RAHS Subscriptions: Journals – Vol 110 Pt 2 December 2024 ABSTRACTS
Liberty not Licence: The Hyde Park Riots of 1878
Jeff Kildea
In March 1878, two riots occurred in Hyde Park in protest against the anti-Catholic preaching of Pastor Daniel Allen, a Baptist minister who on Sundays held open-air services in the park. In the wake of the riots, mounting public opinion led the government to ban public meetings there. As a result, soap-box orators and open-air preachers relocated to the Domain, where they have continued to operate ever since. This article examines the Hyde Park riots in the context of the need to balance the right of free speech and the right of people not to be subjected to ‘hate speech’.
The News of War: How Australians learned that their nation was at war with Germany in August 1914
Lindsay Close
In August 1914, Australia stood half a world away from the rumblings of war in Europe. In an era before the internet, satellites, television and where telephone and radio were short-range communication devices, how did Australians discover that their nation was at war? This article examines the role that the telegraph played in disseminating the news that the conflict in Europe had started. It will also study the limitations of telegraph technology and the difficulties, such as censorship, print deadlines, ministerial errors and British Foreign Office mistakes that contributed to the delay of the Australian public getting the full and correct story.
A Retrospective of Military Law and Justice in the Australian Imperial Force
Des Lambley
Australian military law was comparatively sophisticated but a complicated dictum boiler-plated during Federation from the British laws. It had evolved throughout the modern history of war with an emphasis on discipline to ensure adherence to orders necessary to accomplish the Army’s given task. The physical environment in World War I and the stresses of the work caused many soldiers to break the rules. It was essential to have a system of laws enabling the offenders to be punished and set an example to others that orders were to be obeyed.
A ‘Nursery of Martial Law’: Proclamations of Martial Law in the Australian Colonies 1790–1853
Ben Hingley
Martial law was declared seven times in pre-Federation Australia, playing a part in some significant historical events. Yet very little has been written on the topic, and no comparative study has so far been made. This paper gathers, for the first time, brief accounts of all of the martial law events in the early colonies into one document and draws some initial comparisons. It will be seen that martial law was an adaptable doctrine. In the years between 1790 and 1853, it was used to fend off starvation, quash two rebellions, overthrow a government, and wage two wars against First Nations peoples.
Interpreting an Image: Did the Collector’s Chests become an embarras des richesses to Governor Macquarie because of their images of Christ Church Newcastle?
Sue Rabbitt Roff
There are several purported contemporary images of the first Christ Church to be built in Newcastle in 1817. But while the actual church building was deteriorating to the point that its superstructure of tower and steeple had to be radically shortened in 1825, the images sent to London by prominent members of the administration of Governor Macquarie grew increasingly imposing. Was this a concerted real estate rort to mislead potential free settlers and investors about the level of development achieved in the penal colony of Newcastle? This Interpreting an Image explores the evidence.
Book Reviews
Anne Sarzin, The Angel of Kings Cross: The life and times of Dr Fanny Reading (Judith Bonzol)
Hugh Tranter, Southern Signals: Stories of innovation, challenge and triumph in Australia’s communication history (Graham Shirley)
Rose Ellis, Bee Miles, Australia’s famous bohemian rebel, and the untold story behind the legend (Alice C. Paul)
John Cary, Frontier Magistrate: The enigmatic Foster Fyans (Mark Dunn)
Toby Raeburn, The Remarkable Mr and Mrs Johnson: Founders of modern Australia’s first church, schools and charity, and friends of Aboriginal people, 1788–1800 (Patricia Curthoys)
Cassandra Pybus, A Very Secret Trade: The dark story of gentlemen collectors in Tasmania (Don Garden)
Anna Johnston, The Antipodean Laboratory: Making colonial knowledge, 1770–1870 (Anne Coote)
Bronwyn Hughes, Lights Everlasting: Australia’s commemorative stained glass from the Boer War to Vietnam (Beverley Sherry)