Links in the Chain: British slavery, Victoria and South Australia

Beneficiaries of British slavery were present in colonial Victoria and provincial South Australia, a link overlooked by successive generations of historians. The Legacies of British Slave-ownership database, hosted by University College, London, reveals many people in these colonies as having been connected to slave money awarded as compensation by the Imperial Parliament in the 1830s. This article sets out the beneficiaries to demonstrate the scope of exposure of the colonies to slavery. The list includes governors, jurists, politicians, clergy, writers, graziers and financiers, as well as various instrumental founders of South Australia. While Victoria is likely to have received more of this capital than South Australia, the historical significance of compensation is greater for the latter because capital from beneficiaries of slavery, particularly George Fife Angas and Raikes Currie, ensured its creation. Evidence of beneficiaries of slavery surrounds us in the present in various public honours and notable buildings.

The Port Phillip Lime Economy

Lime is an essential component of the building industry for it is used to make mortar and to make plaster. Without lime, building construction in Melbourne would have been severely curtailed. Yet, this is an industry rarely written about. Using newspapers as a key source, this article discusses the development of the lime industry from the time of first settlement in the Port Phillip district to the rise of Marvellous Melbourne in the 1880s, key figures in the industry, and their predilection to form cartels.

1968: Victorian anti-war movement gets an injection

When the 'baby-boomers' had reached university age, their understandings, habits and behaviours often collided with the political discourse of their parents' generation. By 1968, the Monash University Labor Club, fresh from its campaign to raise money for the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLF), had discarded the mantle of Labor reformism and set itself on a path of a radical communist activism that scorned the efforts of the Communist Party (CPA) to contain its enthusiasm. In concert with similarly leaning student clubs at the other two Victorian universities it turned its attention to the protest movement outside the university, against conscription and the Vietnam Wm: That brought the inevitable clash with the older established anti war movement led by a loose blend of ALP, CPA, church groups and unions. This process led, in Scalmer's classification of protest actions, to the mode of political demonstrations leaping radically from 'staging' to 'disruption.'

The Gaol on the Hill: The prelude to and construction of Bendigo’s sandstone gaol

The gold rushes on the Victorian goldfields of the 1850s increased the population of the new colony seven times over. This created many problems for the new government, not the least of which was an increase in lawlessness which put authorities under severe pressure to house the rapidly growing convict population. Other issues confronting colonial prison administrators were the mobility of the population as gold seekers moved to the latest finds, the presence of a large Chinese population on the goldfields and the housing of the mentally disturbed. At the same time, new philosophies in prison design gave the Victorian government the potential to replace its first, hastily constructed, goals with the latest ‘state of the art’ prisons at strategic locations across the goldfields.

How to make an entrance: Piranesi comes to Ballarat

"The inside front cover of this publication carries an image of CRCAH's front door, the main gateway to the former Ballarat Gaol. It is a magnificent example of nineteenth century masonry work. The massive bluestone blocks were carved and chiselled into a grand classical edifice, making a fitting southern finale in scale and significance to the great range of buildings on either side of Lydiard Street. The remarkable architectural statement of a confident gold rich city runs from the os­tentatious neo-classical railway station at the northern end past the Art Gallery, the Mining Exchange, the palatial former Post Office (now housing the studios of the university Arts Academy) and on along the facades of banks, hotels, theatres and churches, in a melody of styles from palladian to gothic (with some 20th century intrusions) down to the suitably 'redbrick' buildings of the Ballarat School of Mines. Here the road swings round to the west so the range of prison buildings bookend the whole composition with a dramatic solemn coda " -From forum article

Introduction

The start of a new academic journal is always an exciting initiative for all involved and it is with great pleasure I am able to introduce Before/Now. In doing so it is important or me to formally acknowledge the tireless work of the founding editorial collective who have been working on this new scholarly publication for almost two years at Federation University Australia. Can I also acknowledge the support of the School of Arts in en­abling this initiative. Before/Now is a welcome addition to the postgraduate journal landscape in Australia where postgraduate history journals have enjoyed something of a recent revival against broader trends in publishing