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Joseph Gillott journal, book four

Author Joseph Gillott (1851 - 1939)

Date1881

Object numberANMS1471[005]

NameJournal

MediumPaper, ink

DimensionsOverall (Outer sheet open): 205 × 255 mm
Overall (Outer sheet closed): 205 × 128 mm
Overall (Inner sheet open): 205 × 263 mm
Overall (Inner sheet closed): 205 × 131 mm

ClassificationsBooks and journals

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift from Peter R Gillott

Terms

DescriptionA 271 page journal composed by Joseph Gillott (1851-1939) on his migration from England to Melbourne, Australia in 1881 aboard the P&O steamers KAISAR-I-HIND and ROSETTA. Book four was originally placed between the fourth and fifth sheets of the pink document organiser registered as ANMS1471[001]. HistoryGillott studied music at the Royal Conservatorium of Music in Leipzig, Germany and worked as a music teacher, concert musician and composer. He spent twenty years in Melbourne teaching music, giving concerts, composing and writing for the press. His body of work includes songs on patriotic themes and the subject of Federation, notably “Sons of the Southern Seas.” As an author, Gillott’s journal is written in an engaging style and contains vivid descriptions of conditions aboard ship, ports of call, his fellow passengers and daily life at sea. The journal is a significant example of its type, of notable literary quality detailing the migrant experience in the steamships of the last quarter of the 19th century.SignificanceThe journal is exemplary of its type. Although material detailing the migrant experience in the 1880s is not uncommon, due in part to rising rates of literacy, this is an outstanding account with rich narrative detail and literary quality. Gillott is also a figure of note as a colonial era composer, who with his nationalistic songs contributed to the conceptualisation of an Australian identity distinct from Britain in the pre-Federation era.