Reid David Jun (1 results)

I. Sir Alfred Stephen, [Sydney] to David Reid [Jnr.], Goulburn. 2 October 1855. Manuscript letter, [4] pp., octavo; headed 'In Court, Tuesday', the letter is signed 'in haste yours very truly Alfred Stephen'; the letter has some foxing and browning, but is complete and legible, tipped onto a nineteenth-century album leaf, along with the original outer envelope (mounted above it), which is addressed simply to 'David Reid Esq., J.P., Goulburn', with a Sydney postmark dated 2 October 1855 and a Goulburn arrival stamp dated 3 October. St. Paul's College at the University of Sydney was founded in 1856, and is the oldest university college in Australia. Sir Alfred Stephen (1802-1894), Chief Justice of New South Wales, was the principal driving force behind its establishment. From the ADB entry on Stephen: '. [in 1855, Stephen] was chairman of the committee to found an affiliated Anglican college within the University of Sydney. He collected for its building fund, drafted the legislation and ensured its freedom from diocesan control. In 1856 he became a founding fellow of the council of St Paul's College. He confessed to [Sir Edward Deas] Thomson that his interest in the college "amounts to something like mania".' David Reid Jnr. (1821-1906) had arrived in Australia with his family from England at the age of two in 1823. His father, retired naval officer Surgeon-Lieutenant David Reid Snr (1777-1840), who fought at Waterloo and was later a naval surgeon on convict ships, was encouraged to settle in Australia by none other than Governor Lachlan Macquarie, who granted Reid Snr. 2,000 acres at Inverary (Bungonia), between Goulburn and the Limestone Plains (present-day Canberra). David Reid Jnr. attended the King's School, Parramatta. He went on to accrue an immense fortune as a pastoralist and speculator, and became one of the most notable pioneers of the Monaro, Albury and Beechworth districts. In this hitherto unpublished letter, which reveals much about the difficulties and agitation Stephen was experiencing in 1855 whilst he was striving to secure sufficient financial support to keep his project alive, Stephen starts by thanking donor Reid profusely for his recent letter with 'sealed inclosure containing the subscription, which you have been kind enough to exert yourself in providing for our St. Paul's College. I have only time now to acknowledge the fact - & to thank you - which I do most heartily. I sit daily in court from 10 or earlier till 6 - & our Committee will not meet until (I fear) next week. After that meeting, you will doubtless receive a more formal acknowledgement. But I may say here, that I conceive you to be most especially deserving of our united cordial thanks - for, had only one in fiftyof the Gentry, members of our Church, exerted himself as much as you have done, the College would have been now 12 feet above the ground, - & we should have a large surplus, for Prizes to the young Men - & adding to their comforts in the Institution: - whereas, at present, we are still not in a position to build, - & we still [do] not have a farthing, over & above, wherewith to buy furniture [or] books. And I think it a great disgrace that every other Grammar other than our own raises quite enough for its actual wants - & more. The other Denominations own (comparatively) few gentlemen, & therefore they do not much require a College. If they did, they would get up one. I am, in haste, yours very truly, Alfred Stephen.' II. Sir Alfred Stephen, [Sydney] to David Reid [Jnr.], [Goulburn]. 11 October 1855. Manuscript letter, [1] p., octavo; headed 'Sydney, 11 Octbr '55', the letter is signed 'Alfred S[tephen]'; the letter has a tear and some loss, and is tipped onto a nineteenth-century album leaf. Stephen writes: 'Pray send [me] another list of the subscripti[ons] [c]ollected by you. I unfort[una]tely sent your letter, containing [the] list, to Mr. F. A. Murray, & he has left Sydney without returning it. Excuse this [.able] trouble. I am, Very [truly] Alfred S[tephen]'. III. David Reid [Jnr.], Goulburn, to Sir Alfred Stephen, [Sydney]. 15 October 1855. Manuscript letter, [2] pp., large octavo; headed 'Goulburn, October 15th 1855', and addressed to'Sir Alfred Stephen, Chief Justice', the letter is signed 'I am, Sir, yours ob[edient]ly, David Reid very truly Alfred Stephen', and is annotated by Reid 'Copy of letter to Sir A. Stephen'; the letter has some browning, and inconsequential paper adhesions at one edge from where it was once tipped onto an album leaf, but is complete and legible. Reid writes: 'Sir, I beg to acknowledge your communication of the 11th instant, and according to the wish therein contained, beg to hand you another list, being a copy from my ledger, and same as last. I cannot close this without acknowledging the very flattering vote of thanks accorded to me for my humble exertions in behalf of the St. Paul's College and can only say that the exertion used by myself, in aid of such Institution, was given with pleasure, believing as I do that it is a duty that not alone myself, but every Father of a family, should exert himself in. I must here also state, conceiving I am in honour bound to do, that all from whom I solicited subscriptions gave willingly and liberally, and which made my duty rather one of pleasure, than otherwise. If I can at any future time be of service, in any way, in advancing the interests of the college, I shall be most happy to do, as far as humble means, & power, can.' Provenance: Jane Emma Murphy (Balcombe) (1845-1924), "The Briars", Mornington, Victoria, niece of David Reid Jnr. through her mother, Emma Juana Balcombe (Reid); à Beckett family, Melbourne (by descent).