Reference Letter for British Migrant Edward Dean
Date20 May 1852
Object number00055178
NameLetter
MediumInk on paper
(Iron gall)
DimensionsOverall: 248 × 204 × 1 mm
ClassificationsEphemera
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Patrick St George
DescriptionThis reference letter was written for Edward Dean by his employer in London, to recommend him for employment following his decision to settle in Australia in 1852.
Dean was in the tallow trade in London before arriving in Sydney in 1852 and according to this reference was "steady, honest and industrious."HistoryEdward Dean (1828-1905) was born on 29 December 1828 and baptised on 1 March 1829 at St Mary’s at Dover in Kent, England. He had seven siblings (two brothers and five sisters). One of his sisters, Rebacker married and migrated to Tasmania with her husband. Some of their descendants are living in Sydney.
Edward was in the tallow trade in London before arriving in Sydney in 1852. He paid for his own passage in steerage class on the newly-built ROXBURGH CASTLE. In 1859 he was working in a Sydney timber yard. Later in life he was a caretaker at Sydney Town Hall.
Edward married Catherine Crowley on 5 March 1855 at St Andrew’s Cathedral. Catherine was one of the Irish famine orphans who were sent to Sydney on the JOHN KNOX in 1849. Edward and Catherine had four children.
At the time of his death on 13 September 1905 his address was listed as 48 Station Street, Newtown. He must have done reasonably well during his time in Australia as he owned three houses around Darlington.SignificanceThe letter is a rare, handwritten personal document relating to British free settlement in the mid-19th century.
