Skipper's personal copy of the 1850 South Australian almanac including his own drawings, very brief notes and captions in the margins

John Michael Skipper combined acute observation and a natural and cultivated skill with aesthetic sensibility. His sketches and paintings of the landscape, the flora, fauna and Aboriginal people of South Australia, and of the streets, buildings, people, way of life and notable events of Adelaide are of some artistic and great historical interest.

Born in Norwich, Skipper joined the East India Company as a young man and served on the Sherbourne (ship). Skipper was interested in art from an early age and was encouraged by his uncle James Stark, a noted landscape painter. During his time at sea Skipper kept a journal which he illustrated with sketches. In 1836 he immigrated to South Australia, arriving on the Africaine (ship) 6 November. On the voyage Skipper met Frances Thomas, whose father Robert was to establish South Australia's first newspaper, the South Australian gazette and colonial register. They married in December 1839.

In South Australia Skipper commenced his legal career and was articled to Charles Mann the Advocate-General and Crown Solicitor of South Australia and later worked with EC Gwynne. Skipper was admitted as an attorney and proctor of the South Australian Supreme Court in March 1840 and served as clerk of the Local Court of Port Adelaide from 1852-1872. He continued his artistic pursuits however, and sketched many scenes depicting the early years of European settlement in South Australia. Skipper's satirical watercolour of Pioneers landing at Port Adelaide in 1839 mocks the primitive conditions which new settlers found when they arrived in the colony. Skipper is known for the tiny detailed sketches in the margins of diaries and published books in his possession. Many of these are satirical in nature and play upon a small section of text on the page which Skipper has underlined. The State Library of South Australia holds several examples of his work in this style, including Psellus' dialogue on the operation of daemons and South Australian almanack and general directory for 1841. These items can be requested and viewed in the State Library's Somerville Reading Room.

Skipper retired in 1872 and lived on a small pension on his farm at Kent Town where he died intestate on 7 December 1883. He was survived by three sons and four daughters; his eldest son, Spencer John (1848-1903), was a journalist and satirist in Adelaide.

The staff member who selected this item for the 'staff favourites' exhibition writes 'the appeal of Skipper's annotated almanacs is that he seems to have done the drawings to entertain himself rather than the public. Skipper draws with fine detail and I especially like that he has picked up words in the text of the published work and taken inspiration from them for the sketches. Often he shows quite an irreverent sense of humour in the sketches!'

Permission to use this item for any purpose, including publishing, is not required from the State Library under these conditions of use.

Buy a high resolution copy.