George Bouchier Worgan

George Bouchier Worgan (May 1757 – 4 March 1838) was an English naval surgeon who accompanied the First Fleet to Australia. He made several expeditions to the Hawkesbury River and Broken Bay areas north of Sydney and spent a year on Norfolk Island after the Sirius was wrecked there. There is no evidence that George Worgan was on board the Sirius when it was wrecked off Norfolk Island on 19 March 1790. This is confirmed below where it states “ but was not on board when it was wrecked in March 1790”. [1] Worgan recorded many of the events of the first year of the colony of New South Wales. Unlike his contemporary Watkin Tench, he did not publish his account.

Worgan's surviving papers, in the form of a letter to his brother in England, are now held at the Mitchell Library in Sydney. The letter includes a journal kept for the first six months after the First Fleet's arrival in Sydney Cove.[2] The journal was published in 1978[3] and in 2009.[4]

He married Mary Lawry, probably after his return from Australia, and they had two sons and a daughter. Both sons eventually migrated to Australia. His death certificate says he died of apoplexy at Liskeard on 4 March 1838, but there are other accounts which suggest suicide by hanging.[5]

Early life and family

George Worgan was christened at St Andrew's Holborn (London) on 3 May 1757. He was the third child of John Worgan (1724–1790) and Sarah Worgan (née Maclean) and their second boy. He joined the navy at 18, qualified as surgeon's second mate in February 1778 and naval surgeon in March 1780. He served for two years in the Pilote before joining the Sirius in November 1786. [6]

EventDate commencedDate ceased
Entered the navyFebruary 1778ca. 1800
Qualified as surgeon's second mateFebruary 1778-
Gazetted naval surgeonMarch 1780-
Served on the Piloteca. 1784November 1786
Joined the SiriusNovember 1786-
Sailed to New South wales on Sirius1787-
Visited the Cape of Good Hope in the Sirius17881789
Year on Norfolk Island after the wreck of the Sirius19 March 17901791
Returned to England in the Waaksamheyd1791-
Retired on half-payca. 1800-

First Fleet Voyages

George Worgan joined HMS Sirius as a surgeon in November 1786 and sailed on her to New South Wales in 1787. His ventures into Sydney bushland from April 1788 were prompted by an 'inclination to ramble',[7][8] a continuation of a European tradition that could be undertaken in the Australian landscape. He took part in several expeditions to the Hawkesbury River and Broken Bay (1789), where the upper Nepean River was named Worgan River for him. On the Sirius he travelled to the Cape of Good Hope (1788–1789) but was not on board when it was wrecked in March 1790. He travelled with Watkin Tench to the Nepean during 1790 and took part in a punitive expedition against the natives on 13 December 1790.[9] He stayed at Norfolk Island for a year (1790–1791) when the Sirius was wrecked there. He travelled back to England in 1791 on the Waaksamheyd.[6]

First Fleet Journal
See also: Journals of the First Fleet

His journal[10] is an account of the first five months of settlement in New South Wales, attached to a letter written to George Worgan's brother Richard (written from 20 January to 11 July 1788).[11] The first section was written on the Sirius (12 June 1788) and describes arriving at Sydney Cove, Port Jackson and his party's first encounter with Aboriginal Australians. He makes references to a "rough journal" and a fuller journal but these have not been found.

Throughout the manuscript Worgan describes the expeditions that the men of the First Fleet make. He describes the coastline of New South Wales, its flora and fauna and the activities engaged in to build the new colony. Explorations in land had been made and he tells of "Park-like Country" and a mountainous region where smoke was seen and thought to be inhabited to the west. He is concerned with water supply and the native vegetation, what might be edible and what might be used for building, he also describes stone.

In the journal Worgan is very interested in the various tribes that the First Fleet met and describes their physical attributes, behaviour, way of life and interaction with the Europeans in detail. He describes the female natives' behaviour, their appearance and the many attempts of the Europeans to give them gifts.

He describes the convicts, their behaviour, their ailments and injuries, the laws as presented to them and the punishment for their crimes. Marriage between the convicts is an issue he mentions. The female convicts particularly, are the target of his censure for their flouting of the law and spreading disease.

The journals were presented to the State Library of New South Wales in 1955 by Mrs Margot Gaye for her deceased aunt, Miss A. Batley. They are digitised and available online via the Library's catalogue.[5]

Musical background, Worgan's piano, and relationship to Mrs Elizabeth MacArthur

George Worgan came from a well-known musical family, and was the son of a Cambridge Doctor of music who was a respected organist and composer. When George Worgan sailed on the Sirius with the First Fleet he took with him a piano. He was amongst the musicians who played "God Save the King" at Sydney Cove on 7 February 1788 making him one of the first non-Aboriginal musicians in the country.[12] While in New South Wales he taught music to Elizabeth Macarthur (teaching her to play "God Save the King" and "Foote’s Minuet"),[13] leaving his piano with her when he returned to England in 1791.[6][14]

In 2016, Sydney collector Stewart Symonds donated 130 musical instruments to Edith Cowen University, amongst which was a 1780 'square' (actually rectangular) piano by Frederick Beck, identified as Worgan's First Fleet piano.[15] Media coverage surrounding this piano's return to England in March 2019 for refurbishment revealed a second piano (this one by Longman and Broderip) also alleged to be Worgan's First Fleet piano - both pianos were reportedly sold by the same dealer with similar provenances claiming prior ownership by Elizabeth Macarthur.[16]

Bibliography
  • Egan, Jack (1999). Buried Alive: Sydney 1788–92 The Making of a Nation. St Leonards, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-138-8.
  • "Bright Sparcs Biographical Entry: Worgan, George Bouchier (1757–1838)". Retrieved 30 January 2007.
  • Gillen, Mollie (1989). The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the first fleet. Sydney: Library of Australian History. ISBN 0-90812-069-9.
  • Lancaster, Geoffrey (2015). The First Fleet Piano: A Musician's View. Acton, ACT: ANU Press. ISBN 9781922144652 (ebook) (Volume 1), ISBN 9781925022490 (ebook) (Volume 2).
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References
  1. Jose, Nicholas (general editor) Macquarie Pen Anthology of Australian Literature Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, 2009 p.51
  2. Jose, Nicholas, 2009 p.51
  3. Worgan, George Journal of First Fleet Surgeon Sydney:Library Council of New South Wales in association with the Library of Australian History, 1978
  4. Worgan, George Sydney Cove Journal: 20 Jan – 11 July 1788 edited, with an introduction and notes by John Curry. Malvern, Vic.:Banks Society, 2009
  5. "George Bouchier Worgan – letter written to his brother Richard Worgan, 12 – 18 June 1788". Catalogue. State Library of NSW. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  6. "George Bouchier Worgan". website. Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  7. "Our Excursions, put me in Mind of your going a Steeple Hunting. We sometimes, put a Bit of Salt Beef, or Pork, Bisket, a Bottle of O bejoyfid, in a Snapsack throw it over our Backs, take a Hatchet, a Brace of Pistols, and a Musket, and away we go,scouring the Woods, sometimes East, West, N.S. if Night overtakes us, we light up a rousing Fire, Cut Boughs & make up a Wig-Warn, open our Wallets, and eat as hearty of our Fare as You, of your Dainties, then lie down on a Bed, which tho' not of Roses, yet we sleep as sound as You do, on down; I enjoy these little Rambles, and I think you would, however I hardly think it is worth your while to come and try them." George B. Worgan from Port Jackson to his brother Dick in England quoted in Harper, Melissa (2002) The Ways Of The Bushwalker: Bushwalking In Australia, 1788-1940. A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of History, University of Sydney August 2002
  8. George B. Worgan, Journal of a First Fleet Surgeon,Library of Australian History, Sydney, 1978, p. 49.
  9. Gillen, Mollie (1989). The Founders of Australia. Sydney: Library of Australian History. ISBN 0-90812-069-9.
  10. "George Bouchier Worgan (1757–1838)". website. State Library of NSW. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  11. "Worgan, George Bouchier (1757–1838)". website. Encyclopedia of Australian Science. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  12. "Worgan, George". website. Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  13. Barlass, Tim (13 April 2019). "Dischord over rival claims to ownership of First Fleet piano". The Age. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  14. Barlass, Tim (13 April 2019). "Dischord over rival claims to ownership of First Fleet piano". The Age. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  15. Barlass, Tim (13 April 2019). "Dischord over rival claims to ownership of First Fleet piano". The Age. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  16. Barlass, Tim (13 April 2019). "Dischord over rival claims to ownership of First Fleet piano". The Age. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
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