Place Names of South Australia - G
Glenelg
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Glenelg
The Old Gum Tree
Editorial note
The September 2002 issue of the Newsletter of The Historical Society of South Australia included an article by the editor entitled "Not the Proclamation and not the Tree".
Mr Manning wrote a letter in response which is extracted below. The editor declined to publish it.
Extracts from a letter to the editor of the Historical Society of South Australia Newsletter by G.H.Manning dated 19 September 2002
....Following the publication of my second work on the nomenclature of South Australia in 1990, I spent the next 10 years formulating an index of Adelaide's newspapers... During that time I came across many references to the controversy surrounding the Old Gum Tree (OGT) and, accordingly, I would like to share with you a summation of my findings taken from my data base and the following sources:
(1) Taking in Washing - The Enemy of Truth (Association of
Professional Historian's Newsletter, July 1993.)
(2) Geoffrey H Manning's
A Colonial Experience, pp. 35-39 (Gillingham Printers, November
2001)
(3) Text of a speech given at a public meeting at Partridge House,
Glenelg. I hold a copy which was produced in booklet form by the Corporation
of the City of Glenelg.
Where does the reality lie in respect of the site of the foundation ceremony at Holdfast Bay on 28 December 1836 and was the OGT, a once resplendent arched gum tree, the site? At the time of the State's centenary the Royal Geographical Society of A/asia (SA Branch) undertook a comprehensive examination of available primary and secondary sources surrounding that event and concluded:
- ... This evidence is distinctly in support of Gouger's diary record and
drawing* and definitely against the idea that the proclamation was read under
the old bent tree... the available evidence is of so direct, positive and
reliable character, that no amount of subsequent discussion can change or
invalidate it...
* This statement is disproved hereunder for it was drawn by Mary Hindmarsh.
In the following appraisal, a brief repetition of facts was necessary on occasions in the interest of supporting a logical and sequential argument as to the events of that day at Holdfast Bay.
Mary Thomas's Pronouncements
You quote from Mary Thomas's Reminiscences, completed in 1866, where she discounts the proposition that the OGT is the "Proclamation Tree", but a decade earlier evidence of certain chicanery as to her recall of events was abroad.
Invariably, the protagonists against the OGT as the venue look to her as an
impeccable source as to the events of the day but, strangely, her diary* entry
of 28 December 1836 makes no mention of a "proclamation tree"- it reads, in
part - "... the G. Sec. read the proclamation and a party of marines from the
Buffalo fired a feu-de-joie..".
* The diary is in the Mortlock
Library - PRG 1160. V 5 8 9.
Inexplicably, this reference was tampered with and reproduced in the Observer of 2 January 1858 as follows: "The Governor's private secretary read the proclamation under a huge gumtree, a flag was hoisted and a party of marines fired a feu-de-joie..." [added words emphasised]. The motive for this distortion of her earlier pronouncement is unknown. However, it must be said that the alteration appears to be a clumsy attempt at deception. While casting no aspersions on any person, it must be noted that her son was joint proprietor of the Observer at the time of the unfortunate, and indeed misleading, variation to the prime source document.
It is a remarkable circumstance that immediately after the ceremony at Glenelg in 1857 the solitary dissenter to the OGT as the ceremonial place was Mary Thomas. At that time there must have been many surviving colonists who had been present, but no other objection to the remarks made at the 1857 ceremony by the Governor was forthcoming. One might be excused for concluding that the OGT was the "place" and that Mary Thomas had either a lapse of memory, or hidden agenda, when the words in her 1836 diary were tampered with in January 1858.
The Work of J.S. Rees
While this gentleman introduced new evidence into the debate, I believe his findings contain several errors and false conclusions, one of which compromises his ultimate assertion that the OGT was not the "proclamation" tree. He concluded his treatise as follows:
- From the information gathered, the co-ordinance of definite views and
the circumstances attendant on the ceremony on the 28/12/1836, the collator
admits his conversion to the opposition... [but] it was so close to the
actual site as to warrant its preservation.
- On page 10 the sketch is said to have been made by Robert Gouger, is
incorrect - See Mortlock Library ref. A 1128 where it is attributed to Mary
Hindmarsh. (See below).
The reference to an interview with "boatswain John A. Hill" in 1893 is incorrect - John Hill (that was his full name), the boatswain of the Buffalo, died in 1885. The interviewee was Joseph A. Hill. (See below).
He implies that the evidence tendered by Mrs deMole (see below under "Secondary Sources") is suspect because of her age (11 years) at the time of her corroborating evidence, but is prepared to accept the extensive rambling and wide-ranging opinions of Helen Mantegani who was aged about 12 years in December 1836.
The quotation attributed to Mr Symonds is incorrect - it is an alleged statement taken from an obituary in the Observer, 9 May 1896, page 46a - see Register, 12 February 1886. page 3 and below, for his informative version of the "proclamation" ceremony.
At best, this statement can only be classified as a secondary source (I have more to say on this subject later) - The relative newspaper report is in the form of a letter written by H.B.T. Strangways. It appears in the Register, 6 February 1897 at page 6f and says, inter alia:
- I first saw this old tree in November 1853, when I was staying at
Glenelg with my relative, the late Thomas Bewes Strangways, who was present
at the proclamation ceremony. He told me that the proclamation was made
under the shade of a clump of gum trees, some of which were very large, and
that the main body of that clump was north-easterly of that old tree.. He
pointed out to me the locality, and at that time some of the stumps of some
large gumtrees were still on the ground. He said that the old stump called
the old colonists' tree was probably part of that clump, but he did not
remember it...
The Register of 11 February 1886 at page 7g has the following letter from Helen Mantegani, daughter of Mr & Mrs Robert Thomas:
- The real tree was a fine one in full foliage, which stood near the tent
of Mr Gouger... I was present that day with my parents and well remember
incidents [of the day]. The so-called "memorial tree" stood very near my
father's tent and some distance away from the real one. It was dead + ...
and it was not likely that the Governor would choose* a fallen tree without
any shade for a gathering of people on a hot day...
+ In Skipper's sketch (see below) the tree appears to be flourishing!
* The Governor, no doubt, chose Gouger's tent as the scene for his deliberations with other executive officers and others have suggested that Robert Gouger and George Stevenson delivered a "proclamation" oration outside the tent .as a matter of convenience.
See hereunder for an ambiguity in Gouger's journal. and the conclusion that Stevenson was solely responsible for the oration.
- The original Proclamation Tree is represented by the first immigrants as
being a "large one". Mrs Mantegani says as a child she climbed it as far as
she dared, as well as played under it. That being so, there must have been
something peculiar in its growth. To a certain extent the tree must have
been in a recumbent position to allow a girl of about 12 years of age to
climb it at all.
- A little way in front of [the Old Gum Tree]* stood the reed hut where
the first printing was done...
* The reed hut is not shown in either Skipper's or Miss Fisher's sketch.
- The Old Gum Tree... was not near Mr Gouger's tent, but was very close to
Mr Thomas's encampment...
(If Skipper's painting (see comment below) of the scene is accepted as being representative of the location of the old tree and Gouger's tent and hut, it disproves both the above statements. Conversely, if she is correct was not Skipper "guilty" of artistic licence?) See Miss Fisher's sketch where an arched tree is partially visible behind Gouger's abode.
Comment on the Evidence of Helen Mantegani
If J.M. Skipper's painting of the scene in circa January 1837 is accepted as being representative of the location of the OGT and Gouger's tent and hut, it disproves her statement.
If her claim that the "old gum tree was dead" prior to and at the "proclamation" is accepted as fact, it disproves the accuracy of Skipper's portrait.
In resting my case against the validity of her version of events, I must challenge its competency and conclude that her mother had a great influence on her published recall of events. Further, I believe that Mrs Mantegani's childhood "memories", made some 50 years or more after the event, do not stand up against the statements of many adults who witnessed the events of 28 December 1836!
- It is evident that persons alive at the present time who witnessed the
ceremony must have been very young at the time [and] their memories cannot
be relied upon [For example - Helen Mantegani?], and taken in
preference to the testimony of those who erected a memorial to an event
which occurred only 21 years previously.
The memories of John Cummins Morphett in 1924 in respect of his mother's
(Elizabeth Morphett nee Fisher) presence at the ceremony are, I
suggest, secondary in character. Indeed, if the provenance of a sketch of
Robert Gouger's hut and tent held by the SA Art Gallery, and attributed to her
(Accession no. 731HP1), is accepted as being correct, her recall was obviously
flawed..*
[* See below where her reminiscences, as related to her son, are
at odds with a letter she wrote on 10 February 1837.]
Wood "believed" to be from the "Proclamation" Tree
No specific reference as to the source of the "story" is provided in your article. The photograph was taken about 1870 and therefore the notation upon the reverse was made at that time or later. Is there a "primary source" reference, such as a newspaper report, or other documentation as to Mr Bennetts' demolition of the supposed "Proclamation Tree"? If not, this "convincing evidence" as you assert might, reasonably, I suggest, be classified as a secondary source.
If further evidence is required as to the damage done by "hearsay" to our history, I refer [you]to Manning's Place Names of South Australia where, in the "Sources" section, such meandering on the part of early nomenclators is discussed.
Painting of John Michael Skipper
You conclude that "the most compelling evidence for distinguishing between the Old Gum Tree and the 'true' proclamation tree is to be found in a water colour painted by John Michael Skipper..." I refer [you]to a sketch made by Elizabeth Fisher early in 1837 purporting to be Robert Gouger's tent and hut at Glenelg (see comments above and below). There is little similarity in these sketches - If both are accepted as being authentic in respect of the topography of the early settlement on the Holdfast Bay plain, might I pose the question - Which artist employed "artistic" licence? (See under the next two headings for further comment on contemporary sketches).
The alleged words of Robert Gouger, on the reverse of this painting which you conclude are "believed to be either in Gouger's hand or a later copy", are, I suggest, inconclusive and a future explorer into the OGT saga may care to make a comparison between this handwriting and that contained in Robert Gouger's journal?
Paintings of the Old Gum Tree
You quote the late Dr John Tregenza as saying that Skipper's work was "the only contemporary visual record showing the relationship between the 'Old Gum Tree'... and the true proclamation tree which stood outside Gouger's tent and provided welcome shade..." However, there is another, in addition to that of Miss Fisher,which I discuss above - I refer [you] to J.S. Rees, The Old Gum Tree, where there is a sketch purporting to have been drawn by Robert Gouger, but the caption is incorrect as it is attributed to Mary Hindmarsh - see Mortlock Library ref. A 1128.
The Validity of Contemporary Sketches (Mr Skipper and Miss Hindmarsh) as to Detail
For ease of assimilation the following comments are set down in tabular form:
- If R.G. Symonds' written evidence (see below) is factual in respect of
the location of the OGT then both Skipper and Mary Hindmarsh are at fault in
their sketches.
If Skipper's portrait is factual, Helen Mantegani's written evidence in respect of the OGT's location is false.
If Helen Mantegani's statement as to the location of the OGT is correct, then Skipper's portrait and R.G. Symond's written version are false.
If Mary Hindmarsh's sketch of the Gouger abode, and Skipper's view of the wider scene, are correct, Symond's version is wrong for there is no OGT shown as supporting Gouger's tent.
If Symonds' statement that Gouger's tent was "partly supported on the southern end and upwards" by the OGT is factual, the tree must have been obscured partially by Gouger's tent which, quite probably, may have led Mary Hindmarsh to expunge it from her sketch because of an inordinate imbalance, and Skipper to "shift" it to the left of its precise location, thus adding balance to his overall scene. This theory is supported by Elizabeth Fisher's sketch, where an arched tree is visible behind Gouger's tent!
The Old Gum Tree - Was it the Site of the Foundation Ceremony?
A vital question remains to be answered - Where was Gouger's tent in relation to the Old Gum Tree? In 1893 a newspaper reporter opined of Mr R.G. Symonds that "his frequent contributions to the press have already indicated his individuality and force of character." Therefore, it can be reasonably assumed that he was in possession of his faculties and a person whose word could be relied upon. He was present at the ceremony and said:
- Mr Gouger's tent was partly supported on the southern end and upwards by
this... tree now called the "memorial tree"... Inside Mr Gouger's tent
Governor Hindmarsh met the other members of the Council. The proclamation
was first read and all the members of the Council were sworn in. This was
all done inside the tent and, in the presence of about 270 persons, the
proclamation was read by... Mr Gouger... No special provision was made for
shelter from the sun... The tree, I recollect, however, threw a little shade
over the table outside the tent, which was furnished with light refreshments
from HMS Buffalo...
(Mr Symond's statement is supported in the Advertiser, 29 December 1905, page 5f - "The tent of Mr Gouger [was] pitched under the now historic 'old gum tree'.")
[Note that he is at variance with Elizabeth Fisher as to the identity of the "proclaimer".]
Further, an informative letter from Elizabeth Fisher to an Aunt in England on 10 February 1837 is reproduced in the Observer, 2 January 1858, page 6e and, as it was written shortly after the "proclamation" ceremony when her memory was "fresh", I believe it to be a vitally important historical statement and, indeed, it confirms Symonds' assertion as to the precise location of Gouger's tent. I have, for obvious reasons, superimposed relevant italicised comments upon her narrative:
- We first proceeded to the Colonial Secretary's hut* and as soon as all
the gentlemen were assembled the ladies adjourned to another hut, belonging
to Mr Brown... and remained there until the Governor had taken the oath of
allegiance [in Mr Gouger's hut/tent?]. When that ceremony was over we
again joined the gentlemen [in Mr Gouger's hut/tent?] and Mr
Stevenson, His Excellency's Secretary, read the proclamation aloud
[outside the hut/tent?] [my emphasis] after which a party of
marines (which had been sent on shore from the Buffalo) fired a "feu
de joie"and we proceeded to where a cold collation+ had been prepared for us
under a large gum tree [the spurious "Proclamation" tree?]...
- * Note that in the Fisher sketch the larger of the two premises has
the appearance of a hut, rather than a tent. Her comment about Stevenson
is puzzling, as discussed elsewhere. - but see comments below in respect
of an ambiguity in Gouger's journal..
+ Note that the venue for the "cold collation" is not the same as related to her son in 1924. - see next para.
In Elizabeth Fisher's reminiscences, as recorded in your piece, she says - "... the bent tree was used as the entrance to the 'tent' [Gouger's?] in which the cold collation was served..." This statement is, in respect of the "cold collations" venue, according to the recall of all "eyewitnesses" who mention the repast, false - Note that Mr Symonds' contends that about 270 people were present and they would have been hard pressed to congregate in a settler's tent.
However, of primary importance is that she states, quite clearly both in her 1837 letter and reminiscences, and as portrayed in her contemporaneous sketch, that Gouger's hut (tent?) was contiguous to the OGT, thus supporting the remarks of R.G. Symonds. Her letter is, I believe, vital in resolving the vexed question before us because:
- 1. It was written within six weeks of the ceremony and, as such, must
be given credence over and above the memories of such persons as Helen
Mantegani, Mary Thomas and Giles Strangways.
2. She identifies Gouger's hut/tent as the meeting place and puts
Stevenson in front of it reading the "proclamation". I confess, freely,
that this statement is puzzling, because it is generally believed that
Gouger was the first to read it.* Coupled with the OGT being shown in her
January 1837 sketch, I would suggest that this is powerful evidence in
favour of the OGT as the ceremonial place.
* See under "The
Proclamation" below, where I suggest that Gouger's journal is not specific
as to the fact that he actually read the "proclamation" after the initial
meeting of executive officers in his quarters.
The primary source evidence supporting the contention that the old bent tree is the "proclamation tree" is overwhelming and hereunder are more of the eye-witnesses' recall of the events of that memorable day.
These two gentlemen were influential members of the executive and capitalist classes in the infant colony and were both present at Holdfast Bay on 28 December 1836 at the so-called "Proclamation" ceremony.
At an official luncheon held near the Old Gum Tree on 28 December 1857 it was reported that both of them were guest speakers and in a reflective mood said, respectively:
- Here we stood, and, under the formalities of that memorable hour,
swore allegiance to our Sovereign, vowed fidelity to our common interests
as an organised community.
...ever since the colony was proclaimed... on the spot where they now were...
- [I] can affirm that it was done at the spot marked by the Old Gum
Tree... which was then alive and flourishing...
It was more than fifty years since Sir John Hindmarsh [sic], under that tree, proclaimed the country to be a province.
He was aged 23 years in 1836; his reminiscences appear in the Register, 27 June 1892, page 6c where he claims:
- The proclamation was read by the Governor [sic] , the flag,
which I had carried from the boat, being unfurled by him under what is
called the Proclamation tree - a remarkable, low, stunted blue gum,
sloping to the west and standing quite alone, close to the landing place.
An interview with Mr J.A. Hill, the District Clerk of the Booyoolie Council, who arrived in the colony in the Africaine in 1836, is reported in the Advertiser, 28 December 1893, page 5d:
- "Do you know anything about the proclamation ceremony and the old gum
tree... and is your memory clear about [it]..."
"Yes, it is. I know what you are going to ask, whether the proclamation was read under that tree."
"Exactly."
"Yes, it was, I could not make a mistake with such a tree, and you can take my word for it, although the assertion has been doubted, that it is where the proclamation was read."
He arrived in the Cygnet, aged 17 years, and was present at the ceremony; in the Register of 10 January 1894, page 6c he states:
- Gov. Hindmarsh and the Chief Secretary took the stand beneath the
"Temple Bar" tree and the marines were drawn up in line on one side and
the natives on the other...
- (1) Giles Strangways, who came out in the Buffalo, said in the
Observer, 26 December 1896, page 2e (supp.):
- The ceremony was not performed under [the Old Gum Tree] as so many
would like to believe, but not far away...
- The tree in question is not the one under which the colony was
proclaimed, I having been present... The real tree was a fine, large
umbrageous specimen... The suppostitious one was nearly destitute of
foliage and was only remarkable from its having fallen in the position
of an arch, which caused it to be facetiously named "Temple Bar"...
(Signed - "A Colonist of 1836 " )
Secondary Sources
For what they are worth I reproduce hereunder all "secondary" sources I have located over the past 20 years - note that those in favour of the OGT are far in excess of the dissenters!
Henry Gawler made the following comments in the Register, 9 February 1886, page 7d:
- My father and family landed at Holdfast Bay on October 12, 1838, camping
at that place for a few days and I distinctly recollect Mr George M.
Stephen... and others pointing out, as being naturally an object of interest
to the new Governor, the present gum tree upon which doubts have been
thrown...
- I was not born until 1844, and my father died in 1856, but the year
before his death he, my mother and myself were staying... at the Glenelg
Inn... [Mr Osmond Gilles] drove my father and myself to see the old tree.
There was no mistaking the tree and at that time it was a beautiful object, very different from the miserable arched log of the last 30 years... I remember perfectly the fact of these two men standing there and talking of the 28th, 1836...
- I was the first person that hoisted the Union Jack of Old England on
that ever memorable occasion...
- [He] visited Glenelg on the day the province attained its 21st year and
again hoisted the ensign on the old gum tree, and then identified the
particular tree which has since been preserved as the first landmark of the
early settlers.
- His Excellency the Governor will then attach a plate to the Tree
commemorating the event of the day, when the Flag of our Native Land will be
unfurled [on the Old Gum Tree] by John Hill, boatswain of the Buffalo.
- It was the same around which the early colonists assembled in the year
1836... and was still in perfect preservation.
- With regard to the tree itself, there were warm disputes going on
[during the celebrations] as to whether this was the real
patriarch...
(Strangely, not a word was forthcoming in ensuing weeks from any disputant, either supporting the claim or dissenting from it.)
- [A] public meeting was held... at the Saint Leonard's Hotel, Glenelg, to
take into consideration the most desirable means of celebrating on this
spot, under the old gum tree at Glenelg, the arrival of this colony at the
twenty-first year of its existence... It is desirable to commemorate the
event by a public celebration under "The Old Colonists' Tree"... the name of
the tree under which the colony was proclaimed.
(No dissent was forthcoming from readers to this forthright statement.)
- At twelve o'clock [yesterday] a number of persons congregated at the
"Old Tree"... [they broke] a few bottles on the devoted stem of the tree...
- The venerable relic in question stands about a quarter of a mile from
the beach... it forms a complete arch about 12 feet high, along which here
and there are still a few signs of vegetation.
- When the present generation has passed away, those that follow will, we
hope, keep alive the remembrance of that important day when beneath the old
gum tree... South Australia was first proclaimed a colony.
- The magnificent gum tree under which the proclamation actually took
place not only partly overshadowed the tent of Mr Gouger... but also
furnished a natural canopy for the open air banquet... A copy of the
proclamation was nailed to it at the time...
([Signed] - "A Colonist of November 1836 " [Mary Thomas?]
- I was born under that tree... Some people have said that this tree is
not the one under which the proclamation was read. They are wrong. It is the
same tree - my father has often told me so.
- Unmistakably, this testimony, when our province was only 13 years of
age, points to the Old Gum Tree that we see today as being the identical
tree around which the pioneers of 1836 gathered...
- As one who has for the past 17 years hoarded with veneration a piece of
"The Old Gum Tree" and has presented pieces to friends in England under the
firm belief that the tradition was true, I should like to see this either
verified or the contrary. Mr (now Captain) J.W. Hurst, Peckham, England, was
present when the proclamation was read and well remembered [it]. ([Signed] -
J.W. Billiatt).
- I have conversed with some who were present and they affirm that "the
old gum tree" is the one. If it be not the one, why was not the protest made
when Sir R. MacDonnell affixed the bow [sic]? - old colonists being present
at the time...
- It was not read under the arched tree as is supposed... [but] under a
straight gum tree some four or five chains* away. [Mr Thorn's obituary is in
the Chronicle, 14 July 1900, page 33e.]
* Note that Helen Mantegani contends that "The real tree was a fine one in full foliage, which stood near the tent of Mr Gouger..."
- He often visited the locality... and maintained firmly that the arched
old stump was the identical one under which the historical ceremony took
place...
- I know from personal study of the surroundings of the tree, compared
with early documents, that the tree marks the spot of the proclamation.
"Proclamation Tree Controversy", an article produced by the Royal Geographical Society, is in the Advertiser, 3 July 1936, page 20h:
- ... This evidence is distinctly in support of Gouger's diary records and
drawing, and definitely against the idea that the Proclamation was read
under the old bent tree...
The "Proclamation"
Dependent upon the interpretation of Robert Gouger's words in his journal as to the events of the day, coupled with George Stevenson's assertion as to his participation, it can be deduced that the so called "proclamation" was read twice.. In his journal, Robert Gouger says:
- Before, however, reading the commission in public, I took the necessary
oaths of office... We then held a council for the purpose of agreeing upon a
proclamation... The commission was then read in public.*
* If my reading of his journal is correct there is a certain ambiguity present. In the opening sentence he implies he was going to read the "proclamation", but this is negated by his words "The commission was then read in public" - this is quite impersonal, which might, reasonably, lead to a conclusion that he was prevailed upon by the Governor to give George Steven son the honour? If this is so, the whole "proclamation" scene is simplified.
- It was yesterday, thirteen years since, that the writer of these lines
in his official capacity as Clerk of the Council, read [a proclamation]* to
about two hundred persons, then nearly the entire population, standing
around or in the shade of a gum tree on the plain of Glenelg, still to be
seen there - a large crooked arch, remarkable for its appearance...
* His statement is confirmed by Elizabeth Fisher in her letter of February 1837.
- It is more likely the document read to the people in front of Mr
Gouger's tent was the original manuscript copy of the formal Orders in
Council adopted at that first Executive Council meeting held within the tent
and that after the printed copies had emerged from the press of Mr Robert
Thomas, in his reed hut near the beach, it was one of these that was
officially read out to the assembly by Mr Stevenson at the Old Gum Tree
nearby. [The reporter then quotes from Stevenson's editorial in the SA
Gazette & Mining Journal of 29 December 1849 as substantive proof of his
findings.] We can therefore pay our respects at the Old Gum Tree to the
original pioneers of the State...*
* After due deliberation I believe this proposition to be false - see comment under "The OGT - Was it the Site of the "Proclamation".
Conclusion
May I suggest that several of your Newsletter pronouncements are based on secondary sources, and therefore open to criticism as to their veracity, and the statement "that the 'Old Gum Tree' was some distance away from where Hindmarsh's first proclamation was read..." is, in my opinion, not proven.
Further, you record that "[The OGT] could not have provided either
shade..." - An eyewitness, Mr R.G. Symonds (see above), addresses this matter
- while the remainder of the aforesaid quotation speaks of the lack of
"sufficient space beneath* it for the assembly of colonists" which, I believe,
cannot have any possible place in a logical debate concerning the precise
location of the erstwhile "Proclamation Tree".
*I suggest the spectators
would have assembled in front of Gouger's tent which was fixed by ropes to the
OGT, thus preventing any one from standing underneath the tree.
I would suggest that the matter is not as clear cut as you suggest and your statement - "Not the Tree" - is, perhaps, a little premature. Indeed, you and I are poles apart in our respective conclusions, and any discerning reader might conclude that the dilemma has not been resolved. However, the convincing evidence of R.G. Symonds, which is supported by the Elizabeth Fisher's letter and reminiscences, the Fisher sketch and the hitherto unnoticed evidence of Charles Moon, Joseph A. Hill and Robert Wright, has, surely, swung the pendulum away from past edicts. Further, the evidence of Mary Thomas and Helen Mantegani has, I suggest, been proven to be suspect and so I suggest that, reasonably, it may be claimed today that the site of the "proclamation" was the OGT.
Finally, may I suggest that from the evidence and explamations presented above one might reasonably assume that the facts were simply as follows: An executive meeting took place in Gouger's quarters contiguous to the OGT and, following the determination of the so-called "proclamation", Governor Hindmarsh directed his private secretary, George Stevenson, to make an appropriate announcement outside the Colonial Secretary's hut/tent.
You will appreciate that, in compiling, this summary, I have had occasion to make many judgements as to the efficacy, or otherwise, of the available evidence and, accordingly, I beg forbearance for any errors or omissions in my deliberations. However, I sincerely hope that the source material brought forward will be a catalyst for further research. Indeed, my quiver is empty except for the attached appendix.
The Fisher sketch is held by the Art Gallery of SA - Accession no. 731HP1 and it is said that it was drawn in January 1837 by Elizabeth Fisher as a representation of Robert Gouger's tent and hut at Glenelg. It was gifted to the gallery in 1973 by a Miss Bonnear, an antiquarian dealer.
The Old Gum Tree at Glenelg - Historical Place or Myth?
Startling New Primary Source Evidence Discovered
by Geoffrey H. Manning
(Written in November 2002 and forwarded to The Advertiser)
- When the present generation has passed away, those that follow will, we
hope, keep alive the remembrance of that important day when beneath the old
gum tree... South Australia was first proclaimed a colony.
(Register, 28 December 1865)
Since the colony of South Australia was founded on the plains of Holdfast Bay on 28 December 1836, an ongoing wrangle has persisted and various historical bodies, together with interested historians, professional and otherwise, have churned out their opinions upon this vexed subject. For example, the eminent historian, Reverend John Blacket, in an article entitled "Is the Old Gum Tree Genuine?", said: "I know from personal study of the surroundings of the tree, compared with early documents, that the tree marks the spot of the proclamation."
On the other hand, at the time of the State's centenary the Royal Geographical Society of A/asia (SA Branch) undertook a comprehensive examination of available primary and secondary sources surrounding the event and concluded:
- ... This evidence is distinctly in support of Gouger's diary record and
drawing and definitely against the idea that the proclamation was read under
the old bent tree... the available evidence is of so direct, positive and
reliable character, that no amount of subsequent discussion can change or
invalidate it...
Invariably, the protagonists against the Old Gum Tree (OGT) as the venue turn to Mary Thomas, wife of the Editor and Publisher of the SA Gazette & Colonial Register, as an impeccable source as to the events of the day but, strangely, her diary entry of 28 December 1836 makes no mention of a "proclamation tree"- it reads, in part - "... the G. Sec. read the proclamation and a party of marines from the Buffalo fired a feu-de-joie..".
Inexplicably, this reference was tampered with and reproduced in the Observer of 2 January 1858 as follows: "The Governor's private secretary read the proclamation under a huge gumtree, a flag was hoisted and a party of marines fired a feu-de-joie..." [added words emphasised]. The motive for this distortion of her earlier pronouncement is unknown. However, it must be said that the alteration appears to be a clumsy attempt at deception and, as such, it appears in her reminiscences published in 1866.
It is a remarkable circumstance that immediately after the colony's "coming of age" ceremony at Glenelg in 1857, she was the solitary dissenter to the OGT as the ceremonial place. At that time there must have been many surviving colonists who had witnessed the "Proclamation", but no other objection to the remarks made at the 1857 ceremony by the Governor was forthcoming. One might be excused for concluding that the OGT was the "place" and that Mary Thomas had either a lapse of memory, or hidden agenda, when the words in her 1836 diary were tampered with in January 1858.
To add to the century-old controversy, today, historians cannot agree as to whether the "Proclamation" was read by George Stevenson, the Governor's private secretary, Robert Gouger the Colonial Secretary, or by both of them at different times. Indeed, early in the 20th century, an investigative reporter of The Advertiser, after examining pertinent evidence, arrived at the following conclusion, which is persuasive, but not without an element of conjecture:
- It is more likely the document read to the people in front of Mr Gouger's
tent was the original manuscript copy of the formal Orders in Council adopted
at that first Executive Council meeting held within the tent and that after
the printed copies had emerged from the press of Mr Robert Thomas, in his reed
hut near the beach, it was one of these that was officially read out to the
assembly by Mr Stevenson at the Old Gum Tree nearby. [The reporter then
quotes from Stevenson's editorial in the SA Gazette & Mining Journal of 29
December 1849 as substantive proof of his findings.] We can therefore pay
our respects at the Old Gum Tree to the original pioneers of the State...
- It is clear from the available evidence that the arched "Old Gum Tree" was
some distance away from where Hindmarsh's first proclamation was read, and
could not have provided either shade or sufficient space beneath it for the
assembly of colonists.
It is an indisputable fact that, apart from Mary Thomas, not another dissenter was forthcoming in respect of comments made in the Adelaide Times of 30 November 1857:
[A] public meeting was held... at the Saint Leonard's Hotel, Glenelg, to take into consideration the most desirable means of celebrating on this spot, under the old gum tree at Glenelg, the arrival of this colony at the twenty-first year of its existence... It is desirable to commemorate the event by a public celebration under "The Old Colonists' Tree"... the name of the tree under which the colony was proclaimed.
The other known eyewitnesses, objecting at a later date, were Helen Mantegani, daughter of Mary Thomas (aged 12 years in 1836), and Giles Strangways, who demurred in the Adelaide Observer, 26 December 1896 when he said: "The ceremony was not performed under [the Old Gum Tree] as so many would like to believe, but not far away..."
On the other hand, there were those adamantly opposed to these sentiments, among whom were John Morphett, James Hurtle Fisher, George Stevenson and a host of others, including R.G. Symonds, an assistant-surveyor to Colonel Light, who recalled that:
- Mr Gouger's tent was partly supported on the southern end and upwards by
this... tree now called the "memorial tree"... Inside Mr Gouger's tent
Governor Hindmarsh met the other members of the Council. The proclamation was
first read and all the members of the Council were sworn in. This was all done
inside the tent and, in the presence of about 270 persons, the proclamation
was read by... Mr Gouger... No special provision was made for shelter from the
sun... The tree, I recollect, however, threw a little shade over the table
outside the tent, which was furnished with light refreshments from HMS
Buffalo...
With the introduction of the unassailable evidence from this sketch, coupled with the words of R..G. Symonds, there can be no doubt that the pendulum has swung away from those who, in the past, denigrated the OGT as a South Australian historical icon. Therefore, South Australians may, we believe, proclaim it to be the ceremonial site of 1836 and placate nonbelievers with the following words from Mr J.W. Billiatt, a member of John McD. Stuart's epic overland expedition, and Henry Gawler, son of Governor George Gawler:
- As one who has for the past 17 years hoarded with veneration a piece of
"The Old Gum Tree" and has presented pieces to friends in England under the
firm belief that the tradition was true, I should like to see this either
verified or the contrary. Mr (now Captain) J.W. Hurst, Peckham, England, was
present when the proclamation was read and well remembered [it]... I have
conversed with some who were present and they affirm that "the old gum tree"
is the one. If it be not the one, why was not the protest made when Sir R.
MacDonnell affixed the bow [sic]? - old colonists being present at the time...
My father and family landed at Holdfast Bay on October 12, 1838, camping at that place for a few days and I distinctly recollect Mr George M. Stephen... and others pointing out, as being naturally an object of interest to the new Governor, the present gum tree upon which doubts have been thrown...
General Notes
A February 1837 letter from Elizabeth Fisher is reproduced
in the Observer,
2 January 1858 - it describes the "proclamation day"
in some detail.
The arrival and installation of Governor Hindmarsh is recounted in the
Observer,
2 January 1858, page 6d.
"The Early Days of the Colony" is in the Observer,
18 March 1865,
page 5h;
also see 1 April 1865, page 4d.
An editorial on the
'proclamation' day is in The Lantern,
1 January 1875, page 6.
A sketch is in the Adelaide Illustrated Post,
23 March 1867, page
1;
a photograph in The Critic,
28 November 1903, page 16.
The following extract is from an editorial written by George Stevenson in
the SA Gazette & Mining Journal, 29 December 1849, page 3b:
- It was yesterday, thirteen years since, that the writer of these lines in
his official capacity as Clerk of the Council, read [a proclamation] to about
two hundred persons, then nearly the entire population, standing around or in
the shade of a gum tree on the plain of Glenelg, still to be seen there - a
large crooked arch, remarkable for its appearance... A dozen or so of drunken
marines of the HMS Buffalo discharged several muskets in honour of the
occasion; a table manufactured impromptu out of boards supported on barrels -
salt beef, salt pork, and an indifferent ham, a few bottles of porter or ale,
and norresco referens, about the same quantity of port or sherry from the
crypts of the Buffalo, completed the advent of British rule to the shores of
South Australia.
(See Observer, 2 January 1858, page 6e which confirms his statement.)
- The official proclamation was printed on The Register Press and was read
by the first editor of that paper, George Stevenson.
- Unmistakably, this testimony, when our province was only 13 years of age,
points to the Old Gum Tree that we see today as being the identical tree
around which the pioneers of 1836 gathered...
- I was not born until 1844, and my father died in 1856, but the year before
his death he, my mother and myself were staying... at the Glenelg Inn... [Mr
Osmond Gilles] drove my father and myself to see the old tree. There was no
mistaking the tree and at that time it was a beautiful object, very different
from the miserable arched log of the last 30 years... I remember perfectly the
fact of these two men standing there and talking of the 28th, 1836...
- It was the same around which the early colonists assembled in the year
1836... and was still in perfect preservation.
29 November 1907, page 3a.
A letter written by Miss Fisher (later Mrs John Morphett) on 10 February 1837
is reproduced in the Observer,
2 January 1858, page 6e:
- We first proceeded to the Colonial Secretary's hut and as soon as all the
gentlemen were assembled the ladies adjourned to another hut, belonging to Mr
Brown... and remained there until the Governor had taken the oath of
allegiance. When that ceremony was over we again joined the gentlemen and Mr
Stephenson, His Excellency's Secretary, read the proclamation aloud...
- With regard to the tree itself, there were warm disputes going on [during
the celebrations] as to whether this was the real patriarch... (Strangely, not
a word was forthcoming in ensuing weeks from any disputant, either supporting
the claim or dissenting from it.)
[A] public meeting was held... at the Saint Leonard's Hotel, Glenelg, to take into consideration the most desirable means of celebrating on this spot, under the old gum tree at Glenelg, the arrival of this colony at the twenty-first year of its existence... It is desirable to commemorate the event by a public celebration under "The Old Colonists' Tree"... the name of the tree under which the colony was proclaimed. (No dissent was forthcoming from readers to this forthright statement.)
- At twelve o'clock [yesterday] a number of persons congregated at the "Old
Tree"... [they broke] a few bottles on the devoted stem of the tree...
- Here we stood, and, under the formalities of that memorable hour, swore
allegiance to our Sovereign, vowed fidelity to our common interests as an
organised community. ...ever since the colony was proclaimed... on the spot
where they now were...
- [I] can affirm that it was done at the spot marked by the Old Gum Tree...
which was then alive and flourishing... It was more than fifty years since Sir
John Hindmarsh [sic], under that tree, proclaimed the country to be a
province. The Observer of 2 January 1858, page 3a says: The venerable
relic in question stands about a quarter of a mile from the beach... it forms
a complete arch about 12 feet high, along which here and there are still a few
signs of vegetation. (To further confuse the location of the "proclamation"
ceremony, in his diary of November 1836 Robert Gouger says - "The question now
was where to pitch our tent and build our hut. Mr Kingston... with his men
were located about a mile from the beach, but I at once determined to go
further..."!!!)
23 January 1858, page 3f, 26 and 27 February 1858, pages 2g and 2g.
The Register of 28 December 1865, page 2g has an editorial which says:
- When the present generation has passed away, those that follow will, we
hope, keep alive the remembrance of that important day when beneath the old
gum tree... South Australia was first proclaimed a colony. (It is of interest
to note that Mr W.K. Thomas was the proprietor of the SA Register at
this time and was present at the 1836 ceremony! As a "hands on" publisher
would he not have approved this exposition for publication?)
- The magnificent gum tree under which the proclamation actually took place
not only partly overshadowed the tent of Mr Gouger... but also furnished a
natural canopy for the open air banquet... A copy of the proclamation was
nailed to it at the time... ("A Colonist of November 1836".)
31 May 1877, page 6g and 4 June 1877, page 6e:
- The tree in question is not the one under which the colony was proclaimed,
I having been present... The real tree was a fine, large umbrageous
specimen... The suppostitious one was nearly destitute of foliage and was only
remarkable from its having fallen in the position of an arch, which caused it
to be facetiously named "Temple Bar"... ("A Colonist of 1836".)
As one who has for the past 17 years hoarded with veneration a piece of "The Old Gum Tree" and has presented pieces to friends in England under the firm belief that the tradition was true, I should like to see this either verified or the contrary. Mr (now Captain) J.W. Hurst, Peckham, England, was present when the proclamation was read and well remembered [it]. (J.W. Billiatt). (Also see Advertiser, 6 July 1895, page 5b.)
- it is inexplicably reproduced in the Observer of 2 January 1858 to read -
"The Governor's Private Secretary read the proclamation under a huge gumtree, a flag was hoisted, and a party of marines from the Buffalo fired a feu-de-joie...".
In The Diaries and Letters of Mary Thomas, pages 84-86 (Reminiscences, completed in 1866) she discounts the proposition that the "Old Gum Tree" is the "Proclamation Tree".
J.W. Billiatt has some further words on this subject - see Register, 25 May 1881, page 7b:
- I have conversed with some who were present and they affirm that "the old
gum tree" is the one. If it be not the one, why was not the protest made when
Sir R. MacDonnell affixed the bow [sic]? - old colonists being present at the
time...
- I was the first person that hoisted the union jack of Old England on that
ever memorable occasion...
- [I] visited Glenelg on the day the province attained its 21st year and
again hoisted the ensign on the old gum tree, and then identified the
particular tree which has since been preserved as the first landmark of the
early settlers.
- His Excellency the Governor will then attach a plate to the Tree
commemorating the event of the day, when the Flag of our Native Land will be
unfurled [on the Old Gum Tree] by John Hill, boatswain of the Buffalo...
the latter has biographical details of John Hill and information on the proclamation ceremony.
Comment on the tree and other matters by H. Moseley is in the
Register,
4 August 1881, page 3d (supp.).
The golden wedding of Mr
& Mrs Moseley is reported in the Register,
28 August 1888, page
5a.
"An Act of Vandalism" is in the Register,
25 January 1886, page 6h,
6 February 1886, page 7h.
On 6 February 1886 at page 5a the Editor of the Register commented that:
- It would be idle for us loyal colonists to persevere in making pilgrimages
to the "old gumtree" if it is in no way of historical importance than any of
the other trees which happened to flourish in the days of Captain Hindmarsh...
- The real tree was a fine one in full foliage, which stood near the tent of
Mr Gouger... I was present that day with my parents and well remember
incidents [of the day]. The so-called "memorial tree" stood very near my
father's tent and some distance away from the real one. It was dead...
[J.M. Skipper's contemporaneous painting of the tree disproves this statement] and it was not likely that the Governor would choose a fallen tree without any shade for a gathering of people on a hot day... (Register, 11 February 1886, page 7g - Helen Mantegani, daughter of Mr & Mrs Robert Thomas.)
Mr Gouger's tent was partly supported on the southern end and upwards by
this... tree now called the "memorial tree"... Inside Mr Gouger's tent
Governor Hindmarsh met the other members of the Council. The proclamation was
first read and all the members of the Council were sworn in. This was all done
inside the tent and, in the presence of about 270 persons, the proclamation
was read by... Mr Gouger... No special provision was made for shelter from the
sun... The tree, I recollect, however, threw a little shade over the table
outside the tent, which was furnished with light refreshments from HMS
Buffalo...
(Register, 12 February 1886, page 3 - R.G. Symonds,
assistant- surveyor to Colonel Light);
Also see 6 and 16 February 1886, pages 7h and 3h. Mr Symond's
statement is supported in the Advertiser,
29 December 1905, page 5f -
"The tent of Mr Gouger [was] pitched under the now historic 'old gum tree'.")
This version of events is given further credence and all but unassailable
authority by an extract from Robert Gouger's diary reproduced in the
Register on 27 November 1886, page 6f:
- Before reading the commission in public I took the necessary oaths of
office and as senior member of the Council present I administered to the
Governor the oaths of office. We then held a Council in my tent... The
commission was then read in public... (Also see Register, 28 December
1857, page 2f.)
- My father and family landed at Holdfast Bay on October 12, 1838, camping
at that place for a few days and I distinctly recollect Mr George M.
Stephen... and others pointing out, as being naturally an object of interest
to the new Governor, the present gum tree upon which doubts have been
thrown...
The reminiscences of a "Buffalo Man" (Robert Moon, a seaman aboard the ship)
are in the Register,
27 June 1892, page 6c:
- The proclamation was read by the Governor; the flag, which I had carried
from the boat being unfurled by him under what is called the proclamation
tree, a remarkable, low, stunted bluegum, sloping to the west and standing
quite alone, close to the landing place.
- "Do you know anything about the proclamation ceremony and the old gum
tree... and is your memory clear about --"
"Yes, it is. I know what you are going to ask, whether the proclamation was read under that tree."
< ?Exactly.?
"Yes, it was, I could not make a mistake with such a tree, and you can take my word for it, although the assertion has been doubted, that it is where the proclamation was read."
(An earlier letter from Mr Hill is in the Advertiser, 5 December 1892, page 6g; also see Observer, 23 May 1903, page 24.)
- Gov. Hindmarsh and the Chief Secretary took the stand beneath the "Temple
Bar" tree and the marines were drawn up in line on one side and the natives on
the other... (Also see Register, 30 and 31 December 1895, pages 6b and
6d.)
- It was not read under the arched tree as is supposed... [but] under a
straight gum tree some four or five chains away. [Mr Thorn's obituary is in
the Chronicle,14 July 1900, page 33e.]
- The original Proclamation Tree is represented by the first immigrants as
being a "large one". Mrs Mantegani says as a child she climbed it as far as
she dared, as well as played under it. That being so, there must have been
something peculiar in its growth. To a certain extent the tree must have been
in a recumbent position to allow a girl of about 12 years of age to climb it
at all.
- A little way in front of [the Old Gum Tree] stood the reed hut where the
first printing was done...
- The Old Gum Tree... was not near Mr Gouger's tent, but was very close to
Mr Thomas's encampment... (If Skipper's painting of the scene is accepted as
being representative of the locations of the old tree and Gouger's tent and
hut it disproves both the above statements.)
- The ceremony was not performed under [the Old Gum Tree] as so many would
like to believe, but not far away...
- The proclamation was made under the shade of a clump of gum trees, some of
which were very large, and that the main body of that clump was north-east of
that old tree... He said that the old stump was probably part of that clump,
but he did not remember it...
- It is more likely the document read to the people in front of Mr Gouger's
tent was the original manuscript copy of the formal Orders in Council adopted
at that first Executive Council meeting held within the tent and that after
the printed copies had emerged from the press of Mr Robert Thomas, in his reed
hut near the beach, it was one of these that was officially read out to the
assembly by Mr Stevenson at the Old Gum Tree nearby. [He then quotes from
Stevenson's editorial in the SA Gazette & Mining Journal of 29 December
1849 as substantive proof of his findings- see above.] We can therefor pay our
respects at the Old Gum Tree to the original pioneers of the State...
29 December 1899, page 5c; also see 2 January 1901, page 6e.
An interested young citizen makes the following comment in the Register, 25 August 1915, page 6f:
- It is evident that persons alive at the present time who witnessed the
ceremony must have been very young at the time [and] their memories cannot be
relied upon, and taken in preference to the testimony of those who erected a
memorial to an event which occurred only 21 years previously. (Also see
Register, 27 August 1915, page 5g, 1 September 1915, page 12d.)
4 January 1908, page 29,
a 1915 photograph in The Mail,
23 January 1915, page 7f;
also see Chronicle, 31 December 1927, page 48 and 2 January 1930 for one taken in the 1850s.
The reminiscences of Mrs Elizabeth A. Foulger are in the Advertiser,
18 December 1918, page 7c where she says, inter alia:
- I was born under that tree... Some people have said that this tree is not
the one under which the proclamation was read. They are wrong. It is the same
tree - my father has often told me so.
- What is history and tradition worth when only 21 years after the event
South Australians could not agree whether the proclamation was or was not read
under the Temple Bar "cripple".
22 December 1883, page 25e;
also see Observer,
25 June 1887, page 29a,
6 January 1900, page 45a,
"Preserving the Old Gum Tree" in the Advertiser,
6 March 1907, page 6d.
"At the Old Gum Tree" is in the Register,
29 December 1898, page
5i.
"Mark Twain on Proclamation Day - Racy Talk About Pioneers" is in the
Advertiser,
28 December 1907, page 9e.
A photograph of the Governor and party under the tree is in the Chronicle,
1 January 1910, page 28,
of the Glenelg corporation in the
Observer,
4 January 1919, page 24.
An interesting letter concerning Proclamation Day appears in the Register,
6 April 1911, page 9a.
A history of the event appears on 29 December
1913, page 7a.
An obituary of Daniel Wickham is in the Observer, 14 October 1911, page 34b; it includes the following:
- He often visited the locality... and maintained firmly that the arched old
stump was the identical one under which the historical ceremony took place...
27 December 1913, page 8c.
An 1876 sketch is in The Critic,
1 January 1913, page 10.
"Historic Trees" is in the Register,
10 October 1918, page 7c.
"The Glenelg Gumtree", by A.T. Saunders, is in the Register,
16
July 1920, page 8h.
"Philosophy of the Old Gum Tree" is in the Register,
29 December
1921, page 6f; also see 28 December 1922, page 9d.
"The Old Gum Tree - A Question of Identity" is in the Register,
28
December 1923, page 9a,
"Is It the Proclamation Tree?" on 29 December 1924,
page 8b.
A proposal to make the land a national reserve is traversed on 10
July 1926, page 13a.
"The Old Gum Tree - Its Own Story" is in the Register,
27 December
1927, page 12,
"A Natural Relic - The Old Gum Tree", by Rev John Blacket, on
13 February 1928, page 12c.
"The Foundation of South Australia - A Story for Commemoration Day" is in
theRegister,
25 December 1926, page 13b,
"The 28th - 1837-1857" on
29 December 1926, page 11f;
also see Advertiser, 23 July 1928, pages
8-11.
"The Old Gum Tree" by Rev John Blacket is in the Observer,
18
February 1928, page 56a.
A poem attributed to Mr J. Sadler is reproduced in the
Advertiser,
28 December 1929, page 17h; the first of two verses reads:
- Long years ago in the Gum-tree's shade,
I stood when the famous speech was made;
Still to my memory strong it sticks.
Though that was in eighteen thirty-six;
I'm certain of its identity -
I swear its the proclamation tree.
for comments from Mr A.T. Saunders see 31 December 1929.
"Old Gum Tree and State's History" is in the Advertiser,
20
December 1934, page 16e.
"Is the Old Gum Tree Genuine?", by Rev John Blacket, is in The
News,
1 January 1935, page 4f:
- I know from personal study of the surroundings of the tree, compared with
early documents, that the tree marks the spot of the proclamation.
3 July 1936, page 20h:
- ... This evidence is distinctly in support of Gouger's diary records and
drawing, and definitely against the idea that the Proclamation was read under
the old bent tree...
- Around this old gum tree the children of the pioneer settlers of South
Australia played in the earliest days of settlement of the province. Their
wistful parents called it the "Temple Bar". Nearby the proclamation of the
province was read on December 28 1836. This tablet was erected December 28
1936.
13 June 1935, page 48d.
"The Old Gum Tree", Glenelg - Is It The Proclamation Tree, a pamphlet researched and written by J.S. Rees, is held in the Mortlock Library (See A 1128). (An exposition of the above information has been compiled by the author and lodged in the Mortlock Library - Personal Record Group 412.)
Glenelg
Glenelg, River - Goodwood
G