Religious procession in Sri Lanka. Jack and Ranson Mortlock visited Sri Lanka with their mother Rosye in 1921 for the wedding of their friend Heather Hammond. Jack and Ranson toured again in 1930 with Ernest Scarfe.
Imperial Journeys
Authors: Margaret Allen and Denise Noack
The Bowman and Mortlock families were members of the colonial gentry, having become rich through the taking of Indigenous lands as pastoralists. Such wealth allowed them to make numerous and lengthy journeys both within and outside of Australia, during which they collected items for use and display in Martindale Hall.
The young Edmund Bowman was at Cambridge University for two years, returning to Australia when he came of age in 1876 and becoming the proprietor of the Martindale property. He then sent his mother and stepfather, William Brooks, on a year-long shopping expedition in 1879–1880 to Britain to buy furniture and furnishings for his new grand home.
The Mortlock family made lengthy journeys abroad. They also travelled around Australia, and between their various stations, collecting souvenirs, hunting trophies and Indigenous items.
W. T. Mortlock was in Britain and also at Cambridge from 1873 to c. 1881. In 1903 with his wife, Rosye, he made an extended tour of Europe. They possibly bought some of the Japanese and Chinese items now in the Hall while in London. They may have purchased some Egyptian pieces when they passed through the Suez Canal and Aden. We certainly know that on this trip, W. T. Mortlock bought some prize donkeys in Spain and had them shipped back to Australia.
On one trip to Europe, W. T. Mortlock bought some prize donkeys in Spain and had them shipped back to Australia.
A visitor to the Hall in 1905 noted the results of his travels: ‘The proprietor, during his world-wide travels, has been able to gratify a taste for the acquisition of tribal relics and curios, representing a primeval [sic] in the evolutionary progression of the inferior races. Consequently, it is no surprise to see a large collection of native weapons and utensils gathered from various parts, and including some from Aden, London, and the interior of Australia.’1
J. A. T. (Jack) Mortlock was also at Cambridge but returned home in 1913 upon his father’s death. He was constantly on the move, often visiting his properties at Yudnapinna and Coffin Bay, and Western Australia. We have been able to find out a great deal of information about his travels because as a prominent citizen, his travels were reported in the local press. They are also recorded in tour brochures and itineraries, Jack’s diary and the reminiscences of his chauffeur, Jeff Thrum. Jack Mortlock was one of the first people in South Australia to own a movie camera. He took extensive movie footage of his 1930 tour with his brother, Ranson, and his manager, Ernest Scarfe, to Java, Singapore, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India; his trips to Queensland in 1935–1937; his trip to the NSW Sesquicentenary in 1938; and his New Zealand trip in 1940.
In July 1930, Jack Mortlock, his brother Ranson Mortlock and E. E. Scarfe, the manager of their vast pastoral properties, left Adelaide for Sydney to embark on what they termed their ‘Tour of the East’. Find out more about their adventures.
But while the Mortlocks were partying, below decks Indian sailors (lascars) did the heavy work. The movement of non-white people was more restricted. Frank Mahomed, an Indian long-resident in Australia, travelled second class on the SS Narkunda, the ship on which Jack and Ranson Mortlock returned from Bombay (Mumbai) in 1930. He had to apply for a Certificate Exempting from Dictation Test and endure constant humiliating identification checks and surveillance under the Immigration Restriction Act 1901.
