Giles, Emily Elizabeth, c. 1837, Mixed material, D 8771(Misc)
'Lady's Album' of Emily Elizabeth Giles (nee McGeorge) (1813-1876), wife of William Giles (1791-1862), the third colonial manager of the South Australia Company. The cover of the album is made of green leather, with gold filigree decoration on the front, back and spine. The album is a combination of a scrapbook, autograph book and commonplace book, a sort of memory and friendship book containing 61 contributions in the form of essays, prose, poems and illustrations, including copies of published poems, hymns and Bible passages contributed by friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances. First entries date from 1837, England, before the Giles family departed for Kangaroo Island, South Australia, on board the 'Hartley', with the latest entry approximately 1900 (Christmas card made by her grandson). Contributors include friends writing farewell notes before their departure, fellow passengers on board the 'Hartley', acquaintances met at Cape Colony during the voyage, and identities on Kangaroo Island and Adelaide. Several entries are by notable figures from early South Australian colonial history: the first three colonial managers of the South Australian Company each wrote in the album: William Giles, David McLaren and Samuel Stephens, along with prose and poetry by journalist Nathanial Hailes, and original sketches and paintings by Benjamin Travers Solly and John Alexander Jackson.