Testimonial for William Joseph Burley from James Barrett

Date16 January 1888

Object numberANMS0274[007]

NameTestimonial

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 117 × 115 mm, 2 g

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from H McKellar

Terms

DescriptionA handwritten testimonial for William Joseph Burley from James Barrett, chief engineer of SS GILSLAND. Burley had worked on the GILSLAND as a donkeyman and Barrett had always found him to be "strictly sober, very willing and intelligent and a thoroughly reliable man". HistoryWilliam J Burley is a good example of the kinds of seamen who are threaded through Australia's maritime past. Born in the Maritime Provinces of Canada around 1862, dates are inconsistent in his documents, he sailed in small steamers to China, the Middle East and Australia for twenty years or so, with Britain as his base, before going ashore in Australia and probably ending his days here. Three other documents in the collection show that Burley eventually became a labourer in Tamworth, New South Wales and was trying to get a pension in 1925. He would have been only 63 if the birth date in his discharge book was true. Burley worked as a donkey man in the engine rooms of steamships in the days when they were beginning to overtake sail. He also had work as a storekeeper. Some of the vessels Burley crewed on were ROSNILL CASTLE, ROXBURGH, ARDGAY and GILSLAND. SignificanceThis letter is part of a collection of papers relating to the career of William Joseph Burley who worked in the engine rooms of various steam vessels. Together they represent a picture of a small-time merchant seaman in the 1880s and 1890s.