Scandal in the Colonies: Sydney and Cape Town, 1820-1850The hidden stories of two Australian port towns rife with gossip and dubious reputations are uncovered in this history. This study argues that colonial societies offered European settlers the chance to invent new identities, an opportunity they exploited with a vengeance which ultimately influenced imperial policy and became a key element in the emergence of a society deeply divided by class and race. Touching on the themes of masculinity and commercial culture, female sexuality in civil litigation, and gossip in political culture, this study offers a fresh and engaging approach to colonial history. |
Contents
New Panorama A Startling Interogation sic handcoloured | 51 |
conducting business | 69 |
sex and marriage | 90 |
Transforming the Colonies | 121 |
Probable Effects of Over Female Emigration or Importing | 165 |
Towards Respectability | 180 |
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Common terms and phrases
abolitionist accusations action amongst Ann Rumsby asserted Australian behaviour bourgeois bourgeoisie Bowman breach of promise Breda Britain British Cape Colony Cape Dutch Cape Town character Chief Justice civilised claimed Cole colonial cities colonial society colonists committee conduct convict women court culture daughter defamation defend domestic Douglass economic Edward Eager elite emancipation emancipists emigration empire evidence female gossip Government House Governor Greef Hart Herald honour Ibid imperial bourgeoisie increasingly Jane John Wylde Jules Verreaux labour libel Lyons marriage married matter metropole middle-class Miss Wylde Molesworth moral mother onial paper penal political Porter public sphere reform relationship reputation respectability role rumours Salia Satirist scandal seduction servants sexual Sir John Wylde sitc Slave Office slavery social South Wales status story Sydney and Cape Town and Sydney transgression unfree labour Van Diemen's Land wider wife witnesses Wolff woman Wylde affair Wylde's Zuid-Afrikaan