FRENCH COUNT CAUGHT IN AUSTRALIAN FISH HOAX



 

Here  resteth  French  Count  deceived by colonial  jokers .

Billy Connolly  is  dead   right - cemeteries   are  fascinating  places, providing  you  are  just  visiting  and  able  to  leave  afore sunset  .     Some  moons ago  , I   headed  to  the Melbourne General Cemetery   with   my  wife,  she  often  buried   in   genealogical  research , to  track  down   a   distant     Protestant  relative  ,  Samuel Amess  (1826-1898)  , a  prominent   building  contractor (Treasury, Old Exchange, Customs House , Kew Lunatic Asylum , Government  Printing Office, country railway stations , first president of the Builders and Contractors  Association  )  who  became a   mayor when the  city  stank  and  people died   from  cholera , TB  and  assorted other   diseases  .

 

 A  stonemason , who  enjoyed   mixing  with   high society ,   Samuel  even  entertained the crew of  the   American Civil  War Confederate raider , Shenandoah ,    which   sailed  into  port  in  1865 , receiving ,  hard to believe, an exceptionally   warm  welcome at  the Melbourne Club   and  elsewhere .  Amess, a councillor at the time , got on so well with the visitors  the commander, Lt. Waddell,  presented him with a cannon and  a pile of  cannonballs . Another surprising  fact   is that  42  men in Melbourne joined the crew of  the  Shenandoah which had sunk 32 union vessels. 

 

The  day we   went   searching   for  the Amess   family monument , quite large , it was   found  surrounded by   Italian  graves...  in  death we are  all  equal, despite  religion,  it   just happened  to be  the  anniversary  of  the  death  of   Elvis    Presley.  There  was a  group of  Pelvis  fans , obvious baby boomers,  lamenting  his   departure ,  music  playing .   Already  our   cemetery  safari  was   proving  entertaining .  Strains of  Jail  House  Rock  and  Love  Me  Tender  brought  the   place  to  life , sort  of .  Photographs  were  taken  at    random  of  tombstones,  graves  of  explorers , a  large monument  to  a  union activist  involved  in  the  struggle  for  an  eight  hour working  day, now  redundant , many working more than 40 hours a week .

 SCIENTIFIC  EXPLORATION
 

 One gravestone, above ,  which attracted  attention was  that  of  French Consul-General  ,  François Louis Nompar  de  Caumont La Force , Count De Castelnau , (1810-1880 ), revealing a  great story which  would  make a good film or TV series  . Born in  London, inspired by  the  boyhood reading of Captain Cook’s exploration and  accounts of other adventurers,  he  studied  natural  history in Paris.

 

From 1837 to  1841  led  a scientific expedition to  the US,  Canada and  Mexico .  In  1843  he went on another  five year scientific  safari  with two botanists and a taxidermist  in  South America  from  Rio de Janeiro  to  Lima  , travelling  down  the Amazon . Following  the  French  Revolution  he  became  French Consul in Bahia , Brazil  ; in  Siam  from 1848 until 1862 , and  in  Melbourne from  1864 to 1877.

He  arrived  with his Brazilian born “mistress , paramour ,” Madame Carolina  D 'Araujo  Fonceca  and  her  son.  Various  accounts of  the  Frenchman state that  Carolina  had nursed him  back to health in Brazil  and as a  result they  had “married”. However, there  is reference to a showdown when they  went  to  Paris and  it  was  discovered that  he had  a wife there .

AUSTRALIAN FISH AND INSECTS EXPERT.

 

The count bought  645 acres of land in Melbourne ; another  son ,Eduard ,  was  born  in  Australian. The  count  visited  Sydney  and  Brisbane in 1876 ,  was an  active member of the Zoological and Acclimatisation Society of  Victoria and  of the Entomological Society of New South Wales. Under three names-Laporte, Castelnau and Delaporte –he  wrote about  90 papers ,some  in partnership,  on geography, palaeontology , anthropology, mammals, birds, reptiles and his favourite- fishes and insects.

In the   1870s he  published  several papers on Australian fishes in Melbourne, Paris and Sydney. The count , regarded as an eccentric,  was  unwittingly caught up in a   hoax  in  1879 .  As  a  joke ,  station hands  sent  naturalist  Karl Staiger ,  director of  the  Brisbane Museum ,  a creature , part platypus, part  lung  fish  and   part eel.   Taken  in  , Staiger sent  a  drawing of  the  odd  “ fish ” to   Castelnau, regarded  as an  authority on Australian fishes,  who reported it to the Linnean Society in Sydney as  an  archaic  fish , which  he  named Ompax spatuloides.    The  hoax  was  not  discovered  for  many  years,  long  after  his death . The genus Laportea (tropical stinging tree) was  named after  him as  were  many  insects  and  fishes.

TROUBLED  SON

 He died from TB at his substantial  home  , Apsley Place, East Melbourne, on  February 4,1880, aged  74. Madame  Fonceca, who had a son born in Melbourne, Eduard,   lived at Mayfield , Mordialloc , and  dabbled in real estate, doing well . Eduard  suffered  from mental illness and  became known as the  Mad Count of Mordialloc . When his mother died in 1901 , she  was buried next to the  count . She  made provision in  her will  for her son to  be looked after ; the Master in Lunacy  appointed   a  housekeeper  to look  after  him. Part of the property  became  the  Mordialloc Golf  Course and  he spent most of his  days talking to  golfers; he  was  75 when he died  and was  buried in the same plot as his mother’s. On  the instructions   of  his  mother’s  will, the estate was  sold up  and  the proceeds went to hospitals and  charitable  organisations ,some connected with  children .