James Larmer
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James Larmer (b. 1808 or 1809 – d. 1886) was a government surveyor in the colony of New South Wales.
He was an Assistant Surveyor to the Surveyor-General, Sir Thomas Mitchell, from 1835 to 1855. Between 1830 and 1859, he surveyed land, roads and settlements in New South Wales. In 1835, he was second in command of Thomas Mitchell’s second expedition.
He is also noteworthy for his recording of Aboriginal words from various part of New South Wales.
Early life
Larmer was born in Reigate, Surrey, England and arrived in Australia in 1830.[1]
Career
Between 1830 and early 1835, James Larmer surveyed land, roads, streets, coastlines, creeks, rivers, and ridges in what is now greater Sydney, in nearby areas including Broke and Branxton in the Hunter, Brooklyn, Mangrove Creek, Broken Bay and Pittwater around the Hawkesbury River, and in more distant parts including the Abercrombie, Campbell, Belubela, Bell, and Macquarie Rivers.[1]
During 1835, Larmer was second in command of Thomas Mitchell’s second expedition, which attempted to follow the Darling River to its confluence with the Murray. Larmer, in command of the main party, left Parramatta and met Mitchell at Boree, near modern-day Orange. The expedition then followed Bogan River, then the Darling from the location of modern-day Bourke. They stopped to the north of the Menindee Lakes, due to the risk of attack by hostile Aborigines, falling short of their objective and then retracing their route to return.
In 1837, Larmer laid out the town plan of Bungendore[2] and, in 1839, the town plans of Queanbeyan[3] and Braidwood.
In 1840, he surveyed the route of The Wool Road.[4] By this time, he had settled in the Braidwood area,[5] where he was to live for the rest of his life.
An economic depression in the early 1840s led to government cost cutting, with surveyors’ salaries being reduced by a third. In recognition of this sacrifice, these government surveyors were allowed to do some private work. Larmer bought land in Braidwood, in 1843, on which he built the Royal Hotel building but was not the licensee of the hotel.[1]
His last field notes date from 1859, and it appears that he retired from surveying around that time.[1]
He became a Justice of the Peace in Braidwood and, with other JPs, presided over cases in the town's Police Court.[6][7][8]
Aboriginal languages vocabulary
The Surveyor-General, Thomas Mitchell, had directed that, where possible, the existing names, in the local Aboriginal language, should be used as the official names of localities and landforms in New South Wales. Consequently, the surveyors of the colony were among those few settlers who took an interest in local languages.
Larmer recorded Aboriginal words and the areas in which these words were used. His notes, collated as “James Larmer’s Vocabulary of Native Names” (1853), is one source of vocabulary for lost and endangered Aboriginal languages. His notes include words from the Darkinyung, Awabakal, Wiradjuri and Eora languages, and the dialects spoken by the Yuin peoples around Batemans Bay and Ulladulla. His notes include the original Aboriginal language names for land features surrounding Port Jackson.[9]
Family and death
James Larmer married a widow, Martha Stoyles, in 1861. They had two daughters.[1]
He died on 5 June 1886, aged 77 years. His grave lies in the Braidwood cemetery.[1][10] His wife Martha died in 1899.[11]
References
- ^ a b c d e f "James Larmer". stgeorgesbasin.info. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
- ^ "Proclaimed a town in 1836". Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). 11 October 1992. p. 19. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
- ^ Interprative signage - Monaro St, Queanbeyan
- ^ "Larmer's Survey of the Wool Road". stgeorgesbasin.info. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
- ^ "Advertising". Australasian Chronicle (Sydney, NSW : 1839 - 1843). 19 June 1841. p. 3. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
- ^ "NEW SOUTH WALES - AIDING A BUSHRANGER". Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tas. : 1835 - 1880). 20 October 1866. p. 2. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "BRAIDWOOD POLICE COURT". Manaro Mercury, and Cooma and Bombala Advertiser (NSW : 1862 - 1931). 1 May 1875. p. 2. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
- ^ "Braidwood Police Court". Manaro Mercury, and Cooma and Bombala Advertiser (NSW : 1862 - 1931). 9 November 1881. p. 4. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
- ^ "'Larmer's Vocabulary of Native Names. 1853' by James Larmer, 1832-1853 | Indigenous Languages". indigenous.sl.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
- ^ "The Late Mr. James Larmer". Queanbeyan Age (NSW : 1867 - 1904). 10 June 1886. p. 2. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
- ^ "BRAIDWOOD. - Goulburn Evening Penny Post (NSW : 1881 - 1940) - 16 Nov 1899". Trove. Retrieved 14 July 2020.