sketcher and traveller, was born in France, son of Benjamin Delessert. In 1844 he embarked upon a journey around the world, travelling via North America, Brazil, Oceania, the East Indies and China. He paid a brief visit to New South Wales, reaching Sydney on 27 December 1845. During the next few months he was invited to stay with some of the colony’s most prominent families, including the Macarthurs of Camden Park. After his return to Paris in 1847 he wrote an account of his experiences, Souvenirs d’un Voyage à Sydney (Nouvelle Hollande), Fait pendant l’Ann ée 1845 . A more general travel saga, Voyage dans les Deux Oc éans Atlantique et Pacifique , appeared two years later. Its illustrations include Convicts at Work on the Roads in New South Wales , now a familiar image of a couple of men in a chain-gang. The Dixson Library owns an unsigned and undated watercolour Vue de Millers Point, Sydney which has been attributed to Delessert. Painted from an elevated position in Chippendale, it carries annotations of such landmarks as Delessert’s residence and the house of Faramond, the French consul, and may also have been intended for publication.
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- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
