Professor John Croucher gives an account of the first and continuing history of the first peoples to live in the region now known as New South Wales, as well as its history from the days of British settlement and its more recent history, of the waves of other immigrants who have made New South Wales their home. Each section in the book focuses on a different cultural or historical aspect which is examined thoroughly from the beginnings of British settlement. The complete development of the state is told, weaving through these various areas of focus, along with the important people and events. Remarkable pioneers have helped shape not only the state but the country as a whole and their voices, some coming to us via oral history, others via historical documents, make fascinating reading.

In this 10th volume of the economic history of colonial NSW, the matter of population growth is reviewed, with population gains coming from favorable economic drivers and economic cycles, exploration, immigration, natural increase and British investment. The historical approach to Statistical Data gathering, its origins and reliability, is outlined as are the statistics used and their interpretation. The early musters (of convicts) is discussed together with commentary on the supporting datas derived from the numbers of convicts 'on the store'. With the Aboriginal economy outperforming the white colony from 1788 to the early 1820s, the operation of the Aboriginal economy is also discussed and the circumstances of its depopulation. Adding to the population history is a statement that traditional reporting of the history is: *Britain settled the continent for ;'strategic' advantages and to find a source of raw materials for its industries, as well as being an outlet for its trading and a takeover of local resources under its expanding economic system. *Economic development took place in their new colony, beneficial mainly to British interests including, industry, trade, insurance and investment. As important as trade and investment became to the new colony, the main aspect of the population history is the transfer of human capital in the form of over 160,000 convicted persons under a transportation program from the United Kingdom.

Places the constitutional framework of the State in its historical and political context and provides for the first time a detailed analysis of all the provisions of the Constitution Act 1902 (NSW) including their legislative history and examples of their use.

Published in 1862, Flanagan's chronicle demonstrates the author's enthusiastic, but politically impartial, approach to Australian history. Volume 2 addresses the campaign for the discontinuation of criminal transportation and the origins of the Elected Council, and concludes with substantial appendices pertaining to the economic, geographic and agricultural status of the colony.

In 1794 and 1799 Superintendent of Convicts Nicholas Devine was granted 210 acres on the edge of the current CBD of Sydney. After the demise of Governor Bligh (to whom he was closely allied) Devine reluctantly retired to his estate where, as an old man living alone, he was constantly beaten and robbed. An Irish convict named Bernard Rochford befriended the old man in 1825 and upon his death in 1830 forged a Will and seized control of the estate and proceeded to subdivide it and sell it off. Many of the purchasers (and others, including the Governor) knew Rochford was in no position to sell the land as even if the will he had was authentic, he was a nonetheless a convict and therefore was prohibited from holding property, let alone profit from its sale. Rochford sold much of the land in exchange for grog and was continually in court over a variety of issues. As devious as Rochford was, he proved no match for his wife whose deceit landed him in jail where he died in 1839. The 30 new landowners included judges, mayors, magistrates, aldermen, newspaper editors, solicitors and other Sydney luminaries. They believed that with Rochford’s death all suspicions regarding their ownership of the land would also die but that was not to be. In 1848 Nicholas Devine’s heir John Devine arrived to lay claim to the entire estate.