Gibraltar of the South Defending Victoria An analysis of colonial defence in Victoria, Australia, 1851-1901 Robert J. Marmion BA Hons MA Dip Ed A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2009 Faculty of Arts School of Historical Studies The University of Melbourne ABSTRACT During the nineteenth century, defence was a major issue in Victoria and Australia, as indeed it was in other British colonies and the United Kingdom. Considerable pressure was brought to bear by London on the self-governing colonies to help provide for their own defence against internal unrest and also possible invasions or incursions by nations such as France, Russia and the United States. From 1851 until defence was handed over to the new Australian Commonwealth at Federation in 1901, the Victorian colonial government spent considerable energy and money fortifying parts of Port Phillip Bay and the western coastline as well as developing the first colonial navy within the British Empire. Citizens were invited to form volunteer corps in their local areas as a second tier of defence behind the Imperial troops stationed in Victoria. When the garrison of Imperial troops was withdrawn in 1870, these units of amateur citizen soldiers formed the basis of the colony’s defence force. Following years of indecision, ineptitude and ad hoc defence planning that had left the colony virtually defenceless, in 1883 Victoria finally adopted a professional approach to defending the colony. The new scheme of defence allowed for a complete re-organisation of not only the colony’s existing naval and military forces, but also the command structure and supporting services. For the first time an integrated defence scheme was established that co-ordinated the fixed defences (forts, batteries minefields) with the land and naval forces. Other original and unique aspects of the scheme included the appointment of the first Minister of Defence in the Australian colonies and the first colonial Council of Defence to oversee the joint defence program. All of this was achieved under the guidance of Imperial advisors who sought to integrate the colony’s defences into the wider Imperial context. This thesis seeks to analyse Victoria’s colonial defence scheme on a number of levels – firstly, the nature of the final defence scheme that was finally adopted in 1883 after years of vacillation, secondly, the effectiveness of the scheme in defending Victoria, thirdly, how the scheme linked to the greater Australasian and Imperial defence, and finally the political, economic, social and technological factors that shaped defence in Victoria during the second half of the nineteenth century. ii DECLARATION This is to certify that (i) the thesis comprises only my original work towards the PhD except where indicated in the Preface, (ii) due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used, (iii) the thesis is less than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices. Signed R.J. Marmion Date 31 March 2009 iii PREFACE 1. Material from my MA thesis This work contains some material that was submitted as part of my Master of Arts thesis, ‘The Victorian Volunteer Force on the central Victorian goldfields 1858 - 1883’, Latrobe University, 2003. The MA was awarded on the basis of this thesis. The material used in this thesis from the 72,000 word MA thesis totals some 1,200 words. Sections from the MA appear on the following pages of this PhD thesis: Chapter 1 Pages 37, 38, 45, 46, 47, 50, 60. Chapter 2 Pages 78 and 87. 2. Editorial assistance During the course of the preparation of this thesis for examination, I have received assistance from two volunteer editors, Ms Marilyn Townsend and Ms Chris Billing. The assistance has been limited to proofreading and formatting the document. Neither editor has a history background. Signed R.J. Marmion Date 31 March 2009 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In a project that has been running for over twenty years, there are many people who deserve special thanks. However, much as I would like to thank everyone in writing, a lack of space unfortunately makes that impossible. Considerable thanks must go to my supervisors at the University of Melbourne: Associate Professors Alan Mayne and John Murphy and Dr Charles Schenking for their advice, guidance and challenging style of supervision which often forced me to raise the bar even further. I wish to also acknowledge the invaluable advice and assistance provided by a number of other academics at the University of Melbourne; they include Professors Stuart Macintyre and Joy Damousi and Associate Professor Andy May. I owe considerable thanks to the staff at a number of institutions who have patiently fielded question after question on the whereabouts of documents that have not seen the light of day in many cases for over one hundred years. In particular I would like to thank the staff at the Baillieu Library (University of Melbourne), the National Archives of Australia reading centre (North Melbourne), the Public Records Office Victoria, the Fort Queenscliff Museum and Archives, the Queenscliff Maritime Museum, the Queenscliff Historical Society Museum and Archives, and the Victoria Barracks (Melbourne) Defence Library. Last but certainly not least, there are four people, whom I regard as not only very good friends, but also key motivators in helping me finish this thesis. To Ms Marilyn Townsend and Ms Chris Billing have fallen the difficult and at times tedious tasks of proofreading and formatting the thesis layout. Their support with these jobs and keeping me motivated and on task, while I struggled to combine my work as a secondary school teacher and university student, is greatly appreciated. In recent years, Dr Brad Duncan, marine and defence archaeologist, Mr John Patrick, engineer, and I have been involved in an archaeological survey of defence sites at the Heads to Port Phillip Bay. On many occasions we have debated the effectiveness of the various defence schemes between 1851 and 1945 as we trudged across sand dunes at the Heads. Their willingness to advise and share their knowledge has been invaluable. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... II DECLARATION .................................................................................................................. III PREFACE........................................................................................................................... IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... V TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................................ VI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .................................................................................................. VII LIST OF MAPS AND TABLES .............................................................................................. IX INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1 ...................................................................................................................... 34 THE NEED FOR A COLONIAL DEFENCE SCHEME IN VICTORIA CHAPTER 2 ...................................................................................................................... 62 THE YEARS OF INDECISION, 1860-1863 CHAPTER 3 ...................................................................................................................... 96 DECIDING ON A DEFENCE SCHEME PROVES DIFFICULT, 1863-1869 CHAPTER 4 .................................................................................................................... 117 THE COLONY BEGINS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS OWN DEFENCE, 1870-1876 CHAPTER 5 .................................................................................................................... 151 SETTING THE SCENE FOR A MAJOR OVERHAUL OF THE DEFENCES, 1877-1882 CHAPTER 6 .................................................................................................................... 185 GIBRALTAR OF THE SOUTH - THE NEW DEFENCE SCHEME, 1883-1901 CHAPTER 7 .................................................................................................................... 229 ANALYSING THE DEFENCES, 1883-1901 CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................. 273 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................. 281 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................. 306 vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1 Looking for a French or Russian Navigator in Port Phillip....................... 57 Figure 2 Sir Peter Scratchley, (1835 - 1885), .......................................................... 63 Figure 3 The 1882 Easter manoeuvres: The Nelson bombarding Queenscliff........ 70 Figure 4 68 pdr Battery, Shortland’s Bluff, Queenscliff, c.1863............................ 72 Figure 5 Original three gun 68 pdr battery at Shortland’s Bluff c.1863.................. 73 Figure 6 Queenscliff Volunteer Artillery at the 1861 Werribee Encampment........ 73 Figure 7 40 pdr Armstrong Battery, landward defences, Shortland’s Bluff...........