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March 1840 - A rise of the wool baron class
18 March 1840, Government House, Sydney, New South Wales
Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere pondered his position as Governor of New South Wales, an institution he had filled for some nine years and had no plans to vacate. There had certainly been plans and schemes to remove him from the job, schemes he was only too well aware of. In New South Wales in particular, the wool industry was booming. This had provided an export industry to financially support New South Wales and pay for necessary food imports as required, it had also allowed the emergence of a wool baron class whilst convict society and transportation was at it's peak. Under his own hand there was a form of forced labour with little mitigation, at least until such time as a ticket of leave was obtained and Cotton had made that a more lengthy and more difficult process.
That is not to say that he did not face his opponents. The passage of the South Australia Act in 1834 and the establishment of a convict free South Australia had been very much against his self interest. There were ever those in favour of the abolition of convict transportation, the same sort of people who had eventually succeeded in the abolition of slavery some five years before.
Yet he was not without his own allies. With himself at it's head, the wool barons of New South Wales had leverage in the Westminster. Their requests had allowed him to continue as Governor and in return he had helped establish them as an aristocracy built on land ownership and convict labour and in return their men in Westminster had provided ongoing support for transportation. He had an able ally in Van Diemen's Land when Arthur was Governor, less so now with Franklin, yet he still had a measure of support.
Yet for all that, their was a movement to outflank and usurp his rightful authority. South Australia was lost to him, so he had created a new colony called Northern Australia for all land above 26 degrees South and installed a loyal man as Lieutenant Governor. There was pressure from abolitionists to create a separate colony in New Zealand, something he adamantly opposed. For all that, he had agreed with the offering of the Treaty of Waitangi, signed at a time when the natives in New Zealand were engaged in a ruinous civil war and therefore more likely to negotiate from a position of weakness. What had happened in Van Diemen's Land had showed the it was possible to negotiate favorably with the natives at times.
The continuation of the current situation was very much in his interests, as in the last nine years he had become the richest man in Australasia and had no wish for this state of affairs to change.
Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere pondered his position as Governor of New South Wales, an institution he had filled for some nine years and had no plans to vacate. There had certainly been plans and schemes to remove him from the job, schemes he was only too well aware of. In New South Wales in particular, the wool industry was booming. This had provided an export industry to financially support New South Wales and pay for necessary food imports as required, it had also allowed the emergence of a wool baron class whilst convict society and transportation was at it's peak. Under his own hand there was a form of forced labour with little mitigation, at least until such time as a ticket of leave was obtained and Cotton had made that a more lengthy and more difficult process.
That is not to say that he did not face his opponents. The passage of the South Australia Act in 1834 and the establishment of a convict free South Australia had been very much against his self interest. There were ever those in favour of the abolition of convict transportation, the same sort of people who had eventually succeeded in the abolition of slavery some five years before.
Yet he was not without his own allies. With himself at it's head, the wool barons of New South Wales had leverage in the Westminster. Their requests had allowed him to continue as Governor and in return he had helped establish them as an aristocracy built on land ownership and convict labour and in return their men in Westminster had provided ongoing support for transportation. He had an able ally in Van Diemen's Land when Arthur was Governor, less so now with Franklin, yet he still had a measure of support.
Yet for all that, their was a movement to outflank and usurp his rightful authority. South Australia was lost to him, so he had created a new colony called Northern Australia for all land above 26 degrees South and installed a loyal man as Lieutenant Governor. There was pressure from abolitionists to create a separate colony in New Zealand, something he adamantly opposed. For all that, he had agreed with the offering of the Treaty of Waitangi, signed at a time when the natives in New Zealand were engaged in a ruinous civil war and therefore more likely to negotiate from a position of weakness. What had happened in Van Diemen's Land had showed the it was possible to negotiate favorably with the natives at times.
The continuation of the current situation was very much in his interests, as in the last nine years he had become the richest man in Australasia and had no wish for this state of affairs to change.
- johnboy
- Word Count: 470