First published, Melbourne: Thomas Nelson, 1973.

‘Life in the country’ the sequel to the award-winning ‘Who’s master? Who’s man?’, is the second volume in Michael Cannon’s projected trilogy surveying major themes of the Victorian Age in Australia. ‘Who’s master? Who’s man?’ presented an unforgettable picture of life in the seaports, among convicts, immigrants, merchants, gold-seekers and coloured labourers. This new volume concentrates on the pastoral experience and the nature of the Australian rural dream, describing how squatters, aborigines, selectors, shearers and town dwellers battled for possession of the land’s riches.

With vivid, harrowing detail, the author demolishes the myth of a ‘Golden Age’ of rural life in Australia. He shows how each group of settlers was compelled to fight both an obstinate environment and fellow man for survival, causing social and ecological ravages whose effects survive even today.

This complex battle also had its heroes and victories – above all the achievement of converting a non-productive land into one of the world’s great suppliers of essential food and materials. It is the first book to combine a comprehensive coverage of this economic process with such a vivid description of the emotions and ambitions, the sweat and the toil, of the human participants who carried it out. Motives and deeds are laid bare, and the settlers’ achievement seems all the greater for it.

Contents:
Introduction p7.
The land takers p9.
How the early squatters lived p19.
How the station hands lived p39.
Eliminating the native inhabitants p57.
Itinerant workers p84.
The cattleman’s life p108.
Who should own the land? p126.
How the selectors lived p146.
Rise and fall of the wool kings p177.
Transport and communications p196.
Changes in the environment p214.
Development of country towns p237.
Recreations and amusements p257.
The crisis of the 1890s [depression] p267.
Conclusion p293.
Abbreviations p294.
Conversion tables p294.
Notes p295.
Bibliography p305.
Sources of illustrations p310.
Index p312.

NAME INDEX

Mrs Frances Abbott. John Abbott. William Edward Abbott. Thomas Agar. W.J.B. Alard. Andrew Alcorn. A.C. Allan. George Anderson. Hugh Anderson. Samuel Anderson. William Anderson. George Angas. Henry Angel. Archer family. John Armstrong. Armytage family. C.H. Armytage. Frank Armytage. Frederick William Armytage. George Armytage. Mrs Mary Armytage (nee Staughton). Trevor Armytage. Thomas Arnold. William Arnold. Sir George Arthur. Thomas Asche. Austin family. Albert Austin. Mrs Catherine Austin (nee Mack). Mrs Elizabeth Austin. James Austin. Thomas Austin. Frederick Ayres.

James Backhouse. Henry Badgery. J.D. Bailey. James Dennistoun and Thomas Bailey. Thomas Baker. Dr Joseph Bancroft. Robert Barbour. R.T. Barker. Robert Darvall Barton. John Batman. Mrs A.M. Baxter. Charles Bean. Randolph Bedford. Bertie Belcher. Edward Bell. R.W. Bennett. Sir Graham Berry. Mrs Caroline Bettington (nee Hallen). James Brindley Bettington. Andrew Beveridge. Peter Beveridge. George Black. Mrs Grace Black (nee Leadbetter). Neil [Niel] Black. Hugh Blackwell. Geoffrey Blainey. James Blair. Gregory Blaxland. Oswald Bloxsome. Samuel Bolden. Rolf Boldrewood. Thomas Bonner. John Conway Bourke. Sir Richard Bourke. Sir George Bowen. Alexander Boyd. Benjamin Boyd. L.G. Braden. Frances Breillat. Jerry Brice. James Briggs. Broadhurst family. Mrs Eliza Brodribb. William Brodribb. Sir Frederick Broome. John Brougham. Maitland Brown. Nugent W. Brown. C. Wade Browne. Thomas Alexander Browne. James Brumby. James Brunker. J.A. Buchanan. Nathaniel Buchanan. William Buchanan. Dr Frank Buckland. Thomas Buckland. Frederick Bundock. Mrs Mary Bundock. Buntine family. James Stewart Butters. J.C. Byrne.

Francis Cadell. Ada Cambridge. Alexander Cameron. Colin Campbell. George Campbell. John Campbell. Robert Campbell. William Campbell. W.S. Campbell. Dr W.B. Carlyle. George Carter. James Joseph Casey. Richard Gardiner Casey. James Cavenagh. Chaffey brothers. J. Chandler. Nicholas Chevalier. Chirnside family. Andrew Chirnside. Thomas Chirnside. Caroline Chisholm. Robert Christison. George Clark. Clarke family. Andrew Clarke. Lady Janet Clarke (nee Snodgrass). Lewis Clarke. Sir William Clarke. W.J.T. Clarke. Louisa Clifton. T.A. Coghlan. Mrs Arbella Cooke (nee Winter). Cecil Cooke. John Cotton. Thomas Coutts. George Henry Cox. Mrs Henrietta Cox. Henry Cox. John Cox. Edward Crooke. John Cross. Crossley family. Dr Daniel Curdie. Edward Curr. Currie family. J.L. Currie.

George Dalrymple. Henry Dangar. William Dangar. Sir Charles Darling. Sir Ralph Darling. James Davis. W.W. Davis. James Dawson. Paul De Castella. Gustaf De Laval. James Demarr. Daniel Deniehy. Alexander Dennis. Charles John Dennys. Mrs Martha Dennys (nee Lascelles). Oscar De Satge. Alfred Dickens. Charles Dickens. Mrs Constance Dickens (nee Desailly). Edward Dickens. Judge Ernest Brougham Docker. Joseph Docker. Lester Stuart Donaldson. John Dornan. Elizabeth Dowling. Thomas Dowling. Vincent James Dowling. Anne Drysdale. George Dunderdale. John Dunn. Durack family.

G.B. Earp. Charles Ebden. Captain John Eddington. Rev. Christopher Eipper. David Elder. Sir Thomas Elder. William Emmett. George Evans. George Everett. John Everett. A.J. Ewart. George Fairbairn. Mrs Jessie Fairbairn (nee Prell). Mrs Virginia Fairbairn (nee Armytage). George Faithfull. William Faithfull. Falkiner family. John Falkiner. James Farnell. William Farrer. Antoine Fauchery. John Pascoe Fawkner. James Fenton. William Ferguson. Cuthbert Fetherstonhaugh. C.B. Fisher. Archibald Fisken. Mrs J. Foott. William Forlonge. Alexander Forrest. John Forrest. George Forsyth. William Fothergill. H.M. Franklyn. Charles Franks. Fraser family. Sir Simon Fraser. Acheson French. Colonel G.A. French. Mary Fullerton. Captain Foster Fyans.

Frank Gardiner. Joseph Gellibrand. Matthew Gibson. S.T. Gill. F.J. Gillen. Sir George Gipps. Hugh Glass. Lord Frederick John Goderich. Gordon family. Adam Lindsay Gordon. Nat Gould. George Goyder. J.M. Grant. ‘Flash’ Green. Sir Augustus Gregory. Rev. J.B. Gribble. Sir Samuel Griffith. Michael Guilfoyle. William Robert Guilfoyle. Donald Gunn. Thomas Guthrie.

T.S. Hall. William Halliday. A.G. Hamilton. Frank Hamilton. George Hamilton. James Hamilton. Thomas Hamilton. Mr Justice George Rogers Harding. Arthur Hardy. Alexander Harris. Hugh Harris. James Harrison. D.W.F. Hatten. John Hawdon. Sir James Hawthorn. A.L. Haydon. Henry Haygarth. Mrs Charlton Hedditch. Rachel Henning. Ernest Henry. George Henry. Henty family. Edward Henty. Francis Henty. Henry Henty. James Henty. Mrs Jane Henty. Mrs Mary Henty. Stephen Henty. Captain John Hepburn. Sir Robert Herbert. Rosamond and Florence Hill. Frank Hives. Sir Arthur Hodgson. C.P. Hodgson. Anthony Hordern. William Hovell. Alfred Howitt. Richard Howitt. William Morris Hughes.

J. Inglis. Edward Irby.

J.S. James. Hugh Jamieson. Thomas Jamieson. John Jenkins. William Joachim. Andrew Johnston. C.E. Jones. Richard Jones. Patrick Joy. Alfred Joyce. George Joyce.

Thomas Keating. G.W. Keith. Margaret Kiddle. Sidney Kidman. Robert Kiell. Whitely King. James Kirby. Ambrose Kyte.

Walter Laidlaw. Alfred Lamb. A. Landale. William Landsborough. William Lane. Rev. J.D. Lang. E.H. Lascelles. Charles Joseph La Trobe. Henry Lawson. William Lawson. Learmonth family. Henry Leonard. Mrs Catherine Leslie (nee Macarthur). Patrick Leslie. William Lewis. A.A. Leycester. C.W. Ligar. Charles Lilley. John C. Lloyd. J.S. Loughead. Robert Lowe. Andrew Lyall. John Lysaght.

Roland Macalister. Hannibal Hawkins Macarthur. James Macarthur. John Macarthur. Sir William Macarthur. Locky McBean. Sir Samuel Mcaughey. Duncan McCaully. McCulloch family. Charles MacDonald. Mary McEvoy. Samuel Walker McGowan. Duncan McGregor. Sir Thomas McIlwraith. Duncan Macintyre. Duncan K. McIntyre. Jean and Alan McIntyre. Mrs Mary McIntyre (nee Macintyre). Peter Macintyre. Mrs Anna Mack (nee Austin). J.G. Mack. George Mackay. Hugh Victor McKay. McKensie family. Rev. D. Mackenzie. Sir Evan Mackenzie. Sir Robert Mackenzie. George McKillop. Colin Mackinnon. Captain Dugald McLachlan. Duncan McLachlan. James McLaurin. Terence McMahon. Mrs Mary McManus (nee Spencer). John McMaster. Angus McMillan. Godfrey McMillan. John McMullen. McPherson family (Vic.). John and Ewan Macpherson (Qld.). Mrs Anne Macqueen (nee Astley). Thomas Macqueen. Thomas Major. Manifold family. Mrs Jane Manifold (nee Synnet). Peter Manifold. Thomas Manifold. Sir William Manning. William Marsh. James Martin. William Masson. Major W.D. Mercer. Mrs Louisa Meredith. Rev. John Merewether. Henry Meyrick. Sarah Midgley. Sir William Mitchell. Moffatt family. Alexander Fullerton Mollison. William Mollison. Mrs Georgiana Molloy. Captain John Molloy. H.B. Moore. Bishop James Moorhouse. Dan Morgan. Rev. John Morison. Robert Morrice. Charles A.M. Morris. Thomas Sutcliffe Mort. E. Mullens. G.C. Mundy. Ned Murphy. Hugh Murray. Mrs Jane Murray. Robert Murray.

Henry Nesfield. Caroline Newcomb. Major Newman. Germaine Nicholson. Joseph Nicholson. Nicoll family. Eugene Nicolle.

Henry O’Brien. Charles Officer. C. and S. Officer. Mrs Christina Officer. John O’Shanassy.

Adam Park. Richard Paterson. Alexander Peacock. Harry Peck. Peppin brothers. J. Phillips. Captain G.R.S. Pickhills. Pickles and Sons. Douglas Pike. John Plunkett. Mrs Campbell Praed. C.E. Prell. William Price.

A.R. Radcliffe Brown. William Richard Randell. Arthur Rane. R.A. Ranking. William Raymond. George Reid. Norman Richardson. Henry Ricketson. John Riddoch. John Ridley. James Ritchie. Robertson family (Vic.). George Robertson (Vic.). John Robertson (NSW). John G. Robertson (Vic.). Mrs Mary Robertson (Vic.). Robert Ronald. Philip Rose. ‘Steele Rudd’. John Rule. G.W. Rusden. Russel family. Russell family. Alexander Russell. Mre Euphemia Russell (nee Carstairs). George Russell. H.S. Russell. Philip Russell. James Rutherford.

Major F.B. St John. James Saunders. Bridget Scanlan. Andrew Scott. P.H. Selheim. Mary Turner Shaw. Thomas Shaw. John Sidney. C.W. Sievewright. John Simson. Robert Simson. Archdeacon Slattery. James Smith. Robert Bowyer Smith. Mrs Charlotte Snodgrass (nee Cotton). Peter Snodgrass. E.S. Sorensen. Thomas Southwell. William Guthrie Spence. Spencer family. David Spencer. Staughton family. Ward Stephens. Sir James Stirling. William Stockall. Henry Strangways. John Sullivan.

Daniel Tallerman. Frederick Taylor. George Taylor. James Taylor. John Taylor. William Taylor. David Temple. Mrs Janet Templeton. William Thomas. John Thompson. Charles Tindal. Horace Tozer. Anthony Trollope. Richard Twopeny. James Tyson.

Dr Ferdinand Von Mueller. Robert Von Stieglitz.

Frederick Walker. Ware family. Joseph Ware. Richard Capper Webb. Sidney and Beatrice Webb. John Whitton. Whyte family. Mrs Jane Williams. Wills family. William Willshire. Wilson family (Vic.). Alexander Wilson (NSW). Edward Wilson. Mrs Jane Wilson. Mrs Jeannie Wilson (nee Campbell). Rev. N. Wilson. Sir Samuel Wilson. William Wilson. Samuel Pratt Winter. Winter Cooke family. Solomon Wiseman. Frederick Wolseley. John Wood. James Woods. Wyndham family. Hugh Wyndham.