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MRS. [WILHELMINA] BARNS GRAHAM : 1888 - 1889 ORIGINAL LONDON TO AUSTRALIA TRAVEL DIARY HANDWRITTEN BY A SCOTTISH WOMAN IN PRECISE DETAIL TRAVELING WITH HER NOTABLE HUSBAND

8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. On offer is a super, 1888 - 1889 original travel diary handwritten aboard a ship identified as the S.S. Aroya detailing a trip from London to Australia. The author signs the diary on the fep as Mrs. [Wilhelmina?] Barns Graham Craigallian, who we believe is traveling with her husband Allan Graham Barns-Graham [whose online biography we have reproduced at the end of the listing.] Dated December 1888 through June 28, 1889 Mrs. Barns Graham is a sensational diarist leaving few details unwritten starting with a comprehensive list of the passenger's names, status, destination and their occupations and then near daily entries of the voyage. One online source provides: BIO NOTES: ALLAN GRAHAM BARNS-GRAHAM: "The Chairman of Lanarkshire County Council is a son of Patrick Graham, W.S., Edinburgh, and was born in that city in 1835. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, entered on a manufacturing and commercial career, and at the age of twenty-one went to Calcutta. The Suez Canal was not then thought of, and the railway across Egypt was not opened, but he went by that route, and sailed from Suez in the paddle-wheel steamer of that time. One of his earliest experiences in India was the Mutiny, during which he enrolled for service in the Volunteer Cavalry. Two years later, in China, he was among the first civilians to enter Canton after its capture, and was blockaded by Chinese rebels in Shanghai. He also spent some time in Manila, and would have entered Japan, but found the country closed against foreigners. In 1860 he came home and took a partnership in the firm of Crum, Graham & Co. for four years, till the concern was wound up. His next experience was that of manager of a Calcutta bank which had become involved in mining speculations in Nevada and California. He went to these countries to try and retrieve the fortunes of the undertaking, but these falling out ill, he returned, and became principal buyer for a large house of East India merchants in Manchester. Once more he went to Calcutta as a partner of the firm of Graham & Co.; then in 1875 he succeeded to the family estates; and since that time has devoted himself to the public business of the counties in which his interests lie. He is the owner of Craigallan in Stirlingshire, Lymekilns in Lanarkshire, Fereneze in Renfrewshire, and Kirkhill in Ayrshire. For five years, 1861-5, he was a captain in the 3rd Renfrewshire Rifle Volunteers, and for a considerable time, more recently, was Parish Council Representative of Strathblane on the Western District Committee of Stirlingshire. His chief energies, however, have been devoted to Lanarkshire. On the passing of the Local Government Act of 1889, he was elected as representative of the South Division of Cambuslang on the County Council. In 1893 he was appointed Chairman of the Middle Ward District Committee, and in 1898 he became Convener of the County. He is also one of the Extra Parliamentary Panel of Commissioners under the Private Legislation (Scotland) Act of 1899. He is a Justice of the Peace and Deputy-Lieutenant for the Counties of Lanark and Renfrew. Mr. Barns-Graham married in 1868 Wilhelmina, daughter of William Carstairs, M.D., and has had a family of four daughters and four sons, of whom three daughters and two sons survive." The diary is in good condition internally butt the binding is not in place an the first section has come somewhat loose. Overall G.. Manuscript. Book Condition: Good

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