, listened patiently to my meandering narratives, and provided me with the benefits of her own creative and original historical imagination. Malcolm Allbrook x June 2014 Biographical Sketches of the Family of Henry Charles Prinsep (1844–1922) Grandparents John Prinsep Born Newton Regis 1746; died London 1831; married Sophia Auriol in Calcutta, January 1783; eight sons and four daughters, and at least four illegitimate children, probably to Indian women. John lived in Calcutta between 1770 and 1788, and made a fortune from diverse business interests, including indigo, chintz and copper. Back in London, he established a trading and shipping company, Prinsep and Saunders, and was involved with other imperial projects, including the Sierra Leone Company. Prinsep was elected member for Queensborough in the House of Commons for one term in 1802. He bought properties in Leadenhall St, London, adjacent to the headquarters of the British East India Company, Thoby Priory in Essex, and in Bristol, but lost his fortune and found paid employment as Sheriff of Southwark. He was the author of a number of pamphlets on the trading activities of the East India Company, slavery and the sugar trade.