George French Angas | |
---|---|
Born | George French Angas 25 April 1822 |
Died | 4 October 1886 64) | (aged
Parent | George Fife Angas |
Relatives | Sarah Lindsay Evans and John Howard Angas (siblings) |
George French Angas (25 April 1822 – 4 October 1886), also known as G.F.A., was an English explorer, naturalist, painter and poet who emigrated to Australia. His paintings are held in a number of important Australian public art collections. He was the eldest son of George Fife Angas, who was prominent in the early days of the colonisation of South Australia.
He was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, the eldest son of George Fife Angas, prominent in the establishment of the new colony of South Australia. Despite showing remarkable talent in drawing, he was placed in a London business house by his father. He left on a tour of Europe and in 1842 published his first book, "Rambles in Malta and Sicily". As a result of this experience, he turned his back on the world of commerce, and directed his training towards a study of natural history, anatomical drawing and lithography. Embarking on his travels, he was soon to find his acquired skills extremely useful.
Angas painted some of the earliest views of South Australia. Arriving in Adelaide in January 1844, he joined Sir George Grey on an expedition into the interior. He soon began an extensive series of journeys to the Murray River lakes, Barossa Valley, Fleurieu Peninsula and the South East, presenting his impressions of the newly established colony – its inhabitants, landscape, and its flora and fauna (flowers, plants and stuff). Following a trip to New Zealand he returned to South Australia in 1845 and travelled to Port Lincoln. In the following year, 1846, he returned for a short while to England, accompanied by a young Māori man, Hemi Pomara, [1] who was exhibited alongside Angas's paintings at the Egyptian Hall in London. [1]
Angas' next journey in 1846 was to South Africa, where he spent two years in Natal and the Cape, working on a series of drawings and watercolours which were published in 1849 as The Kafirs Illustrated. In this book were views of Cape Town, Durban, Wynberg, Genadendal, Paarl and Somerset West, and plates depicting the local ethnic groups such as the Khoikhoi (then referred to as Hottentots), Cape Malays and Zulus.
Angas married Alicia Mary Moran in 1849, the marriage producing four daughters.
In 1853 Angas was appointed to a position at the Australian Museum in Sydney, eventually becoming Director and staying a total of seven years. Angas was in Sydney when gold was first discovered near Bathurst, New South Wales. Travelling there to record the gold diggings he executed a number of drawings of the scenes that he found. These were published in Sydney and subsequently in London. Angas was represented at the 1855 Paris exposition with five other Australian artists including Conrad Martens, Frederick Terry and Adelaide Ironside, the first time Australian artists had been represented at a major overseas display. [2] Angas returned to South Australia in 1860, and finally went back to England in 1863. Angas published several books on Australia and Polynesia as well as illustrating accounts of exploration by John McDouall Stuart and John Forrest, and contributed significantly to conchology with his descriptions and illustrations. [3]
Angas died in London on 8 October 1886.
The African antelope, Nyala (Tragelaphus angasii), was named in his honour. [4]
Many of Angas's original watercolours are held in National Library of Australia, as well as in a number of South Australian institutions: Art Gallery of South Australia; University of Adelaide; South Australian Museum; and Royal Geographical Society of South Australia. The State Library of New South Wales has four letters written by Angas – the first is addressed to his publisher, Joseph Hogarth, and is dated 31 January 1848, requesting that two drawings be released to the lithographer James William Giles (1801–1870), and for an advance in payment. The second, dated 28 July 1849 discusses problems experienced by overseas subscribers in the delivery of Kafirs Illustrated. The third letter instructs the publisher to send a plate from his sister's copy of Kafirs to the bookbinder, Mr Proudfoot, in George Street. The final, dated 10 February 1875 is addressed to Stephen William Silver (1819–1905), the London shipping merchant and book collector, and deals with matters relating to the Zoological Society and the Royal Geographical Society. [5]
From August to late November 2020, the State Library of South Australia exhibited his 1848 folio South Australia illustrated, [6] which is also available online. [7]
Species of nudibranch described by Angas include: [3]
George Fife Angas was an English businessman and banker who, while residing in England, played a significant part in the formation and establishment of the Province of South Australia. He established the South Australian Company and was its founding chairman of the board of directors.
Captain John Hart CMG was a South Australian politician and a Premier of South Australia.
Sir Samuel Davenport was one of the early settlers of Australia and became a landowner and parliamentarian in South Australia.
Hypselodoris bennetti is a species of colourful sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.
Goniobranchus daphne is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.
Goniobranchus loringi is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae. This species was transferred from Chromodoris to Goniobranchus in 2012.
Mexichromis festiva is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.
The Union Bank of Australia was an Australian bank in operation from 1837 to 1951.
Rostanga arbutus is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Discodorididae.
George Hamilton, was a pioneer overlander, artist, settler, and police officer in the Colony of South Australia, serving as Commissioner of Police for fifteen years.
Henry "Harry" Glover was an English artist who emigrated to South Australia in 1849. He is noted for producing what may have been the first lithographs in the young colony. His elder son Henry Heath Glover had a career as artist and lithographer in Melbourne, Sydney, and Christchurch, New Zealand.
Henry Heath Glover, was an Australian artist and lithographer, commonly known as Harry Glover, or Henry Glover, jun. while his father was alive.
Carminodoris nodulosa is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Discodorididae.
Facelina newcombi is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.
Jorunna pantherina is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Discodorididae.
Goniobranchus splendidus is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae. The specific epithet splendida means splendid in reference to the colouring, because this nudibranch has large red spots on a white background, a yellow line at the mantle edge, and magenta rhinophores.
Crimora edwardsi is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Polyceridae.
John Alexander Gilfillan was a professor of painting at the University of Strathclyde who migrated to Whanganui, New Zealand in 1841. He settled on a farm in Whanganui but when this was destroyed in 1847 he moved to Australia. While there he worked as a Customs Agent and painted a number of significant historical paintings.
Hemi Pomara was a Māori man of chiefly status, from the Chatham Islands. In his youth, he was taken to Sydney, and then London, before returning to New Zealand, via Barbados, where he was shipwrecked. A daguerreotype of Pomara is the oldest known photograph of any Māori person. A novel and a planned film are based on his life.
Edward Angas Johnson, known as Angas or E. Angas Johnson, was City Health Officer of Adelaide, South Australia. His name has very frequently been misspelled as "Angus" Johnson.