Some aspects of squatting in New South Wales and Queensland, 1847-1864

Abstract

The Central purpose of this thesis is to examine how the pastoral squatter of New South Wales and Queensland related himself to society between 1847 and 1864; to enquire specifically how he related himself to his government, to his peers, to his servants and to the aboriginal blacks. In substance, this is a social enquiry, and except where it appears relevant, it fairely rigorously excludes consideration of matters such as technology, marketing, climatology, stock breeding and improvement, the landscape and - other than in general terms - economics. On the other hand, and stemming from problems directly confronting my main purpose, the thesis pursues some secondary aims that immediately (in the form of two introductory chapters) involve a reappraisal of how colonial society functioned between 1818 and 1847 and an outline revision, concerning the same years, of the history of the rise of pastoralism and its squatting form in New South Wales.