A charm in distance: the Victorian anti-transportation movement 1844-1864

© 1993 James GoldenIn the late 1840s and early 1850s, in what was then still called the Port Phillip District, a significant social and political unrest gripped the colony. A discourse emerged amongst the young society's most respected members, and it was eagerly followed by virtually all elements of that society, down to the most humble tradesman. This often heated discussion targeted many enemies, among them some of the colony's venerated and wealthy squatter gentry. From this more immediate target, the rhetoric shifted to the Government - first, the government of the Port Phillip District, then to the Home Government in London. In July, 1851, the Port Phillip District separated from New South Wales to form the colony of Victoria. Immediately afterwards, the discourse united the new colony with other Australian colonies - and within but one year, this same dialogue would estrange Victoria from her neighbours, as well as the Mother Country. The source of this occasionally dramatic debate was the influx of convicted felons into the Port Phillip District and its successor, the colony of Victoria. For several years, it engaged the attention of the colony's newspapers and politicians, mechanics and barristers, established pastoralists and recently arrived urbanites. The impact of felons went beyond mere questions of crime. The convict was an affront to national pride, as evinced by the words of the anti-transportationists. But what sort of national pride was being defended in this struggle? To understand the source of this discussion, and to comprehend how and why it took the forms it did, it is necessary to place this phenomenon in a larger historical context. (From introduction