Edward Minchen
Encyclopedia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n botanical artist.
Minchen was born in Middle Swan, Perth, Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, the son of James Minchen and Elizabeth Fisher, and had a fairly checkered career pursuing jobs at sea, trades, an attempt at the stage and the National Art Gallery. He ended up working as a lithographer in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
for the Lands Department, the Survey Office and the Government Printer. He often collaborated with Henry Baron (1863-?), a lithographic artist who joined the Government Printer in 1891.
Family
Elizabeth Fisher (*1834), daughter of William Fisher (1803-1878) and Elizabeth Witt Wittle (1808-), at 17, married James Minchin (24 June 1821, Petersfield, HampshirePetersfield, Hampshire
Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth, on the A3 road. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct Line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth and London. The town is situated on the...
- 26 May 1901, Mooroopna, Victoria), son of James Minchin (1799-1837) and Elizabeth Tewlett, on 24 August 1851 at Middle Swan. James, a carpenter, was the brother of Hester/Esther Minchin (20 August 1828 Petersfield, Hampshire
Petersfield, Hampshire
Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth, on the A3 road. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct Line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth and London. The town is situated on the...
- 11 September 1900 South Australia), who had married Elizabeth's brother, Samuel Fisher. James and Elizabeth produced three sons: Edward William Minchin born in 1852; James Henry (1854-1855); James Walter born 1856.
Elizabeth Fisher had arrived at the Swan River Colony
Swan River Colony
The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...
from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with her parents on board the Success on 22 March 1843.
James had arrived at Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
from Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
with his parents on board the Caroline on 12 October 1829. James and his family went to Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
some time in the 1850s, where James worked as a carpenter and wheelwright.