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This series focuses on Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region from the arrival of European seafarers and missionaries to the early twentieth century. Contemporary accounts document the gradual development of the European settlements from penal colonies and whaling stations to thriving communities of farmers, miners and traders with fully-fledged administrative and legal systems. Particularly noteworthy are the descriptions of the indigenous peoples of the various islands, their customs and their differing interactions with the European settlers.

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107 results in Cambridge Library Collection - History of Oceania

Page 6 of 6

History of Australia
  • Volume 3
  • George William Rusden
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    29 April 2011
    First published in:
    1883
  • 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 3 is mainly devoted to political matters, especially the Constitution Act of 1856 and the relationship between the colony and Britain. Rusden also gives a brief sketch of the governors who took office from this period onwards.

The History of Discovery in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand
  • From the Earliest Date to the Present Day
  • Volume 1
  • William Howitt
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    23 June 2011
    First published in:
    1865
  • The prolific writer William Howitt (1792–1879) embarked for Australia in 1852 and spent two years there travelling and panning for gold. His experiences resulted in several books that appealed to the Victorian public's avid interest in Antipodean exploration. Published in 1865, when New Zealand had only been recognised as a country for a generation, this two-volume work describes 'scenes of danger and of wild romance, of heroic daring and devoted deaths, such as few countries have to show'. It gives a valuable account of early European exploration and settlement in Australia and New Zealand as well as insights into European travellers' responses to this previously unknown continent. Volume 1 covers the early voyages of discovery to the Antipodes made by explorers including Abel Tasman and Captain Cook, and later expeditions up to the 1840s, including Fitzroy and Darwin's voyage around Australia and New Zealand aboard the Beagle.

The History of Discovery in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand
  • From the Earliest Date to the Present Day
  • Volume 2
  • William Howitt
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    23 June 2011
    First published in:
    1865
  • The prolific writer William Howitt (1792–1879) embarked for Australia in 1852 and spent two years there travelling and panning for gold. His experiences resulted in several books that appealed to the Victorian public's avid interest in Antipodean exploration. Published in 1865, when New Zealand had only been recognised as a country for a generation, this two-volume work describes 'scenes of danger and of wild romance, of heroic daring and devoted deaths, such as few countries have to show'. It gives a valuable account of early European exploration and settlement in Australia and New Zealand as well as insights into European travellers' responses to this previously unknown continent. Volume 2 begins in the mid-1840s, and focuses on the 1861 disappearance in Australia of Burke and Wills, the expeditions searching for them (including one led by Howitt's son), and visits to New Zealand by explorers including Charles Heaphy and Julius Haast.

Land, Labour, and Gold
  • Two Years in Victoria: with Visits to Sydney and Van Diemen's Land
  • Volume 1
  • William Howitt
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    17 February 2011
    First published in:
    1855
  • In 1852 William Howitt (1792–1879) set sail for Australia with two of his sons in order to try his luck in the goldfields of Victoria. By then he was already a prolifically published author of both prose and verse. He was only moderately successful as a gold-digger, but his account of life in the new colony, published in 1855 after his return to England, provides an extraordinary snapshot of the rapid early growth of Melbourne. Volume 1 covers Howitt's first impressions of Australia, his experiences on the journey to the diggings at Bendigo, the throngs of prospectors, the exorbitant prices charged by profiteering merchants, and the miners' protest over high government licence fees. He describes the hard life endured by the diggers and warns against women coming to the colony.

Land, Labour, and Gold
  • Two Years in Victoria: with Visits to Sydney and Van Diemen's Land
  • Volume 2
  • William Howitt
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    17 February 2011
    First published in:
    1855
  • In 1852 William Howitt (1792–1879) set sail for Australia with two of his sons in order to try his luck in the goldfields of Victoria. By then he was already a prolifically published author of both prose and verse. He was only moderately successful as a gold-digger, but his account of life in the new colony, published in 1855 after his return to England, provides an extraordinary snapshot of the rapid early growth of Melbourne. Volume 2 considers the effects of the influx of a great number of immigrants and the continuing presence of convicts. Howitt also reflects on government policy and the draft constitution, and describes visits to Sydney and Tasmania. His colourful account includes descriptions of birds and flowers, extreme heat, and how to cope with flies.

My Home in Tasmania
  • During a Residence of Nine Years
  • Volume 2
  • Louisa Anne Meredith
  • Published online:
    16 May 2011
    Print publication:
    21 October 2010
    First published in:
    1852
  • Louisa Anne Meredith's account of her life in Tasmania was published in 1852. She was an experienced traveller, and this work is remarkable for being the first detailed account by a woman of life in the colony. Its shrewd observations and descriptive personal narrative make it an engaging read, as well as providing a valuable historical record. A keen botanist and artist, Meredith describes the island's natural life in great detail in beautiful and evocative passages. In Volume 2 she provides more anecdotes of her life, including descriptions of the animals she encounters and journeys made within the island. She also covers more social issues, looking at religion and custom in the colony among the settlers and the natives, and closing the book with an examination of Tasmania's industry and trades. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=merelo

My Home in Tasmania
  • During a Residence of Nine Years
  • Volume 1
  • Louisa Anne Meredith
  • Published online:
    16 May 2011
    Print publication:
    21 October 2010
    First published in:
    1852
  • Louisa Anne Meredith's account of her life in Tasmania was published in 1852. She was an experienced traveller, and this work is remarkable for being the first detailed account by a woman of life in the colony. Its shrewd observations and descriptive personal narrative make it an engaging read, as well as providing a valuable historical record. A keen botanist and artist, Meredith describes the island's natural life in great detail in beautiful and evocative passages. This first volume covers the journey to the island and her initial impressions of it. Her discussions of 'polite society', politics, prisoner and ex-prisoner populations, the 'white slave' issue, and her attitudes to the island's native people, also provide fascinating examples of colonial attitudes in the period and of how different cultures and backgrounds existed together on the island. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=merelo

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