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
Bloggs 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 Morgans 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 Bloggs 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 Bloggs 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 uncles 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 Matthews 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
ofBalmoral, 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 Stephens 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 Generals 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 Mens
Association
1929 Retired and devoted spare time to woodcarving; published
articleThe 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 Bloggs 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
- Chemical notebooks, 1869-87
- Correspondence and papers, 1880-1936
- Woodcarving, 1903-90
- Verse and hymns, 1916-36
- Biographical and family history papers, 1876-1987
- Papers relating to Legacy in sculptured wood (1993)
by Marjorie Morgan, 1884-1992
- Newspaper cuttings, 1894-1943
Series Description
Series 1 Chemical notebooks, 1869-87
Bloggs career as a chemist began in 1869 as a junior partner in
his uncles 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 Bloggs 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 Bloggs 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.
Bloggs 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 Bloggs
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 Bloggs 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 Bloggs poetry was
published as Selected poems by the Melbourne chapter of the Disabled
Mens 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, Bloggs
maternal grandparents. A number of items document the history of St
Stephens Presbyterian Church, Surrey Hills, of which Blogg was an active
member for many years.
A copy of Bloggs 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
Stephens 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 Bloggs 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 Bloggs 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
Bloggs 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
|