An interesting feature is the poster pinned to the cottage wall – Emigration to Australia in the ship ‘Hope’ and you can see the word Melbourne.” Looking at shipping records online I can find the ship ‘Hope’ arriving in Melbourne in Nov 1852 carrying 389 unassisted passengers, again in March 1853 carrying 191 and then in January 1854 carrying 72. Unassisted passengers were the ones that paid their own fares. After that date I can’t find another trip until 1863 but there may be other voyages that are not showing online. 

It must have been an arduous journey taking approximately 3 months, the voyage that arrived on 16th January 1854 had left London on the 10th October 1853. There must have been prominent advertising around this period showing that Baxter’s poster in the print, or in the painting it was based upon, accurately reflected details of the time.

A companion to CL 195 Australia News from Home which can be read about here

 

Under the print on the steel printing plate is "News from Australia.  Engraved, Printed, and Published, May 10th, 1854, by the Proprietor, George Baxter, the Inventor and Patentee of Oil Colour Picture Printing, 11 & 12, Northampton Square (Entered at Stationers' Hall)." 
 

Although Baxter didn’t claim it as his own design or give an artist’s name Chester Earles has been mentioned as possibly where Baxter got the idea or basis for this print. Earles exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1849 and at Suffolk Street in 1850, a painting entitled “A Letter from Australia; A Family Group, shows the Earles family gathered at afternoon tea listening to Charles Earles reading a letter from their sister Penelope who had migrated to Australia with her husband, George Selby, in 1840; Chester himself is standing behind Charles”.
 

We have not seen a copy of this painting but as Baxter rarely adapted paintings he copied, usually always creating a very faithful likenesses, I feel it is unlikely he would have added the £100 note which, prior to the Australian Gold rush of 1851 onwards, would seem an unlikely item to send. Baxter would have also had to add the poster showing the ship ‘Hope’ which seems to have been more prominent at least 3-7 years after Earles painted his picture. That together with the description of Earles painting described as his family, the family of an exhibiting artist, taking afternoon tea to me does not correspond with the Baxter image of a more ‘rural’ family. I feel the attribution is wrong and most probably based on the title rather than the, even then, unseen painting.
 

It will be noticed that although this print is signed within the body of the print it’s companion CL 195 – Australia News from Home - is not and although this has been pointed to as another instance of Baxter's erratic methods it must be remembered that 16 months had elapsed between the publication of the two prints. 
 

Baxter’s versions are stated to be found in various states:
 

• Sunk Stamped Mount, with Gold Line Border (I do not know what they meant in the 1920’s by ‘Sunk’ – can anybody help?)
   

• Stamped Mount, with Title in English.
   

• Stamped Mount, with Title in French.
   

• Unmounted, with or without Title and Marginal Lettering.
   

It was produced from twelve blocks, and originally sold at 1s. 6d.