P001148 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

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 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Person created 1993-10-20 human McCarthy, G.J & Annette Alafaci updated 2024-10-23 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P001148b.htm person Raper George AACR2 19 September 1769 1797 Place of Birth England Natural history artist George Raper is known for his water-colour drawings of subjects mainly associated with the First Fleet, the foundation of the colony and the settlement of Norfolk Island. His numerous natural history paintings include many species of flora and fauna now extinct. Many of his works are held at the National Library of Australia and the Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales.

On 20 August 1783, at age thirteen, George Raper joined the Royal Navy as a captain's servant to be groomed as an officer. Four years later (22 December 1786) he was transferred to the HMS Sirius as an Abel Seaman and later (13 May 1787) set off with the rest of the First Fleet to the British colony at New South Wales. Their journey took them past many lands including the island of Madeira, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town.

The fleet arrived at Botany Bay, then Port Jackson in January 1788. In October of that year the officers and crew of the Sirius were sent back to the Cape of Good Hope (Cape Town) to fetch supplies for the settlement. They began their return journey on 20 February 1789 and after experiencing treacherous conditions late in the journey eventually made it back safely to Port Jackson (circa May 1789). In June of that year the Sirius and its crew were relocated to Careening Cove (Mosman Bay).

By February 1790, the colony was once again short of supplies, so the Sirius and the Supply were sent to Norfolk Island to relocate two hundred of the convicts to ease the burden. Almost immediately after reaching Norfolk Island and offloading the convicts the weather changed for the worse and the Sirius became ship-wrecked while trying to leave. Raper and his fellow crew were stranded there for eleven months before the Supply returned to Norfolk Island to collect them. He remained in Port Jackson until 27 March 1791, then boarded the hired Dutch ship Waaksamheyd for the voyage back home, arriving in Portsmouth on 22 April 1792.

Raper was promoted to Second Lieutenant on the Speedy in June 1793 and First Lieutenant on the Cumberland in December 1795. He was given command of the Expedition on 20 July 1796 and died of unknown causes in 1797 at the young age of twenty-eight.

Throughout his five years at sea with the First Fleet, Raper kept thorough records of his travels, including numerous illustrations. There was no official artist assigned to the voyage, so Raper's artworks are of special significance, providing some of the first visual records of many of Australia's flora, fauna and landforms.

1783 1786 Career position - Servant to the Captain of the Royal Navy's HMS Rose 1786 1786 Career position - Able Seaman on the Sirius with the First Fleet 1787 1793 Career position - Promoted to Midshipman 1788 1788 Career position - Arrived and settled in Port Jackson (January to October) 1788 1789 Career position - Sailed on the Sirius to the Cape of Good Hope for supplies 1789 1790 Career position - Returned to Port Jackson then moved to Careening Cove (now Mosman Bay) 1790 1790 Life event - Ship-wrecked on Norfolk Island 1791 1791 Career position - Returned to Port Jackson 1792 1792 Career position - Arrived in England on the hired Dutch ship Waaksamheyd 1793 1795 Career position - Second Lieutenant on the Speedy 1795 1796 Career position - First Lieutenant on the Cumberland 1796 Career position - Commander of the Expedition Australian Joint Copying Project, National Library of Australia; and State Library of New South Wales (1945 - 1993)

AJCP M1183

Wikidata

VIAF - Virtual International Authority File

 Raper, George (1768-1797)

Trove

 'Raper, George', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Raper, George Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Journal Article: Acquisition of a Lifetime: the Ducie Collection—Newly Purchased Paintings from the First Fleet Groom, Linda Acquisition of a Lifetime: the Ducie Collection—Newly Purchased Paintings from the First Fleet 2005 National Library of Australia News XVI 3 3-6 Book Section: Raper, George (1768?-1797), seaman and artist Hindwood, K. A. Raper, George (1768?-1797), seaman and artist Melbourne Melbourne University Press 1967 Australian dictionary of biography, volume 2: 1788 - 1850 I-Z Douglas Pike 363-364 Review: Archives of Natural History Lucas, Arthur M. 2009 Archives of Natural History 36 2 374-375 Book: First Fleet Artist: George Raper's Birds and Plants of Australia Groom, Linda First Fleet Artist: George Raper's Birds and Plants of Australia Canberra National Library of Australia 2009 Review: Historical Records of Australian Science Presland, Gary 2010 Historical Records of Australian Science 21 2 288-9 Papers of George Raper, [manuscript] 1787-1794 National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection Papers of George Raper, [manuscript] 1787-1794 MS 9433 1787 - 1947 In 2000, the National Library of Australia acquired 9 maps, 9 paintings and a manuscript notebook. NLA Summary description: "The papers consist of: 1. 'Observations by Lieut. George Raper, R.N. 1787-1794'. Manuscript (15 pp) giving nautical observations, kept on HMS Sirius, May 1787-Jan 1788 and Oct 1788-April 1789. Includes documentation of efforts to improve determination of longitude through experimentation with chronometers and brief entries on Speedy (1793) and Commerce de Versailles (1794). 1a. Two CDs of images of the manuscript. 2. Five folios containing twelve pen, ink and watercolour drawings, 1787-90, of Tenerife, Cape Verde Islands, Rio de Janeiro, Van Diemen's Land, Botany Bay, Port Jackson and wreck of HMS Sirius at Norfolk Island (items 2/1-5). 3. Nine manuscript maps and plans, 1787-91, depicting track of HMS Sirius in Atlantic Ocean, Rio de Janeiro, Island of St Jago, Botany Bay, Port Jackson and Norfolk Island (items 3/3i-3ix)." 1.5 m, 2 boxes (1 solander, 1 folio) The Ducie collection of First Fleet art [picture] / [George Raper] National Library of Australia Pictures Collection The Ducie collection of First Fleet art [picture] / [George Raper] PIC MSR 14/1/4-5 #PIC/9838/1-56 1788 - 1790 First Fleet watercolours from David Moreton, seventh Earl of Ducie and the Moreton family. The Ducie Collection is the largest and most significant collection of First Fleet material acquired by the Library since the 1962 purchase of a sketchbook of drawings by Captain John Hunter. Carefully drawn, many of the paintings are the first visual record of Australian plant and animal species from the hand of a European artist. Attributed to George Raper (1769-1797), a Midshipman on the Sirius, they show the birds and flowers of the Port Jackson area as he perceived them between 1788 and 1790. 0.5 m, 56 items 56 drawings : watercolour ; 40.7 x 32 cm. or smaller. George Raper - Records Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales George Raper - Records 1770 - 1797 Paintings c1770-97. Artwork Australian Botanists - Biographies Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science Australian Botanists - Biographies MS 064 Hunt Institute Biographies. Short biographies, averaging 2 pages, of Australian botanists, botanical collectors or artists. 0.24 m, 3 boxes