Party: Archer Brothers
Summary
Diary and business statement. Thomas Archer 1823-1905, was born in Scotland and moved with his family to Norway in 1826, and from thence to Australia in 1837. In Australia he was joined by his brothers, and after a period in New South Wales, Thomas, John and David Archer took sheep to Queensland in 1841, where they settled Durundur and Cooyar Stations in the south-eastern region of the colony. The Archers established a wide circle of friends and correspondents, including Ludwig Leichhardt, who visited Durundur. Thomas Archer made exploratory journeys into central Queensland during the 1840s; in 1848 the family took up Eidsvold Station in the Upper Burnett District, and in 1865 pioneered Gracemere, near the present site of Rockhampton. From here they expanded and the Archer papers have details of numerous other pastoral holdings, including Coolibah, 15 Mile, Laleham, Minnie Downs, St Helen's and Torsdale. Thomas Archer travelled extensively, and in 1881 was appointed Agent General for Queensland in London. In 1897 he published an autobiography: Recollections of a Rambling Life. The Archer family have remained on the land in the Rockhampton district and have played a prominent role in the social and political affairs of the region, including the Rockhampton based separation movement. The Mitchell Library holds the principal collection of Archer family papers. Copies from this extensive collection of original records and additional items, are held in numerous other repositories, including the John Oxley Library where the following are held:
Statement of account, 1900. Statement of account relating to the sale of beef by Messrs Archer Bros Rockhampton, Queensland, to the Colonial Consignment and Distributing Co. Ltd, 27, 28 June 1900, pp.5. Oxley: O.M.69-7.
Diary, 1843-1844. Diary of Durundur Station, 1843-1844, manuscript and photocopy, pp.36. Oxley: O.M.79/17/1-2.