painter, initialled a small oil painting on card (Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery) of a shell and some seaweed, identified verso as 'Great Australian Volute / Voluta Mamilla [sic] half natural size / Tasmanian cone / Balloon Alga / Gliosceion Brownii / Jointed carnation Alga / Grateloupia prolifereii '. It may have been copied from some natural history publication but is most likely an original work.

The 'A.M.’ (probably the same person) who initialled several watercolour and pencil sketches in a large collection of views of Norfolk Island and Tasmania (Dixson Library) was identified by Sir William Dixson as Miss Maconochie, either the sister or daughter of the commandant of Norfolk Island, Alexander Maconochie. However, neither woman was either resident or of a suitable age to have drawn them in 1846. Since at least half the Dixson Library collection was drawn by Bishop F.R. Nixon , the most likely solution is that the copies of the bishop’s originals in the 'A.M.’ albums were done in Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land, by Nixon’s wife, Anna Maria , evidently to send home to both their families. The original drawings, including a small sketchbook of rough pencil and ink drawings also initialled A.M. (Mitchell Library), would have been done by Anna Maria on visits to Norfolk Island with her husband en route to or from England. Mrs Nixon certainly knew Port Arthur, the other place drawn in detail by both A.M. and Nixon in the Dixson Library albums.

Writers:

Staff Writer

Date written:

1992

Last updated:

2011