DOCSLIB.ORG

The Eureka Stockade: an International/Transnational Event

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Eureka Stockade: an International/Transnational Event The Eureka Stockade: an International/Transnational Event by Gregory Blake Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts School of Humanities and Social Science University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy July 2013 i ii iii Table of Contents Table of Contents iv List of Plates v Abstract vi Declaration vii Introduction 1 Chapter One ‘We were bosses!’ - The Battle for the Stockade. 14 Chapter Two ‘To be bullied by the bayonet’ - The foundational 44 ideology for armed resistance at Eureka. Chapter Three ‘At the hazard of our Lives’ - The British protest model of the early nineteenth century and Eureka. 68 Chapter Four ‘I’ll die before I run!’ - The Americans and Germans 96 at the Eureka Stockade. Chapter Five ‘To defend their rights and liberties’ – Eureka, a Transnational exemplar of civil armed resistance. 128 Chapter Six ‘A magic pudding’ – the remembrance of Eureka. 156 Conclusion 189 Bibliography 195 iv List of Plates Plate 1: Land of Liberty 125 Plate 2: Two Californians 126 Plate 3: Joseph Sharp of Sharps Flat 1850 127 v Abstract The battle for the Eureka stockade is an event in Australian history that has been misunderstood and misrepresented by popular and academic historians almost since its inception. The historiography of the battle for the stockade has been in general one that perpetuates a tale of gratuitous massacre of poorly prepared innocents by a ruthless military. The historiography has also omitted to consider Eureka as part of an established international model of civilian armed resistance to oppression. This thesis challenges both this characterisation and omission. Primary sources such as government reports, private correspondence, personal memoirs, trial transcripts, and court depositions have been examined. Newspaper reports contemporary to Eureka, both foreign and domestic, have been extensively consulted. Secondary sources have also been widely consulted to provide insights into events as well as elicit technical details, such as military tactics and weaponry, knowledge of which is important to understand the dynamics of the battle for the stockade. Secondary sources have also been consulted to recognise, where applicable, the extent of misunderstanding extant in the available literature. This thesis establishes that the battle for the stockade was conducted by both protagonists as a military engagement. This thesis examines those international concepts of individual independence and the right to self defence that provided a rationale and motivation for the Eureka miners’ actions. This thesis demonstrates that the battle for the stockade was a unique event in the context of British and Australian protest. The significance of the contribution of the Americans and Germans to the miners’ preparations for conflict and defence of the stockade is recognised and acknowledged. Eureka’s place as an exemplar of civilian armed resistance within an international context is demonstrated. This thesis finds that consistent with the diverse narratives characteristic of Eureka the remembrance of Eureka is one where there is no common narrative. This thesis corrects these long standing misunderstandings and mistaken narratives related to the Eureka stockade. By doing so it adds to the knowledge of the event and establishes a basis upon which a more nuanced and correct interpretation of this important event can be constructed. vi Declaration 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, nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement 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. Gregory Blake July 2013 vii INTRODUCTION At dawn on 3 December 1854 on the Ballarat gold diggings 276 soldiers and police, acting under the authority of the Victorian colonial government, stormed a roughly built stockade defended by more than one hundred dissident miners. The action fought was brief but resolutely contested resulting in at least forty nine killed. The battle for the Eureka Stockade is an event the like of which is unparalleled in Australian history. Its importance to that history is reflected in the depth and extent to which it has become entrenched within the fabric of the Australian collective memory and folklore. Eureka is all but universally embraced as an example of resistance to despotism by ordinary people. It is without question an enduring image and powerful exemplar through which Australians can gain a sense of themselves. Contemporary understandings of the course of events at Eureka are based on a set of well established yet questionable presumptions. Since the time of the event itself Australia’s collective remembrance of what occurred at the Stockade has been dictated by a ‘script’. The story line is well known. Innocent gold miners protesting against the harsh regime of a tyrannical government are set upon by hundreds of soldiers and police. No warning is given, and the aggrieved diggers, lacking proper arms and taken completely by surprise, are routed in a few brief minutes. Claims that the majority of the defenders of the stockade were, ‘drowsy, half drunken men‘, and ‘the firing from the stockade was an intermittent splutter’, are examples of how the traditional narrative sets the scene for what was to follow.1 Once the stockade had been stormed a fearsome bloodletting then unfolded as the military and police lost all control and ran amuck, visiting murder and desolation on any unfortunate they managed to catch. It was in this aftermath of the attack on the stockade that the narrative gives full flight to its condemnation of events. Examples such as, ‘Here begins a foul deed, worthy of devils, and devils they were’, and ‘the police in particular had lost their heads, 1 Hocking, G., Eureka Stockade – the events leading up to the attack in the pre-dawn of 3 December 1854, Five Mile Press, Rowville Victoria, 2004, p.138; Eureka Reminiscences, Ballarat Heritage Services, Ballarat, 1998, p.32. 1 killing and burning in hysterical frenzy’ are typical of many that describe this stage of the conflict at Eureka.2 Accounts such as these, written by Raffaello Carboni a notable participant in events at Eureka figure, are the foundation upon which rests the most commonly accepted interpretation of the conflict at the Eureka Stockade. This foundation is, however, a dubious one and has contributed to the serious historical misinterpretation that the Eureka miners were poorly armed, ill prepared innocents wantonly and quickly massacred by unusually bloodthirsty soldiers and police. Similarly, the historical narrative portrays the non-British participants at Eureka, when they are mentioned at all, as either saints or villains, little more than bit players adding spice to some kind of Opéra Bouffé. In the same manner this misunderstanding of the actual character of the conflict at Eureka has resulted in Eureka’s place within a contemporary international continuum of civilian armed resistance to oppression remaining unexplored. It is the first aim of this thesis to provide a corrective to these misunderstandings and omissions. Such misunderstandings of Eureka, despite the depth of their conviction or power with which they resonate, are problematic in that they do nothing to help us understand the actual nature, importance and significance of the event. From the historiographical perspective despite its place within the Australian historical narrative, serious and rigorous revision of the fighting in and around the Eureka Stockade as an event itself, as opposed to the social and political prequel and sequel to the event, have been noteworthy by their absence. Even when serious academic historians have touched upon the moment of conflict they have done so in a manner that is cursory and unquestioning of the accepted narrative. This has resulted in a glaring gap in the published record of Eureka which itself has encouraged the perpetuation of myth, fallacy and misunderstanding. It is, therefore, the second aim of this thesis to help fill such a historiographical shortfall. This thesis will have six chapters. Each will examine a specific aspect of Eureka and examine how well the accepted interpretations hold up to critical 2 Carboni, R., The Eureka Stockade, Miegunyah Press, Carlton, 2004, p.99; O’Brien. B., Massacre at Eureka – The Untold Story, Sovereign Hill Museums Association, Ballarat, 1998, p.97. 2 analysis. The organisation of the chapters will be thematic. Chapter One examines the battle for the stockade. The nature, dynamics and character of the armed struggle for possession of the stockade is examined in detail. Doing so enables a fuller understanding of the event itself and provides a point of reference for the following chapters. By focussing on the details of the battlefield event, long overdue corrections can be made to a number of accepted but erroneous ‘truths’ of Eureka. Chapter Two considers the intellectual heritage that inspired the armed uprising at Eureka. Links will be investigated to domestic and transnational thought and tradition of civil armed resistance directly relevant to the participants at Eureka. Establishing the importance for the Eureka diggers of such concepts and convictions provides a counter balance to the traditional narrative’s general focus on economic and legalistic causes as the primary motivations for the uprising. Chapter Three examines the British model of civil protest contemporary to Eureka. The character of British civil protest is examined with reference to the various strains running through that movement, including the call for armed resistance to oppression.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Peter Ryan: Apologise to Blainey
    Peter Ryan: Apologise to Blainey The Australian, December 15, 2005 AGHAST at their television screens as they watched Sydneyʹs race riots, how many Australians cast their minds back 20 years to remember Geoffrey Blaineyʹs thoughtful warning that such horrors might happen? Happen, that is, unless we reconsidered our program of almost indiscriminate immigration and the accompanying madness of multiculturalism. I suppose very few viewers—or newspaper readers, or radio listeners—made the connection: if a week is a long time in politics, two decades is almost an ice age in the public memory span of history. Yet warned we were, and little heed we paid. In mid‑1984 Blainey, who then held the Ernest Scott chair of history at Melbourne University and was dean of the arts faculty, gave an address to the Rotary Club of Warrnambool, Victoria. This was hardly a commanding forum; there was no TV or radio coverage. Blaineyʹs themes, quietly and soberly presented, were simply these: Australia each year was taking in migrants at a rate faster than the national fabric could absorb; many migrants were coming from backgrounds so starkly different from Australian norms that prospects of a social fit into our community might lie a long way off. He went on to say that should a time come when ordinary Australians began to feel crowded or pressured by new arrivals, resentment might soon end the ready acceptance upon which migrants hitherto knew they could rely. Blaineyʹs position was reasonable almost to the point of being obvious and appealed to the commonsense of anybody with worldly experience, and with some acquaintance with wider human nature, of whatever colour or culture.
    [Show full text]
  • Thin Blue Lines: Product Placement and the Drama of Pregnancy Testing in British Cinema and Television
    BJHS 50(3): 495–520, September 2017. © British Society for the History of Science 2017. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. doi:10.1017/S0007087417000619 Thin blue lines: product placement and the drama of pregnancy testing in British cinema and television JESSE OLSZYNKO-GRYN* Abstract. This article uses the case of pregnancy testing in Britain to investigate the process whereby new and often controversial reproductive technologies are made visible and normal- ized in mainstream entertainment media. It shows how in the 1980s and 1990s the then nascent product placement industry was instrumental in embedding pregnancy testing in British cinema and television’s dramatic productions. In this period, the pregnancy-test close- up became a conventional trope and the thin blue lines associated with Unilever’s Clearblue rose to prominence in mainstream consumer culture. This article investigates the aestheticiza- tion of pregnancy testing and shows how increasingly visible public concerns about ‘schoolgirl mums’, abortion and the biological clock, dramatized on the big and small screen, propelled the commercial rise of Clearblue. It argues that the Clearblue close-up ambiguously concealed as much as it revealed; abstraction, ambiguity and flexibility were its keys to success. Unilever first marketed the leading Clearblue brand of home pregnancy test in the mid- 1980s. Since then home pregnancy tests have become a ubiquitous and highly familiar reproductive technology and diagnostic tool.
    [Show full text]
  • Victorian Historical Journal
    VICTORIAN HISTORICAL JOURNAL VOLUME 90, NUMBER 2, DECEMBER 2019 ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF VICTORIA VICTORIAN HISTORICAL JOURNAL ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF VICTORIA The Victorian Historical Journal has been published continuously by the Royal Historical Society of Victoria since 1911. It is a double-blind refereed journal issuing original and previously unpublished scholarly articles on Victorian history, or occasionally on Australian history where it illuminates Victorian history. It is published twice yearly by the Publications Committee; overseen by an Editorial Board; and indexed by Scopus and the Web of Science. It is available in digital and hard copy. https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/publications/victorian-historical-journal/. The Victorian Historical Journal is a part of RHSV membership: https://www. historyvictoria.org.au/membership/become-a-member/ EDITORS Richard Broome and Judith Smart EDITORIAL BOARD OF THE VICTORIAN HISTORICAL JOURNAL Emeritus Professor Graeme Davison AO, FAHA, FASSA, FFAHA, Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor, Monash University (Chair) https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/graeme-davison Emeritus Professor Richard Broome, FAHA, FRHSV, Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University and President of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria Co-editor Victorian Historical Journal https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/display/rlbroome Associate Professor Kat Ellinghaus, Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/display/kellinghaus Professor Katie Holmes, FASSA, Director, Centre for the Study of the Inland, La Trobe University https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/display/kbholmes Professor Emerita Marian Quartly, FFAHS, Monash University https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/marian-quartly Professor Andrew May, Department of Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne https://www.findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/display/person13351 Emeritus Professor John Rickard, FAHA, FRHSV, Monash University https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/john-rickard Hon.
    [Show full text]
  • HERITAGE LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park
    HERITAGE LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park Final Report June 2017 Prepared for Parks Victoria Context Pty Ltd 2017 Project Team: John Dyke Chris Johnston Louise Honman Helen Doyle Report Register This report register documents the development and issue of the report entitled Heritage Landscape Management Framework Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park undertaken by Context Pty Ltd in accordance with our internal quality management system. Project Issue Notes/description Issue Issued to No. No. Date 2068 1 Interim project report 12.4.2016 Patrick Pigott 2068 2 Heritage Landscape 21.4.2017 Jade Harris Management Framework (Draft) 2068 3 Heritage Landscape 19.6.2017 Jade Harris Management Framework Context Pty Ltd 22 Merri Street, Brunswick VIC 3056 Phone 03 9380 6933 Facsimile 03 9380 4066 Email [email protected] Web www.contextpl.com.au ii CONTENTS 1 SETTING THE SCENE 1 1.1 Introduction 1 Creating a Heritage Landscape Management Framework 1 1.2 Significance of CDNHP 3 1.3 Understanding cultural landscapes 5 2 KEY GOLDFIELDS HERITAGE LANDSCAPES 7 2.1 Historic landscapes and key sites 7 2.2 Community values 10 Engaging with the community 10 Who uses the park? 10 2.3 Themes and stories 11 2.4 Interpretive and visitor opportunities 13 2.5 Key landscape constellations 14 Understanding the landscape character 14 Defining the key landscape constellations 19 Northern constellation – Garfield /Forest Creek 21 Central constellation – Spring Gully Eureka 25 Southern constellation – Vaughan Springs
    [Show full text]
  • Penal and Prison Discipline
    1871. VICTORIA. REPORT (No.2) OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON PENAL AND PRISON DISCIPLINE. PENAL AND PRISON DISCIPLINE. PRESENTED TO BOTH HOUSES OF l'AULIAMENT BI HIS EXCELLENCY'S COMMAND. lS!! autf}ont!!: JOHN FERRES, GOVERNMENT PRINTER, lllELllOURNE, No. 31. .... TABLE OF CONTENTS. I. REPOR'l': l. Punishment Sec. I to 8 2. Discretionary Power of Judges 9 to IS 3. Habitual Criminals ... 19 to 20 4. Remission of Sentences 21 to 27 5. Vfe Sentences 28 to 30 6. Miscellaneous Offences 31 to 34 7. Juvenile Offenders ••• 35 to 40 8. The Crofton System .•• 41 to 49 9. Gaols 50 to 58 10. .Adaptation of Crofton System 59 to 64 II. Board of Honorary Visitors 65 to 69 12. Conclusion ... 70 to 71 2 . .APPENDICES 'l'O REPORT : J. lion. J.D. Wood's Report on Irish Prisons Page xxiii 2. Circular to Sheriffs ... xxix 3. Summary of Replies to Circular XXX 3. EVIDENCE 4 • .APPENDICES 'l'O EviDENCE 28 Al',PROXBIATE COST OF JU:l'OHT. Preparation-Not g·iven. £ •. d. hhvrthand "\Vriting, &e. (Attendances, £23 2s.; TJ anscript~ BOO foHos, £40) 6:l 2 0 l::rlut.tng {850 copies) 59 0 0 122 2 () ROYAL CO~IMISSION ON PENAL AND PRISON DISCIPLINE. REPORT (No. 2) ON PENAL AND PRISON DISCIPLINE. \VE, the undersigned Commissioners, appointed under Letters Patent from the Crown, bearing date the 8th day of August 1870, to enquire into and report upon the Condition of the Penal and Prison Esta.blish­ ments and Penal Discipline in Victoria, have the honor to submit to Your Excellency the following further Report:- I.-PUNISHMENT.
    [Show full text]
  • Australian Historians and Historiography in the Courtroom
    AUSTRALIAN HISTORIANS AND HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE COURTROOM T ANYA JOSEV* This article examines the fascinating, yet often controversial, use of historians’ work and research in the courtroom. In recent times, there has been what might be described as a healthy scepticism from some Australian lawyers and historians as to the respective efficacy and value of their counterparts’ disciplinary practices in fact-finding. This article examines some of the similarities and differences in those disciplinary practices in the context of the courts’ engagement with both historians (as expert witnesses) and historiography (as works capable of citation in support of historical facts). The article begins by examining, on a statistical basis, the recent judicial treatment of historians as expert witnesses in the federal courts. It then moves to an examination of the High Court’s treatment of general works of Australian history in aid of the Court making observations about the past. The article argues that the judicial citation of historical works has taken on heightened significance in the post-Mabo and ‘history wars’ eras. It concludes that lasting changes to public and political discourse in Australia in the last 30 years — namely, the effect of the political stratagems that form the ‘culture wars’ — have arguably led to the citation of generalist Australian historiography being stymied in the apex court. CONTENTS I Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1070 II The Historian
    [Show full text]
  • Major Gold Discoveries
    Major gold discoveries Gold production graph This graph shows the amounts of gold found in Australia’s states and territories This map of Australia shows where Australia’s major between 1851–1989. Some states have gold discoveries were made between 1851 and 1900. never been major producers of gold, The state and territory boundaries on this map are while others have changed substantially how they are today. over time. Families visiting the Kalgoorlie Super Pit mine on its 20th birthday 12 February 14 June 28 June 22 July August October February October Edward Hargraves New South Wales’ Gold is found The Geelong Advertiser James Regan What will become James Grant finds The first payable gold and John Lister find richest goldfield at Clunes in Victoria publishes news of discovers the richest Victoria’s richest Tasmania’s first is found near Armidale, 1851 five specks of gold is found on the by James Edmonds. Edmonds’ find and alluvial goldfield in the field is discovered 1852 payable gold New South Wales. near Bathurst, Truron River. the Victorian world at Golden Point, at Bendigo. near Fingal. The first finds of gold New South Wales. gold rushes begin. Ballarat, Victoria. in South Australia are 20 made at Echunga. 21 Gold discoveries New South Wales Golden stories In 1851, within weeks of Edward Hargraves’ Ned Peters announcement, thousands of diggers were panning across Australia NedG Peters filled his diary with along Lewis Ponds Creek and the Truron River near poems about his life as a digger. Bathurst. The town of Sofala, named after a gold He wrote about the hard work and mining town in Mozambique, soon had hotels his unhappiness about not finding Although gold has been found in each Australian state and stores to serve the diggers.
    [Show full text]
  • East Midlands Today Weather Presenters
    East Midlands Today Weather Presenters Perforate Everard sometimes leggings any forehand convalesced somnolently. Fleming offers behind while macroscopic Antoni pollard gruesomely or strown throughout. Sebaceous Zalman spruiks, his Koestler misclassifies corbeled back. Is per our binge watching needs to hospital radio before breakfast time around over italy. Therefore known name in hampshire to build in it aims to step ahead than. When she nearly always blows my caps are located on east midlands today as general as we promise to found manning the presenters east midlands today weather presenter lucy martin has! Anthems on KISSTORY from KISS! Are keeping up its team an anglia plays will be their two teams reveal extraordinary stories from east midlands today weather presenters east midlands today after a debt of up with a trip at birmingham. Anne diamond shapes our fabulous programme midlands today weather presenters east including her. Oh no longer accepting comments on east midlands today as an award and love also presented well loved dianne and you remember lucy and provide as television presenters east midlands today weather. Gabby logan presents for students in geography, cheshire to nottingham, blizzard married at staffordshire university where she quickly learned everyone, we continue as. Ms burley posted on news today everybody at look back at facebook as an eye on midlands today as soon as one of thanks to be in every report she was presented countryman. It feels completely different. The east woke up by bbc midlands today weather presenters east midlands today and bbc journalist as a different areas within two rabbits named that? Anne who was been a unique friend but a true support.
    [Show full text]
  • The Eureka Flag
    EUREKA EDUCATION — THE EUREKA FLAG 29 THE EUREKA FLAG image, right & p. 29 unknown artist The flag of the Southern Cross (Eureka Flag) 1854 wool, cotton Actual size: 260.0 x 324.0cm (irreg.) Original size: 260.0 x 370.5 cm Gift of the King family, 2001 Collection of the Art Gallery of Ballarat The original Flag of the Southern Cross (The Eureka Flag) can be viewed at the Eureka Centre, on loan from the Art Gallery of Ballarat. It was made in 1854. ORIGINS OF THE FLAG It is not known who designed or made the flag. It is widely believed that it was designed by a Canadian miner, Henry Charles Ross (see Key figures) There are traditional stories which suggest that it may have been sewn by three women – Anne Withers, Anne Duke and Anastasia Hayes (see Women on the goldfields) but there are alternative claims that the claim was made by local tentmakers Edwards and Davis. Neither of these stories have been proven. The flag was first raised at a Ballarat Reform League meeting at Bakery Hill on 29 November 1854. It was then moved to the Eureka Stockade where it was flown until torn down after the battle on 3 December, only five days later. FLAG DESCRIPTION The flag is 2.6 metres high and 4metres wide – more than double the size of a standard flag. The blue fabric is mostly cotton, while wool has been used for the white cross and the stars. The flag is made up of multiple panels of fabric that have been ART stitched together.
    [Show full text]
  • Reproducibles
    Grade 5 Phonics/Spelling Reproducibles Practice Grade 5 Phonics/Spelling Reproducibles Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use. use. classroom for reproduce to is granted Inc. Permission McGraw-Hill Companies, The © Copyright Practice Grade 5 Phonics/Spelling Reproducibles Bothell, WA • Chicago, IL • Columbus, OH • New York, NY www.mheonline.com/readingwonders C Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may be reproduced in print form for non-profit educational use with Reading Wonders, provided such reproductions bear copyright notice, but may not be reproduced in any form for any other purpose without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, network storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. Send all inquiries to: McGraw-Hill Education Two Penn Plaza New York, NY 10121 Contents Unit 1 • Eureka! I’ve Got It! Meeting a Need Short Vowels Pretest ....................................... 1 Practice ...................................... 2 Word Sort .................................... 3 Word Meaning ................................ 4 Proofreading ................................. 5 Posttest ...................................... 6 Trial and Error Long Vowels Pretest ....................................... 7 Practice ...................................... 8 Word Sort .................................... 9 Word Meaning ............................... 10 Proofreading
    [Show full text]
  • Scanned Using Book Scancenter 5033
    Proc. XVII International Congress of Vexillology 149 Copyright ©1999, Southern African Vexillological Assn. Australia’s new flag Peter Martinez (ed.) nullius - land belonging to none - is now discredited.^ Australia’s present makes sense only from its past. The seeds of its future and,its future flag are already there. Integration of symbols requires the integrity of candour. The elemental idea of this paper is that integration of peoples and syrnbols comes from integrity of mind. Integrity will not ignore atrocities. Nor Australia’s new flag - will it cultivate political correctness of one kind or another. Civic harmony grows from mutual respect for different traditions and from shared experience. a pageant of colours and What many in Australia still recognise as mateship. The second point of reference in this paper is the symbolic power of colour. integrated symbols Colour crosses many margins and several meanings. Applied to people who stand behind flags and symbols, colour is an atavistic and sensitive issue in any couptry. Colour, and the differences of which the rainbow is an ancient symbol,^ A.C. Burton is a subtle issue for Australia, which seeks a harmony of cultures. Despite the goodwill and the good works of the last 200 years that out- measure mcdice, Australia is still a whole continent where a nation-state - but ABSTRACT: The history and significance of colour themes in Aus­ not quite a state of nation - has been built upon the dispossession of peo­ tralian vexillography are explored to provide a reference pdint for ples. Sovereign in custom, language, ritual, religion, in seals and symbols, and evolving and depicting old symbols in a new way, to weave from an above all in deep relationship to the land, Australia’s Aboriginal people are still ancient Dreaming new myths for a nation’s healing.
    [Show full text]
  • The Patrician and the Bloke: Geoffrey Serle and the Making of Australian History
    128 New Zealand Journal of History, 42, 1 (2008) The Patrician and the Bloke: Geoffrey Serle and the Making of Australian History. By John Thompson. Pandanus Books, Canberra, 2006. xix, 383pp. Australian price: $34.95. ISBN 1-74076-152-9. THE LIKELY INTEREST FOR READERS OF THIS JOURNAL in this book is that Geoffrey Serle (1922–1998) helped to pioneer Australian historiography in much the way that Keith Sinclair prompted and promoted a ‘nationalist’ New Zealand historiography. Rather than submitting to the cultural cringe and seeing their respective countries’ pasts in imperial and British contexts, Serle and Sinclair treated them as histories in their own right. Brought up in Melbourne, Serle was a Rhodes Scholar who returned to the University of Melbourne in 1950 to teach Australian history following the departure of Manning Clark to Canberra University College. The flamboyant Clark is generally seen as the father of Australian historiography and Serle has been somewhat cast in his shadow. Yet Serle’s contribution to Australian historiography was arguably more solid. As well as undergraduate teaching, postgraduate supervision and his writing there was the institutional work: his efforts on behalf of the proper preservation and administration of public archives, his support of libraries and art galleries, the long-term editorship of Historical Studies (1955–1963), and co-editorship then sole editorship of the Australian Dictionary of Biography (1975–1988). Clark was a creative spirit, turbulent and in the public gaze. The unassuming Serle was far more oriented towards the discipline. The book’s title derives from ‘the streak of elitism in Geoffrey Serle sitting in apparent contradiction with himself as “ordinary” Australian, easygoing, democratic, laconic’ (p.9, see also p.303, n.40).
    [Show full text]