Burns Philp Line Australia Java Singapore

Ephemeral advertising for a steamship firm with uncomfortable associations with ‘blackbirding.’

This promotional brochure was printed in Sydney between around 1912 by the firm of Websdale, Shoosmith Ltd. It was issued on behalf of Burns, Philps, & Company Ltd., a large steamship company operating across the South Pacific, with primary routes connecting Queensland, Java, and Singapore. Several destinations for passengers and cargo across the Solomon Islands, Papua, and New Hebrides are also advertised.

The contents provide an interesting overview of Burns, Philp & Co. services and a wealth of useful travel information; with price lists, ship accommodations, suggested tours, a short Malay dictionary, currency conversion, and several black and white photographs. Of particular interest is an aerial view of Seoul. Three maps are included – A Map of the Torres Strait, Chart Showing Routes of the Burns, Philp Line Between Sydney, Java, Singapore, and to the South Seas (fold-out, includes railway map of Java), and a Map of Sydney Harbor. Rubberstamped throughout by Allen M. Cluver, General Agent located in Los Angeles.

The Burns Philp Line was one of many large shipping companies that participated in the odious 19th-century practice of ‘blackbirding’, or illegally seizing Pacific Islanders for use as slave labor. According to Media Diversified, “Between fifty- to sixty thousand people from the Pacific were brought to Australia to work in agriculture. An estimated 807 voyages were undertaken covering 80 islands.”

Source: Media Diversified;