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The Colony of Western Australia and the Great Southern Railway 1880-1897 The University of Notre Dame Australia ResearchOnline@ND Theses 2021 The Great Southern buy-back: The colony of Western Australia and the Great Southern railway 1880-1897 Thomas Goode The University of Notre Dame Australia Follow this and additional works at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. Publication Details Goode, T. (2021). The Great Southern buy-back: The colony of Western Australia and the Great Southern railway 1880-1897 (Doctor of Philosophy (College of Arts and Science)). University of Notre Dame Australia. https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses/294 This dissertation/thesis is brought to you by ResearchOnline@ND. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@ND. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY The Great Southern Buy-Back The Colony of Western Australia and the Great Southern Railway 1880 – 1897 A thesis submitted in the partial fulfilment of a Master of Philosophy Thomas Goode, B.App.Sc.(Mathematics), B.Ed School of Arts and Sciences, Fremantle The University of Notre Dame Australia February 2021 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP To the best of the candidates knowledge, this thesis contains no material previously published by another person, except where due acknowledgement has been made. This thesis is the candidate’s own work and contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any institution. Signature T.W. Goode Date 1 February 2021 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the circumstances surrounding the building of the Great Southern Railway as a land-grant railway in the colony of Western Australia in the 1880s and its purchase by the government in 1896. In the early 1880s the steamship companies bringing mail and passengers from overseas and the eastern colonies, preferred Albany to Fremantle, adding an uncomfortable three to four day journey to the capital Perth. To overcome this difficulty, the government proposed to build a railway from Albany to the existing network at Beverley. This railway was to be funded by grants of land to the private company building the railway. As background to this decision, the first part of this thesis examines the way governments used the technology of railways in Europe, North America, and the eastern colonies of Australia to solve social and economic challenges. In their desire to link Perth to Albany and expand the agricultural development of Western Australia, the colonial government offered twelve thousand acres of crown land for every mile of railway constructed from Beverley to Albany. The second part of the thesis outlines how the capital was raised, the railway built and was operational by 1889, earning the West Australian Land Company approximately three million acres of crown land. Part three of the thesis examines the reason for the company’s difficulties and the impact of self-government in 1890. Competition from the government meant the West Australian Land Company was unable to sell its land, forcing the company to seek relief from its debts. I dispute the historical interpretation that the government purchase was to rescue a failed project, arguing the price paid was competitive and the purchase motivated by philosophical and political pressure. The thesis concludes with an evaluation of the land-grant scheme and an assessment of its impact on the development of the colony. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Foremost I would like to thank my supervisors, Professor Deborah Gare and Dr Jane Davis for their advice and assistance throughout the preparation of this thesis. Their patience and encouragement, combined with sound advice was invaluable. Returning to university life after a long absence was made easy by the friendly and helpful attitude that permeates staff at the University. My thanks also to my fellow history students for their willingness to share their ideas and information. Special mention to fellow members of the reading group, so well organised by Dr Joan Wardrop. Within the community there is much interest in local and family history. These sources proved invaluable in the absence of formal records. My thanks to the local history organisations at Beverley, Pingelly, Narrogin, Broomehill and Albany. Family historians provided records which personalised events through the experiences of family members. Particular thanks to Wayne Loncar for access to his collection of records of the Angove family and to Phil Bailey for information on John Arthur Wright. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance provided by the Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship. Finally, special thanks to Kerry and the other members of the family who listened patiently, and encouraged throughout. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP ................................................................................................................... I ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................... I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................... II TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................. III MAPS AND DIAGRAMS ............................................................................................................................... V INTRODUCTION: THE GREAT SOUTHERN RAILWAY ..................................................................................... 1 Research Problem .......................................................................................................................... 3 Research Aims ................................................................................................................................ 5 Structure and Method ..................................................................................................................... 5 Literature Review ............................................................................................................................ 7 The Lure of Land ........................................................................................................................ 7 Developing Western Australia and the ideologies of development .......................................... 11 Railways: The Bridesmaids in Western Australian History ...................................................... 13 Railway Economics .................................................................................................................. 17 Chapter Summary ......................................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER ONE: RAILWAYS AND GOVERNMENTS ...................................................................................... 22 Government and the business of rail in Britain ............................................................................. 22 The experience of western Europe ............................................................................................... 27 Land-grant schemes of the United States and Canada ............................................................... 28 Railways in Australia’s eastern colonies ....................................................................................... 33 Western Australia: The Lure of Land, Again ................................................................................. 35 Proposals and Negotiations .......................................................................................................... 39 The Transcontinental Dream ........................................................................................................ 43 Chapter Summary ......................................................................................................................... 46 CHAPTER 2: BUILDING THE RAILWAY ....................................................................................................... 48 Raising the capital......................................................................................................................... 48 Survey and Design........................................................................................................................ 52 Construction: Contract to Millar Brothers ...................................................................................... 54 Construction Techniques .............................................................................................................. 55 Construction Camps ..................................................................................................................... 59 iii Railway Operations ....................................................................................................................... 62 Immigration ................................................................................................................................... 63 Economic Impact .........................................................................................................................
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