John Cotton | The Goulburn Ranges, Doogallook | SOLD
The Goulburn Ranges, Doogallook c1844
26 cm x 37 cm
Ink on paper
A beautiful record of The Goulburn Ranges near Doogallook, a station that was run by Cotton, that comprised of 30,000 acres.
The drawing relates to a period in 1844 when Cotton was preparing a book tentatively titled ‘Birds of Port Phillip District New South Wales’. The book was never published in his lifetime. His sketchbooks depicting the content was published in 1974, along with addition drawings depicting his life on Doogallook. This sketchbook resides in the State Library of Victoria.
Page 22 of this book titled ‘John Cotton’s Birds of The Port Phillip District Of New South Wales 1843-1849′depicts a drawing that bears a resemblance. The figure on the right is speculated by the family to be John Cotton himself overlooking the range. Our drawing appears to be from the same period of ink works, and given the history of family ownership of the piece was likely chosen as a family memento.
An interesting fact about Cotton, was that he was the Grandfather of Ellis Rowen, one of the most talented and stout personalities of colonial Australian art history.
inscribed lower centre: The Goulburn Ranges, Doogallook
Provenance
John Cotton, Esq. of Doogallook
Thence by descent thereafter, Charles Ryan and Marian Cotton
Sir Charles Snodgrass Ryan (By Descent)
The collection of Lady Maie Casey (By Descent)
The collection of Jane McGowan
Original works by John cotton are held in the following collections:
Mitchell library of New South Wales
The State Library of Victoria
Museum of Victoria
SOLD
John Cotton 1802- 1849
John Cotton, pastoralist and naturalist, was born at Balham Hill, Clapham Common, London, the third son of William Cotton (1759-1816), and his wife Catherine, daughter of Rev. William Savery. John was educated at Crediton Grammar School and Oxford where he studied law. Afterwards he served his articles with a legal firm. He married Susannah Edwards and in January 1843 with his wife, four sons, five daughters and some female servants sailed for Australia in the Parkfield and arrived at Port Phillip in May.
Before he emigrated Cotton had published The Resident Song Birds of Great Britain … (London, 1835), and an enlarged edition of the same work, The Song Birds of Great Britain (London, 1836), with thirty-three coloured plates. After his arrival he published Journal of a Voyage in the Barque ‘Parkfield’ … in the Year 1843 (London, 1845). This contains a number of poems, and Cotton shares with Richard Howitt (Impressions of Australia Felix … Australian Poems … London, 1845) the distinction of publishing overseas the first verse to come from Victoria.
After arrival at Port Phillip Cotton and his family spent some months at Balham Hill in the Goulburn River valley with John’s younger brother, Edward, who had arrived a short time before, and in September 1843 John took up a near-by station, Doogallook, 26,800 acres (10,846 ha) with 1800 sheep and 400 cattle.
Next year he acquired Maintoongoon, 28,000 acres (11,331 ha), on the Delatite River. By 1846 he held more than sixty sq. miles (155 km²) and expected to shear 10,000 sheep. Meanwhile Cotton found time to continue his study of birds, and to write a series of letters, now of great historical value, to his eldest brother William in England.
His list of Victorian birds appeared in the Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science, vol. 3, 1848. He was made a fellow of the Royal Zoological Society for his work on birds.
Cotton died on 15 December 1849, leaving a widow who died in 1852, and ten children.
He had planned a book on the birds of Port Phillip illustrated with coloured plates from his own drawings, but this did not eventuate.
Cotton’s daughter Marian married Charles Ryan, father of Major-General Sir Charles Ryan and of Mrs Ellis Rowan, flower painter; Charlotte married Peter Snodgrass; Caroline married Albert A. C. Le Souef and among their children were three distinguished zoologists: William H. Dudley, Ernest A. and Albert Sherbourne Le Souef.
