REPORT

From Captain Higginson of the Laura.

Information obtained from the Pickle schooner, on the 28th of October 1805, by the Laura, at 4 pm. [the Pickle was going to England with Despatches from Admiral Collingwood.]          

The action began at half past twelve on the 21st of October, Cadiz distant 20 miles bearing N. N. E. The British fleet 27 sail of the line, the Enemy 33 of the line. The Buccentaur of 80 guns, (French Admiral Villeneuve) taken, Admiral Gravina escaped, 20 sail taken and destroyed, including the Achilie French 74, blown up. The Santissima, Trinadada, 134 guns, sunk on the 24th, and one sunk in tow: two of the prizes escaped into Cadiz on the 23d, perfect wrecks. On the 24th bad weather, the prizes in tow were cut away by Telegraph Signal; and on the 26th none of them in sight, only nine English vessels in sight, with all their masts standing; the Bellisle was the only English ship totally dismasted. The Victory (Lord Nelson's ship) lost her mizen mast; the Royal Sovereign her main and mizen masts; Lord Nelson was shot through the shoulder at 2 pm and died at 4, just after the Santissima Trinidada struck; which closed the action. Ten sail came out of Cadiz afterwards but were forced to return.

Admiral Louis was absent with the Canopus, Spencer, Queen, Donnegal and 3 others – The Neptune, Prince, Dreadnought and Defiance joined after the action.  

Killed and Wounded

Royal Sovereign, 400 killed and wounded. 

Lord Nelson, (Victory) killed. 

Captain Duff (Temeraire) do. 

Captain Cooke (Bellisle) do.

Captain Tyler (Revenge) wounded.

Lord Nelson's Telegraph Signal previous to the action was:

"ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY."      

By Order of His Excellency,

(signed) J. C. SMYTH,  

Acting Colonial Secretary.      

[The above information was also confirmed by the arrival of the Nautilus, Captain Sykes at Lisbon. Captain Higginson of the Laura left Lisbon on the 4th of November 1805.]          

Prior to conservation work, the Bowman Flag was documented as having the pennants at the right hand side folded to the front of the flag and sewn down. The flag was photographically documented prior to treatment.

Treatment involved removing the pennants from the front of the flag; removal of unsympathetic silk patches and watercolour paint disguising damage; and washing of the flag to remove iron stains, watermarks and dirt. The fragile flag was then heat sealed with a synthetic adhesive to a sheet of polyester gauze. The delicate pennants were then laboriously re-attached prior to the whole flag being mounted onto a solid backboard and placed in a frame.

No restoration or consolidation was carried out on the original oil paint design at this time.

Josephine Carter in the Department of Material Conservation and Restoration of the Western Australian Museum carried out the conservation in 1976 – 1977. 

Viewed from our modern world of almost instantaneous, global broadcasting, it seems incredible that throughout the early decades of white settlement in Australia, updates on international affairs - say, the outbreak of a war or the death of a public figure (let alone a loved one) - could take up to six months to arrive. Ships docking at

Sydney Cove brought not only people and badly needed provisions but were also the sole means of delivering news from the outside.

Such was the situation on 11 April 1806, when the convict transport William Pitt arrived with its contingent of female internees. In transit since September 1805, the ship had reached the Cape of Good Hope in January 1806. There, reliable intelligence confirmed the victory of the Royal Navy over Napoleon Bonaparte's fleet at the

Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, and the loss of the nation's greatest naval hero, Vice Admiral Viscount Horatio Nelson.

On landing in Sydney, the news was quickly communicated to the colonial authorities and disseminated to the populace at large via the colony's only newspaper, the weekly Sydney Gazette. Governor King declared Sunday 20 April 1806 as a Day of General Thanksgiving for the safe delivery of king and country from the threat of French imperialism, and the next issue of the Sydney Gazette, dated Sunday 13 April 1806, printed a public announcement on the front page.

Details of religious services to be conducted at Sydney, Parramatta, Castle Hill, and Green Hills in the Hawkesbury were included in the notice, along with the exhortation that 'all persons not prevented by sickness or the necessary care of their dwellings are expected to attend.' The back page of the newspaper included a brief description of the battle with 'verbatim' copy from the Cape Extraordinary Gazette, 26 January 1806, and Nelson's ‘Tellegraph (sic) signal issued previous to the action' was transcribed in full: " ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY."

Meanwhile, closer to home, the Sydney Gazette reported (as it had throughout February and March) on the prospect of recurrent flooding in the Hawkesbury region:

From the heavy rains that fell almost incessantly at the beginning of the week, much serious apprehension was entertained at Sydney of another flood in the River Hawkesbury, with a renewal of the deplorable scenes so lately witnessed at that extensive and once flourishing settlement.

The alluvial plain flanking the Hawkesbury River was regarded as the granary of New South Wales, and the destruction of crops two months previously had practically reduced the colony to famine. Events such as these may have prompted John Bowman to place a series of advertisements in the newspaper throughout 1806, advising of the availability of his Hawkesbury River property for rent.¹

In 1797 John Bowman (1763–1825), a Scottish-born carpenter, had applied for, and been given, free passage to NSW on the recommendation of Sir Joseph Banks. Soon after, Bowman and his wife Honor (1759–1826), nee Honey, with their daughter (Mary, b. c. 1797) and son (George, 1795–1878) emigrated on the Barwell, only the third transport to carry free settlers.² The Bowmans travelled out with three other families — the ship's complement totalling 18 free persons, 115 convicts and 31 NSW Corpsmen. When the Barwell arrived in Sydney, on 18 May 1798, Sydneysiders eagerly welcomed it, as no ship had landed in the colony in over a year and supplies on shore were running short. In April 1799, Governor Hunter granted John Bowman 100 acres on the banks of the Hawkesbury River, about 2^1/2 miles (4 km) below the Richmond Bridge, which he named Archerfield.³

On 20 April 1806, according to Bowman family tradition, after attending the Trafalgar Thanksgiving Service at nearby Green Hills, a more informal gathering was staged at Archerfield, where a bonfire was lit and a flag flown from a temporary flagpole erected on the property.⁴ The flag, specially made for the occasion, has come to be known as the 'Trafalgar', or 'Bowman' flag.⁵

The Bowman flag is believed to be the earliest flag designed in Australia.⁶ Made of cream silk, in the pennant shape, it is constructed in four sections with the central panel bearing a coat of arms painted in oils. Two rectangles, pieced together by hand, form the large panel with two triangular segments attached along the right hand side. Three pairs of ties were attached down the left-hand side, each marked with a self-fabric rosette - only two sets of ties and one rosette survive. Another, smaller, rosette, marks the attachment of the pennants to the central panel (again, perhaps originally one of three).

The design and manufacture of the flag have been variously credited to Honor Bowman and her daughter Mary Bowman (c. 1796-1875). Mary was only nine or ten in 1806, so she is hardly likely to have devised and executed the entire concept on her own. Family tradition attributes the flag's design to John Bowman, and the plain sewing skills utilised in its construction would have been well within the capabilities of the female members of most colonial families.

Said to have been cut from the fabric of Mrs Bowman's 'white satin wedding gown' c.1788,⁷ the flag is actually made of a lightweight, plain weave, cream coloured silk. Possibly Indian or Chinese in origin, recent research into trade between Asian ports and Sydney proves that, by 1806, such materials would have been easily available in the colony.⁸

The coat of arms appearing on the Bowman flag is held to be the earliest rendition of the emu and kangaroo as part of an Australian coat of arms.⁹ The design comprises a motto, 'UNITY', lettered in a blue ribbon, above the crest of a rose and a scrolling cartouche surrounding an elongated shield bearing the floral emblems of the British Isles - a rose, shamrock and thistle – supported by an emu (left) and kangaroo (right), nestled on foliage, above a second motto recording Nelson's famous signal, 'ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY', also set in a blue ribbon. The inclusion of Nelson's signal (exactly as transcribed in the Sydney Gazette) in what is otherwise a colonial symbol of patriotic fervour, shifts iconography of the Bowman flag beyond the bounds of Australiana and into the international realm of Nelsoniana.

The use of oils in the painting of the crest raises further queries as to the circumstances of its design and execution. Given the flag's end use, the choice of oil paints over watercolour would seem a practical option, and the whole design, especially the lettering, is extremely competently rendered. But would members of the Bowman family, or their fellow citizens of Richmond (or Sydney for that matter) have had ready access to oil paints or the skills to mix and apply them?

Although painting in watercolours on silk was a popular feminine accomplishment among the aspiring classes during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, little is known about the education and social circumstances of Honor Bowman, a Cornish woman by birth, prior to her arrival in the colony. Could lack of skill in preparing the silk surface or the oils themselves, plus the general unsuitability of silk as a base for this medium, have contributed to the now degraded state of the painted crest?

The use of Australian fauna in the crest on the Bowman flag, as supporters of the shield emblematic of Britain, predated Australia's identity as part of the British Empire - not merely as a dependent outpost - by 100 years. This powerful symbolism drew the flag back into public consciousness during the post-Federation era.

In November 1905, after the death of Leslie Bowman (the last great grandson of John Bowman) and following on from the centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1905, members of the Bowman family decided to give the flag to the Richmond Superior Public School - presumably for the edification of future generations of local residents.

In 1908, King Edward VII granted Australia the right to armorial bearings. This first official Australian coat of arms also depicted the kangaroo and emu as supporters but reversed their positions.¹⁰ Edward Campbell, a solicitor related to the Bowman family by marriage, had visited the Richmond Public School to discover the flag nailed to the back of a cupboard door. Campbell arranged for the flag to be cleaned, restored and framed. In a ceremony marking Empire Day in May 1908, it was hung in the Assembly Hall of the school, where it was photographed by NSW Government Printing Office in June of the same year.¹¹

This photograph was later reproduced in a 1914 publication by WA Gullick, the NSW Government Printer. In his book entitled Origin of Australian Arms, Gullick commented on the redesigned Australian coat of arms that King George V had granted on 19 September 1912:

It is perhaps unfortunate that in adopting the existing Commonwealth Coat of Arms, that authority obtained its grant for a combination which overlooks in the placing of the supporters, the correct historical origin. The emblem, as originally designed in 1805, had in it all the sentiment of 'Unity', which later crystallised into the Federation of Australia in 1901.

The flag remained in the Assembly Hall at Richmond until the Mitchell Library made a request for it to be transferred into its care.¹² The Department of Public Instruction agreed, passing the flag on to the Mitchell Library in 1916, where it was placed on public view in the Picture Gallery. Its increasingly fragile condition led to its withdrawal from display and in the 1970s the flag underwent extensive conservation. During this treatment the 1908 over painting was removed and the pennants were unfurled to reinstate the flag's original configuration.

The Bowman Flag is a remarkable artefact on many levels. As an expression of local patriotic fervor merging colonial and international content, its conceptualisation and execution in a remote farming community, amidst the rising floodwaters of the Hawkesbury River, is hard to conceive. Given its fragile fabric, flaking paint and ephemeral nature, the flag's two hundred year survival is even harder to believe. Yet its naïve imagery has the symbolic power to resonate with us to this day.

References

ES Bowman, John and Honor Bowman of Richmond, New South Wales, and their family. Archer Press, Singleton NSW 1999

James Broadbent, Suzanne Rickard & Margaret Steven, India, China,

Australia: trade and society 1788-1850. Historic Houses Trust of NSW, Glebe NSW 2003

Brian Fletcher, 'John Bowman', Australian Dictionary of Biography MUP, Melbourne 1966, vol.1, pp. 138-139

WA Gullick, Origin of Australian Arms, Government Printing Office, Sydney 1914 (ML QA929.8/G)

Brian Lavery, Nelson’s Fleet at Trafalgar. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, 2004

Notes

1. ES Bowman, John and Honor Bowman of Richmond, New South Wales, and their family. Singleton, NSW, Archer Press, 1999
   
2. Brian Fletcher, 'John Bowman', Australian Dictionary of Biography, MUP 1966, vol. 1. pp. 138-139
   
3. R Ian Jack in Exploring the Hawkesbury, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst 1990 p. 142 places Archerfield on Freeman's Reach
   
4. ES Bowman, op.cit.
   
5. ML Relic Collection: XR1. There is also a nylon replica c.1984 in the collection: LR 65
   
6. Frank Cayley, Flag of Stars, 1966
   
7. See ML Catalogue card - Mr R. Stuart Bowman (verbal) to ML on 8/7/1954
   
8. James Broadbent, Suzanne Rickard & Margaret Steven. India, China, Australia: trade and society 1788-1850. Glebe NSW, Historic Houses Trust of NSW 2003
   
9. WA Gullick, Origin of Australian Arms, 1914
   
10. The imprint of the Sydney Gazette has a kangaroo on the left and emu on the right.
    
11. Photo taken at Richmond Public School June 1908: GPO 11340; GPO copyprint don. 30.12.1913 and clipping from SMH 22.5. [1908]: DL PX 168, 18-21; Pxn 195
    
12. Label acquired with the flag and GPO copyprint at Ab28
    

The Bowman flag, as it has come to be known, was flown at Archerfield, the property of John and Honor Bowman, at Richmond, NSW, to celebrate the British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.

The flag exhibits the first recorded use of the kangaroo and emu as supporters of a shield and is probably the first flag designed in Australia.

News of Trafalgar – and of the death of Horatio Nelson on 21 October 1805 – did not reach Sydney until April 1806, when it was published in the Colony’s only newspaper, the Sydney Gazette, on 13 April. The Governor declared the following Sunday, 20 April, a ‘Day of General Thanksgiving’. On this day Divine Service would be celebrated at Sydney, Parramatta, Castle Hill and Windsor – and attendance would be compulsory.

The rose, thistle and shamrock and the word ‘unity’ refer to the union of England, Scotland and Ireland, just recently completed in 1801. Nelson’s famous words, ‘England expects every man will do his duty’, were quoted in the Sydney Gazette report.

The flag remained with the Bowman family until 1905, the 100^th anniversary of Trafalgar, when it was presented to the Richmond Superior Public School. It was transferred to the Mitchell Library in 1916 and has subsequently undergone conservation treatment.