Papers of George French Angas, 1838-1877

We hold 3 fascinating commonplace books created by Angas during his school years. One is titled “The British Possessions and United States of North America” and includes his own drawings and hand-coloured maps of the United States and several English counties.

The other two, titled ‘The Victoria’ and ‘Tavistock’, feature a prospectus and a list of subscribers for a monthly publication that was planned for release in 1837.

You’ll also find manuscripts, along with pencil drawings, of articles Angas wrote for The Colonies and India journal in 1877. These articles include titles like ‘Down the Murray from its Sources to the Sea,’ ‘From Plymouth to Sydney,’ and ‘South Africa – Round about Cape Town.’

Our collection offers a unique glimpse into the life and travels of George French Angas through his incredible body of work. You’ll find 5 sketchbooks, 45 watercolours, and around 155 drawings done in various techniques, including pen and wash, pencil, and watercolours. These artworks span Angas’s early years to his later travels, offering a window into his world from the age of 12 all the way to 1877.

From Dawlish to the River Murray

The earliest piece in our collection is a view of Dawlish, England, created when Angas was just 12 years old (1835). His later works, such as a series of drawings of the River Murray, were produced for the journal Colonies and India in 1877.

Australian and New Zealand sketchbooks

Two of Angas’s sketchbooks feature drawings from his travels across Australia and New Zealand during 1844-45. These include stunning pencil studies of places like the Coorong and Lake Bonney in South Australia, as well as Port Nicholson, the Bay of Islands, and Maori life in New Zealand.

Among the 80 watercolours depicting Australian scenes, you’ll find images of:

• Sheep stations and landscapes from Morialta Falls to Rivoli Bay
• The South Australian wilderness, including Lake Albert and Kangaroo Island
• Iconic landmarks like the Bank of South Australia in Adelaide

His works also capture the hustle and history of New South Wales with pencil drawings from the Blue Mountains, Bathurst, and the Hunter River, to Sydney Harbour and the funeral of Sir Everard Home. One especially charming drawing is “The Young Cricketer.”

Later Australian works

His later drawings document central and northern Australia, produced for accounts of explorations by John McDouall Stuart (1864) and John Forrest (1875).

Travels beyond Australia

One of his sketchbooks holds 64 studies for The Kafirs Illustrated (1849), with around 40 works from Cape Colony and Natal in 1847, depicting Cape Town, Table Mountain, and Zulu life.

Explore Angas’s travels through Europe and Britain with drawings from:

• Malta and Sicily (1841)
• Constantinople and Scutari (1848)
• Jersey (1864)
• Ireland (1871)
• English churches and castles

Engravings, Lithographs, and more

Our collection also includes a large number of engravings and lithographs based on Angas’s original works. Some of these were printed by Angas himself and were featured in his books or illustrated newspapers. Highlights include the series Down the Murray from its Source to the Sea (1877) and a lithograph portrait of Angas by Charles Baugniet (1848).

Finally, we hold a bronze medal awarded to Angas at the Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1855, a testament to his lasting impact in both the art and exploration worlds.

In addition to the quarterly magazine The Inlander (1913-86), the Library holds many published reports, booklets and leaflets of the AIM. The following books deal with the lives of John Flynn and Fred McKay and the history of the AIM:

• Beth Beckett, Lipstick, swag and sweatrag: memoirs of a patrol padre’s wife: the Australian Inland Mission 1947-1955, 1998
• Elizabeth Burchill, Innamincka, 1960
• Margaret Ford, End of a beginning, 1963
• Arch Grant, Camel train and aeroplane: the story of Skipper Partridge, 1981
• Arch Grant, Palmerston to Darwin: 75 years service on the frontier, 1990
• William Gray, Days and nights in the bush, 1935
• Max Griffiths, The hungry heart, 1992
• Max Griffiths, The silent heart: Flynn of the Inland, 1993
• Max Griffiths, Straight from the heart: tales of tragedy and triumph from the nurses of the Australian outback, 2000
• Brigid Hains, The ice and the inland: Mawson, Flynn, and the myth of the frontier, 2002
• Mona Henry, From city to the sandhills of Birdsville, 1994
• Ion L. Idriess, Flynn of the inland, 1932
• Rob Linn, Shifting sands to solid rock: ninety years of Frontier Services, 2002
• Fred McKay, Traeger: the pedal radio man: he gave a voice to the bush and to flying doctors, 1995
• Maisie McKenzie, Flynn’s last camp, 1985
• Maisie McKenzie, Fred McKay: successor to Flynn of the inland, 1990
• W. Scott McPheat, John Flynn: apostle to the inland, 1963
• Michael Page, The Flying Doctor story, 1977
• R.B. Plowman, Camel pads, 1933
• R.B. Plowman, The man from Oodnadatta, 1933

Both the Nan Kivell Collection, purchased in 1959, and the Ferguson Collection, purchased in 1970, included watercolours and drawings by George French Angas. Most of the original works by Angas in the Library’s collection, including manuscripts and five sketchbooks, were acquired from José Calvo of Viña del Mar, Chile, in 1973. Calvo’s wife Patricia was the great granddaughter of Angas.

The sketchbooks, paintings and drawings of Angas are held in the Pictures Collection (S6401-592, S7086-120 and T1-7). They have been catalogued individually and most of them have been digitised. The prints are also held in the Pictures Collection and about 200 of them have been individually catalogued.

The manuscripts are held in the Manuscripts Collection. They have been catalogued at the collection level. They are also available on microfilm (reel G 23042). The books are housed in the Australian Collection at various locations.

Major collections of paintings and drawings of Angas are held in the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, the Barr Smith Library (University of Adelaide), the La Trobe Library (State Library of Victoria), the Mitchell Library (State Library of New South Wales) and the Mortlock Library (State Library of South Australia)

This guide was prepared using these references:

• Alan McCulloch, Artists of the Australian gold rush, Melbourne, Lansdowne, 1977
• E.J.R. Morgan, Angas, George French (1822-1886), Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
• Bernard Smith, European vision and the South Pacific 1768-1850; a study in the history of art and ideas, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1960
• John Tregenza, George French Angas, artist, traveller and naturalist, 1822-1886, Adelaide, Art Gallery Board of South Australia, 1980
• Michael Vanstone, First impressions: the work of George French Angas, Adelaide Review, no. 12, April 1985, pp. 4-5