Autograph letter to Robert Towns of Town's Wharf, Sydney

An interesting intra-colonial letter from the Newcastle businessman William Dudding to the prominent Sydney trader Robert Towns.

William Dudding was a civil servant working in the Hunter. In 1850 he was clerk at the Maitland Gaol, in 1854 he became the Clerk of Petty Sessions in Singleton, and was appointed as a Magistrate in Singleton in 1875. Not long after this letter was written, in November 1846, Dudding requested a public meeting to petition against the reintroduction of transportation. In the letter Dudding notes that he is owed £50 which is due a few days later on 4 August, and asks that £10 from the Savings Bank Sydney be paid to the credit of a Miss Caroline Sarah Freeman of Newcastle (the nature of the transaction is not clear), but Freeman remained in the Hunter, marrying one John Stewart by special licence in 1848. The letter also includes later dates which clarify the nature of the money owing to Dudding, which has apparently been sent by his father care of Robert Brooks.

The letter is addressed to Robert Towns or one Mr. Manson care of the Town's Wharf in Sydney. Towns (1794-1873) was a well known merchant and entrepreneur, and founder of Townsville. He was authorized to represent Robert Brooks & Co. of London in the colony and by 1842 established a mercantile and shipping business in Sydney which extended to Europe, the Far East, Pacific Islands and India. In 1844 he bought "Jones Wharf" at Millers Point and for the next twenty years built up a reputation for supervising a range of diverse enterprises and sending explosive letters to his captains, agents and business associates all over the world. In 1833 he married W.C.Wentworth's half sister, Sophia, the two men fell out later in life over an inheritance issue.