AustLit

19th-Century Australian Travel Writing

Lieutenant Charles Jeffreys (1782-1826), R. N., late Commander of His Majesty's Brig Kangaroo, was a naval officer and author. Jeffreys arrived in Port Jackson on the Kangaroo in 1814, and his first assignment was transporting convicts and passengers between Port Jackson and the Derwent (Hobart Town). He published his emigrant guide Van Dieman's Land with the intention of drawing attention to the colony in "a period when the rage for emigration has become so prevalent”, and it was one of the first emigrant guides to provide information about Van Diemen’s Land. Jeffreys described the geographical features of the colony, the landscape, landowners, and the population and productions of the Island. Written in a transparent, plain style, the work concluded with a comparison between Van Diemen's Land and Port Jackson, highlighting the favourable climate and situation of Van Diemen's Land, and giving practical hints to emigrants. According to the Australian Dictionary of Biography entry for Jeffreys, he was a colourful character and most of the information in Geographical and Descriptive Delineations of the Island of Van Dieman's Land “was obtained from the manuscript of Surveyor Evans who had travelled [with Jefferys] in the Kangaroo between Van Diemen's Land and Port Jackson.”