Content deleted Content added
Mitch Ames (talk | contribs) copy-edit for style |
Mitch Ames (talk | contribs) |
||
| (22 intermediate revisions by 14 users not shown) | |||
Line 3:
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2011}}
[[Image:INNES AC.jpg|thumb|[[Archibald Clunes Innes]], a prominent squatter in the [[
==Evolution of meaning==
Line 16:
| caption2 = Colonial artist [[S. T. Gill]] supports [[Aboriginal land rights in Australia|Aboriginal land rights]] and condemns the Squattocracy in ''Squatter of N. S. Wales: Monarch of all he Surveys, 1788'' (above) and ''Squatter of N. S. Wales: Monarch of more than all he Surveys, 1863'' (below).
}}
The term ''[[squatter]]'' derives from its English usage as a term of contempt for a person who had taken up residence at a place without having legal claim. The use of ''squatter'' in the early years of British settlement of [[Australian history|Australia]] had a similar connotation, referring primarily to a person who had "squatted" on Aboriginal land for pastoral or other purposes.{{cn|date=September 2023}} In its early derogatory context the term was often applied to the illegitimate occupation of land by [[ticket-of-leave]] convicts or ex-convicts ([[emancipist]]s).
From the mid-1820s, however, the occupation of "unoccupied" land without legal title became more widespread, often carried out by those from the upper echelons of colonial society. As wool began to be exported to England and the colonial population increased, the occupation of pastoral land for raising cattle and sheep progressively became a more lucrative enterprise. Squatting had become so widespread by the mid-1830s that Government policy in [[New South Wales]] towards the practice shifted from opposition to regulation and control. By that stage, the term ''squatter'' was applied to those who occupied land under a lease or license from the Crown, without the negative connotation of earlier times.
The term soon developed a class association, suggesting an elevated socio-economic status and entrepreneurial attitude. By 1840 squatters were recognized as being amongst the wealthiest men in the colony of New South Wales, many of them from upper and middle-class English and Scottish families. As "unoccupied" land with [[frontage]] to permanent water became more scarce, the acquisition of runs increasingly required larger capital outlays. A "run" is defined in [[Christopher Pemberton Hodgson]]'s 1846 ''Reminiscences of Australia, with Hints on the Squatter's Life'' as: "land claimed by the Squatter as sheepwalks, open, as nature left them, without any improvement from the Squatter."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hodgson|first1=Christopher Pemberton|title=Reminiscences of Australia with Hints on the Squatter's Life|year=1846|publisher=W.N. Wright|location=Pall Mall|page=[https://archive.org/details/reminiscencesau00hodggoog/page/n33 13]|url=https://archive.org/details/reminiscencesau00hodggoog|access-date=9 February 2018}}</ref>
Eventually the term ''squatter'' came to refer to a person of high social prestige who grazes livestock on a large scale (whether the station was held by [[Leasehold estate|leasehold]] or [[Freehold (law)|freehold]] title). In Australia the term is still used to describe large landowners, especially in rural areas with a history of pastoral occupation. The term ''squattocracy'', a play on
==Background and history==
Line 38:
From 1836 legislation was passed to legalise squatting with [[grazing rights]] available for ten pounds per year. This fee was for a lease of the land, rather than ownership, which is what the squatters wanted. The 1847 [[Orders in Council]] divided land into settled, intermediate and unsettled areas, with pastoral leases of one, eight and 14 years for each category respectively. From here on, squatters were able to purchase parts of their land, as opposed to just leasing it.
It is known that many squatters fought battles with advanced European weapons against the local [[Indigenous Australians|Indigenous Australian]] communities in the areas they occupied,<ref name="Mount Abundance">See for example [[Allan Macpherson]]'s account of his squatting at [[Mount Abundance Homestead|Mount Abundance]] in {{cite book |title=Mount Abundance: or The Experiences of a Pioneer Squatter in Australia |url=https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900601h.html |location=London |year=1879 |via=Project Gutenberg Australia |access-date=23 February 2021 |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208170824/http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900601h.html |url-status=live }}</ref> though such battles were rarely investigated. These battles/massacres are the subject of the [[Australian history wars|history wars]], being the term for an ongoing public discussion on Australia's interpretation of its history. Squatters were only occasionally prosecuted for killing indigenous people. The first conviction of white men for the massacre of Indigenous people followed the [[Myall Creek massacre]] in 1838, in which Aboriginal subject status was employed by colonial courts for the rare co-incidence of local, colonial and [[British Empire|imperial]] authorities.
Whilst life was initially tough for the squatters, with their huge landholdings many of them became very wealthy and were often described as the "squattocracy". The descendants of these squatters often still own significant tracts of land in rural Australia, though most of the larger holdings have been broken up, or, in more isolated areas, have been sold to corporate interests.
Line 53:
==== Queensland ====
The process of land selection in [[Queensland]] began in 1860 and continued under a series of land acts in subsequent years.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Kerr|first=Ruth|date=3 April 2018|title=Part 1: A Brief History of land selection – Stories from the Archives|url=https://blogs.archives.qld.gov.au/2018/04/03/part-1-a-brief-history-of-land-selection/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511082809/https://blogs.archives.qld.gov.au/2018/04/03/part-1-a-brief-history-of-land-selection/|archive-date=2020-05-11|access-date=2020-05-11|website=|publisher=[[Queensland State Archives]]}}</ref> [[Separation of Queensland|Separated from New South Wales]] in 1859, land was considered the new Queensland colony’s greatest asset and its prosperity as a colony was measured according to the extent of land settlement. Rent from land leases was the colony’s largest revenue earner. The initial political contest was between the squatters who controlled large tracts of land and the new immigrants who wanted small land holdings. The resumption of squatters' land for division into smaller farms (known as closer settlement) was promoted by the [[Queensland Government]] to attract immigrants to Queensland. Although Queensland legislation was framed with the aim of a comprehensive land policy, lobbying by both groups led to numerous rule changes about the conditions of
====New South Wales====
[[File:Squatting districts, New South Wales, Australia, 1844.jpg|thumb|
The squatters' grip on agricultural land in the colony of New South Wales was challenged in the 1860s with the passing of [[Robertson Land Acts|Land Acts]] that allowed those with limited means to acquire land. With the stated intention of encouraging closer settlement and fairer allocation of land by allowing "free selection before survey", the Land Acts legislation was passed in 1861. The relevant acts were named the ''Crown Lands Alienation Act'' and ''Crown Lands Occupation Act''. The application of the legislation was delayed until 1866 in inland areas such as the Riverina where existing squatting leases were still to run their course. In any case severe drought in the Riverina in the late 1860s initially discouraged selection in areas except those close to established townships. Selection activity increased with more favourable seasons in the early 1870s.
Line 64:
====South Australia====
Prior to 1851, squatters paid a licence fee of £10 per year (regardless of area), with no surety of tenure from one year to the next. After 1851, leases could be acquired for 14 years, with annual rent.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.slsa.ha.sa.gov.au/manning/sa/misc/squatter.htm#squatters |title=South Australia - Miscellany: Squatters and Pastorists |work=The Manning Index of South Australian History |via=[[State Library of South Australia]] |access-date=5 August 2019 |archive-date=7 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407014138/http://www.slsa.ha.sa.gov.au/manning/sa/misc/squatter.htm#squatters |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Strangways Land Act]] in 1869 provided for replacing large pastoral runs with closer-settled more [[intensive farming]].
==Political and social legacy==
Line 74:
Prominent Australian families from the squattocracy include:
*The Dangar family, who by 1850 held 300,000 acres of grazing properties and town allotments, with the family business involving Henry Dangar and his brothers. As well as land holdings in the Hunter Valley, properties in Newcastle and business partnerships, the Dangar family became involved in manufacturing and shipping.<ref>Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1,1966.</ref>
*The Kidman family, who held 107,000 square miles worth of land in central Australia,<ref name="auto">""Cattle King" dead.". The Northern Miner. Charters Towers, Queensland: National Library of Australia. 3 September 1935. p. 2. Retrieved 2 May 2013.</ref> founded by [[Sidney Kidman]]. Living relatives include [[Nicole Kidman]]. The family sold the business [[S. Kidman & Co]], reduced to 38,610 square miles in 2016, for $386m to mining magnate Gina Reinhardt and Chinese interests.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hyland |first=Anna |title=The bitter family feud behind the sale of S. Kidman & Co's cattle empire |url=https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/the-bitter-family-feud-behind-the-sale-of-s-kidman--cos-cattle-empire-20170321-gv2p3x |access-date=25 July 2023 |website=Australian Financial Review |date=27 April 2017 |archive-date=25 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725002938/https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/the-bitter-family-feud-behind-the-sale-of-s-kidman--cos-cattle-empire-20170321-gv2p3x |url-status=live }}</ref>
*The Ellis family of South Australia.<ref>The Benara Estate". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 23 October 1874. p. 4. Retrieved 31 July 2012.</ref>
*The Forrest family of Western Australia, who have produced a number of conservative politicians for the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal Party]]; [[Alexander Forrest]], [[David Forrest (Australian politician)|David Forrest]], [[John Forrest]] (Western Australia's first premier) and [[Mervyn Forrest]].
*The Gilbert family of South Australia.<ref>{{cite news|date=30 March 1923|title=A PIONEER PASTORALIST.|page=12|newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]]|location=South Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37302827|via=National Library of Australia|accessdate=3 August 2021|archive-date=16 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216134643/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/37302827|url-status=live}}</ref>
*The Baillieu family of Victoria, who were awarded the title of [[William Baillieu|Baron's Baillieu]] in recognition for the contributions to Australian society made by the politician and financier [[Clive Baillieu, 1st Baron Baillieu|Sir Clive Baillieu]], son of [[William Baillieu]], after whom the Baillieu library at [[Melbourne University]] is named.
Line 105 ⟶ 106:
[[Category:History of agriculture in Australia]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Economic history of Australia]]▼
[[Category:Social history of Australia]]
[[Category:Crown land in Australia]]
[[Category:Squatting in Australia]]
[[Category:Livestock in Australia]]
[[Category:Aboriginal land rights in Australia]]
| |||