Law and Society Across the Pacific: Nevada County, California 1849
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LAW AND SOCIETY ACROSS THE PACIFIC Nevada County, California, 1849 - 1860 and Gympie, Queensland, 1867 - 1880 Simon Chapple School of History and Philosophy University of New South Wales February 2010 Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 1 Originality Statement I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgment is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged. Simon Chapple 2 ABSTRACT This thesis explores the connection between legal history and social history through an analysis of commercial, property and criminal laws, and their practical operation, in Nevada County, California from 1849 to 1860 and the Gympie region, Queensland from 1867 to 1880. By explaining the operation of a broad range of laws in a local context, this thesis seeks to provide a more complete picture of the operation of law in each community and identify the ways in which the law influenced social, political and economic life. The history of law cannot be separate from its social, economic, geographic, and political context. Each of these factors influenced both the text of the laws, and their practical application. In the Gympie region and Nevada County, the law had the effect of, in various guises, safeguarding private property, promoting short term productivity, and enforcing public morality. This was often at the expense of individual autonomy, the physical environment and the rights of minority groups. This was not a result of the operation of one dominant force in the lawmaking process. Instead, government regulation, government inactivity, informal customs, and judicial lawmaking worked together to create a legal order on either side of the Pacific. The comparison reveals that the same pattern of tensions gave the legal regime in each region a substantially similar shape. At another level, this thesis demonstrates that two regions, although on different continents and separated by a 20 year time gap, were nevertheless linked across time and space. By comparing the regions, this thesis demonstrates the possibilities of a more international legal history. While there were certainly differences between each region, these differences should not obscure the substantial similarities, and the fact that an analysis of these similarities illuminates the shared influences between the regions. By conceiving of legal regimes as being shaped by shifting patterns of tensions, defining the pattern of those tensions, and then connecting those patterns across national borders it is possible to write a more complex, interesting, and transnational version of legal history. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments 5 Tables and illustrations 6 1 Introduction 8 2 Legal Regimes across the Pacific 35 PART ONE 3 Mining Law in Nevada County 53 4 Mining Law in Gympie 105 5 Mining Law across the Pacific 150 PART TWO 6 Commercial Law in Nevada County 170 7 Commercial Law in Gympie 211 8 Commercial Law across the Pacific 241 PART THREE 9 Criminal Law in Nevada County 255 10 Criminal Law in Gympie 309 11 Criminal Law across the Pacific 355 12 Law and Society across the Pacific 371 Bibliography 378 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Ian Tyrrell, who helped me through the often daunting process of research and writing with his constant encouragement, insightful comments, and bibliographic knowledge of Australian and American historiography. This thesis required me to spend time researching in Queensland and the United States. Thank you to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales for assistance with funding. In California, the staff at the Bancroft Library, California State Archives, California State Library, and Placer County Archives were particularly helpful. The knowledgeable volunteers at the Doris Foley Historical Library and the Searls Historical Library in Nevada City not only helped me to navigate their wonderful collections, but were ever willing to help me to understand better their town and its rich history. Amanda Barbera, Jake Chapple and Cathy Schenck, Mitch Freeman, Rachel Jacqueline, and Monika Walsh all kindly allowed me to stay with them while researching in the United States. In Queensland, the staff of the State Library of Queensland and the Queensland State Archives helped me to find sometimes obscure legal records. My grandmother, Cookie, generously allowed me to stay with her in Brisbane. Thank you to all my colleagues who offered comments and suggestions on sections of my thesis. In particular, the participants at the Australian and New Zealand Law and History Society conferences in Hobart and Armidale, and the participants at the Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association conferences in Launceston and Sydney. Lucy Arblaster, Garry Chapple, Julie Chapple, Sara Chapple, and Ivan Yu have all read portions of the thesis and provided me with valuable comments (particularly my father, Garry, who read the entire manuscript twice)! Finally, to my parents, Julie and Garry, my sister, Sara, and my fiancé, Lucy, who kept me sane throughout the process of researching and writing. I could not have finished without your help. Thank you. 5 TABLES AND ILLUSTRATIONS 1.1 Map of present day Nevada County and major cities 9 1.2 Map of the present day Gympie region 11 3.1 Water laws in mining districts 91 3.2 Hydraulic mining in Nevada County 98 3.3 Laws of Placer Mining Districts in Nevada County (1850-1855) 100 3.4 Laws of Quartz Mining Districts in Nevada County 102 4.1 The Gold Commissioners 110 4.2 Miner’s Rights issues between 1868 and 1880 112 4.3 Attendance of Local Court members from inception until 12 November 1868 127 4.4 Civil cases heard by the Warden’s Court - 24 April 1876 to 7 November 1877 133 4.5 Number of cases heard by the Warden’s Court - 24 April 1876 to 7 November 1877 135 4.6 Comparison of mining applications heard by the Warden’s Court - 24 April 1876 to 7 135 November 1877 4.7 Comparison of forfeiture provisions in Gold Mining Regulations 147 4.8 Comparison of size of claims in Gold Mining Regulations 148 5.1 Comparison of of Monthly Rainfall (mm) in Gympie and Nevada City 168 6.1 Broad Street, Nevada City in 1857 171 6.2 Businessmen in Nevada City and Grass Valley 1850-1860 172 6.3 Occupation of women in Nevada City and Grass Valley in 1860 174 6.4 Debt recovery cases heard in Justice Courts and District Court in Nevada County 188 6.5 Verdicts in Debt Recovery Cases heard in Nevada County District Court, June 1856 – 190 June 1857 6.6 Verdicts in Debt Recovery Cases heard in Justice Courts (1850-1863) 191 6.7 Formation of mining companies in Nevada County and California 1850-1859 204 7.1 Mary Street, Gympie in 1868 212 7.2 Sample of cases heard by the Small Debts Court from 1868-1880 219 7.3 Civil cases heard by the Gympie District Court 1868-1880 220 7.4 Number of cases heard in Gympie’s civil courts 224 8.1 Comparison of debt recovery cases in Gympie and Nevada County 242 9.1 The Courthouse in Nevada City (1856) 258 9.2 Cases heard by the Nevada County Court of Sessions, 1856-1863 261 9.3 Cases heard by the Placer County Court of Sessions, 1851-1854 262 9.4 Violent offences heard by the Nevada County Court of Sessions, 1856-1863 264 6 9.5 Property offences heard by the Nevada County Court of Sessions, 1856-1863 282 9.6 Verdicts in cases of larceny heard by the Nevada County Court of Sessions, 1856-1863 283 9.7 Verdicts in cases of robbery and burglary heard by the Nevada County Court of Sessions, 284 1856-1863 9.8 The Hotel de Paris in Nevada City (1853) 299 10.1 The Courthouse in Gympie 312 10.2 Police stationed at Gympie 1868-1872 316 10.3 Offences against the Person in the Gympie Police Court 1868-1880 320 10.4 Property offences in the Gympie Police Court 1868-1880 332 10.5 Drunk and disorderly offences in the Gympie Police Court 1868-1880 336 10.6 Liquor licences granted in Gympie between 1868 and 1880 337 10.7 Female public order offences in the Gympie Police Court 1868-1880 341 10.8 The Criterion Hotel, Gympie (1872) 343 10.9 Brisbane Hotel, Gympie (1872) 344 10.10 Age of Gympie population in 1868, 1871 and 1876 350 10.11 Ratio of males to females over the age of 15 in Gympie in 1868, 1871 and 1876 351 10.12 Ratio of children under the age of 10 in Gympie in 1868, 1871 and 1876 352 10.13 Number of married males and females in Gympie in 1868, 1871 and 1876 352 10.14 Comparison of public order offences to property offences and offences against the person 354 in the Gympie Police Court 1868-1880 7 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This thesis explores the connection between legal history and social history through an analysis of the commercial, property and criminal laws, and their practical operation, in Nevada County, California from 1849 to 1860 and the Gympie region, Queensland from 1867 to 1880.