S.T. Gill on the Horrocks Expedition, 1846

Contents

In this article ...

• Introduction
  • Mapping the Expedition and Gill's Pictures
• Adelaide to Penwortham
• From Field Sketches to Exhibition Pictures
  • Art Materials
  • Rough Watercolours (AGSA 0.1542, 0.1543, 0.1544)
  • On the Back
• Works
• References
• Notes
• List of Works

Introduction

John Ainsworth Horrocks (1818 – 1846) led a small expedition in 1846 intending to push European exploration to the northwest of the head of Spencer's Gulf. S.T. Gill was one of the expeditioners, as accompanying artist.

Gill accompanied Horrocks' expedition from July to September 1846. This article doesn't retell the expedition, but instead focusses on Gill's artistic effort during the expedition.

Horrocks kept a journal from when his party started from Penwortham village on 29 July and up to 27 August 1846. He was fatally wounded on 1 September in a firearms handling accident. See John Ainsworth Horrocks' 1846 Expedition Journal.

A section of Gill's journal – 8 August to 24 September – was published as Progress Of Discovery – Expedition To The North-West in the South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register on 10 October 1846. Gill's was the only journal publicly available immediately after the expedition (and he changed a little of the narrative).

Most of the expedition scenes that are familiar to us are Gill's fine watercolours completed after returning; they were done in preparation for a raffle and 1847 exhibition.

For more on the journals and these pictures, see the earlier article: S.T. Gill's Horrocks Expedition Pictures 1846-1847.

This article focusses on Gill's artistic work actually on the expedition, rather then his exhibition works after returning.

Mapping the Expedition and Gill's Pictures

The map shows the approximate route of the Horrocks expedition, includes extracts from Horrocks' and Gill's journals and locates Gill's main pictures. The map opens in a new window.

Open map in full screen.

Adelaide to Penwortham

The evening before departing Adelaide Gill gave a supper for his friends, a subject itself of some artistic historical curiosity. (See ← Narrative.)

The expedition members left Adelaide on the morning of Saturday 11 July – at least those who were in town and not already at Horrocks' property of Penwortham.

The expedition under the command of Mr Horrocks, the object of which is to explore the hitherto unknown country north-west of the ranges of Mount Arden, started from Adelaide on Saturday morning last. ... Mr Horrocks has taken with him rations for five months, and is accompanied by Mr Theakstone the friend and fellow-traveller of the late Mr Darke; Mr Gill the Artist; Martin Mann, a veteran soldier, late of the 96th; an aboriginal native who has been sometime in Mr Horrock's service; a man, named Bernard Koling; and last, not least, the camel (not par excellence, being the only one in the colony), but the one of which Mr Horrocks is esteemed the distinguished possessor by the wondering natives, and which will doubtless prove a valuable appendage.¹

The departees went as far as Horrocks' property, Penwortham, where they prepared for the expedition proper, eventually leaving there on 29 July.

This gave Gill opportunity of a fortnight in which to sketch. Two pictures in particular seem to originate from this residency and were later exhibited by Gill in February 1847:

• 077. Native decorated for Corroborrie, Mt. Horrocks
• 153. N. end of Penwortham Village.

Neither of these pictures are known to be extant. (They may have belonged to the Horrocks family in England.)

From Field Sketches to Exhibition Pictures

Following Horrocks death on 23 September 1846 and funeral Gill found himself somewhere "in the country" to finish fine watercolours from the sketches he made on the expedition.

Mr Gill is at present in the country, completing the sketches made during the expedition – with the view, we hope, of submitting them to the public when finished.²

Although we have these finely finished watercolours, what of Gill's original sketches on the expedition?

Art Materials

Gill's finished expedition pictures show himself with:

• a large format sketch book: Looking SW to Spencers [i.e. Spencer] Gulf and
• a large format sketch book and portfolio: Country NW of tableland, Aug. 22.

His large format sketch book or books are not known to be extant.

Rough Watercolours (AGSA 0.1542, 0.1543, 0.1544)

AGSA has three roughly worked watercolours on heavier paper (AGSA 0.1542, 0.1543, 0.1544; all provenance: Levinson, Mrs E.S. 1954) having a yellower colour palette than Gill's final expedition works. Their lack of refinement and lack of expedition members are clues these three may have been original expedition watercolour sketches.

On the Back

It's possible Gill reused some of his paper. On the back of Halt on stoney plain, August 31st | AGSA 997P38 is a preliminary pencil outline of Horrocks and Gill for Return of invalid / Sept. 5th | AGSA 0.1127.

Works

There is just a little evidence that we may have a few works Gill made on the expedition itself.

To see these works, with accompanying notes, just scroll down or jump to the List of Works.

References

Appleyard

Notes

• 1. South Australian Register, 15 July 1846: 3. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27453314>
• 2. South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register, 3 October 1846: 3. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article195934211>