Bank of Australia Share certificate held by Captain George Bunn dated 1826, issued to Hannibal Macarthur
Date1820s
Object number00056186
NameCertificate
MediumVellum, iron gall ink
DimensionsOverall: 137 × 227 mm
ClassificationsEphemera
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift from Anita Birkin (nee Bunn) and Edward Bunn
DescriptionThis Bank of Australia share certificate speaks of the business interests of Captain George Bunn a shipping agent who arrived in Sydney in 1826 after making three convict voyages to the colonies between 1821 and 24 as Captain of the Countess of Harcourt carrying 172,171, 172 men respectively, with only one life lost en route.
He established offices and warehouses in Sydney's Rocks area near Circular Quay for London agents Buckle, Bagster & Buchanan and immersed himself in the local business world. He became a local magistrate, JP and in 1826 a founding director of the Bank of Australia, established by John Macarthur. Bunn expanded his business to western Darling Harbour, Sydney and was active in the Sydney regatta committee. It was during the regatta in January 1834 that news of Captain Bunn's death was received and races suspended, 'the amusements instantly ceased, and all the ships in the harbour lowered their ensigns half-mast-high'. Sydney Monitor, 10 January 1832.
Bunn died at Newstead, his home in Pyrmont where today Bunn St bears his name. Four years later his wife Anna Maria, nee Murray, was the anonymous author of the first novel published on mainland Australia entitled 'The Guardian: a tale' (by an Australian).HistoryGeorge Bunn
Born in London in 1790, George Bunn was one of 11 children of paymaster for the Regiment with connections to the East Indies. Four of his brothers were in the Royal Navy or the merchant service in the employ of merchant house Buckle Bagster and Buchanan (Buckle & Co) and George began his maritime career in 1807, possibly in non-commissioned service in the Royal Navy. (according to Holcomb UNE 2012)
Between 1821 and 24 Bunn brought three transports of convicts (respectively carrying 172, 171, 172 men) to Port Jackson and Hobart in the Countess of Harcourt, under charter by Buckle & Co. On the return voyage in 1824 in company with the HMS Tamar and colonial brig Lady Nelson the Countess of Harcourt carried troops, families and supplies to Melville Island in an attempt to open up trade to the north (at the fledgling outpost of Port Essington).
On 26 January 1826 Bunn returned to Sydney to settle as shipping agent for Buckle & Co on their chartered brig John Dunn as a passenger. He brought rope, iron, gunpowder, wine, brandy, rum and gin for his employers, and secured cargoes of wool, timber, treenails and sealskins in Sydney and Hobart on the ship’s return voyage to the UK.
Operating as George Bunn & Co at 98 George St Sydney, largely but not exclusively for Buckle & Co, Bunn immersed himself in civic and business circles, with his valuable London connections and access to funds. Buckle & Co had contracts with the East India Company and with HM Naval Commissioners for convict transports. The company diversified in the 1820s to become a major importer of wool from the Australian colonies for the British textile industry. On Buckle & Co’s behalf Bunn offered consignees free warehousing in George St or on the ship St Michael in Newcastle.
In November 1826 George Bunn was listed among the 24 shipping agents - owners and/or merchants - in the Port of Australia along with prominent names such as Robert Campbell (Snr and jnr), Simeon Lord and Berry & Wollstonecraft. (The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 25 Nov 1826 p3)
The following year he received a land grant of 2650 acres near Braidwood, NSW. In May 1828 the 39 year-old married 20 year-old Anna Marie Murray who had arrived the preceding year with her siblings and father Terence Murray, then paymaster of the 48th Regiment. Later in 1828 the muster records Bunn’s 2640 acres of land, 5 horses, 400 cattle and 6000 sheep. Bunn named his estate St Omer, (after Anna-Maria’s mother’s family estate in France? that's where mother died check with Anita) which remains in family hands today. Bunn diversified into banking, sealing, & whaling - investing in ships and land for a station in New Zealand - and in transport infrastructure, establishing a company to build a canal between the Parramatta and Hawkesbury Rivers. (Jan Holcomb 2012 UNE)
From 1832 Bunn began developing new sites to expand his operations - whaling facilities in Mosman and, on the western shore of Cockle Bay a wharf, warehouses and in 1833, Newstead at Pyrmont. Newstead was located at what is now Bunn St adjacent to the Novotel, Darling Harbour. It was to be a new home for his growing family with Anna Maria hi children John born 1830, George 1831, and Ellen 1833.
George Bunn died suddenly on 9 January 1834, aged 43. His funeral was grand and well attended.
Anna Maria Bunn (also known as Anna Maria Murray) was left with a large debt on his holdings. She remained at Newstead house and four years later was the anonymous author of The Guardian: a Tale (by an Australian) the first novel published on mainland Australia and the first on the continent by a woman. As the writer for Design and Art Australia Online observed ‘It sank without trace. Because incest figures largely in the plot, Walter Stone suggested it may have been suppressed by Mrs Bunn’s family, but the topic seems to have aroused no controversy at the time.’ George Bunn’s business George Bunn & Co passed to his business associate Edward Mowle who was co-executor of his estate as sole surviving partner. Mowle became embroiled in litigation with Buckle & Co. over settlement of that estate which lasted some years. Mowle died in 1840 and Anna Bunn eventually relocated to St Omers after a period leasing it out, to save it from creditors. (Holcomb UNE)
SignificanceThis bank share certificate was issued to Hannibal Macarthur in 1826 and held by fellow founding director of the Bank of Australia, George Bunn. Bunn (1790-1834) was a former convict transport master who migrated to New South South Wales as a shipping agent and became a prominent business identity in the port of Sydney. He joined fellow businessmen farmers including John Macarthur and his nephew Hannibal Macarthur in developing banking interests.
This is one of two share certificates for bank capital stock, each to the value of 100 pounds, issued respectively to Bunn (#1014) and Macarthur (#1126) in 1826. It was a period of economic depression, drought and financial turmoil in the colony when the Bank of New South Wales almost failed and Bunn, Macarthur and others secured a government loan to bail out both banks. Bunn bequeathed his bank stocks to members of his family, stiipulating in his will that they not be sold. The Bank of Australia failed during the economic depression in 1843.
The financial documents are rare records relating to this crisis in the young colony and to the mercantile life of the settler colony. Bunn, the former ship master also ran sheep and cattle, developed whaling interests in New Zealand and invested in a steam navigation company. He held positions of prominence as a local Magistrate and JP and in the recreational and social life of the colony.
