Clement Caines Elrington was the eldest son of William Sandys Elrington. He was baptised on the 18 January 1807 at St John the Baptist, White Ladies Aston, Worcestershire, England. He was probably born about 1802 and possibly not in England. The only other clue to his birth year is from the gaol description book of Berrima Gaol in 1840 which gives his birth year as 1802.[1] He became a lieutenant in the 55th Regiment of Foot on 10 August 1826,[2] and was transferred to the 4th Foot on 1 August 1834.[3]
Lieutenant Clement Caines Elrington arrived in Australia with the 4th Regiment of foot on the Norfolk in 1835.[4] Unlike the many members of his family who had long military careers Clement resigned from his post after he arrived in Australia. In 1840 he bought a 640 acre portion of land in the Parish of Stanford, a few miles from Maitland, New South Wales for 160 pounds.[5] He was entitled to a remission of 100 pounds on the purchase price as a retired lieutenant with under 20 years service. Having had to outlay only 60 pounds he made a tidy profit when he sold the land six months later for the same price.[6]
Clement published Alfred the Great : a poem addressed to the youth of Australia in 1853.[7] In the preface Clement states to ‘his friends and the public that he has been obliged to publish the poem in a much more hurried fashion than he would have wished to do, to save them the disappointment of waiting…’ He also states that the poem has been prepared for the press while has been travelling and without a fixed place of residence.
The preface to Alfred the Great also contains the latin phrases:
mores et studia dicam
haud facile emergunt quorum virtutious obstat
res angusta
A simple literal translation is:
mores et studia dicam = and to conduct studies say
haud facile emergunt quorum virtutious obstat = stands in the way was not easy to rise when virtutious
res angusta = cicumstances that
Clement published the second edition of his poem Carthage in 1853. In the preface for this work he explains that the delay in publication has been due to not having previously had the means to publish. It appears that the first edition of Carthage was published in 1849. The Port Phillip Gazette and Settler’s Journal of 4 August 1849 in a brief piece notes that ‘Mr Elrington, formerly of the Queen’s Theatre Royal, has just published a small poem named “Carthage”’.[8] Clement’s brother Richard Goodall Elrington was involved with the Queen’s Theatre Royal. Either Clement was also involved with the theatre or the newspaper has assumed that Mr Elrington was the actor Richard. The ‘small poem’ is a long diatribe which is boring to read now and was probably equally boring in 1849.
The copy of Alfred the Great and Carthage held by the State Library of Victoria is annotated on the first page with the words ‘Corrected copy’ and the authors name ‘Clement C Elrington’. There are numerous corrections throughout. It is almost certainly an original copy annotated by Clement himself.[9]
There is at least one reason for Clement having no fixed place of residence and having to delay the publication of his poems. During the 1840s he spent some time in Berrima Gaol. From the Gaol entrance books we have a brief physical description of Clement who was aged 33 years, 5’9” tall, with a pale complexion, dark brown hair and blue eyes.[10] As to his lack of means to publish it is not known what he did for an income during his time in Australia. There is some evidence that Clement was not a good money manager from the will of his father William Sandys Elrington. Clement’s share of his father’s estate was to be less the sum of 82 pounds for expenses incurred by him since August 1857 and paid by his father. The remainder of his share of the estate was to be paid in weekly instalments of one pound.[11]
Clement left Australia in December 1855 on the Emma[12] and was living in Worcestershire by 1857 when he advertised his services as ‘a Gentleman, whose Latin and French are good, would be happy to enter into an engagement as resident tutor for these languages, or to impart a sound English education only’. Interested persons were invited to apply by letter to Mr Woodward’s address in Pirton, Worcestershire.[13] At the time of the 1861 Census, he was boarding with a family of nine next door to Mr Woodward.[14] The father was an agricultural labourer so they are probably not well off. He gives his occupation as Gentleman, Classical private French tutor and author of poems. The rest of the neighbourhood is comprised of manual labourers. He had numerous wealthy cousins and other relatives in Worcestershire, but no evidence of him staying with any of them has been found. Clement’s cousin Captain Robert Cumming Hamilton Gordon[15] tried to find him when he was in Australia:[16]
Clement’s death date is not known yet. He was obviously well educated, somewhat eccentric, and preferred to pursue his interests which did seem to support his lifestyle.
[1] State Archives NSW; Kingswood, New South Wales; Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930; Series: 2019; Item: 6/5430; Roll: 1873
[2] A List of the Officers of the Army and of the Corps of Royal Marines. United Kingdom, War Office, 1833, p.467.
[3] The London Gazette. United Kingdom, T. Neuman, 1834, p.1428.
[4] New South Wales Government. Inward passenger lists. Series 13278, Reels 399-560, 2001-2122, 2751. State Records Authority of New South Wales. Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia.
[5] State Records Authority of New South Wales; Registers of Land Grants and Leases; Series: NRS 13836; Item: 7/461; Reel: 2549
[6] NSW Land Registry Services Book W No. 370
[7] Elrington, C. C. (Clement C.) Alfred the Great : a poem addressed to the youth of Australia. Printed by Benjamin Isaacs, Goulburn [N.S.W.], 1853. Available online State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/176891
[8] “DOMESTIC GAZETTE.” Port Phillip Gazette and Settler’s Journal (Vic. : 1845 – 1850) 4 August 1849: <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223156997>.
[9] Elrington, C. C. (Clement C.) Alfred the Great : a poem addressed to the youth of Australia. Printed by Benjamin Isaacs, Goulburn [N.S.W.], 1853. Available online State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/176891
[10] State Archives of NSW.Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930, Roll: 1873
[11] Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England © Crown copyright. William Sandys Elrington, probate 12 February 1862
[12] Outward Passengers to Interstate, U.K. and Foreign Ports (Refer to Microfilm Copy VPRS 3506)
[13] Berrow’s Worcester Journal(Worcester, England),Saturday, March 07, 1857; pg. [1]; Issue 8051.
[14] Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA) Class: RG 9; Piece: 2105; Folio: 95; Page: 15; GSU roll: 542918
[15] Robert Cumming Hamilton Gordon was a first cousin of Clement Calnes Elrington. Robert’s mother Frances Elrington and Clement’s father William Sandys Elrington were siblings. Frances Elrington was a grandmother of Adam Lindsay Gordon.
[16] “Advertising” The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957) 7 September 1855: 1. Web. 4 May 2017 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4817493>.
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