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The History of The Republic of Ararat
Foundations, 1788-1825
On a warm Wednesday Morning on December 15th, 1824, the Reverend Rupert Seafield landed upon the shores of what would become the City of New Zion with roughly fifty colonists. The City would grow in the Province of and later Republic of Ararat, and finally disbanded on August 3rd, 1875, following a lengthy struggle with independence and against the British in the Anglo-Ararat Wars. Ararat's position in history will primarily be remembered for its brutal, expansionist, oppressive, and authoritative approach to governance, and as the predecessor of the European and Latin American Dictatorships of the 20th Century. However, to understand the Republic, we must first understand its leader and founder, Rev. Rupert Seafield, and how he came to found this unlikely State.
Rupert Seafield was born on March 17th, 1788, to Lewis and Martha Seafield (née Martha Smith) in Chichester, Sussex. Reportedly a bright child, he showed a keen interest in the world around him, with a fascination for maps and atlases. In school he excelled in bible studies, reportedly his favorite story being that of Noah’s Ark. He also found fascination with the English Civil War, particularly with Oliver Cromwell. At 16, Seafield began studying to become a priest in the Protestant Church; in 1812, the young Priest in-training was shown a copy of the Freycinet Map, as well as descriptions of the land's of Terra Australis. Whilst intrigued, shortly after completing his training in 1816, Seafield was voluntarily assigned to a position in Milbank Prison, a new state-of-the-art facility that was used as an alternative to transportation. There, Seafield was well liked by Prisoners, primarily concerned for their safety and well being, both spiritually and physically. Described often as Charismatic and a wonderful orator, Seafield was said to convert even the staunchest atheist to God. Despite his comfortable position, the allure of the new world was not lost on him, and in 1818, Seafield proposed to several High-ranking Officials in the Church the establishment of a Christian Penal Colony in the New World.
The Church would approve of his idea, and Seafield contacted the Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie, with his proposal. Macquarie would decline the proposal, much to Seafield’s despair, although would remain on Macquarie’s desk. When his successor, Thomas Brisbane, took office as Governor, he approved Seafield's proposal as part of his 1823 plan to expand Convict Settlements north; the Redcliffe Peninsula in Moreton Bay was delegated for Seafield’s colonists. Resigning from his position at Milbank, Seafield would depart from London in late-1823 upon hearing of the colonies acceptance along with two-dozen colonists recruited from Seafield congregation. Seafield arrived in Sydney, where he would recruit another two-dozen, mainly labors, with promise of their own land along the Brisbane River. Soon, when John Oxley’s survey team came back from Moreton Bay, Seafield was given the all clear and set off, a few days later landing and setting up an outpost on the shores of the Redcliffe Peninsula.
In preparation for his first Prisoners, Seafield ordered the building of several temporary huts and a church. The original Church of New Zion, by far the largest building on site, would house Seafield and the guard’s quarters, functioning further as an office. The infamous pier would also enter the beginnings of construction; however this was little more than planning and initial ground-breaking, much of the construction to be left for the prisoners. Almost half the colonists Seafield had bought with him were carpenters and builders by trade, the others ex-Military, a couple Doctors. Seafield himself, the Commandant of New Zion, would make himself the Reverent of the Church. In addition to this, he also began to cultivate his soon to be famous image, taking to shaving daily, wearing his hair short, and dressing in a white shirt and blue breeches when not conducting Church; the point of this exercise was to create an immediately recognizable image for the Convicts. This would extend to the guards, who he ordered to dress in blue uniforms, keeping a clear distinction on who-is-who in the colony. By the time construction on the temporary facilities were completed, and the guards had adjusted, the first batch of Convicts arrived in early 1825.
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