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The Emigrant, London, c.1850. Courtesy National Library of Australia
From 1815 the Colonial Government decided to promote the migration of free settlers and limit squatter land leases to 14 years. This was to create an emancipist consumer economy and improve the moral tone of the colony. The Colonial Government assisted some migrants by paying their fare to Australia and helped to set up farms and businesses alongside the wealthy squatters – who of course were not very happy with such competition. -
Licence for gold mining, 1853. Courtesy of the Powerhouse Museum
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Lambing Flat miners’ camp, c.1860s Courtesy State Library of New South Wales
With so many people leaving for the gold fields, many businesses found it hard to keep operating. Ship crews deserted, leaving vessels stranded in port, shepherds left their flocks, government officials, clerks, teachers and policemen left their jobs in the excitement. Soon they were joined by thousands of immigrants from Europe, America, China and New Zealand keen to try their luck. Between 1852 and 1861 over 342,000 people arrived, often enduring appalling conditions on overcrowded ships. Cond -
Chinese in Lambing Flat riots, December, 1860. Courtesy National Archives of Australia
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Roll Up banner, 1861
In the face of these hardships the Chinese were often scapegoated by disgruntled European miners as seen in the violent anti -Chinese riots at Turon (1853), Meroo (1854) Rocky River (1856) Tambaroora (1858) Lambing Flat, Kiandra and Nundle (1860 and 1861) and Tingha tin fields (1870). They were seen initially as oddities, later as rivals and then as threats to white Australia. The gold licence system caused considerable unrest on the diggings. It was regarded as a tax and greatly resented since -
Chinamen at work on the gold fields. The Australian News for Home Readers, August 25, 1863. Courtesy State Library of Victoria
Immigrant ships brought thousands of people keen to try their luck at the diggings. The sailing time from England was reduced to 80 days and the newcomers, like the migrants before them, endured appalling conditions under unscrupulous shipowners. While people migrated from all over the world during the gold rush most came from Scotland and England, followed by a large number of Chinese diggers who were often victimised on the gold fields. The Chinese diggers moved from goldfield to goldfield wi -
Circular Quay, Charles Percy Pickering, 1871. Courtesy State Library of New South Wales
By 1869, there were six colonies in Australia – New South Wales, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland – all settled by British people. These separate colonies all had their own governors, parliaments and systems of government reporting to Britain. As the interior was explored and mapped, squatters and free settlers followed and Aboriginal people were pushed from their homelands. Governments wanted to protect Aboriginal people from settler violence. By the 1880s, -
Samuel Sweet, Overland telegraph party, J.A.G. Little, Robert Paterson, Charles Todd, Alexander James Mitchell, c.1873, Courtesy the National Library of Australia
In time people realised that gold was not the bonanza they anticipated and they began to filter back into cities and towns looking for work and places to live. They noticed that large areas of land were not being used and wanted the chance to establish farms like the squatters had done before them. With an increased population came further demand for land, food, clothes and buildings and the Australian economy grew to accommodate these needs. Another impact of this large influx of migrants was -
New South Wales and her duty to restrict, The Daily Telegraph, 20 June, 1899. Courtesy State Library of New South Wales
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‘A heap of Rats’ from Views taken during Cleansing Operations, Quarantine Area, Sydney, 1900, Vol. V / under the supervision of Mr George McCredie, F.I.A., N.S.W, Courtesy State Library of New South Wales
South Wales Bubonic plague broke out in Sydney in 1900 and soon spread to other Australian states. In seven months, 300 people caught the disease and 100 died. The disease came to Australia on ships from other countries, so the area around Sydney’s docks was quarantined: people could not move into or out of the area. The plague was spread by rats so the New South Wales Government introduced a rat bounty to encourage their capture. -
Soldier Settler camp Curraview at Naradhan, New South Wales, 1924. Courtesy State Library of New South Wales
As soldiers returned home from World War I, many found there were no jobs and affordable accommodation. The Australian Government believed the soldiers deserved something for their war sacrifice and set up the ‘Soldier Settler Scheme’. State Governments provided land for soldier farms and the Australian Government provided funds to get them started. In New South Wales, most of the land was in the Riverina district, ironically an area that had large German communities before the war. Some soldier -
Cathy Freeman after the 400 metre at the Sydney Olympics, 2000. Photograph Michael Amendolia. Courtesy State Library of New South Wales
After more than 200 years of migration, Australia has become a multicultural society. By 2010, 27% of people in Australia were born overseas and over 100 languages were spoken. Australian culture has transformed from the stiff Britishness of the late 19th century to the multiplicity of influences we see around us. Cathy wins medal
