Centre for Australian Art

Australian Prints + Printmaking

John Alexander Engel – Sydney Printer 1850s-1883.

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Title

John Alexander Engel – Sydney Printer 1850s-1883.

Author

Lemaire, Heather.

Details

13 May 2010

Publication date

13 May 2010

Type

Biography

Language

English

Country of context

Australia

Full text

John Alexander Engel – Sydney Printer 1850s-1883

Johann (John) Alexander Engel was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany on 14 November 18181, son of a merchant Johann Ludwig Engel and his wife, Anna Clara Kissner (Kißner) who married in Frankfurt on 18 October 1813. He was one of at least six children, several of whom moved to Australia in later years.

Johann left Germany and arrived in London, England on 28 February 18502, having sailed from Rotterdam in the Netherlands. From there he sailed to Australia, arriving aboard the ‘Midlothian’ in June 18503. On 25 May 1854 at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, he married Maria Catharina Wingender4, a native of Gelsdorf near Cologne in Germany5. They had three children, Anna Clara Dorothea Engel (1855-1927), Maria Catherine Henrietta Engel (1860-1942) and Edward Alexander Engel (1866-1909)6.

Johann (John) established his printing business, ‘Guttenberg Printing Office’ at 109 York St Sydney (moved to 103 York St in c. 1870)7. It was presumably named in honour of Johannes Gutenberg (c. 1398-1468), inventor of the first mass-producing movable type printing press who was born in Mainz, not far from Frankfurt am Main. One of those John employed was the son of his sister Catherine, Gustave Thomas Carlisle Miller, who in later years was the state MP for the seat of Monaro for many years (1889-1918)8.

An 1875 newspaper report of the collapse of premises adjacent to John’s printing office states that ‘Mr Engel [had] two lithographic presses and one copper-plate press smashed to pieces’, giving some indication of the size of his operation. It was in this accident that the engraver H. S. Sadd received serious head injuries9.

John was very involved in the establishment and running of the German Evangelical Church in Sydney and in 1866, published their hymn book, containing 150 hymns10.

John died on 21 October 1883 at Gladesville, NSW11. His wife and son Edward (also a printer) carried on the business for some time thereafter12. Edward later worked for the Government Printing Office before his death in 190913.

Notes:

  1. International Genealogical Index, batch no. C004448
  2. Alien arrivals: The National Archives (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO) Class HO 2 Home Office: Aliens Act 1836: Certificates of Arrival of Aliens.
  3. John Alexander Engel Naturalisation certificate 21 April 1856, Sydney
  4. Marriage Certificate - Early church records Vol. 137 No. 150
  5. International Genealogical Index, christening record Batch no. K984912 and death certificate 1902/3986
  6. New South Wales Birth, Death and Marriage records
  7. Sands Directories for Sydney 1858-1871
  8. D. B. Webster, 'Miller, Gustave Thomas Carlisle (1851 - 1918)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, Melbourne University Press, 1986, p. 511.
  9. The Argus Newspaper, Melbourne, Tuesday 10 August 1875 p. 6
  10. Ferguson, John Alexander, ‘Bibliography of Australia: 1851-1900 H-P’, p. 488
  11. Death Certificate 7201/1883
  12. Advertising notice, Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday 22 November 1883, p. 2
  13. Death Notice, Sydney Morning Herald, Monday 20 December 1909, p. 12

[Heather Lemaire, 13 May 2010]

Last Updated

02 Oct 2020