Wimbriatta cannot be found. At least, not with that name.
An exploration of the life of its author, Frederic J. Davey, reveals clues but not confirmation. Davey was born in the Cornish town of Tuckingmill, an only son with seven sisters, in 1850. [1] After his 20th birthday, he migrated to Auckland in New Zealand on his own to seek work as an architect / draughtsman. The reclamation of Auckland Harbour was underway and offered employment.
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| New Zealand Herald, 8 March 1871, p.2 |
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| Daily Southern Cross, 13 February 1871, p.1 |
While in Auckland, Davey met his future wife Robinah Hooper, a London-born immigrant who travelled to New Zealand with her family. Her older brother James became an actor and comedian. He appeared at the Theatre Royal, a short-lived theatre north of the Bombay Hills. It is likely that Frederic and Robinah met at the Theatre as six months after his arrival, he launched a play.
Described as a 'new local farce', the play was titled "Potagold's Peep, or Sammy Come Home". One of the jokes centred around the Queen Street sewer. A newspaper of the day referred to it as "The main sewer nuisance". The title of the play was also a puzzle, until I heard the name Samuel Pepys (pronounced Peeps) mentioned in passing. He was an English diarist who wrote about the state of the London sewerage system in the 17th century. There is no doubt that Davey was a scholar, but he was also unwell.
With work on the Harbour coming to an end and his health not improving, Davey, his wife, and son Albert migrated to Sydney in July 1877 on the Rotorua. He joined the Colonial Architect's office.
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But the climate in Sydney was not dissimilar to the climate in Auckland, so after the birth of a daughter, the family moved north to the Tweed River. Davey resumed his architectural career, and was instrumental in designing public buildings in Tweed Heads including pubs and St Cuthbert's church. Another son and two daughters arrived between 1880 and 1888.
Despite this investment in the future, Davey paid a farewell visit to England in 1890 to see his mother Anna and his sisters. This journey may have helped to extend his life. Between 1900 and 1903, a series of articles appeared in the British journal Good Words. They were advertised as "Tales of the Australian bush", and noted in Davey's 1913 obituary as 'Tales of the Wimbriatta". [2]
It is not possible to search in text databases for the word Wimbriatta and find the articles; rather, a search of the author's name is required. So where is the Wimbriatta ? Almost every one of the nine articles detailing life on a river was accompanied by photographs, taken by one F. J. Davey. Some of the photographs include himself.
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| The Last Pioneer, Good Words, Dec. 1903, pp.36-42 https://www.proquest.com/britishperiodicals/results/F0A7E4E58CC44A43PQ/ |
The Wimbriatta is Terranora.
Davey's home at Terranora was known as Mighbyn, pronounced 'Mij-bin', and is most likely a reference to the local palm in the Bundjalung language. [3] Perhaps Wimbriatta will eventually be located in the same language.
The nine articles in Good Words are:
A Near Thing
Davey, F. J. (1900). A NEAR THING. Good
Words, 41, 188-194. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-periodicals/near-thing/docview/3322909/se-2
Davey, F. J. (1900). "ORATOR" EXTON. Good
Words, 41, 483-494. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-periodicals/orator-exton/docview/3324446/se-2
The Cave
Davey, F. J. (1900). THE CAVE. Good Words, 41,
738-747. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-periodicals/cave/docview/3341755/se-2
Our Little All
Davey, F. J. (1900). OUR LITTLE ALL. Good Words, 41,
846-852. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-periodicals/our-little-all/docview/3444591/se-2
Davey, F. J. (1901). NO GREAT CATCH. Good
Words, 42, 599-605. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-periodicals/no-great-catch/docview/3338057/se-2
A Friend in Need
Davey, F. J. (1902). A friend in need. Good
Words, 43, 401-408. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-periodicals/friend-need/docview/3352150/se-2
A Back Seat
Davey, F. J. (1902). A back seat. Good Words, 43,
577-585. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-periodicals/back-seat/docview/3327465/se-2
Coo-ee!
Davey, F. J. (1902). Coo-ee! Good Words, 43, 845-854. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-periodicals/coo-ee/docview/3329044/se-2
The Last Pioneer
Davey, F. J. (1903). The last pioneer. Good
Words, 44, 36-42. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-periodicals/last-pioneer/docview/3446778/se-2
References
[1] English Birth Certificate #204, 11 September 1850, to Thomas Davey and Anna Heynes.
[2] British Periodicals, Good Words, December 1902, p.2; Advertisement. (1902). Good Words, 43, 2. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-periodicals/advertisement/docview/3445793/se-2
[3] Ian Fox, email communication, 2016. Other spellings were also used.
