William Legrand arrived at Hobart on 3 December 1855, travelling from London as a steerage passenger on the Dutch-owned vessel, Vice-Admiral Gobius. In time, he established a career, a meagre living, and considerable colonial repute as a shell-specialist, book-seller, and antiquarian. Though well known as a local 'character,' his origins were a mystery. Rumours about his supposedly exotic earlier life remain neither proved nor disproved. Official records state that he was born in London.
Legrand opened his first Hobart bookshop in 1866 at 7 Elizabeth Street, opposite the
Tasmanian Times office. In December 1879, he moved to entirely different premises at 60 Collins Street, Hobart. Images of both these shops, and of Legrand himself, feature in widely known works made by early Australian photographers (including Alfred Winter and J.W. Beattie). The ongoing lives of these portraits perpetuate the memory and significance of Legrand in his role as Hobart's first antiquarian bookseller.
Legrand's single work of amateur journalism, 'A Trip to Recherche Bay', remains a useful source of information about the remote settlement during a little-reported era of its history.
As a bookman, Legrand's main contribution to Australian cultural history was through his increasing specialisation in early colonial print materials. He had been alert to the future value of old records at a time when many such reminders of the early settlement days were being discarded or destroyed in quantity.
Later, as collectors became interested in acquiring and preserving Australiana, Legrand often could supply, or source scarce items being sought.
A collector by inclination as well as by trade, Legrand lived at his shop, surrounded by his books, papers, and assorted wares of many different kinds. Still in business at the age of eighty-six, he died after a short illness. He left no known family. The three-day auction of Legrand's stock aroused widespread interest amongst collectors and general public alike, though the sale takings were reportedly modest.
Source: Holloway, Joan. '
Curiosity, Collections, and William Legrand'
Holloway, Joan Frances.
William Legrand: A Study. Thesis. 2010.
