In the period 1930 to 1964, unprecedented attention was paid in England to the issue of working-class housing. Initially, the focus was on improving slum conditions and replacing slums with better housing in the interests of public health. As the years progressed, and particularly during and after the Second World War, focus moved to how homes could accommodate families and what they should ideally look like and contain. This thesis takes an expository approach, encompassing government policy and debate, literary sources and the numerous surveys that were undertaken throughout the period to satisfy middle-class curiosity about the living and working conditions of 'the other half'.

The five chapters trace the themes chronologically, starting with government, then the role of women in effecting change in housing conditions, through to how home was portrayed in contemporary literature and how that reflected the significant social and economic change that occurred throughout the period under investigation. The final chapter is concerned with the Mass Observation surveys into housing and the other investigations of the working-classes of England that arose from the developing sociological field.

What the thesis uncovers is that although the ideas around what constituted the ideal home changed little over the years 1930-1964, the means of achieving it did, and the issues that were uncovered in exposing what the idea of home was, remain current and relevant today.

The discovery of gold in nineteenth-century Victoria propelled society into a period of enormous change. Amidst unprecedented levels of immigration and intra-colonial migration, a widespread institutional building boom took place to officially control the newly formed mass transient population. Beechworth was one of many new towns to emerge in mid-nineteenth century Victoria and can be viewed as an exemplar of similar gold rush townships across the colony. Against a backdrop where fortunes were as easily lost as won, H.M. Prison Beechworth opened in 1864 and Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum opened in 1867 as official mechanisms to control this evolving diaspora.

This thesis focuses on the relationship between the Gaol and Asylum in Beechworth to determine their level of interconnectedness and to understand how the mad and bad were treated and managed between 1856 and 1914. Using a mixed method approach, my research begins in eighteenth-century Britain, tracing the origins of the modern prison and lunatic asylum, and ends with a local case study of these two institutions in Beechworth.

My research demonstrates that the determination of whether an individual was institutionalised in a gaol or a lunatic asylum in late nineteenth-century Victoria was distinguished by a defined, rather than fine, line. Data sets created from prisoner and patient records, in addition to analysis of other archival material, identifies a distinct use of both institutions and, consequently, the funnelling into each of two distinct cohorts of ‘deviant’. The Gaol was used for short term stays with high rates of movement between gaols and high levels of prisoner recidivism. In contrast, the Asylum was used for longer term stays accommodating individuals considered a burden on society as evidenced by high levels of ill-health and death. This is most apparent in the experience of Chinese nationals, who were incarcerated in the Asylum at a disproportionate level.

During a period in which institutions focused on classification and the growth of institutional specialisation, Beechworth Gaol housed prisoners convicted of minor offences with Pentridge Prison in Melbourne identified as the location for serious offenders. Analysis of patient records and the low rate of discharge and high rate of death identifies Beechworth Asylum as a repository for the chronically mentally unwell, although it was never officially categorised as such. This is most clearly shown by an analysis of patients transferred to Beechworth Asylum from other asylums across Victoria. Transfers between the Gaol and Asylum were minimal, and while they were connected during their formative years because of shared origins and philosophies, they developed along different paths with minimal inmate movement and no obvious sharing of staff or policies. This thesis assists in deepening our understanding of how the mad and bad were managed in late nineteenth-century Victoria.

This study addresses the question: how did social and political divisions influence the economic and environmental development of Kempsey during the colonial period up to 1865? Primary documents including personal letters, journals, memoirs, political and governmental papers, along with a range of colonial newspapers have been studied and interpreted to form a social historical solution to the question. Due to the range of sources available for this investigation, a variation of methodologies has been employed, with particular emphasis on an empirical qualitative analysis. In addition to considering existing non-scholarly thematic histories of the Macleay Valley, this thesis draws existing scholarly investigations together and builds upon them, looking into the interdependence between society and environment, politics and geographical developments, culture and social movements to piece together the story of Kempsey and uncover the key events which have led to long lasting impacts on the town. No other scholarly study of this kind has been undertaken to bring the entire complex and multifaceted story of Kempsey’s early years into one scholarly investigation. Implications for this study highlight the important factor that powerful social and political divisions in a community have when important decisions about town planning, environmental protection, and issues of social justice need to be addressed. These divisions can lead to catastrophic outcomes that could impact generations to follow, as shown in the tumultuous history of Kempsey, New South Wales.

While it is widely accepted that the Irish and Scottish-Highland peasants who were fleeing oppression, persecution, and the devastating effects of the potato famine were refugees, this is not the case for contemporaneous emigrants from the southwest of England. However, this research into the immigrants who arrived in New South Wales (NSW) from the United Kingdom (UK) during 1849 reveals that there were several Dorsetshire villages near Blandford which provided a disproportionate percentage of their inhabitants to immigration. Home to the likes of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, this area was renowned for its political agitation against low wages and squalid living conditions. Oppressed, persecuted, and facing starvation with the arrival of the potato blight, these immigrants from Dorset had little choice but to flee their homes. As such, just like the rural poor of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands who were fleeing their ancestral homes at this time, they too were refugees.

Under the auspices of the Blandford Branch of the Colonisation Society (BBCS), between five and ten percent of the population of the towns of Durweston, Stourpaine and Child Okeford departed for a new life in NSW. Their decision to emigrate was a result of endemic systematic oppression, low wages, poor living conditions, the enclosure of common lands and the arrival of the potato blight. Their choice was stark – flee to Australia or remain and face a constant struggle to survive. Turning to the local clergy who manipulated the rules of the NSW squatters’ Colonisation Society, these Dorsetshire refugees made good their escape to a new life in the colonies.

Besides the reclassification of this group of Dorsetshire agricultural labourers and their families from immigrants to refugees, this thesis highlights the devastating effect that the Potato Blight had on the rural poor of Dorset. This research also reveals the role played by the BBCS in helping these Dorsetshire poor find a new life in NSW. It also highlights the nature of Francis Scott’s appointment as the NSW agent in London and the influence that the 1823 Cambridge University Arts alumni had in the ‘Squattocracy’ of NSW. In turn this research shifts the paradigm of the creation of the Society for the Promotion of Colonisation from philanthropy to the exploitation of the rural poor of the UK. Finally, it illuminates the contributions of the BBCS cohort to NSW society during the later part of the nineteenth century.

In November 1852, Dr William Preshaw announced in the Melbourne Argus that he had established a general practice in a tent on the gold diggings at Moonlight Flat, Forest Creek.¹ From this unlikely beginning, Preshaw quickly became involved in most aspects of the district's early public life. His strong philanthropic bent and commitment to his fellow man was evident in his contribution to the foundation of the County and Castlemaine Hospital in early 1854, a Friendly Aid Society in mid-1854 and the Castlemaine Benevolent Asylum in 1860. He was always ready to share his knowledge to raise funds for worthy causes and to help the broad community, whether by offering free medical help or by encouraging local schools to work together for the good of their pupils. His commitment to education drove active participation in the Castlemaine Mechanics' Institute and its library, just as the democratic spirit he had shown on the diggings led him to take on the role of local electoral returning officer.

South Australian historical scholarship has, until the 1970s, focussed on political and economic factors at the macro level while social and cultural determinants have often been overlooked. From the establishment of the new colony of South Australia in 1836, some 11,000 German Lutherans emigrated to South Australia over the next twenty years and many settled in the Barossa Valley. The thesis investigates the context of their decision to emigrate, for choosing South Australia and colonising the Barossa.

Rather than relying on government support, I argue that it was the social capital of these pioneers that contributed to achieving their aspirations. The private records of the emigrants and their family histories have been examined to reveal a more nuanced view of their colonisation of the Barossa. Today, there is a growing awareness and interest by local descendants into how their ancestors were able to create a viable, peaceful and long-lasting Lutheran community far from their original home. As such, this thesis adds to the historiography of early South Australian colonisation.

The voluntary associations established in nineteenth-century country towns in Victoria were based on British models but took on new roles and characteristics in a very different context which positioned them as major agents of change, playing a little-recognised role in shaping the colony. The structure and adaptability of the voluntary association as an organisational form made this a particularly suitable mechanism for building new townships and communities, while strengthening shared values. In this thesis, I have sought to understand the influence of a selected set of voluntary associations on the development of country towns in colonial Victoria, based primarily on the evidence of contemporary newspapers and archival records.

The selected associations ¾ temperance, friendly and benevolent societies, as well as mechanics' institutes ¾ were founded by country-town residents to provide social connections, mutual support and local services, within the framework of a moral and respectable lifestyle. In practice, the associations' objectives and activities gave them a broad role in emerging country towns. Although the colonial government provided a degree of support, it was the self-help philosophy, volunteer effort and active engagement of association members themselves which set directions, managed and largely funded services which became models for future government delivery.

In operating these services, the associations helped to build social capital, mutual support, civic identity and individual opportunity, as well as offering entertainment, education and connections to the wider world. Their activities shaped emerging class and gender roles while encouraging egalitarian attitudes, democratic processes, active citizenship and political engagement in their country towns. At the same time, reliance on independent local associations demonstrated the limitations of voluntary effort, which led to inequities and a lack of coordination. By their actions and activities, but not always in ways they intended, the associations laid a foundation for the emergence of a civil society based on trust and collective action, as well as contributing to changing public attitudes towards individual rights, women's suffrage and the role of government.

This dissertation examines why it was important to build a quay in Sydney Cove between 1839 and 1855 despite recurring market and financial distress, the topographical difficulties of the site and the technological constraints of the times. The history of construction of a masonry quay at the head of the cove, and a timber wharf on the cove’s western shore — collectively known as ‘Circular Quay’ — has received only limited research attention since its completion in the mid-nineteenth century. Yet, building the eastern masonry quay was a major engineering work, which involved extensive quarrying on the interface of the cove itself, and the reclamation of tidal flats and marshland at its head. There were urgent incentives for the replacement of the primitive and decaying public wharves in the cove. The new quay had to complement the viable competitive environment that grew out of the colony’s advancement from a penal settlement to a “free” society. Therefore, in writing the narrative of the Quay, attention is paid to the development of trade in the colony and the search for a reliable and sustainable staple to support it economically. Authorising, influencing, and sometimes obstructing the construction of both the masonry quay and the timber wharf, was an often restive and troublesome Legislative Council. The political manoeuvrings of its members around the inclusion of elected representatives in 1843, and at the approach of responsible government in 1856, meant that ‘Quay questions’ were raised during the construction of firstly the masonry quay, and then the western timber wharf, which consequently fed into the general murk of condemnation, by political factions, of expenditure, contractors and government officials, and design quality. A year after the shoddily constructed western wharf was completed in 1855, it was sinking in parts, leaving the newly formed government undecided about what to do with a ramshackle timber structure that had cost far too much to construct.