A Colony Divided: Ignorance and Barbarism in 1830s Australia
By the late 1830s, New South Wales stood at a crossroads between civilization and barbarism. The young colony presented stark contrasts – in the towns, widespread ignorance prevailed, while the bush remained a lawless frontier. A telling incident occurred in Sydney in May 1838 when authorities discovered a thirteen-year-old girl who didn’t know what the Bible was, representing the half of colonial children untouched by education or religion. Meanwhile, the frontier witnessed brutal violence between settlers and Aboriginal groups, with reports of speared shepherds and retaliatory massacres.
The countryside suffered equally from convict lawlessness. Bushrangers like One-eyed Thom and Opposum Jack terrorized districts from the Liverpool Plains to Australia Felix (modern Victoria). Former convicts and drunken policemen created an atmosphere of disorder, while armed gangs plundered stations at will. This volatile environment prompted urgent questions about how to establish order and civilization in the antipodean wilderness.
Governor Gipps’ Vision: A Unified Education System
In August 1839, Governor Sir George Gipps proposed a radical solution through four education resolutions presented to the Legislative Council. His plan sought to:
1. Provide equal educational assistance to all community classes
2. Create a comprehensive system suited to the colony’s dispersed population
3. Establish schools accommodating all Protestant denominations
4. Offer corresponding advantages for Catholic schools
Gipps argued that New South Wales’ unique multi-denominational composition required an inclusive approach. He proposed Protestant education following the British and Foreign Bible Society model, with government-funded Catholic schools operating separately. His eloquent appeal urged colonists to rise above religious discord for the sake of future generations.
The Anglican Opposition: Bishop Broughton’s Stand
Anglican Bishop William Grant Broughton delivered a dramatic three-hour rebuttal, defending the Church of England’s privileged position. Having opposed Governor Bourke’s 1836 education proposals for excluding the Bible, Broughton now rejected Gipps’ plan as undermining Anglican supremacy. He warned against “morality without religion” and predicted disaster if Protestant unity fractured, envisioning a society descending into godless republicanism.
The bishop’s opposition proved decisive. Despite support from Catholic Attorney-General J.H. Plunkett and Methodist Richard Jones, Gipps withdrew his resolutions when faced with over 3,000 petition signatures gathered by Anglican parishes. This defeat marked a pivotal moment in colonial education policy.
Cultural Clashes: Religion, Reform and Social Order
The education debate revealed deeper tensions in colonial society. Critics viewed Broughton as a bigot prioritizing sectarian interests over children’s enlightenment. Meanwhile, the colony grappled with fundamental questions about authority and social improvement:
– Could convicts be reformed through humane treatment, as proposed by penal reformer Alexander Maconochie?
– Would immigration transform colonial character, or simply import new problems?
– How could social order be maintained during the transition from penal colony to free society?
Maconochie’s Norfolk Island experiment (1840) using music and kindness rather than punishment became a lightning rod for these debates. Colonial skeptics dismissed his methods as naive, with the Sydney Herald mocking his plan to tame convicts with “a fiddle and a glass and a washerwoman.”
Economic Expansion and Indigenous Displacement
As education debates raged, economic expansion continued apace. Polish explorer Paul Edmund de Strzelecki’s 1840 ascent of Mount Kosciuszko symbolized European conquest of the land, while pastoralists pushed further into Aboriginal territories. The violent displacement of Indigenous peoples accompanied this expansion, with conflicts like the 1838 Myall Creek massacre demonstrating the frontier’s brutality.
Simultaneously, entrepreneurs like Benjamin Boyd envisioned grand commercial schemes, establishing the Royal Bank of Australia and planning Pacific trading networks. These developments occurred against the backdrop of Britain’s 1840 decision to end transportation to New South Wales, forcing colonists to confront their future as a free society.
The Convict Legacy: From Bondage to Free Labor
The transition from convict to free labor created new social tensions. Masters accustomed to absolute authority over bonded workers struggled to adapt. The 1840 Masters and Servants Act attempted to maintain control, imposing six-month jail terms for labor contract breaches. This legislation reflected the enduring influence of convict-era attitudes in shaping employer-worker relations.
Convict culture itself left complex legacies. Folk songs like “Van Diemen’s Land” expressed both resistance and resignation, while the colony developed a distinctive, often cynical worldview. As one observer noted, Australians had become “a sardonic race of men whose response to life was to laugh at their own misfortunes.”
Toward Self-Government: The 1842 Constitution
By 1842, political evolution culminated in the New South Wales Constitution Act, creating a partially elected Legislative Council. The property-based franchise (requiring £200 freehold or £20 household occupancy) ensured elite dominance, while excluding most ex-convicts and working-class settlers. This conservative framework reflected both Tocquevillean fears of democracy and local propertied interests.
The accompanying Waste Lands Act, fixing minimum land prices at £1 per acre, provoked outrage by limiting settlement opportunities. Together, these measures sparked growing demands for genuine self-government, uniting disparate groups against imperial control.
Conclusion: The Birth of Australian Society
The 1838-1842 period marked New South Wales’ difficult transition from penal outpost to developing society. Education debates, labor system changes, and political reforms revealed deep divisions about the colony’s future character. While conservative forces maintained dominance through the 1842 constitution, seeds had been sown for more democratic developments.
As the colony struggled with its identity, native-born Australians like poet Charles Harpur began articulating distinct visions for their “Southern Land.” His 1842 works expressed hope that Australians might break colonial mental shackles, foreshadowing the national consciousness that would emerge in coming decades. The tensions between imperial ties and local aspirations, between elite control and democratic impulses, would continue shaping Australian society long after this formative period.