Section E 



COLONIAL HISTORICAL RESEARCH 



ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT: 



Professor G. C. HENDERSON, M.A. 



Professor of History in the University of Adelaide. 



In the arrangement of subjects for discussion in this Association 

 it has been decided to combine Geography and History in one 

 Section. In view of this, the subject which naturally suggested 

 itself to my mind was " the influence of geography upon history," 

 with special reference, perhaps, to the history of Australia and 

 New Zealand. On reflection, however, I decided to invite your 

 attention to the consideration of a subject that seemed to me of 

 more pressing interest just now, not only to historical students, 

 but also to those of the general public who are interested in the 

 history of their country. 



It is over 120 years since the first British settlement was founded 

 in Australia. More than half a century ago representative and 

 responsible government was granted to the colonies, and a little 

 more than a decade has passed since the political union of the 

 States was attained by the institution of a Federal system of 

 Government. The making of Australia is now a legitimate subject 

 of historical investigation, and it is the object of this paper to 

 indicate why and how that should be undertaken in a systematic 

 and scientific way. 



I use the words systematic and scientific deliberately. There 

 is a species of history written with bias, which really belongs to the 

 literature of politics, religion, or polemics. The only comprehensive 

 history of Australia that is based upon a perusal of original and 

 reliable material is vitiated from beginning to end by the author's 

 determination to prove that the aborigines were victimised by 

 rapacious politicians and squatters. The student of history will 

 find reference in that work to documents that may be of great 

 service in the compilation of an authentic record ; but let me say at 

 once, to avoid any misunderstanding, that in my opinion Rusden's 

 book is not history ; he has prepared a brief extending over 2,090 

 pages. I do not argue that the historian, or any other writer, can 

 entirely conceal his own personality. Directly or indirectly there 



