MS 9473

Papers of John Kendrick Blogg (1851-1936)



Scope and Content Note

Papers

1869-1992

1.3 m. (5 boxes + 1 folio box)

Available for reference

The papers of the industrial chemist, woodcarver and poet John Kendrick Blogg (1851-1936) were donated to the National Library by his grandson, Hugh Stevenson, in 1996.

The collection, which includes letters, cuttings albums, poetry, photographs and family memorabilia, provides an interesting overview of Blogg’s life and work. There are records of his achievements in woodcarving, and verse and hymn writing, as well as materials relating to his career as a manufacturing chemist. Many of the items were used in the writing of Marjorie Morgan’s book Legacy in sculptured wood : an appreciation of the work of John Kendrick Blogg, 1851-1936, which she published in 1993.

The collection also reflects Blogg’s enjoyment of letter writing, and the papers include correspondence with some prominent individuals who shared his interest in poetry. On this topic are letters from George Meredith, Rudyard Kipling, Alfred Deakin, Nettie Palmer, Archibald Strong and Sir George Knibbs. Other notable names appearing in the collection are Sir Russell Grimwade, Henry Bournes Higgins and Atlee Hunt.

The papers were for many years in the possession of family members, most recently in the custody of Stevenson, the unofficial family historian. The resulting organisation of the collection, according to the various groupings of materials which had evolved over time, has largely been preserved in the arrangement of series.

In addition to Blogg’s papers filed in the Manuscript Collection, a copy of the score of his war anthem ‘The Heroes of Anzac’ is housed in the music component of the Snell Collection at N mba 784.71994 B65.


Biographical Note

1851 Born 19 March, Toronto, Canada

c. 1860s-77 Member of Cooks Methodist Church, Toronto, Canada

c. 1868 Studied chemistry at Toronto University

c. 1869 Junior partner in uncle’s firm, J. Davids and Co., dispensing chemists, Toronto

1877 June Sailed to Australia from New York aboard the Antelope

1877 Arrived in Melbourne 18 September, taking up employment with Messrs Herbert Rocke and Company, wholesale druggists (later Rocke Tompsitt and Co.)

1878 Married Annie Matilda Derham, St Matthew’s Anglican Church, Prahran

1884 In partnership with Herbert George Grist as manufacturing chemists, 161-163 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

1884 Oct. Registered own firm, J.K. Blogg and Company Limited, operating from factory in Moray Street, South Melbourne

1889 Name of firm changed to J.W. Tod Company Limited

1892 Company name changed to Blogg Bros., operating from 15-17 St James Street, Melbourne

1893 Death of first wife Annie; took up woodcarving as a hobby; resident of‘Balmoral’, Albany Crescent, Surrey Hills, Melbourne

1895-1900 Blogg Bros. appointed perfumers to Lord Brassey, Governor of Victoria

1897 Married Margaret Campbell Mackiehan

c. 1898 Blogg Bros Proprietary Limited moved to larger premises at 24-38 Spencer Street, Melbourne

1901 Carved a music cabinet, his earliest dated piece

c. 1910 Carved pulpit at St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, Surrey Hills; presented a panel of gum leaves to Lord Carmichael, Governor of Victoria

1912 Carved pulpit ornament for Chambers’ Church (later the Scots’ Church), Adelaide

1913-36 Member of Surrey Hills Bowling Club, where the Blogg Pairs competition was initiated in 1920

1914 Carving of wattle branch displayed in the window of Messrs Glen and Company, Collins Street, Melbourne; two pieces selected by Victorian Government for the Agent General’s Office, London

1915 Carved pulpit panels at Centenary Methodist Church, Canterbury Road, Surrey Hills; prepared tablet for the Belgium Relief Fund Committee and carved a casket for King Albert of Belgium

1917 Fire at Bloggs Proprietary Limited premises, destroying factory

1918 Published Leaside (a tribute in verse to his childhood home in Toronto); visited Canada and United States to purchase new factory machinery; contributed carvings to the war memorial in Surrey Gardens, Surrey Hills

1920 A sculptured panel presented to the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) during his visit to Melbourne

1920-24 Member and exhibitor with the Victorian Artists’ Society

1927 Publication of his Selected poems by Disabled Men’s Association

1929 Retired and devoted spare time to woodcarving; published article‘The art of woodcarving’ in The Argus, 28 September

1932 Last dated carved panel

1934 Unsuccessful entrant in the Victorian Centenary Poem Competition

1936 Died 23 September, Surrey Hills Examples of Blogg’s work are held by the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, and in numerous family and private collections.


Series List

  1. Chemical notebooks, 1869-87
  2. Correspondence and papers, 1880-1936
  3. Woodcarving, 1903-90
  4. Verse and hymns, 1916-36
  5. Biographical and family history papers, 1876-1987
  6. Papers relating to Legacy in sculptured wood (1993) by Marjorie Morgan, 1884-1992
  7. Newspaper cuttings, 1894-1943

Series Description

Series 1 Chemical notebooks, 1869-87

Blogg’s career as a chemist began in 1869 as a junior partner in his uncle’s Toronto pharmacy. In Melbourne in 1884 he established a successful manufacturing enterprise, initially known as J.K. Blogg and Company, which prospered and became well known for its products such as ‘Ontario’ laundry blue, ‘Argus’ worcestershire sauce, ‘Sunshine’ shoe blacking and ‘Snow White’ baking powder. The firm, which operated under a succession of names, also pioneered the extraction of perfume from Australian native trees and plants, and exported large amounts of wattle blossom and boronia extracts to London. Trading as Blogg Bros., the company held the appointment of official perfumer to the Governor of Victoria, Lord Brassey, between 1895 and 1900.

This series comprises two notebooks kept by Blogg in his work as a manufacturing chemist, containing handwritten entries and pasted extracts from newspapers. The first, begun in Toronto in 1869, records methods for experiments and gives recipes for a range of chemical products such as boot and furniture polish, perfumes, parchment and cleaning fluids. The second volume opens in 1887, and lists ingredients and processes for the manufacture of soaps, inks, sauces, glues and other commercial lines.

Other papers relating to the operations of Blogg’s chemical companies are filed in Series 2.

Volumes

1 Notebook of John Kendrick Blogg, 1869

2 Notebook of John Kendrick Blogg, dated 14 September 1887, with index and November 1888 balance sheet [for J.K. Blogg and Company Limited?] included as an insert

Series 2 Correspondence and papers, 1880-1936

Letters and other papers documenting Blogg’s various endeavours as a chemist, woodcarver and poet, which were formerly kept by family members in presentation binders, together make up this series. Featuring amongst the items are letters Blogg exchanged with prominent individuals such as the statistician Sir George Knibbs, the poet Archibald Strong, prime minister Alfred Deakin, the businessman and art collector Sir Russell Grimwade and the writer Nettie Palmer. Blogg also wrote to George Meredith and Rudyard Kipling admiring their writings, and their replies, dated 1909 and 1914, are filed in Folder 3.

Amongst other varied documents filed in Folder 1 are instructions for the manufacture of soap, patent documentation for the polymerisation of vegetable oils, and agreements and registration documents relating to the firms Rocke Tompsitt and Company, J.K. Blogg & Co. and Blogg Bros. Folder 2 contains scientific papers written by Blogg on the distillation of Australian essential oils, together with copies of his baptism certificate, and letters of introduction brought with him to Australia in 1877.

Folder 3 includes long letters written by Blogg to his wife whilst overseas in 1918, and three entries in the Victorian Centenary Poetry Competition, in which he was an unsuccessful entrant in 1934.

Blogg’s scientific notebooks are filed in Series 1; other letters from Knibbs and Palmer can be found in Series 6.

Folders

1 Correspondence and scientific notes, together with legal documents relating to chemical manufacturing companies, 1880-1930 (including Knibbs and Palmer)

2 Correspondence and scientific notes, 1905-36 (including Deakin, Strong and Henry Bournes Higgins)

3 Correspondence, 1909-34 (including Meredith, Lord Carmichael, Kipling, Knibbs, Sir Russell Grimwade and Atlee Hunt)

Series 3 Woodcarving, c. 1903-90

According to family tradition, Blogg took up woodcarving as a hobby following the death of his first wife Annie in 1893. His immersion in the craft has also been attributed to an increasing deafness, although it is known that he had always decorated cabinet work and made items of furniture. The works were carved from solid pieces of wood using only hand tools, without joins or superimposition of timbers. In later years Blogg moved away from the decorated panels featured in his early work, to representations of native gums and wattles which were notable for their lightness of effect.

This series is chiefly comprised of photographs of Blogg’s carvings, but also includes some design sketches of panels and details, and articles written about his work in wood. The photos include examples of his many commissions, such as the carved panel presented to the Governor of Victoria, Lord Carmichael (1859-1926) and decorated box given to the King Albert of Belgium (1909-1934), as well as the pulpits and hymn boards which decorate a number of Victorian churches.

Other papers and photographs relating to Blogg’s carvings are filed in Series 2 and 6.

Folder

1 Photographs of carvings made by Blogg in the period 1910-28, together with covering letter from Howard Shrimpton (cousin of Hugh Stevenson) dated May 1987

2 Photographs of carvings made by Blogg in the period 1921-31 (including negatives)

3 Photographs of carvings made by Blogg in the period 1912-36, together with sketches, articles and other items relating to his work

4 Photocopied articles about woodcarvings of Blogg; ‘Flora and Fauna in Art and Design’ exhibition catalogue, 1986; Leonard Joel auction catalogues, 1988, 1990

5 Photographs of woodcarvings made by Blogg in the period, 1903-15, 1933, including panel for Lord Carmichael, together with a panel pencil design

6 Photographs of woodcarvings made in the period, 1911-22, together with pencil sketch of leaf detail

Series 4 Verse and hymns, 1916-36

Throughout his life Blogg wrote poetry and hymns, but immersed himself more fully in writing as his deafness became more pronounced. As well as exploring the themes of love, war and religion, many of the verses celebrate his passions for roses and the game of bowls. These regularly featured in the Australian rose annual and the journals Bowls and Bowling life, and Blogg also submitted poems to the Bulletin under the pseudonym ‘Ralph the Rover’. An anthology of Blogg’s poetry was published as Selected poems by the Melbourne chapter of the Disabled Men’s Association in 1927 to assist in fundraising.

Included in this series is a leather covered note pad of draft verse (dated 1916-26), together with many single sheet manuscripts of poetry. Other papers and correspondence relating to poetry and hymns written by Blogg are filed in Series 2.

Folders/Volume

1 Notebook containing manuscripts of verse and hymns, 1916-26; single issue of Verse, v. 1, no. 1, January-February 1930, with annotations by Blogg

2-3 Draft verse, 1916-26

4-5 Draft verse, 1927-29

6 Draft verse, 1930-31

7 Draft verse, 1932-36

8 Draft and printed rose verse (undated), together with ‘The ballad of the boots’ advertisement for Blogg Bros’ ‘Sunshine’ shoe blacking

9 Draft rose verse, 1921-36, including last poem written ‘Serenade to the rose’, together with small number of clippings from Bowling life

10 Draft miscellaneous verse

11 Draft Anzac and war verse

12 Draft miscellaneous verse and hymns

13 Draft religious verse

14 Draft bowling verse

15 Cuttings book with clippings of published verse by Blogg to journals including Bowls, with notes by Marjorie Morgan inserted

Series 5 Biographical and family papers, 1876-87

This series comprises family history papers and memorabilia relating to Blogg, his children and his second wife Margaret. Also included are two miniature paintings of scenes linked to the Davids family, Blogg’s maternal grandparents. A number of items document the history of St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, Surrey Hills, of which Blogg was an active member for many years.

A copy of Blogg’s baptism certificate is filed in Series 2/Folder 2.

Folders/Volumes

1 Family Bible of Margaret Campbell Mackiehan (second wife of John Kendrick Blogg), first inscribed in 1876 and updated with family history information to 1935

2 Correspondence and biographical information regarding John Kendrick Blogg collected by Hugh Stevenson, c. 1986-88, including articles about his work

3 Family history papers and memorabilia, 1906-87, including photographs, postcards, cruise programs, miniature paintings relating to the Davids family, Sydney Harbour Bridge opening souvenir serviette, items relating to St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, Surrey Hills

Series 6 Papers relating to Legacy in sculptured wood by Marjorie Morgan, 1884-1992

In 1993 , Box Hill City Historical Society Archivist, Marjorie Morgan published a study of Blogg under the title Legacy in sculptured wood : an appreciation of the work of John Kendrick Blogg, 1981-1936. She had been an admirer of Blogg’s ornate carvings for many years, and set about researching and documenting his varied career as a permanent tribute to his achievements.

This series comprises one folder of notes, correspondence, photographs and family papers borrowed by Morgan from Hugh Stevenson for purposes of her research. Amongst the materials are letters from Sir George Knibbs (1938) and Nettie Palmer (1929?), a photograph of Blogg & Grist premises (c. 1884), and a copy of Leaside (a poem about Blogg’s childhood home which was destroyed by fire in 1914). As well as using this specific grouping of papers, Morgan also drew widely from items in other series in the compilation of the book.

1 Colour photographs of woodcarvings, black and white family photographs, Blogg Bros. memorabilia, Leaside by John Kendrick Blogg [1918], biographical notes and correspondence used by Marjorie Morgan in the writing of Legacy in sculptured wood

Series 7 Newspaper cuttings, 1894-1943

A cuttings album kept by Blogg containing clippings from papers including the Dandenong advertiser, Stock and station journal, The Age, Mount Alexander mail, The Argus, The illustrated London news, The Hamilton spectator and Table talk. A number of the items record Blogg family events such as weddings. The album continued to be added to by Blogg’s second wife, Margaret, after his death in 1936.

Volume

1 Cuttings album, 1894-1943


Box List

Box Series Folder/Volume
1 1 1-2
1 2 1-3 (see also folio)
1 3 1-3 (see also folio)
2 3 4-6
2 4 1-3
3 4 4-10
4 4 11-15
5 5 1-3 (see also folio)
5 6 1
5 7 1
Folio 2 2
Folio 2 3
Folio 3 3
Folio 5 3
September 2000. Updated 2007