Eric Richards: Irregular Pioneers of South Australia
182 Victoria Square, Adelaide, 6pm, Friday 25 November
Videorecording: Irregular Pioneers of South Australia
The pioneers of South Australia were not typical British emigrants of the early Victorian Age. Careful selection was the vital principle. Yet within this tight plan there were many odd and unplanned immigrants – irregular pioneers – arriving in unusual channels. They represent some of the many anarchic elements in immigration history of Australia. Eric Richards, Professor of History at Flinders University, has chosen a handful of these eccentric lives – including James Bell, the Scottish Presbyterian, whose recently discovered diary of his voyage of 1838 exposed allegedly scandalous behaviour among some of the early pioneers to South Australia.
Eric Richards publishes widely on British history and migration history, notably Britannia’s Children: Emigration from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland since 1600 (2004). His Destination Australia: Migration to Australia since 1901 (2008) won a NSW Premier’s Literary Award, 2009.
Eric Richards: Irregular Pioneers of South Australia
Hear Eric Richards talk about the 'odd and unplanned' immigrants in the early days of the colony of South Australia at Flinders' city campus, Friday 25 November at 6pm.