Part II

1820s to 1900: Wool, Gold, Bust and then Federation

‘Some look for gold, but I let the gold come to me.’

In this part . . .

The 1820s saw Britain belatedly trying to introduce more order, efficiency and discipline into the convict system and colonial life in general. In the 1840s, however, Britain began getting out of the whole convict thing, and transportation to NSW ended.

From the 1850s, newly self-governing Australian colonies hit the gold jackpot — well, some of them did. First in NSW and Victoria in the 1850s and 1860s, then Queensland in the 1870s and 1880s, then closing out the century in Western Australia, gold transformed the shape and nature of colonial society. Pulling the colonies out of the chronic slackness of the 1840s global depression, gold triggered a long boom that lasted more than 30 years.

The 1850s to 1880s saw rapid expansion in cities, settlement, exploration, transportation and technology — and a growth in ‘larrikinism’ and bushranging. Australians also started to explore possibilities politically, as Colonial Liberalism was born. Wages were spectacularly good, unemployment largely non-existent and workers were able to bargain for and secure enough leisure time to christen the place a ‘workingman’s paradise’ — until the boom stopped, and even the jobs ran out. In the new austerity, people started thinking about nationhood.

In this part, I cover the development of Australia from the 1820s to 1900.