Daniel Bunce “Old Ironbark”
Daniel Bunce was born in 18th March 1813 in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, England and baptised on the 19th of April. He was the son of William Bunce and Sarah Grover. Passed away at Geelong, in the Colony of Victoria, 2nd July (Tuesday) 1872 aged 59.
Daniel Bunce was Naturalist on Ludwig Leichhardt's second expedition in 1846-1847. He was also Curator of the Geelong Botanic Gardens, Victoria 1858-1872.
Married Pelonamena Frances Darling (Batman) Bunce — married 1851 in Colony of Victoria, Died 17 Aug 1859 at age 25 in Geelong, Colony of Victoria.
Married Julia (O'Connor) Bunce — 1860 in Colony of Victoria, Julia passed away in 1914 in Victoria.
Trained as a gardener and botanist; emigrated to Hobart Town 1835; opened Denmark Hill nursery, Launceston 1835-39; went to Port Phillip 1839; joined a party of Aboriginals on a journey to Western Port and made an intensive study of their spoken language; established a nursery at St Kilda; joined Leichhardt on his second attempt to cross Australia from east to west 1846; manager of a Bendigo mining company ca 1849-58; wrote on the flora of Bendigo for the Melbourne "Argus"; published "Language of the Aborigines" 1851; director, Geelong Botanical Gardens 1858-72. Wrote a number of books and articles on botany, gardening and travel. He is commemorated by Panicum buncei, F. V. M.
THE LATE DANIEL BUNCE, C.M.H.S.
We regret to have to record the by no means unex-pected demise of Mr Daniel Bunce, C.M.H.S., curator of the Geelong Botanical Gardens for a period of about thirteen years. When Mr Bunce assumed the charge of the site of those now beautiful gardens, it was a bleak undulating tract of land, very partially clothed with scrubby native timber. Mr Bunce’s labors have achieved for the inhabitants of Geelong an extensive and beautiful place of recreation. Mr Bunce was a good botanist, a corresponding member of the Horticultural Society of Chiswick (we believe), made extensive botanical tours through Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland, and was botanist with Leichhardt on two expeditions, and intended to have acted in the like capacity on that intrepid explorer’s last, but some dis-agreement as to conditions arose at the last moment. On this he returned overland to Melbourne with an extensive hortus siccus, and a vast collection of seeds. Previously to accepting the charge of the Geelong Botani-cal Gardens he was occupied as local correspondent to the Argus at Clunes, and in 1857 at Forest Creek for the Argus or the Herald. Mr Bunce spent about fifteen years among the aboriginal natives of various parts of Australasia, in order to acquire a knowledge of their habits, traditions, and language, and he published a valuable vocabulary, the first edition of which was issued in 1851 and the second in 1859. Jemmy, a native of the Doutta Galla tribe, accompanied Mr Bunce during his travels for many years, and no doubt facilitated Mr Bunce in his labors, which included the collection of phrases and dialogue, with parallel translations. Mr Bunce was also the author of “Hortus Tasmaniensis,” "The Australian Manual of Horticulture,” "Guide to the Linnean System of Botany,” and “Australasiatic Reminiscences.” Mr Bunce was thrice married, and by diphtheria, lost, we believe, no less than four of his children by his third wife. He was universally respected in Geelong, where he was latterly best known, but many of the old resi-dents of Melbourne, among whom may especially be mentioned Mr W. Hull, J.P., were on the closest terms of friendship with him. Naturally of a strong constitution, there is no doubt he received during his exposures in Queensland the seeds of the disease (heart disease with dropsy), which ultimately carried him off on Tuesday, 2nd July, at a comparatively early age. We gather from a passage in Mr Bunce’s journal, of travel in Northern Australia with Dr Leichhardt, under date 18th March, 1847, that “on rising from my blanket this morning, I was congratulated on commencing my thirty-fourth year." Suffering at the time from the debilitating effects of swamp fever and ague, we can hardly wonder at the writer not taking a very lively view of the circumstance, and de-signating his previous career as “a crooked and some-what eventful existence.” The above extract gives us a sufficiently accurate idea of his age, but beyond the fact that he was an Englishman, we have no idea of his native place or family connections. He was a man of much natural and acquired ability, and had excellent taste and good powers of observation. He had evidently enjoyed a good education, but we are not in a position to state to what profession he de-voted himself, or in what capacity he had acquired his considerable stock of knowledge in botany and horticulture. Both of these, we are ready to allow, he may have improved upon after reaching the anti-podes, but it would seem that a love of adventure and a disposition to acquire botanical information and specimens, had been main inducements for him to leave his native land for these shores. He left Graves-end on 17th October, 1832, in the Ellen, of London, George Dixon, master, and reached Tasmania on 2nd March, 1833, “not touching at any other port on the way.” Among the passengers were Mr Eyre, since celebrated for his explorations and privations in South-Western Australia, and Mr Thomas Wilkin-son, “ since M.L.C. for the Portland Bay district, and also, the projector, editor, printer, and pressman of the Portland Bay Guardian. On landing at Hobart Town, Mr Bunce “produced his credentials, or letters of introduction,” among others to Captain John Montague, Colonial Secretary; and Governor Arthur; the immediate result of which is not apparent. One was addressed to Mr Wm. Cleavy Browne, who had “just commenced a large and extensive timber and saw mill in Sassafras Valley, at the foot of Mount Wellington.” This gentleman provided Mr Bunce with facilities in the shape of guides, and he was en-abled to examine “ the botanically interesting features of Mount Wellington.” Mr Bunce, on his return to Hobart Town, set out on his journey of botanical ex-ploration throughout the island, moving northward with sundry lateral excursions till he reached Bass’ Straits. On this pedestrian journey he made a huge collection of hitherto undescribed plants, and other important information relative to the topography and aboriginal inhabitants of the island. At Buffalo Plains, near Ben Lomond, he mentions having seen or visited the farm of Mr John Batman, afterwards the first settler on the site of Melbourne. On his visit to the Cataract, near Launceston, Mr Bunce was accompanied by Mr J. E. Underwood, of Launceston, “ an old and respected colonist, and a close disciple of the botanical profes-sion.” Mr Bunce on his return to the southern part of the island made further explorations to the right and left of the direct road, carrying off in his port-folio numerous and valuable botanical acquisitions. In 1835 there was a nursery, fruit, and seed garden com-menced by Mr Lightfoot, on the New Town road, near Hobart Town, to which he was the first to in-troduce a choice stock of pear trees. The plants, of which there was a very extensive collection, both exotic and indigenous, were arranged by Mr Bunce in two departments, the one according to the classification of Linnæus, and the other agreeable to the natural sys-tem of Jussieu. This establishment Mr Bunce subse-quently purchased and opened as the Denmark Hill Nursery, and “the same year introduced the first im-portation of English fruit trees and other choice British shrubs and plants, from the well-known estab-lishment of Messrs Whitley and Osborne, Fulham, London.” Mr Bunce takes credit to have been the first to commence the arrangement of Australian indi-genous as well as exotic plants, according to both scientific systems, “to which were attached large cross wooden labels indicating their class, order, and natural relationships.” After three years close observation of the climate and its effect upon garden produce, Mr Bunce, through his friend Dr James Ross, editor and proprietor of the Hobart Town Courier, commenced the publication, in monthly parts, of “ Bunce’s Manual of Australian Gardening.” This work met with popular approbation, and the latter numbers were published by Dr Ross' successor in the same office, Mr W. G. Elliston. In 1836 Colonel Arthur, the governor, gave place to Sir John Franklin. We believe that Mr Bunce’s first wife was the highly respected lady's maid of Lady Franklin. On 10th January, 1837, Tasmania “was honored by the arrival of some distinguished visitors from Port Phillip, which had just been discovered by Mr John Batman, in the persons of two of its princes or chiefs—Derri-mut, king of the Werriby district, and Betbenjee, of the adjoining district, two brothers, with whom was the gigantic Buckley, whom Batman had dis-covered among the natives on his first visiting Port Phillip, where he had resided for 33 years.” Among others Mr Bunce, with Dr Ross, visited Buckley. Mr Bunce states of the two chiefs that “on their arrival they both got extremely intoxicated, and they both felt the sickening effects the following morning. Poor Derrimut was induced to taste ‘a hair of the dog that bit him,’ and recommenced his debauch, and still continues a drunkard to this day (1857). But his brother Betbenjee was so heartily disgusted, that he never could be induced to taste spirits since. Bet-benjee is now dead; Buckley is dead; and Derrimut we saw on Sunday evening, 27th April, 1856, at Moordy-yallack, and who, we may as well state, was the first to greet us on our first arrival in Port Phillip, in 1839.” Mr Bunce bade farewell to Tasmania in the early part of the month of October, 1839, and reached Port Phillip after a protracted and rough passage of nearly three weeks, in the Lord Hobart, Thomas Nichol, master. Fellmongers' yards reminded them that the elements of civilisation had preceded their arrival. Reaching infant Melbourne, they landed from the ship's boat in which they had come up the river, on the low muddy bank on the north side of the river, the site known as the wharf. Proceeding eastward, they passed “a neat and tasteful building,” situated on a small hillock, called Batman's Hill. Mr Marcus Clarke, in “Old Tales of a New Country,” says that on Buckley's return from Gelli-brand’s exploring expedition he built the chimney of Mr Batman's house, “the first habitation regularly
formed at Port Phillip.” Mr Bunce describes how he became acquainted with one of a tribe of aborigines, and made an excursion to Dandenong, and thence to Western Port. Among the natives were Derrimut, Yammabook, or Hawk’s Eye, and Benbow. The last mentioned is the man who gave information of an evil design his companions had conceived, and thus pre-vented what might have been a fatal encounter be-tween them and the first settlers. Benbow invariably rejected all solicitations to partake of spirituous liquors, and is the only teetotaller Mr. Bunce ever met with among the aborigines. In a corner of Mr Batman's garden, Benbow and his wife Kitty dwelt in a small hut of his own constructing. Within, everything was cleanly and in good order. Benbow was often consulted by the settlers concerning various matters, and he was always willing to impart what information he possessed. He was not only an intel-ligent native, but a really worthy fellow; an evidence that the aborigines of Australia are not, as has been so frequently stated by various writers, incapable of being civilised. Mr Bunce’s second wife was one of the daughters of John Batman, another of whom mar-ried, if we mistake not, Mr Weire, town-clerk of Gee-long. His third wife was Miss Julia O’Connor, a younger sister of Mrs Charles Creswick, whose hus-band was settled upon and gave the name to Cres-wick's Creek, and the town of Creswick. Mr Bunce acted in the capacity of naturalist and botanist to Leichhardt’s second expedition, and col-lected upwards of one thousand plants, with, where practicable, these specimen papers in triplicate, and among them were some forming new genera and species and varieties in the Botanic Gardens, Mel-bourne, which were determined by the Government botanist, Dr Müller. He was unknown to Leichhardt till his arrival in Sydney. He says, "My arrangements were effected through written correspondence. One of the conditions was an equal share of my specimens in natural history which might be collected, and this threatened to be the cause of my not joining in the interesting movement of the forthcoming expedition. In a few days I received a reply favorable to my expectations, with instructions to be in time to start on 1st October, 1846.” He left Melbourne in the Himalaya, Captain Burn, on the day of September on which “Dr Palmer read the Riot Act." On arrival at Sydney he found Dr Leichhardt packing up, assisted by his friend, Lieut. Lynd, barrack-master (late of the 63rd Regiment), whom Mr Bunce, had met botanically in Tasmania. The exploring party consisted of nine persons, and included John Mann, draughtsman. They had 270 goats, 108 sheep, 15 horses, and 13 mules. On 7th December, 1846, they left Jimba and followed the Condamine River. There Mr Bunce commenced a practice which he followed up at every convenient opportunity where soil and situation suited, of sowing seeds of the most useful culinary vegetables. On 15th December they heard of Sir Thomas Mit-chell's return. On 29th December Mr Bunce, within a circuit of three miles of the camp, collected upwards of thirty distinct kinds of grasses, highly nutritious, and greedily eaten by the cattle. On the 4th January, 1847, Dr Leichhardt de-termined not to wait for despatches (sic) from Sir Thomas Mitchell, and on 13th January his messengers returned without any information. ln the beginning of Feb-ruary, while at the Expedition Range, the whole party was more or less attacked by fever. On 13th Feb-ruary they were, at the Comet river, so named by Dr Leichhardt, on his first expedition, from the fact of the comet of that year having made its first ap-pearance. On 16th February, Mr Bunce, in conse-quence of his weakened condition, was nearly drowned in a sheet of muddy water, and when he got to thet camp “ Dr Leichhardt was at last con-vinced that I was really and truly very ill, and expressed some little sympathy for me and poor Wommai.” Though he had been without food for days, he was only able to swallow a few drops of gela-tine soup. At night heavy rain fell, and the crisis of the fever occurring, he was unconscious, and did not know until the morning that he was half covered with water. He was, however, kindly attended to by Dr Leichhardt and Mr Perry, the doctor afterwards remarking that “I had forcibly verified the old proverb of ' the ruling passion strong in death,’ as the only remark made by me during the night was, ‘ Mr Perry, take care of my specimens.’ ” On 23rd February, he lost in a flood a portfolio of insects and a spade. The party remained on the Mackenzie river a large part of March in consequence of floods and the general illness of the party, when the duties of watch-ing cattle at night and attending to the sick, generally devolved upon Mr Bunce. He states that owing to Dr Leichhardt having escaped sickness in the Port Essington expedition, he came very ill provided with medicines on this, and reproached himself with his neglect, especially as they were surrounded by blacks, and were all weak by disease and watching. On 12th March the doctor himself was very ill. On the 14th Mr Bunce, thinking a tonic would be valuable to the in-valids, sowed mustard and cress seeds, which next day made their appearance above-ground. On the 23rd, Mr Bunce went down the river with a tin plate and knife to gather a dish of mustard and cress which he had promised the now recovering invalids as being ready for use on that day. He says:—“ Judge of my surprise and disgust at finding the whole had been cut, and that, too, by someone wearing Euro-pean boots. I appealed to Dr Leichhardt for a solution, and he admitted he had cut and eaten it. The admission was a sore disappointment to the invalids, who were unable to eat anything substantial, and had been anxiously waiting for me to cut the cress and salad. Dr Leichhardt observed there would be more fit for cutting in two or three days, and if the invalids liked to cut it themselves they might have it, but not other-wise. This was tantamount to saying that they should not have it, as they were unable to move.” Mr Bunce relates another unpleasant circum-stance. On the 24th, at night, a sheep’s head was boiled, but owing to some mis-management, the pot was capsized and all the gravy lost. Dr Leichhardt very coolly picked up the head, and in despite of the remonstrances of the invalids swallowed all of it but the bones. Mr Bunce says that before swimming the river on the 27th he went and cut the cress, and on this occasion the invalids got it. At the angle formed by the Mackenzie and Comet rivers, Dr Leichhardt marked on a big tree the word “dig,” and buried beneath, a powder canister con-taining a letter stating their miserable condition, to-gether with one by Mr Bunce to the Argus, and others by other members of the expedition. The party now began to lose all heart, and several of the invalids wished to return under the guidance of an aborigine named Brown. Ill as he was, Mr Bunce, who had at last been invited to seek shelter in the doctor’s tent, objected to return after going so far. On 6th April they started with the invalids for higher ground; next morning, the doctor returned with his black companion Wommai, with only four head of cattle, all the rest having been hopelessly lost. The doctor came to Mr Bunce as he lay in his blanket, and asked his opinion respecting the party and its prospects. After much painful conversation, the doctor said that he also thought it best, under all the circumstances, to go back. On 12th June they were seven or eight hundred miles off the nearest settlement, and their stock of dried beef running short. Dr Leichhardt and Wommai travelled back to the Mackenzie, a distance of 90 miles, and on their return on 17th June, reported that they had recovered some mules and horses, and found growing upon the banks of the river some fine radishes, turnips, and other culinary vegetables of Mr Bunce’s sowing. This gratifying intelli-gence gave rise to the comforting impression that they would find similar good fortune at all their camps, Mr Bunce never having failed to sow seeds, although at the time he little thought of either eating the produce or seeing the place again. On 22nd June the whole party on its homeward route reached the Mackenzie, and next morning made a start for the bounds of civilisation. On 3rd July they camped at the foot of the Expedition Range, and Mr Bunce found an in-teresting plant, since dedicated to Dr A. F. A. Greeves —Greevesia cleisocalyx. Mr Bunce says :—“Dr Leichhardt was good enough to name a mountain at the head of this romantic creek after my unworthy self.” At Charlie’s Creek they saw fresh tracks of cattle. When they reached the Condamine River they camped on its banks, and were on the eve of going to sleep, when they heard the barking of dogs on the opposite bank. This intimated the proximity of a station, and called up visions of damper, mutton, and other sweetmeats, during the slum-bers of many of the party. Next morning Dr Leichhardt crossed the river, and had not been long absent when he returned with Mr Chauvell and Mr Ewer. These two gentlemen had followed upon the party’s outward tracks, and settled upon this part of the Condamine. The party remained two days at the station, where they were supplied with everything necessary, and then started for Jimba and Darling Downs. Previous to leaving, says Mr Bunce, “l ex-changed pipes with Mr Chauvell, receiving a new one for my old black veteran of the wilderness, and to which Mr Chauvell appeared to attach considerable value.” Thence the party proceeded to Sydney. Dr Leichhardt now being in possession of Sir Thomas Mitchell's experiences, undertook a journey to the westward of Darling Downs, in order to examine the country between Mitchell’s track and his own. He started on 9th August, 1847, with Mr F. F. Isaacs, Mr Bunce, Mr Perry, and Wommai (or Jemmy) the blackfellow. Dr Leichhardt, in a letter after his return from Darling Downs, mentions that he called a large creek with reedy waterholes and sandy bed, by the name of Bunce’s Creek. He afterwards says, “I shall take this opportunity of giving my best thanks to Mr Isaacs, who had such a large share in the exploration of Dar-ling Downs and its confines; to Mr Daniel Bunce and to Mr Perry for their kind assistance on the expedition. I am personally obliged to Mr Bunce for a fine collection of seeds and plants which he made, not only on this occasion, but on my expedition to Peak Range.” Dur-ing the completion of the arrangements for Dr Leich-hardt’s new and last expedition, from which he has
never returned, Mr Bunce employed himself in bota-nical excursions in the neighborhood of the Darling Downs, and especially the dense brushes of Moreton Bay and the northerly ranges of Wide Bay. When the doctor rejoined Mr Bunce at Darling Downs, the former objected to comply with the conditions on which Mr Bunce and the rest of the party undertook again to accompany him. Mr Bunce says:— "They were such as I thought of import-ance to the success of the expedition, and to which he readily complied at the time of his going to Sydney. From his determining not to accede to my proposals, I did not feel justified in again accompanying him, and he finally started with but a small party in the month of March, 1848. The following is the last letter he wrote before he plunged into the unknown wilderness, whence no tidings have since been received of him or his party.” In this letter he states he went from Birrell’s on the Conda-mine to Mr M‘Pherson’s, Fitzroy Downs. He speaks of hot days (3rd April, 1848,) and beautiful clear cool nights, and says, “ I am full of hopes that our Almighty protector will allow me to bring my darling scheme to a successful termination." Mr Bunce now resolved upon returning to Port Phillip, but before taking his departure, he made an excursion in the direction of Wide Bay, Port Curtis. Mr Isaacs accompanied him, and in continuing their journey they passed Darling Downs, Level Plains, Castlereagh River, Millee Plains, Wellington, Yass, and Bathurst, thence to Molong copper mine, Snowy Mountains, and Gipps Land. Having reached the middle region of the Gipps Land range, Mr Bunce was agreeably surprised to meet a num-ber of Melbourne aborigines who expressed much plea-sure at his return. He reached St. Kilda after an absence of nearly three years. After recruiting, he resumed his travels, this time down the Murray River, which he followed till it joined the sea, through Lake Alexandrina and Encounter Bay—“having by this means followed the Great Western system of waters from their upper sources in the tropics.” Shortly after his return, gold was discovered at Clunes, and he was dispatched thither as the special correspondent of the Argus, and “had then an opportunity of re-cording the working of the first cradle by Messrs Esmond and Hiscock.” In conclusion, Mr Bunce refers to the days of Victoria at the time he first wrote and when he writes in 1857 :—“I would ask is not something due to the original founder of a coun-try which has afforded an asylum to hundreds of thousands, and a comparatively princely fortune to many ? And we earnestly conclude with the hope— most emphatically expressed by a previous writer in this colony, that ‘Justice may be done to Batman' or his Descendants.”
Referring to. the. death on Tuesday of Mr Daniel Bunce, curator of the Geelong Botanical Gardens, the Advertiser furnishes the following particulars, which valuably supplement our notice in Wednesday’s Star.-—“ Mr Bunce’s fatal illness commenced about eleven weeks ago. The intelligence that he was seriously indisposed created at the time a painful sensation, not ouly here, where he was almost as well known as the gardens- he had laid out, but likewise in Melbourne and Ballarat, where he had numerous friends and associates of former tiine3 that took a deep interest in his welfare. Day by day the utmost solicitude respecting the issue of his malady was evinced, and probably there are ,few individuals; iu the community whose fate would, under similar circumstances, have inspired the same wide-spread anxiety. His medical advisers from the first were unremitting in their endeavors to restore him again to the society of his friends, but ouly faint hopes of success were entertained. Dr Walstie visited him almust daily up to the time of his death. A few weeks ago lie rallied and appeared to gain strength, but the appearances proved deceptive. At that time he was himself under the impression that he was convalescent, and one day at his request the doctor assisted him to the open air. This was the ouly occasion on which Mr Buhce was able to venture out of his room. From.that time, however, all traces of returning vigor began'to disappear, he sank rapidly, and on Tuesday afternoon, surrounded by his family and friends, he passed away. Mr Bunce was born in 1813, iu Hertfordshire, near Rickmansworth, and educated at Dr Beasley’s, of Uxbridge. After studying botany under the celebrated Sir William Jackson Hooker, of Kew Gardens, near Loudon, he received the appointment, we believe, of botanist to the Government of Tasmania, and left England on 17th October, 1532, in the Ellen. Mr Bunce was married three times, his second wife being the youngest daughter of Batman, the pioneer of Victoria, and it was in a lawsuit respecting tbe claims of the descendants of that gentleman, that Mr Bunce was a great loser in a financial point of view. He became curator of our Botanical Gardens sixteen or seventeen years ago, when it was an unfilled waste just fenced ini What he has since done with the land can be seen by all, residents or visitors.”
Bunce wrote the following works
"A Manual of Practical Gardening for Van Diemen's Land" (Hobart Town, 1838);
"The Australian Manual of Horticulture,"
"Hortus Tasmaniensis;”`
"Guide to Linnean System of Botany; “
"Manual of Pract. Gardening, &c." (2nd ed., Melb" 1850);.
"Languages of the Aborigines of Victoria and other Australian Districts, with Parallel Translations,and Familiar Specimens in Dialogue” (l2mo, Melb., 1851);
"Wanderings in the Australian Colonies" (Journ. of Australasia, i, 1856);
"Australasiatic Reminiscences of. 23 .Years' Wanderings in Tasmania .and the Australias"; including Travels, with Dr. Leichhardt in North or Tropical Australia” (Melbourne. 1857). (This work contams many autobiographical notes.)
"Languages of the Aborigines of Victoria and other Districts; Dialogues, Parallel Trans., &c.” ( Geelong, 1$59,)
Daniel Bunce
