Vanguards of Empire: the lives of William Dawes, Watkin Tench and George Worgan. A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The Australian National University. Robert Michael Clarke Canberra September 2015 1 Unless otherwise indicated, this is my own original work. Robert Michael Clarke September 2015 2 Acknowledgements I am grateful to the professionalism and assistance received in the many libraries and repositories I visited in Australia and Britain. The librarians from the William Cullen Library at the University of Witwatersrand were prompt and efficient in providing copies of some important correspondence. The staff at the Museum of English Rural Life Library at the University of Reading willingly agreed to fit me in during a day when research facilities were normally closed. I was impressed with the cheerful assistance and encouragement I received from the many county record offices and history centres I visited in Britain. Dr. Ann Coats of the Naval Dockyards Society, Portsmouth was quick to provide information requested. Christine & Colin Edwards, and Anthony Wood, Cornish historians, provided encouragement and guidance and were warm and generous with their hospitality. I will always be grateful that I was able to study History at the University of New England at the end of the 1980s. Alan Atkinson, David Kent and the other members of the team made a lasting impression but especially, the late Norma Townsend. Shortly after enrolling for this degree I read many articles and blog entries about the loneliness of the doctoral student. There is much truth in that, but for me it was alleviated considerably by the encouragement, advice, general support and wisdom I received from my thesis supervisors. I was blessed that I had the good fortune of such an eminent team as Professors Paul Pickering as Chair with Stephen Foster and Bill Gammage. The Research School of Humanities and the Arts provided a stimulating and encouraging environment. I am very grateful to the ANU and the College of Arts and Social Sciences for financial support for a short-term scholarship and the generous travel support that made a considerable amount of my research possible. My wife Anne has had to live with this project for a long time. Her encouragement, support and love have made it so much easier. 3 Abstract This thesis is a study of the lives of three men brought together in one of the most significant ventures in empire building that Britain undertook: the European settlement of New South Wales. They came together as strangers in this new colony, and for a brief time found common interests and experiences before diverging on vastly different life trajectories. The thesis represents the first in-depth biographical studies of these men. The thesis also considers these life studies as microhistories. They are small, particular histories during a period of considerable change in British imperial, political, religious and social life. Each man brought his own unique attributes to his experiences and to that extent they are not representative, but the commonality and diversity of their life experiences provide case studies that allow for a close consideration of how those who fall outside the definition of ‘great men’ contributed to the development of Britain and its empire. The lives assist in understanding how events help to shape individuals and how individuals help shape events. They are prisms through which can be seen a number of significant themes of the period: micro examples of macro influences, movements, and social, political, and economic developments of the period. The value of biography as a means of better understanding history is examined. These men spent their lives working on the margins of empire, of power, and of society. Operating in small circles within larger groups of powerful elites they made their own personal contributions to the development of Britain and its empire. They displayed a sense of inquiry and an active interest in acquiring knowledge in the natural world as well as the human, and were prepared to challenge authority when they thought necessary. In this they exhibited the influences of their eighteenth century enlightenment backgrounds. 4 Midway along the journey of our life I woke to find myself in a dark wood For I had wandered off from the straight path. Dante: The Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto 1. (trans. Mark Musa) Distant thunder at long intervals William Dawes, ‘Meteorological journal’, 9 Sep 1788. 5 This page left blank. 6 Table of Contents Page Introduction 9 i. Methodology and sources 12 ii. Historiography 18 iii. Structure 20 Part I: William Dawes: a life 23 Chapter 1: Early years and the American War 23 i. Early years 23 ii. The American war 24 Chapter 2: New South Wales 26 i. Appointment and voyage 26 ii. The Colony 32 iii. Expeditioning 34 iv. The stars 38 v. Language and questions of character 45 Chapter 3: Sierra Leone, Mathematics and Missionaries 51 i. Sierra Leone: first period 51 ii. Sierra Leone: second period 61 iii. Interlude: Christ’s Hospital 63 iv. House of Lords June 1799 65 v. Sierra Leone: third period 68 vi. Interlude: The Church Missionary Society and missionary training 71 vii. Sierra Leone: fourth period 75 viii. The survey of the coast of Africa 85 Chapter 4: Antigua 88 i. The schools 88 ii. The Church dominant 95 iii. Struggles: money, health and faith 98 Chapter 5: Family 104 Part II: Watkin Tench: a life 107 Chapter 6: Early years and the American war 107 i. Family Influences 107 ii. Service to 1787 and the American war 113 Chapter 7: New South Wales 119 7 Chapter 8: The Marines 136 i. War with France 136 ii. The condition of the Corps 141 iii. ‘Taken by the insolent foe’: Tench in France 145 iv. ‘Forthwith give up command’: the end of a career 151 Chapter 9: County Gentleman 161 Chapter 10: Family 173 Part III: George Worgan: a life 177 Chapter 11: Early years and the American war 177 i. Early years 177 ii. The American war 180 iii. The naval surgeon in the late eighteenth century 181 Chapter 12: New South Wales 185 Chapter 13: Misstep: The Le Caton affair 192 Chapter 14: Farming in the South-West 200 i. Introduction 200 ii. Farming at Bray and Glynn, Cornwall 201 iii. The agricultural survey of Cornwall 211 iv. The Board of Agriculture 218 Chapter 15: The later years and family 226 i. ‘A broken Gentleman’ 226 ii. Schoolmaster 229 iii. Marriage and family 231 Part IV: Looking through the prism: themes from the lives 235 i. ‘His Grace knows me well’: Connections, networks and patronage 235 ii. Honour, duty, and gentlemanly behaviour 244 iii. Authority and hierarchy 251 iv. Empire and Britishness 258 v. Science and improvement 263 vi. Morality and slavery 271 vii. Observing and learning 273 Conclusion: Life’s lessons 276 Bibliography 281 8 Introduction Of the almost fifteen hundred individuals who arrived in the new colony of New South Wales in January 1788, a small number are known for their intelligence, endeavour and desire to learn from this new foreign world. William Dawes, Watkin Tench and George Bouchier Worgan were three of that group and this thesis is a study of their lives. Membership of this now named First Fleet allowed them to experience life together in a remote and struggling colony on the other side of the world from their homes.1 This shared experience was brief, just over four years out of life spans of over seven decades, but it remained a key influence in their future careers and the development of their characters. The voyage to New South Wales and the subsequent years in the new colony brought the men together, providing the connection and reason for selecting them to study – Dawes and Tench as officers in the Marines and Worgan as naval surgeon on HMS Sirius, the fleet’s flagship. Dawes and Worgan travelled in the same vessel to the new colony while Dawes and Tench were together on the return journey. Their time in New South Wales was the only period of their lives they shared, as it is unlikely the men knew one another before the journey. Each served during the American war but on different ships, and although Dawes and Tench were both members of the Marines they came from different divisions, Dawes at Portsmouth and Tench at Plymouth. It is likely their first meeting took place during the voyage of the First Fleet but it was in New South Wales the trio found a level of companionship through common interests, spending time together on expeditions into the countryside. There was an active sense of inquiry into the local flora, fauna and particularly, the local indigenous people. How much of this was simply a way of filling in idle time and 1 The term ‘First Fleet’ is used throughout the thesis to describe the expedition that arrived on the east coast of Australia at the end of January 1788. The term is a construct that has been applied retrospectively. As Alan Atkinson has observed, at the time of the fleet being prepared and dispatched, there were no plans for subsequent expeditions. Alan Atkinson, The Europeans in Australia. A History, Vol.1 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997), 59-61. 9 how much reflected the stereotypical English Enlightenment man will emerge in this study. The general conditions and specific events in the colony are well covered in both the contemporary accounts and by modern historians, the most recent being Grace Karskens’ The Colony.2 The men went to the colony as volunteers, and while they were encouraged by the alternative prospect of half-pay and limited promotion opportunities, volunteering was a significant decision.