S. T. GILL

English 1818–80
worked in Australia 1839–80

In 1846 Samuel Thomas Gill accompanied his friend John Ainsworth Horrocks on an expedition in search of fertile land suitable for pastoral expansion for the new colony of South Australia. Trained in Plymouth and London as a watercolourist and illustrator, Gill had arrived in Adelaide in 1839, and soon established himself as a lively documenter of colonial life. Gill joined the expedition voluntarily, ‘as an amateur [explorer] for the purpose of filling his notebook’.1 The expedition members were among the very first Europeans to explore the difficult terrain of the southern Flinders Ranges and the desert landscape to their west: it ended tragically when Horrocks was accidentally shot; he died in agony some days later. The following year Gill exhibited in Adelaide a series of thirty-three exquisite watercolours in which he depicted, with remarkable fidelity, the characters involved in the expedition and the dramatic landscape they passed through.

In his later years Gill often returned to earlier experiences, repainting landscapes and events repeatedly. The Flinders Range, c. 1865–70, painted long after he had left South Australia, depicts the impressive terrain in the vicinity of Mount Brown, which overlooks the tip of Spencer Gulf. While much of Gill’s work became less precise over the years as alcoholism affected his output, this work demonstrates his still-great technical facility, capturing the geology, topography and vegetation of the landscape, and its climatic changes.

1 South Australian Register, 4 July 1846, p. 2d.

Alisa Bunbury

South Australia was the first colony to experience a mining boom, with the discovery of silver-lead in 1841 and copper in 1842, and Gill captured in his art the workings and impact of the new industry. Following the discovery of gold in Victoria in 1851, like many South Australian miners, Gill sought the goldfields. The booming population and economy that resulted led to a great demand for images of the tumultuous events occurring in Mount Alexander (Castlemaine), Bendigo and Ballarat. Gill meticulously and often humorously recorded aspects of mining life, including the diggings, canvas towns, grog tents, brawls and balls, hopeful arrivals and celebrating departures. Producing both watercolours and lithographs, which were distributed widely—even internationally—Gill became famous as ‘the artist of the goldfields’.

Bare-knuckled fighting was a popular pastime on Sundays, the day of rest (the wearing of gloves was not yet customary). It has been noted that this activity was especially appropriate to Bendigo as the name of the new settlement was taken from that of the champion English pugilist, William Abednego Thompson, whose biblical middle name led to the nickname ‘Bendigo’.2 Gill first drew his image of men fighting, encircled by encouraging onlookers eager for entertainment, in 1852. Selecting and highlighting certain elements, Gill drew variations of the same picture a number of times over subsequent years, always referring back to the 1852 scene, as does this colourful watercolour.

1 D. Thomas, S. T. Gill’s Bendigo (exh. cat.), Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, 1993, p. 19.

Alisa Bunbury