THE FREAK
Date1847
Object number00055454
NamePainting
Mediumwatercolour and gouache on paper, cardboard
DimensionsOverall (mounted): 364 × 450 × 11 mm
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift from the Lumsden family
DescriptionWatercolour painting by artist Frederick Garling titled' The FREAK. 241 Tons. Captn. T.B. Simpson. off Watson's Bay. 1847.' The painting features the two masted brigantine THE FREAK sailing off Watsons Bay on Sydney Harbour. To the right of the vessel are five Aboriginal people fishing from an anchored boat. North Head can be seen on the left hand side at the entrance to the harbour.
HistoryIn 1849 the artist Frederick Garling lent 18 watercolours to the first exhibition for the Society for the Promotion of the Fine Arts in Australia. One of his patrons, Mr Jobson lent a work by the artist entitled 'The Oliver Cromwell in a gale' that was described by the reviewer in the Sydney Morning Herald 2 June 1849 as 'the only bit from the pencil of a gentlemen who, born and educated in the colony, is more particularly identified with colonial art. It is a pleasing drawing, clear, free and easy, but the water is somewhat deficient in transparency and colour.' Garling was in fact born in England and travelled to Sydney as a child in 1814 with his family and father Frederick Senior, appointed Crown Solicitor in the colony. Garling was often around the Harbour, working as a landing waiter and landing surveyor for the Customs office and from 1853 living on their upper reached of the Harbour. He advertised as a marine artist, supplementing his income with commissions from ship masters or owners for paintings of their ships, such as the newly built Freak, a ship portrait commissioned from the owner, on his first visit as master of the vessel to Sydney.
The 244 ton brigantine Freak was built on the Clarence River at the yard of Messrs William and Henry Chowne for Captn Simpson and Thomas Small of Kissing Point NSW. The ship portrait dates from the year the vessel was launched and was most probably commissioned by Simpson to commemorate the newly launched ship's first visit to Sydney Harbour in 1847.
Captn 'TB Simpson, well known for many years to the mercantile community of this colony as a persevering and industrious as well as competent navigator.'
The Freak. Sydney Chronicle 2 june 1847
History of ownership
At launch the Freak was owned in equal shares by Thomas Simpson and Thomas Small ; Master Thomas Beckford Simpson. The brig had one deck, two masts and was 91 feet long.
1851 Feb.: Thomas Beckford Simpson.
1851 Mar.: T.B.Simpson & James Willianson. 1851 Mar.: James Williamson, Charles Mitchell & Henry Burns.
1854: Charles Smith.
1858: C.Smith, H.Fairclough & Alex.Brundal.
By 1862: Now 216t. 1862 Sept.: A.Smith & P.F.Hurley.
1864 May: Alexander Smail.
1867 Mar.: Thomas Fitzgerald & William Linklater.
1869 May: William Linklater & Charles Linklater.
1870 Mar.: Alexander Kerr, Bowenfels & C.H.Linklater.
1870 Nov.: Wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef.
6 July 1847 first voyage to Sydney Captn Simpson arrived from the Clarence River carrying Mrs Simpson and family and builder Mr William Chowne.
Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 - 1954), Wednesday 7 July 1847, page 2
On 2 September 1847 Freak was sailing for Mauritius and was carrying, among other things, biscuits, beef, bran, salt, sugar, tongues, hats, books, cheese and vestments
Sydney Chronicle (NSW: 1846 - 1848), Saturday 4 September 1847, page 2 NLA
Simpson sailed back to Sydney returned from Calcutta April 1848
And then from Melbourne and on to Adelaide end September 1848 carrying troops under government charter
Port Phillip Patriot and Morning Advertiser (Vic.: 1845 - 1848), Saturday 23 September 1848, page 3
“The Freak has been chartered by the Commissariat to take detachments of troops from Sydney to Launceston, from Launceston to Melbourne, from Melbourne, to Adelaide, and from Adelaide to Sydney".—Sydney Morning Herald.
South Australian Gazette and Mining Journal (Adelaide, SA: 1847 - 1852), Saturday 19 August 1848, page 4
6 sept 1848 Williams master, Agent John Thompson, 4 sept Launceston from sydney to two officers, 123 men, 6 women, 12 children of 99th regiment, govt stores and baggage; tobacco, salt, sugar, flour.
Launceston Examiner (Tas: 1842 - 1899), Wednesday 6 September 1848, page 6
September 1848 Williams commander, left Melbourne for Adelaide Major Reeves and 70 rank and file of the 99th regiment. Port Philip patriot and Morning Advertiser 23 sept 1848
In April 1849 Simpson was commissioned by the government to search for assistant surveyor Edmind Kennedy's gravesite with his guide Galmarra (Galmahra or Jackey Jackey) and two Aboriginal men (one Galmarra's brother) and one [male] Chinese passenger, leaving sydney 6 April for far Rockingham Bay far north Queensland, then Port Essington and China. SMH 7 april p2
'We perceive that Jackey Jackey, the faithful servant of the late Mr. Kennedy, left Sydney with two other aboriginals and a chinaman, in the Freak brig, on the 6th instant.
The vessel was bound for Port Essington and China. No other passengers are reported as being on board.' The Moreton bay courier 21 april 1849 p3
In december 29 Freak returned from Shanghai with a cargo of hysonskin tea, congou, sundries, 2 arab horse, crockery, personal cases for individuals in Hobart town and Adelaide, and 19 packages of flower pots, 4 cases of plants (for Simpson himself)
(SMH 31 dec 1849)
Simpson made serveral further trips to China when he retruend with more exotic plants to great interest of plant collectors in Sydney, including Willaim Macleay.
Association with Galmarra (or Galmahra) known as Jackey Jackey - the Freak in the search for Edmund Kennedy's body
Jackey Jackey (d.1854), Aboriginal guide, was a member of a tribe of the Merton district near Muswellbrook. He was probably little more than a boy when at short notice in April 1848 he was selected to accompany the explorer Edmund Kennedy on his expedition in Cape York Peninsula. He soon acquired a reputation for hard work, sagacity and superb bushcraft; as privation and disaster gradually overcame the party he steadily emerged as one of its strongest members. The worse conditions became the more it seemed that he could be relied on. Finally a rear party was left at Weymouth Bay; Jackey and Kennedy pressed on towards Cape York, first with three others, then alone, only to find that they were trapped by the mangroves and swamps of the Escape River within a few miles of the waiting supply ship. There blacks attacked them and Kennedy was killed; still in danger Jackey buried him and then made his own escape. With heroic tenacity he made his way at last to the supply ship, reaching it about a fortnight later on 23 December 1848. Though completely exhausted, he could not rest the first night of his return, but grieved for his dead master.
The deep rapport between Kennedy and Jackey was again demonstrated in May 1849 when under Captain T. Beckford Simpson Jackey served as guide on another expedition to trace any other survivors and find Kennedy's body. They were unsuccessful, but Simpson praised Jackey's skill, modesty, respectful manner and touching devotion to Kennedy's memory. Ominously, however, he referred to Jackey's one weakness: his 'fondness for ardent spirits'.
On his return Jackey was widely honoured by a silver breast-plate presented by Governor Sir Charles FitzRoy, by a government gratuity, and by drinks stood for him by an admiring public. By 1850 he was back with his tribe 'naked, with the exception of his old blanket round him'; he later drifted about aimlessly until, in the early days of 1854 when thirty miles (48 km) from Albury on an overlanding journey, he fell drunkenly into the camp fire and was burned to death.
Australian Dictionary of Biography Jackey Jackey
29 December 1849 Captn Simpson arrived in Sydney from Shanghai left 20 October, carrying chests of hyonskin tea, congou, two Arab horses, preserves, tea, crockery, flowerpots, mats and plants. SMH 31 dec 1949
Simpson imported more exotic plants from further trips to China in 1850-51 which created great interest among plant collectors in the colony including William Macleay.
In 1862-1864 made several voyages trading between Newcastle to Port Adelaide
From the 1850s to late 1866-67 Under Capts Fairclough Sutton and later Linklater Freak sailed between Sydney and the Pacific_ 'South sea Island port' - Rotumah in Fiji, New Caledonia and Vanuatu engaged in moving Vanuatu workers to and from Australia, possibly as labourers.
1870 November the Freak was wrecked far north Queensland with a cargo of Beche de mer.
Frederick Garling
In 1847 Frederick Garling was one of the most accomplished and prolific artists working on marine subjects in Sydney. He was born in London on 23 February 1806 and came to Australia with his parents in 1815. As a semi-professional with some formal training, Garling exhibited at the Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts in Australia in the late 1840s. He later advertised as a marine artist. From 1827 until 1859 Garling worked for the Customs office as a landing waiter and from 1849 as a landing surveyor. His close experience of ships shows in his work. His output was tremendous, and his paintings of ships and yachts are recognised for their fine, evocative and descriptive qualities. He died in Sydney on 16 November 1873.
In the first exhibition of the Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts in Australia 1847 Garling exhibited three works. See the following review from the Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Monday 26 July 1847, page 2
'The next on the list is Mr. Garling. His
works are—
135. A Wharf in Darling Harbour.
165. The Britomart off Sydney Heads, signalling for a pilot.
185. A View of Sydney from the North Shore.
Garling we look upon as one of our best marine painters, though he has still some lessons to learn. He understands the build of a ship well, and he gives us something more than a bare likeness of a ship—he paints a picture—he has some knowledge of breadth of effect, but there is a stiffness in the water, and a want of toning in his pictures, which he ought to struggle against ; and he has some noble examples in the exhibition for educating his eye on these points. His landscapes are not to be compared with his marine views.'
In the second exhibition of the Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts in Australia in 1849 Garling exhibited loan works and a Mr Jobson exhibited one work by him. Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Saturday 2 June 1849, page 3 described reviewed ' The Oliver Cromwell in a Gale- F. Garling.-Property of Mr.Jobson. The only bit from the pencil of a gentlemen who born and educated in the Colony, it more particularly identified with colonial art. It is a pleasing drawing, clear, free, and easy, but the water is somewhat deficient in transparency and colour. '
The 241 ton brig Freak is pictured by Garling on its first visit to Sydney in June 1847. It is a vessel with an interesting history. It was the second largest of vessels over 20 tons built in the colony in 1847 - one of three brigs, 12 schooners and one ketch noted in the census of October 1847 (SMH 7 Oct). Built on the Clarence River by Chownes, it was named by Mrs Simpson, the wife of the majority owner and Master Thomas Beckford Simpson who had aspirations to the China trade. Simpson made several voyages to China in the Freak before he sold it in 1851, returning with teas and exotic plants. He carried mixed cargoes around the colonies and in 1848 was commissioned to carry troops under government charter.
In 1849 Simpson was commissioned in the Freak to take Galmarra (or Galmahra, widely heralded at the time as Jackey Jackey) and two Aboriginal men (one Galmarra's brother) to Rockingham Bay, far north Queensland to search for Assistant Surveyor Edmund Kennedy's body and belongings. Freak also carried one Chinese passenger, leaving Sydney 6 April for far north Queensland, Port Essington and China. Galmarra located Kennedy's gravesite but his body was not found.
From the 1850s the Freak was trading along the east coast and between Sydney, Vanuatu, Fiji and Noumea trading sugar, coconut oil, gunpowder, and carrying passengers, supernumeraries or labourers - unnamed 'natives of the South Sea Islands' - to and from Sydney and the various ports of the South Sea Islands.
In November 1870 when the vessel was wrecked on a reef in Providential Channel in the Gulf of Carpentaria with its cargo of beche-de-mer its 33 crew included at least 12 South Sea Islanders. All 33 crew were eventually saved, master William Walton launched the boats, 27 crew made it to Somerset, Cape York after four days and one boat capsized with its six South Sea Islander crewmembers. They were rescued by the Princess Alexandra. The survivors were variously conveyed to Townsville, Sydney and the Kanakas homes (Queenslander 28 October 1871) by the Pakeha, HMS Rosario and Princess Alexandra.
This ship portrait features the original commissioning inscription and demonstrates the bustle of Harbour life which inlcudes Aboriginal fishing practices, in 1847 and the importance of shipping in the development of the NSW and Australian colonies, underlining the lineage to the massive containers that supply the state today.
Garling was a customs officer who supplemented his income with ship portraiture.
SignificanceFrederick Garling was one of one of Australia’s most accomplished 19th century maritime artists who recorded the comings, goings, pageantry and performance on the Harbour for nearly 50 years, covering the end of transportation, the development of colonial shipping and ship building, the rush for gold and the increasing mercantile energy and growth of the colony.
Beyond the ship itself another important layer to its significance is that in the foreground of this work Garling has depicted a rare scene of Aboriginal people fishing from an anchored boat in the Harbour - a rare, important and late view of enduring traditional practices in a European type of craft.
