The Paper War: Morality, Print Culture and Power in Colonial New South Wales

Description

In February 1832 Rev. Lancelot Threlkeld was named as one of the perpetual blisters that the London Missionary Society seemed destined to carry. Threlkeld, from a British working-class family, lobbied his way to NSW to set up the Lake Macquarie mission in colonial New South Wales. Once established, controversies, arguments, tempers and debates abounded, resulting in a very public paper war. This engaging and intelligent book delves into the diverse and voluminous body of texts produced by and about Threlkeld from 1825-41. The Paper War plots the formation of NSW as a modern colonial state and re-examines its morality, politics, Aboriginal relations, language, law and the media. It also identifies an influential network of British Empire men who were as crucial to the humanitarian debate as they were to the destruction of Threlkeld's mission. A web of colonial intrigue, corruption, slander, whistleblowing and backstabbing, this book is an eye-opener to colonial Australia.

Anna Johnston is Australia Research Council Queen Elizabeth II Research Fellow and Associate Professor in English at the University of Tasmania, Australia.