Aspects of life in Gundagai, 1840-1860

Abstract

Historians tend to give more emphasis to explanation than to description. Description, however, is central to understanding. It is perhaps because I am foreign to Australia that description seems especially important for me. I cannot help but be aware of the gulf between my own culture and that of mid-nineteenth century Australia. Westerners who have studied my country have found it helpful to delineate certain cultural values which characterize social life in Indonesia and help to explain events occurring there. In this thesis, which examines one small community in nineteenth century Australia, I attempt to analyse some aspects of the culture of a European community. Although the approach of this thesis is grounded in my foreignness I do not believe that this sort of exercise should be of interest only to non-Australians. It may be unwise for historians to assume that to be an Australian in 1986 gives one an immediate insight into the social life of rural Australia in the 18SO's. As scholars continue to explore the social values and cultural categories of nineteenth century Australia, they may well become increasingly cautious about basing judgements about the nineteenth century on their experience of modern Australia. One of my supervisors, Dr A.C. Milner, has in his own work investigated cultural attitudes in the nineteenth century Malay world .1 He was influenced by the exercises in "thick description" - description which takes account of the cultural context in which human action takes place - of the American anthropologist, Clifford Geertz. In my thesis, too, some of the questions of Anthropology are being applied not to a living community but to a body of historical documents. Like others in this field of History, I have also gained confidence from reading Emmanuelle Le Roy Ladurie's anthropological description of a fourteenth century town, Mountaillou. Being interested in this type of cultural examination I sought advice from my principal supervisor, Professor J.N. Molony. He recommended that I look at the town of Gundagai, particularly the source materials related to the great flood which was central to the history of the township in the nineteenth century. Because of this suggestion I chose to write my thesis on aspects of life in Gundagai between 1840-1860. I owe much to Professor Molony for talking with me about the primary and secondary sources of Australian history and encouraging and guiding me in examining mid-nineteenth century Gundagai. The most disastrous flood in the history of Gundagai occurred in 1852. This was a catastrophe for the town and the death toll and damage to property and buildings were recorded. What is important for historians is that as a consequence of the flood itself the documents of a special inquiry made by the Colonial Government were published in the Parliamentary Papers.4 The documents do not merely provide us with records of the 1852 flood and its consequences, but also with a range of information on other aspects of Gundagai's social and economic life. The use of some other source materials, such as "The Bench Book and Letter Book of Magistrates of Gundagai" and also several newspapers provided me with much help in reconstructing aspects of the social life of the town. Finally, I found a helpful introduction to Gundagai in the writings of two local historians, A. Gaunt and R.T. Kennedy. A. Gaunt's book is concerned with the development of the town from the earliest times to the twentieth century, while Kennedy's work deals with some leading citizens of Gundagai and the disputes that occurred amongst them. The first two introductory chapters are 'A Brief History of Gundagai', which describes Gundagai from the earliest time to the end of the nineteenth century; and an 'Introduction to Mid-Nineteenth Century Gundagai', which provides basic information about the inhabitants - about their economic life, communication arrangements, education, legal processes, and so forth. In this chapter I also discuss the great flood in some detail. Chapter three, 'Leadership and Social Hierarchy' deals with the question of how Gundagai society was structured and where did the authority lie. This chapter, furthermore, attempts to describe the rivalries occurring amongst the inhabitants. The next five chapters explore some prominent values, mores, and attitudes. I examine the concept of 'Agreement', attitudes to alcohol and language, 'Relation Between Sexes', 'Attitudes to Religion' and 'Racial Attitudes'.