History of Australia

A wide-ranging three-volume history of Australia, published in 1883 by an English-born civil servant who spent his career there.

George William Rusden (Author)

9781108030564, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 29 April 2011

760 pages
21.6 x 4.2 x 14 cm, 0.95 kg

When George William Rusden (1819–1903) was fourteen, his family emigrated from England to Australia, where he later became a prominent educationalist and civil servant. Already an author of numerous books and pamphlets, he began work on his History of Australia after his retirement, and it was published in 1883 in three volumes. Although the work is considered sympathetic to the Aboriginal people of Australia, it is also infused with Rusden's Tory politics, infuriating his critics – one wrote that the volumes were 'as untrustworthy as a partisan pamphlet well can be without deliberate dishonesty'. Despite initial criticism, these wide-ranging volumes form an important early contribution to the writing of Australian history. Volume 2 continues Rusden's examination of earlier governors, starting with Ralph Darling (1772–1858) and ending with George Gipps (1791–1847), before discussing immigration, the end of the practice of transporting prisoners, and the discovery of gold.

9. Governor Darling
10. Governor Bourke
11. Governor Gipps
12. General condition of colonies – alterations of constitutions – crown lands – immigration
13. Cessation of transportation
14. Discovery of gold.

Subject Areas: Australasian & Pacific history [HBJM]