Hunter Living Histories

A children’s book, penned by a woman and published in 1830, is possibly the earliest work of fiction set in Newcastle, Hunter’s River revolving around the relationships between settlers and Aboriginal people.

The book, by the name of Alfred Dudley; or, The Australian Settlers was published in London for Harvey and Darton, Gracechurch-Street in 1830, and is a fictional tale about a family who emigrate to Australia and live on the land somewhere between Newcastle and Sydney.

[PORTER, Sarah Ricardo].
ALFRED DUDLEY; OR, THE AUSTRALIAN SETTLERS.
London: Printed for Harvey and Darton, Gracechurch-Street, 1830.
vii, 193p, ill. 12mo.

The First Work of Fiction Set in the Hunter

Alfred Dudley or the Australian settlers (London: 1830) is a children’s book, which we consider the first work of fiction set on the Hunter River and focuses on relations between settlers and Aborigines. It predates James Tucker’s Adventures of Ralph Rashleigh – usually regarded as the earliest work of fiction on the Hunter – by some ten years.

The Author’s Connections to Robert Dawson, Port Stephens & the A.A. Company

The book bears no author stamp, but is recorded as being penned by Sarah Ricardo Porter. In the preface the author says she is grateful for the ‘kind communications’ and refers to The Present State of Australia by Robert Dawson, ‘late Chief Agent to the Australian Agricultural Company,’ who she says was her informant on the descriptions of the country and its native inhabitants.

Notes. (Ref: http://www.cf.ac.uk/encap/corvey/1830s/1830.html ) “OCLC attributes to ‘Sarah Porter, wife of George Richardson Porter’. Preface, p. [v]-vii, appears to target ‘youthful readers’, though not necessarily exclusively; the information relating to the ‘life and habits’ of settlers has been supplied by ‘a gentleman who resided for some time in Australia’ (p. vi). Engraved plates illustrating Australian incidents and scenes. ‘Glossary of the Australian Language, enclosed in one of Alfred’s Letters’, on p. 193, after main narrative. Adv. list (2 pp. unn.) headed ‘Interesting Works Published by Harvey and Darton, Gracechurch-Street’, and consisting mostly of works for ‘young persons’. Printer’s mark and colophon of Joseph Rickerby, Sherbourn Lane. Further edns: 1832 (OCLC); ‘2nd edn.’ [1859] (NSTC, OCLC).”

Sarah Ricardo Porter

Sarah Porter (1791-1862) was a writer on education, wife of George Richardson Porter (1792-1852), and daughter of Abraham Ricardo, and sister of David Ricardo (principal founder of the classical school of political economy). She died on 13th September 1862 at West Hill, Wandsworth, aged 71.

What Other Books Did She Write?

1. ‘Conversations on Arithmetic’ London 1835, 12mo; new edition, with title ‘Rational Arithmetic’ &c., London 1852, 12mo.
2. ‘On Infant Schools for the Upper and Middle Classes’ (Central Society of Education, second publication, 1838, 12 mo).
3. ‘The Expediency and the Means of eleating the Profession of the Educator in public estimation. 1839, 12mo.

[Gent. Mag. 1852 ii 427-9, 1862 ii. 509; Annual Register, 1852, p.305; Journal of the Statistical Society, 1853, pp.97,98; Athenaeum; Waller’s Imperial Dictionary, iii. 594; M’Culloch’s Literature of Political Economy, pp.80, 220, 222.] W.A.S.H. [William Albert Samuel Hewins]

[Source: From The Dictionary of National Biography Founded in 1882 by George Smith Edited by Sir Leslie Stephen and Sir Sidney Lee From the Earliest Times to 1900 Vol.XVI Pocock -Robins. London: Humphrey Milford, 1917: 178-179]

How Can I See This Book?

You can make a booking in Auchmuty Library Special Collections Reading Room via the link:  Special Collections Reading Room
Remember to quote the title and call number: 823.7 HOWI-1 ALFR 1830

How Can I Learn More?

Read the book online through Archive.Org – https://archive.org/details/alfreddudleyora00dudlgoog/page/n6/mode/2up

We also recommend this excellent “A Course of Steady Reading” post on the book and it’s inner story, and Sergio Cremaschi’s “Sarah Ricardo’s Tale of Wealth and Virtue”

To read where Sarah Ricardo got her information from regarding Newcastle and Port Stephens read Robert Dawson’s Present State of Australia:

Dawson, Robert (1782-1866). The present state of Australia : a description of the country, its advantages and prospects, with reference to emigration : and a particular account of the manners, customs, and condition of its Aboriginal inhabitants. London : Smith, Elder, 1830.

And transcriptions of the original despatches from the Australian Agricultural Company relating to Aboriginal peoples held in the University of Newcastle’s Archives in Special Collections.

Gionni Di Gravio OAM
University Archivist & Chair Hunter Living Histories