'A genuine Australian' : foot-stepping a life: a journey in pursuit of William Bradley Esq. of Goulburn

Abstract

William Bradley's death in 1868 at his home, Lindesay in Darling Point, signalled the end of a remarkable colonial career. A first generation, native-born Australian, born out of wedlock to an Irish convict mother and a former Sergeant in the NSW Corps in Windsor, Bradley was driven by the quest to become a respectable and respected colonial gentleman. While his life achievements are rarely noted in the historiography of early colonial Australia, his story is an important one that shaped a community on the Goulburn Plains and the Monaro and drove important political, scientific, agricultural and pastoral reforms. His story is worth telling. As the first elected member for the County of Argyle in 1843, Bradley aligned himself politically with W C. Wentworth and the 'squattocracy' without limiting his self-serving independence. Bradley overcame the 'birth stain' of convictism through the deliberate fostering of a business, political and social network. Eventually, the success of his quest took him to the very heart of the British establishment when he hosted HRH the Duke of Edinburgh in his harbour side mansion and as his colonial born daughters married into the British aristocracy. His descendents still occupy a seat in the House of Lords. This thesis rescues Bradley's career from the footnotes of colonial history. It charts his application of scientific, economic, social, financial, political, management, humanitarian, and moral principles. It records his quest for the respectability with which his parents did not provide him, both in the country of his birth and in the mother country. It is offered as a case study of the development of the Colony of New South Wales. The absence of private papers represents a challenge for the biographer that I have sought to overcome in three ways. First, by extensive (and conventional) research of archival and published sources, I have reconstructed Bradley's business empire and assessed his motivation by analysing his actions. Second, I have employed a method known as 'foot-stepping' to understand the context in which his life unfolded. Each chapter begins by recording my footsteps. And, finally, I have accepted and embraced the role of fiction in biography and 'bookended' each chapter with an imaginative meditation. The combination of approaches is offered as an example.