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ANNOUNCEMENT: Journal of Syms Covington
Dear STAMAsters
Hot from the offices of ASAP Canberra - "Pretty cool" says Tim.
Cheers ..... Gavan (Still under the influence of red wine at lunch time -
talking to a group of retired business and professional people at one of the
legendary Victorian venues - the Collingwood Football Club!!!)
>ANNOUNCING THE _THE JOURNAL OF SYMS COVINGTON_
>
>- Edited and annotated by Vern Weitzel
>
>Available on ASAPWeb:
>
>http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/covingto/contents.htm
>***********************************************************
>
>A recent addition to ASAPWeb is the electronic publication the annotated
>_Journal of Syms Covington_. Covington, who was eighteen years old when he
>began keeping this journal, was Charles Darwin's assistant on the second
>voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle, 1831-1836. Darwin was himself only 22 when he
>employed Covington using a portion of the allowance he received from his
>father! The Journal not only provides a new perspective of the journey which
>helped stimulate Darwin's theory of evolution, it also includes accounts of
>Covington's daily duties, which included finding food for Darwin at each
>port of call. It also records Covington's impressions of lands and people
>encountered over five years of voyaging in the New World, from the 'naked
>Indians' of Terra del Fuego to the citizens of Sydney, about whom Covington
>writes: 'Here a stranger must take care with whom he associates, as the
>place consists principally of convicts, or the most notorious characters of
>England; and a place I must say I was heartily happy to leave'.
>
>Despite his misgivings, Covington and his Journal arrived back in Australia
>in 1840, when Covington emigrated to New South Wales. He was soon married to
>an Australian woman from Stroud, and became Postmaster of Pambula on the
>South Coast in 1854, where remained until his death in 1861.
>
>The Journal was transcribed and annotated by Vern Weitzel (ANU), using the
>original copy held in the Mitchell Library (State Library of NSW). ASAP's
>WWW developer, Victoria Young, has turned Vern's work into a fascinating
>on-line experience, incorporating many of Covington's own sketches. Vern's
>work was previously unpublished, and provides a good example of the way the
>WWW can be used to make your research accessible to the world!
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------
>Tim Sherratt (Tim.Sherratt@asap.unimelb.edu.au)
>Manager, Canberra Office and Head of Information Services
>ASAP Canberra, GPO Box 783, Canberra ACT 2601 Ph: +61 (0)6 257 7985
>ASAPWeb! on http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/
>----> ASAP - Recovering Australia's Scientific Heritage
>
>
>
**********************************************
* Gavan McCarthy - Chief Archivist
* Australian Science Archives Project
* University of Melbourne
* 203 Bouverie Street
* Carlton, Vic. 3053 Australia
* gavan@asap.unimelb.edu.au
* Phone: +61 3 9347 9287 Fax: +61 3 9349 4630
* ASAPWeb! on http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/
* ------->Recovering Science and Technology in Australia
***********************************************