Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1884-1888 (Creation)
Level of description
Series
Extent and medium
7 duplicate copy books (copy removed), 6 octavo booklets, 1 quarto vol
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
William Levitt Wells (1853-1918), and his wife Elizabeth (Bessie) Lucy Lidbetter (1852-1925), both Friends (Quakers), sailed for Tasmania in 1884 on the SS. Bonnington with their children, Edith (1879-1917), Frank (1880-1957), Arnold (1882-1938) and baby Mary (born 17 Sept. 1883). Two more children were born in Tasmania, Martin (1885-1965) and Hugh (1888-1922). W.L. Wells was the son of William Wells, draper and tailor of Kettering and his wife Mary (formerly Levitt) both members of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Bessie Lidbetter was the daughter of Martin Lidbetter headmaster of the Friends School, Wigton, Cumberland, where she also had been a teacher. The Wells family were accompanied by two Friends (ie Quakers), Margaret Elizabeth (Maggie) Greer (1854-1901) and Mary Ellen (Minnie) Greer (1859-1939), daughters of Thomas Jackson and Eliza Greer of Belfast. Maggie Greer married William Lewis May in 1887 and Minnie married Richard P. Furmage in 1888. On arrival in Hobart the family were welcomed by the Mather family, also Friends and relatives by marriage (lFrancis Mather had married Margaret Ann Lidbetter in 1874). William Wells worked in Mather's store for a time. In February 1886 Wells was appointed manager of the Don branch store of the Don Trading Company by John Henry, the owner, and about 1888 he took over the store, which became William Wells & Co. Wells moved to Latrobe in 1893.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The journals have been published as "Immense Enjoyment, the illustrated journals and letters of William L Wells 1884·1888, the life of an early Quaker family in Tasmania" edited by Faye Gardam and published by the Devon Wells Historical Soicety (1987) a copy is held at UTAS Library Cent.Quaker DU 194.3, .W45, A3 1987
Diaries, illustrated with sketches, written in duplicate copy books, using a lead point on thin copying paper with a blue "carbon" pad which printed both on the back of the copying paper to darken the faint impression made by the lead point as well as on to the slightly thicker copy paper pages which were perforated to tear out (the copy being darker and clearer writing than the "top"). In the last volume, however, the top flimsy pages were removed to send overseas (possibly now written with a pen) and the copy made with a blacker "carbon" was retained
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
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System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open for consultation
Conditions governing reproduction
This material is made available for personal research and study purposes under the University of Tasmania Standard Copyright Licence. For any further use permission should be obtained from the copyright owners. For assistance please contact Special.Collections@utas.edu.au
When reusing this material, please cite the reference number and provide the following acknowledgement:
“Courtesy of the UTAS Library Special & Rare Collections”
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Original inventory and descriptive notes can be found at https://eprints.utas.edu.au/10950/2/Wells.pdf
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
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Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
CE September 2018