This wool sample is one of the eight samples of the first wool produced in Australia. The samples were cut from Reverend Samuel Marsden's sheep and submitted to Governor Captain P G King, RN by Samuel Marsden on 11th August 1804.
The samples were sent to King George III of England to prove that Australia could have a wool industry. In 1886 the samples were found among papers at the Colonial Secretary's office in London. They were presented to Sydney's Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences which, in 1988, became known as the Powerhouse Museum.
Samuel Marsden was one of the first people in the colony to grow sheep for wool. He was a visionary who stated in a letter back to family in England in 1811 "exporting wool will be the beginning of the commerce of this new world. Many think nothing of these things now, they cannot see any advantage to be derived to them, their children, or this settlement by improving the fleece of our sheep. But I anticipate immense national wealth to spring from this source of commerce in time".
These little pieces of wool signify the beginnings of merino sheep stud breeding in Australia. They represent the birth of the industry that fuelled the Australian economy from 1807 to 1960. Wool remains a valuable export commodity In 2007 Australia is the world's largest wool-producing country, accounting for 30% of world production. Our major markets are China, Italy, Taiwan, Korea and France.
References:
Merinos, Myths and Macathurs, J.C Garran and L. White.
A.T. Yarwood 'Marsden, Samuel (1765-1838)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2. Melbourne University Press, 1967, pp207-212
Some private correspondence of the Rev Samuel Marsden and Family 1794-1824, by George Mackaness, Australian Historical Monographs.
Written by Erika Dicker
Assistant Curator, July 2007
The wool sample is part of the Marsden wool collection, which contains eight samples of the first wool produced in Australia in 1804. The samples were submitted to Governor Captain P G King, RN by the Revd Samuel Marsden on 11th August 1804. The observations attached to each number were supplied by the Revd Mr Marsden.
Samuel Marsden and his wife Elizabeth sailed to the colony on the William which arrived at Sydney on the 10th of March 1794. Marsden made his home at Parramatta and was the resident chaplain, but in a letter back to family in England he described himself as "a Gardener, a Farmer, a Magistrate, and a Minister".
He was inexperienced at farming but committed to improving his crops, gardens, and animal flocks. He concentrated on cross breeding his sheep to suit both the market and the environment and purchased different sheep from various ships arriving in port.
In 1798 Marsden had made a valuable report on the colony's agriculture; and a few years later he made several reports to Governor King and to Sir Joseph Banks on the prospects of sheep breeding and wool growing in the colony. He saw a great opportunity that "wool would be the goldmines of this country and of vast national importance" and reported his opinion that "We must have an export or the settlement will never prosper".
In 1808 Marsden returned to England taking with him a barrel of his own wool. The wool from the colony had never been sold on the London market or used for manufacture and on arrival Marsden had his wool made into a suit which he wore to visit King George III. The King was so impressed by the quality of the suit that he gave Marsden the gift of several merinos from the Windsor stud. A few years later, when he had 3700 sheep, Marsden sent off the first significant shipment of wool to England by 1812, John and Elizabeth Macarthur sent their first shipment later that same year.
References:
Merinos, Myths and Macathurs, J.C Garran and L. White.
A.T. Yarwood 'Marsden, Samuel (1765-1838)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2. Melbourne University Press, 1967, pp207-212
Some private correspondence of the Rev Samuel Marsden and Family 1794-1824, by George Mackaness, Australian Historical Monographs.
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