Charters Towers General Merchant Sales Book (1884-1885)

[Charters Towers General Merchant]
Charters Towers: [I. Lemel, Late Brodziak, Rodgers & Lemel?], 1884-1885.
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49.5cm x 30cm. 1246 pages. Original leather over boards with decorative lace, marbled edges and endpapers.

A large ledger recording sales for just shy of a year (18 July, 1884 – 7 July, 1885) during the gold boom years at a Charters Towers general store (From the entries the ledger is without a doubt from Charters Towers and is most likely the firm of Israel Lemel though there are no identifying marks other than a laid in blank 188* receipt slip printed for I. Lemel, late of Brodziak, Rodgers & Lemel). Weighing in at just under 16kg, nearly every page of the ledger is neatly annotated with tens of thousands of entries by numerous hands recording the customer’s name, itemised purchases, and prices paid, as well as monthly sales totals (averaging a little over five thousand pounds a month). From one-off sales through to the regular shops of local families and businesses, including supplies to many of the mining claims in the region, the sale of a wide variety of items are listed: cheese, tobacco, ribbon, boots, bones, steel, candles, brooms, kerosine, dynamite, fuses, sardines, oatmeal, nails, whiskey, rice, bacon, champagne and glasses, to name but some. Israel Lemel was one of the largest landholders in Charters Towers, also serving as a Justice of the Peace and magistrate of the territory. Business turned in the 1890s and Lemel’s merchant firms were liquidated. Nonetheless his business pursuits continued and in 1913 his appearance representing Charters Towers at the Queensland Dinner in London is noted as “whose diamond ring is as massive and whose smile is as expansive as of yore.” hinting at the character of this gold rush town man of enterprise. This large ledger provides a detailed look at the supplies and spendings of individuals, families, miners, and businesses in a 19th century North Queensland gold rush town.

Though worn and rubbed, with chipping to the spine head and tail and some loss to the decorative leather, the binding remains solid and sturdy. The interior is very clean, a light soil on page 557, otherwise only the occasional minor soil. Very Good Condition.

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