24 Facts About James Bonwick

James Bonwick was an English-born Australian historical and educational writer.

James Bonwick, the elder, was a man of some mechanical ability, but he suffered from ill health, and his children were brought up in poor circumstances.

James Bonwick was a successful teacher in Hobart for eight years and published the first of his many school books Geography for the Use of Australian Youth in 1845.

James Bonwick went to Adelaide in 1850, and opened a private school.

James Bonwick did not find much gold, but his health benefited.

James Bonwick then went to Melbourne where he published The Australian Gold-Diggers' Monthly Magazine from October 1852 until its final edition in May 1853.

James Bonwick then established a successful boarding school at Kew now a suburb of Melbourne.

James Bonwick had already published several school books and pamphlets, when in 1856 he published his Discovery and Settlement of Port Phillip, the first of his historical works.

James Bonwick then made Ballarat his centre and worked there for about four years.

James Bonwick was given 18 months' leave of absence, but was unable to continue this work.

James Bonwick was never able to ride a horse again, and he was always liable to have an attack of giddiness.

James Bonwick visited England in 1860 and then returned to Melbourne in July 1862 and opened a school in the suburb of St Kilda, which became very prosperous.

James Bonwick paid another visit to England with his wife, leaving the school in the hands of a son and a friend of his.

James Bonwick was doing much writing, and in the ensuing years travelled in various parts of Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

James Bonwick extended his repertoire, focusing on the history of Colonial Australia and religious subjects.

James Bonwick began examining historical records of Australian interest in London in 1884 and in 1887 he was authorised by the New South Wales Colonial Secretary, Sir Henry Parkes to transcribe Governors' despatches from the Public Record Office as part of a drive to collect records for an official centenary history of New South Wales.

James Bonwick was appointed archivist for the New South Wales government in 1888 and continued until 1902.

James Bonwick compiled what became known as the Bonwick Transcripts.

James Bonwick died in 1901 and he felt her loss keenly.

James Bonwick completed and published in 1902 his final volume, an autobiography, An Octogenarian's Reminiscences, and died on 6 February 1906.

James Bonwick was a religious man, full of nervous energy and passion for his work.

James Bonwick is best remembered for his transcripts of British Government records that formed the basis of the reference work: Historical Records of New South Wales.

James Bonwick's selections were arbitrary and he was accused of censorship and excluding material that reflected poorly on individuals whether government officials, the military and free settlers, or drew attention to convict origins.

The James Bonwick Transcripts were transferred to the Mitchell Library when it was founded in 1910 as the "Australiana" Wing of the Library.