AustLit

Nineteenth-Century Travel Writing

Mrs. Edward Millet (Janet, 1821-1904), was a sketcher and watercolorist. Wife of Chaplain Edward Millett, they moved to Western Australia in late 1863, where Edward was appointed Incumbent of Holy Trinity Church of England, York, approximate 100 kilometers east of Perth. Millett’s work was based on their five years in Western Australia, and she prefaced the work by explaining that little was known of this particular colony in England due to the lack of guide books and histories, particularly in comparison to the plentitude of such work that focussed on other Australian colonies. As such, emigrants had been disappointed due to their ignorance of Western Australia, as their hopes rarely attained fruition within the colony. Millet stated that her work was not a guide or history of the colony, rather it is sketched of her experiences. As the title suggests, An Australian Parsonage; or, The Settler and the Savage in Western Australia provided a comparison between colonists and Aboriginal people in Western Australia, describing domestic and station life, as well as their travel to and within the colony of Western Australia. Written in engaging and personal manner, Millet also described the bush, emigrants within the colony, climate, Aboriginal populations and specifically her relationship with her Aboriginal servants, and the colony in general.