A Man Of Many Parts: The Life & Times of Edward Charles Close 1790 - 1866

Born in Bengal and raised to maturity on his uncle's Suffolk estate, Edward Charles Close was a lieutenant in the 48th Northamptonshire Regiment of Foot, serving for five years on the blood drenched battlefields of the Peninsular War. He arrived in New South Wales with his regiment in 1817, later resigning his commission and carving an estate from the wilderness on the Hunter River with convict labour, and creating the private town of Morpeth. He was one of the Duke of Wellington's men who stayed on in the colony and left a valuable and lasting legacy in a new land.

Based on extensive use of primary sources in England and Australia, private family papers, Close's Peninsular War Diary and diaries and correspondence of contemporaries, the author brings to life a man who left his mark not only through his industry and deeds but through his words and paintings. The book includes many of his watercolours painted in Spain, Portugal, England and Ireland. His colonial pictures provide a window into the settlement and portray his empathic view of the Indigenous inhabitants.

A riveting read, enhanced by the Diary of E.C. Close also available from Synjon.

Ann Beaumont

Published by Highland House Publications

• 196 pages
• 46 Illustrations and maps
• Includes bibliography and index