Society and Political Controversies in New South Wales
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The Politics of Grievance: society and political controversies in New South Wales 1819— 1827 Michael Charles Connor BA (Hons) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Tasmania, December 2002. i AUTHORITY OF ACCESS This thesis may be available for loan and limited copying in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. ii This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award or for any other degree or diploma in any tertiary institution. To the best of the candidate's knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis. & C., (..,e,",■r-----* iii For Margaret Alison De Long f iv CONTENTS Abstract p.vii Abbreviations p.x Introduction p.1 PART ONE: Vocabulary and Society p.7 Chapter One p.8 Exclusionists and confusionists Chapter Two p.22 Colonial society — rank and inequality PART TWO: Dividing society 1819— 1821 P.+4 Chapter Three p.45 Constitutional rights and limitations Chapter Four p.69 Bullock v. Dodd in New South Wales PART THREE: Governor Brisbane's legacy of division — 1825 p.87 Chapter Five p.88 Newspapers and authorship Chapter Six p.112 The beginning of the Dinnerist Crisis Chapter Seven p.126 Personal vituperation and constitutional reform Chapter Eight p.143 The Governor's Dinner PART FOUR: Governor Darling's Sydney 1825 —1826 p.162 Chapter Nine p.163 Expectations and the reality Chapter Ten p.181 Family and government Chapter Eleven p.193 Calls for violence and heavier chains PART FIVE: The Sudds-Thompson Case in 1826 — 1827 p.206 Chapter Twelve p.207 Political friendships Chapter Thirteen p.223 A Parade Ground ceremony Chapter Fourteen p.252 The Case begins Chapter Fifteen p.275 Political tensions, threatened impeachment Chapter Sixteen p.302 Personal grievances and imperial arguments PART SIX: Conclusion — The Lessons of Chronology p.332 Chapter Seventeen p.333 Chronology and grievance APPENDICES p.342 Appendix One p.343 Act No. V, 7 Geo. IV. Appendix Two p.345 `Quinque's' letter to the Australian, 2 December 1826 Appendix Three p.348 Henry Dumaresq to Edward Dumaresq, 23 December 1826 Appendix Four p.350 Extract from a speech by William Wentworth, 26 January 1827 vi Appendix Five p.351 Henry Dumaresq, 'Reflections suggested by the Address voted at the late Public Meeting in New South Wales and some Proceedings subsequent thereto', 6 November 1827 BIBLIOGRAPHY p.367 vii Abstract This thesis studies three controversies of the time and place, namely the settler's petition of 1819 and the subsequent questioning of the legal status of emancipists, the Dinnerist Crisis of 1825, and the Sudds-Thompson Case in 1826 — 1827. In background to the study stands a statement by Michael Roe, 'As settlement spread, the relative importance of the gaols declined and the penal method of government became inadequate. What new form of power was to take its place concerned all interests in the colonies' . 1 Although Roe was discussing the period 1835 to 1851 this concern with future power had long been present in the colony. In the period of this thesis that concern was expressed as a desire for the granting of constitutional reforms, particularly trial by jury and some form of representative government. When these demands were discussed the colony was troubled by a question, should the emancipated convicts be allowed to participate in these boons if they were granted? While following these political concerns, the individuals placed in the foreground of this study are examined and an attempt is made to delineate the personal within their public actions. Some of the familiar building blocks of colonial history are re-examined, and the claims are made that there were no 'exclusives', William Wentworth was not the author of a book Michael Roe, Quest for Authority in Eastern Australia 1835 — 1851, Parlcville: Melbourne University Press, 1965, p.1. which appeared over his name, and Laurence Hynes Halloran caused the Sudds- Thompson Case. The three clashes studied in this thesis occurred under the administration of different governors, Macquarie, Brisbane and Darling. They took place without, and with, a free press. Not all the same protagonists were involved in each dispute. The first two incidents appear to have common political aims, while the third protested against a parade ground ceremony and the death of a soldier. The law courts, public dinners, and iron collars served as occasions for colonial conflict and political manoeuvring. Each event was political, and personal. In 1819 an elite, a blended group of emancipated convicts and free emigrants, organized a widely supported settler petition. At the head of a wish list of commercial reforms they placed a plea for the introduction of trial by jury — whether the emancipated convicts were to take part was not clearly represented. Shortly afterwards, and as Commissioner Bigge was conducting his Inquiry for the Colonial Office, the legal rights of the freed convicts were disturbed as the implications of a London trial, Bullock v. Dodd, spread to the colony. The `dinnerist crisis' of 1825 occurred around the trivial matter of Governor Brisbane's departure from Sydney. A dinner organized to farewell him developed into a confrontation between factions. Then, at the end of 1826, the Darling government became enmeshed in the disastrous Sudds-Thompson Case. The thesis is largely drawn from an examination of primary sources, and suggests different perspectives and parameters for the study of colonial society. ix Throughout, it is argued that much of the accepted historiography is inaccurate, partial, and often based on confused chronology. Attention is particularly drawn to the increasing role of the newspapers, and their powers of choosing matters to dispute, their ability to sustain and direct argumentation, and their questionable legacy as historical sources. Also, two men, Edward Eagar and Laurence Halloran, are brought forward and examined for their contributions to the confrontations which marked the period 1819— 1827. As its title suggests, 'The Politics of Grievance' highlights the personal resentments which underpinned the public face of progressive colonial politicking. FOOTNOTE ABBREVIATIONS AONSW Archives Office of New South Wales AOT NS Archives Office of Tasmania, Non-State papers CO Colonial Office 1-IRA Historical Records of Australia JRAHS Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society ML Mitchell Library 1 INTRODUCTION 2 Introduction Thistoire, c'est le temps' Micheletl Two sentences on the first page of Michael Roe's Questfor Authority in Eastern Australia 1835 — 1851 suggest the political boundaries of this study, 'As settlement spread, the relative importance of the gaols declined and the penal method of government became inadequate. What new form of power was to take • its place concerned all interests in the colonies' 2 This thesis deals with some of the uncomfortable workings out of that process in New South Wales, in three episodes from 1819 until early 1827. Across this period not all were convinced that a collectivist and punitive administration was inadequate for governing the colony, and when the possibility of some concessions was admitted the forms these future changes would take were contested. The claims around these matters were sometimes put in colonial terms, sometimes posed as imperial arguments, and usually expressed in language of grievance. In 1819 an elite, a blended group of emancipated convicts and free emigrants, organized a widely supported settler petition. At the head of a wish list of commercial reforms they placed a plea for the introduction of trial by jury. The few opponents were against the timing, and the composition of the institution, but not its substance. In Britain, these rights were withheld from the young colony. The colonists who supported change tended to obscure, in their public statements, the penal nature of the colony. Those who opposed these measures were 'blinded by the convict atmosphere of the place.' 3 Later that year the colony was subjected to a Colonial Office inquiry conducted by Commissioner Bigge, as it was taking place the legal rights of the freed convicts, a majority of the settler Emphasis as in original: Jules Michelet, Histoire de la Revolution francaise, tome I (Paris, 1961 [1847 - 1853]) p.291. 2 Michael Roe, Quest for Authority in Eastern Australia 1835 — 1851 (Parkville, 1965), p. 1. 3 Field to Marsden, 18 May 1825, ML A 1992 Marsden Papers, p.442. 3 population, were found not to be as secure as had been assumed. These events brought forward political arguments, and personal grievances. John Thomas Bigge was an influential, and not impartial observer. Playing to an audience of one the colonists squabbled amongst themselves, and attempted to influence his Inquiry. After his Reports were published they formed a context for heated discussions into the present nature of the colony and its future. The `dinnerist crisis' of 1825 occurred around the trivial matter of Governor Brisbane's departure from Sydney. A proposed dinner to farewell him developed into a confrontation between factions. At first I thought of the events of 1825 as the `dinnerist controversy' . `Dinnerist' was taken from Chief Justice Francis Forbes's correspondence, and controversy was my own addition. However, when Governor Darling wrote to the Colonial Office about these events, which occurred before he arrived in New South Wales, he used the word crisis. As in other matters, Darling was right. Neither Forbes nor Darling would have appreciated the propinquity, but for this thesis I brought the two together, and coined the phrase `dinnerist crisis'. At the end of 1826 the Australian newspaper led an attack upon Governor Darling for his treatment of two private soldiers, Joseph Sudds and Patrick Thompson, and the death of the former.