Truelove

• Stuart, Charles William

About STUART, Charles William, Snr

Charles William Stuart transferred his belongings to the EMMA for the short trip to the town of Adelaide on December 8th, 1836.

December 8th - Departed Nepean Bay to St Vincent's Gulf, taking the JOHN PIRIE stock, anchored on the other side of the bay through stress of weather, then continued on Dec. 9th. Passengers: 2 survivors of the AFRICAINE expedition and Capt. G. Martin - Chartered by the S.A. Co. from J.Pirie.

December 9th - Departed Nepean Bay via Rapid Bay, arrived Holdfast Bay December 11th, 1836.

Charles William Stuart (1811-1891) who served as an Inspector in the South Australian Police Force 1850-53, during the gold escort era, and had bitter altercations with Alexander Tolmer, leading to the latter's demotion from Commissioner.

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN PIONEERS.

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir— In answer to Mr. Hiram Mildred's letter in the Register of August 18, as to who are the pioneers of our City of Adelaide, &c., I should say that those here on or before the proclamation of the colony by Captain Hindmarsh, R.N., and those only, are pioneers. Those who came after that day are early colonists; the colony was a fact, and more pioneers could not arrive.

Mr. Mildred in the same letter in the list of arrivals omits the Truelove, which left Sydney November 14, 1836, and arrived in Nepean Bay November 27 ; he omits also the Tam o' Shanter, which arrived at the same place December 6 the same year. The Truelove was bound from Sydney to Swan River with a cargo of Yankee notions, and as I, then in New South Wales, was unable to get a passage from Sydney to Nepean Bay direct, I bargained with the captain of the Truelove to land me at Nepean Bay, with nearly a ton of stores, &c, and two kangaroo dogs, for a given sum. I was strongly advised by friends in Sydney not to proceed to Kangaroo Island till I was sure some one was there, but Captain Colton, of the Truelove, to meet this difficulty contracted to stay with me twenty-four hours, and if none of the ships from England had arrived, or I did not like to remain, he was to take me round to Swan River and back to Sydney for the money paid.

So determined, however, was I to remain that I brought from Sydney, besides my dogs and firearms, one barrel of pork, three do. of flour, sugar, tea, &c, and a tent.

Mr. Samuel Stephens, the then Manager of the S.A. Company, and Mr. John Hallett were the first persons I met on the island. At Mr. Stephen's request I took him on board the Truelove, when he purchased of the captain the whole of the cargo intended for Swan River, and sent the Truelove back to Sydney for another cargo for the S.A. Company. On the Truelove's return, the late Mr. Emanuel Solomon came with her, and he became from that day a good and enterprising colonist of South Australia.

On December 5, 1836, I signed an agreement with Mr. Stephens, for two years, as Superintendent of the S.A. Company's stock, horses, cattle, and sheep, and also of the indented immigrants to the Company as they should arrive, at a salary of £100 the first year and of £150 the second, with rations, and I sold to the Company the stores I brought from Sydney at a profit.

I was also introduced the same day to Mr. H. Alford, afterwards so well known as Inspector of Mounted Police. Thus I was instrumental, through my agreement with Captain Colton, in bringing to the colony a supply of stores much required and introducing trade and a good and valuable colonist in the person of Mr. Emanuel Solomon.

I am, Sir, &c, C. W. STUART, Formerly Commissioner of Police and Police Magistrate for the colony at large.

Birth Notes

Charles Stuart was born in St Marylebone, London in 1812. He was the illegitimate son of Sir Charles Cunningham KCH, an officer in the British Royal Navy in the late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Centuries, who attained the rank of Rear-Admiral. Charles Stuart's mother, Laetitia Stephens, was married to Captain Charles Stuart RN, and later married Charles Fortnum, an heir to the upmarket Fortnum & Mason department store in Piccadilly, London.

Immigration Notes

On December 5th 1836, he transferred his belongings to the EMMA for the short trip to the town of Adelaide on December 8th, 1836.

Immigration Citation

Birth Citation

Death Citation

Marriage (m. ALLEN, Sarah Matilda) Citation

Mr. C. W. Stuart has kindly furnished me from his notes with the account of his landing at the island, which is interesting as mentioning the arrival of a cargo of goods which had been shipped to find a market in Swan River Settlement, but which were purchased by Mr. S. Stephens, and formed the first opening of trade between the infant colony of South Australia and the much older colony of New South Wales. Mr. Stuart says : —

"In September, 1833, I left London in the barque Atwick, 500 tons, Captain Hugh McKay, bound for Hobart Town and Sydney. The latter place we reached after a fortnight's detention at Hobart Town, in a little less than five months from Gravesend. I left the ship in Sydney with little less grief than I had felt at leaving home. After recruiting for a few weeks at a friend's house in Sydney, to whom I had letters, I took a passage in the Lambton cutter to Port Stephens, about 180 miles to the north of Port Jackson. Here I remained about two years, my attention chiefly directed to cattle, the country near the coast being well adapted for cattle and horses. While still living at Port Stephens, early in 1836 I received from London a land order for a preliminary section of land and a town acre, in a new colony to be called South Australia.

" My determination was soon made to start to Sydney and to find my way to Nepean Bay, Kangaroo Island, as directed, where they were first to rendezvous. My friends did all they could to persuade me to remain in New South Wales, hinting that the new colony must be a failure — land at one pound an acre and free labour against land at five shillings an acre, as it was in Sydney; and convict labour available. On arriving in Sydney, I found that South Australia was scarcely known there ; and as to communication with Kangaroo Island there was none.

" The late Emanuel Solomon had at that time a place of business in George Street, on which was posted a notice that the schooner Truelove was to sail for Swan River on a day mentioned, and would take passengers from Sydney to that place. I went into the office and asked Mr. Solomon if the Truelove would put into Nepean Bay, Kangaroo Island.

" He was astonished at my question and said he did not know, and asked my object in inquiring. On my telling him I wanted a passage there, and information about the new colony, he seemed to think that I had been duped, and advised me not on any account to go to Kangaroo Island till I knew positively that some vessels had arrived there from England. He told me to see the captain of the Truelove, who would give me more information on the subject than he could.

" I saw the captain of the Truelove, Colton. His advice to me was much the same as Mr. Solomon's, but at the same time, for a certain sum, he would take me to Nepean Bay, and, wind and weather permitting, he would remain there twenty-four hours, and if no ships from London had arrived, and I did not like to remain, he would take me on to Swan River and back to Sydney for the same money. It was a liberal offer, and I accepted it.

" A few days after I went on board the Truelove, with about one ton of stores and two kangaroo dogs. After a pleasant run of fourteen days we were caught in a heavy S.W. gale, and being near the island, the vessel was hove to for the night. Next morning at daylight a brig was descried seven miles ahead, evidently steering for Nepean Bay. We followed her, and a few hours later let go our anchor near to her in Nepean Bay, and she proved to be the John Pirie, belonging to the South Australian Company, and had just returned from Hobart Town. There were then lying in Nepean Bay the ships Cygnet and Africaine, and the brig Rapid. I went on shore immediately in the ship's boat, and on landing was surprised to see the (to me) strange appearance of the people just come from England, many of them clad in smock frocks, with gaiters, &c.

" On asking where the Governor was to be seen, I learnt that he had not yet arrived, but I was introduced to the Manager of the South Australian Company, Mr. Samuel Stephens. Mr. Stephens was very courteous ; and on my telling him my name, and informing him that I had land orders, he warmly welcomed me, asked me to his tent to lunch, and introduced me to Mrs. Stephens. The Truelove was the first vessel that had arrived in Nepean Bay from Sydney, and being laden with stores and provisions on a trading venture for Swan River, Mr. Stephens asked me to take him on board and introduce him to the captain. The consequence of this introduction was that Mr. Stephens bought the cargo of the Truelove, and sent her back to Sydney for more necessaries.

" The day after I landed I was introduced by Mr. Stephens to the following colonists : Mr. J. Hallett, Captain Duff, Messrs. C. S. Hare, T. H. Beare and M. Smith, Esq., solicitor, and to the sons of the last two gentlemen, W. L. Beare, Esq., Justice of the Peace, of Clare, and H. J. Smith, Esq., S. M. Naracoorte, the only survivors at this time. "

• John Wrathall Bull, 1883. "Early Experiences of Life in South Australia - an Extended Colonial History" Book 1, Chapter 2.