Phillip V. M.

Filleul, 19th century beekeeping author and one time Tasmanian resident
My interest in Phillip 1 Valpy Mourant Filleul is not because he authored an Australian work
on beekeeping – one of my particular research interests - during his residence in Tasmania,
but in honour of his overall contribution to books on beekeeping. By the time of his arrival in
Hobart he was already accomplished in that field. Under the title The Cottage Bee Keeper: 2
or suggestions for the practical management of amateur, cottage, and farm apiaries, on
scientific principles, with an appendix of notes, chiefly illustrative, his book was published in
1851 in New York. That same year in London it was published as The English bee-keeper …
under the pseudonym of “A Country Curate”. 3 Tasmania was his home between the years
1853 and 1858. Before he had visited Van Diemen’s Land Filleul made comment on matters
beekeeping in the Illawarra region of New South Wales.
“While in America or Australia, it is almost incredible of how large an apiary one hive may
become the parent in a very few years; in England, a similar hive may stand year after year,
without change, apparently strong, yet unproductive in either swarms or honey, perhaps in
both together. A stock, at the time of purchase, may have had a three or four-year-old queen,
(an evil which is seldom acknowledged, and still more seldom guarded against,) who dies
some time in our long winter before there is a brood wherewith to replace her; the winter may
be mild and the spring cold and late, and no honey gathered till the end of May, whence
proceeds the death from starvation of many a colony of bees, (which might be saved by a
judicious and timely supply of food,) or its productiveness for the current season destroyed. A
rainy summer, too, may follow, or a very dry one, neither of which yields much honey; in
short, a thousand are the casualties to be feared in this fitful climate, with which the more
fortunate bee keeper of other countries is happily unacquainted.” (p.5) His footnote on hive
performance in Australia states “In a late work on New South Wales, I read the following
astonishing account of the produce of a single stock of bees: - "In the district Illawarra, near
Sydney, one hive has been known to multiply itself to 300 (!!) in the course of three years!"
(p.5)
Filleul undoubtedly sourced his footnote from Joseph Phipps Townsend’s (1849) Rambles &
Observations in New South Wales. Townsend provided a lengthier report: “The English bee
has been introduced into Illawarra within the last few years, and with much success. The
power this insect has of producing its own species, appears to be much increased in this
climate, where there is no pinching winter. The produce of one hive gave, in three years,
three hundred hives; besides those that had escaped into the bush, and become wild. This
statement may appear extraordinary at first sight, but a reference to figures will attest its
truth; and it must be recollected that the parent hive, and each of its swarms, with their
produce again, and so on, are all continually increasing. … Some of the housewives
manufacture from honey a most excellent wine, which, the longer it is kept, the better it is;
and much honey is sent to Sydney for sale and export. By referring to a local paper, I am
enabled to give some particulars of the honey trade. One settler sent to England the produce
of forty hives, which yielded about 1000 lbs. of rough comb, and in taking the honey, not a
single hive of the bees was lost. The net produce was 7 cwt. and 10 lbs. of honey, and 34 lbs.
of wax. This was sold in England for 20 guineas; but brokerages, duty, &c, had to be
deducted, leaving only 16l. 9s. 5d. [16 pounds 9 shillings and 5 pence] I learn from the same
source, that another settler sent to England a ton of honey and 4 cwt. of wax; and, of course,
the larger the export, the less, in proportion, will be the expenses.” (pp.138-139)
1
Spellings of his first name also appear as Philip and Philippe
2
Full text may be found at books.google.com.au
Another edition published in 1854
3
Published London, F. & J. Rivington
Samuel Sidney’s Emigrant Journal, Information, advice, and amusement for emigrants and
colonizers, 1849, 4 similarly borrowed the following: “Illawarra - … The produce of one hive
gave in three years 300 hives, besides those that had escaped into the hush, and become
wild.” The most likely candidate for such a sizeable commercial beekeeping activity was
David Berry. He’d arrived in the colony in July 1836, accompanied by two brothers and
sisters. Shortly after their arrival in Sydney they joined their eldest brother Alexander Berry
at his estate Coolangatta, situated close by the entrance of the Shoalhaven River on the south
coast of New South Wales. 5
Alexander Berry, who’d first acquired some bee hives in 1837, wrote from Sydney to his
sister, Barbara Armit, of Fife, Scotland, on 15 October 1850 “The English bee has been
introduced into the Colony – David 6 has hundreds of hives in front of his house in a bee
garden – when I was last there. There were regularly 5 or 6 new swarms daily besides many
which escaped into the forest and made their hives in hollow trees – so that the whole country
is getting filled with them – in this mild climate they work all the year round – they do not
kill them as you used to do in Scotland,7 but take away the comb and give the bees a new
house to work in8 – A native boy who acted as bee master said that they killed the native bees
and stole their honey – that they were the same as the white men who were becoming master
over all – your sisters strengthen their wine made of fruits with the honey - & also make
mead – David also sent a good deal to Sydney – part of which was sold at 2 ½d per lb [two
and a half pence per pound] – and about 2 tons were sent to London as an experiment. Moses
persuaded his countrymen to leave Egypt for the land of Canaan by praising it as overflowing
with milk & honey. I do not believe that milk & honey were so abundant there as at
Shoalhaven.” 9
P.V.M. Filleul was born around the year 1825 in St Aubins, Jersey, Channel Islands. He
graduated from the University of Oxford with an M.A. in 1847. 10 Aged 26 he’d written his
book on beekeeping and two years later he was a world away in Van Diemen’s Land. The
Shipping News in the Hobart Courier announced his arrival on 5 December 1853 in
Tasmania. 11 on the 337 ton steamer Yarra Yarra 12 from Port Phillip, Victoria, to take up his
post as Warden at Christ's College, 13 Bishopsbourne. 14

4
London, W.S. Orr and Co., 1849
5
The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 September 1889, p.8
6
his brother David Berry, in charge at Coolangatta after the death of John Berry in 1848
7
destruction of all the bees was performed by the burning of sulphured rags beneath the hive
8
the bees must have been “drummed” from the hive
9
See Barrett, Peter (1999) The Immigrant Bees, Vol.2, pp.25-27
10
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~austas/Longford.htm
11
The Hobart Courier, 7 December 1853, page 2.
12
337 tons. Lbd: 166'5" x 25' x 13'. Iron paddle steamer
Refer http://www.flotilla-australia.com/hrsn.htm#asn
13
The Hobart Courier, 3 June 1853, page 2.
From Wikipedia: “Christ’s College … is the oldest tertiary institution in Australia … it was opened on
1 October 1846 with the hope that it would develop along the lines of an Oxbridge college and
provide the basis for university education in Tasmania. It was also intended to prepare men for the
priesthood. The Hutchins School and Launceston Church Grammar School were founded at the same
time to act as feeder schools to the College. The College's first ten years (1846–1856) were at
Bishopsbourne … However, it never really developed as its founders hoped, and a depression in the
colony, the remote site, and financial problems led to its closure in 1856.”
14
From Wikipedia: “Bishopsbourne is a farming community in northern Tasmania. It has a population
of fewer than 200. It has a church, graveyard and recreation ground. Nearby towns include Carrick,
Bracknell and Longford. Almost all the houses and farms are located on Bishopsbourne Road and
His interests, authorship and M.A. qualification were soon after recognised by the Royal
Society of Van Diemen’s Land and he was elected a member of that body in February 1854.
15
The Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land was “the first Royal Society established outside
the United Kingdom. ... It was set up by Sir John Eardley-Wilmot in 1843 to administer the
Colonial Gardens in Hobart, and a body of enthusiastic amateurs soon established a museum
and a library. The Royal title was conferred in 1844. The Society contacted numerous
international bodies and countless individuals, both at home and abroad, arranging for the
exchange of items and soliciting donations. Its activities were broader in scope than any other
colonial scientific body in the mid and late nineteenth century because of its museum and
gardens and because it published a regular journal, in which overseas contributions appeared
as well as articles by local authors, informing people about Tasmania's natural history and
scientific endeavours. ... The Society's broad scope meant that it also involved local people:
as visitors, or donors, if not as speakers at the regular monthly meetings, which were both
practical as well as scientific. Members' interests included: meteorology, industrial
development, tourism, immigration, public health, agriculture, mapping, land surveying,
fisheries and scenery and wildlife preservation as well as science.” 16 “The Royal Society was
then and is today one of the world's most prestigious scientific societies” 17

s.s.s. Royal Shepherd

Given Filleul’s strong interest in beekeeping it’s likely he took advantage of Tasmania’s
favourable clime and indulged his apiarian interest. After three and a half years in the colony
Filleul’s return to England came about in July 1857. 18 The Melbourne Argus reported his
arrival as saloon passenger aboard the Royal Shepherd 19 on the 10th from Launceston, along
with “lady and family,” having departed there on 15th June. A year later in June 1858 the

there are a few back roads.”

15
The Hobart Courier, 11 February 1854, page 2.
16
Gillian Winter, ' The foundation years of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 1843 – 86', PPRST 127,
1993.
Refer http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/R/Royal%20Society.htm
See also Guy Green
http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/T/Tas%20creativity.htm
Ros Haynes http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/V/VDL.htm
17
http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/V/VDL.htm
18
The Melbourne Argus, 18 July 1857, page 4.
19
Single screw steamship, 265 gross tons, 184 net. Lbd: 148'1" x 19'8" x 10'5". Refer
http://www.flotilla-australia.com/adsteam.htm
Service speed of 10 knots on 22 tons of coal. Passenger vessel accomodating 60.
Hobart Town Daily 20 announced his Ecclesiastical Preferment “The Revd. V. M. Filleul, late
Warden of Christ's College, Tasmania, has been presented by the Bishop of London to the
Rectory of Biddesham, Somersetshire.”
Rev. Philip Filleul, M.A., Vice-Dean of Jersey, and Rector of S. Helier, Jersey, is mentioned
in James Bertrand Payne’s (1859) Armorial of Jersey : being an account, heraldic and
antiquarian, of its chief native families, with pedigrees, biographical notices, and illustrative
data; to which are added a brief history of heraldry, and remarks on the mediaeval
antiquities of the island.
His interest in beekeeping continued for his Profitable Beekeeping on Improved Principles:
Chiefly Designed for the Use of Cottagers 21 was published in 1867, again in 1868 and 1883.
In 1870 he continued to be Rector of Biddisham 22 and eleven years later he was still resident
there. 23 At age 76 he died at Upway, Dorset, 24 on 17 April 1901. 25 (His wife followed 12
years later on 23 November 1913.)

Grave stone of Phillip V.M. Filleul; 4 years warden of Christ College,

Tasmania, died Upway U.K. April 17 1901 - aged 76 years 26

20
The Hobart Town Daily, 15 June 1858, page 3. The Hobart Courier, 30 April 1858, page 3
21
Published under the direction of the Committee of General Literature and Education, Appointed by
the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. London
22
The Melbourne Argus, 28 September 1870, p.4
23
http://www.gurganus.org/ourfamily/browse.cfm/Marianne-Girdlestone/p265925
24
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?
op=GET&db=karenwal1&id=P2762777137
25
http://catalogue.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/item/?id=PH30-1-7010
26
http://catalogue.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/item/?id=PH30-1-7010