Landscapes and People of the Mitta Valley 1830 – 1914: an Environmental History
This thesis is an environmental history of the Mitta Valley in north-east Victoria from pre-colonial times through to 1914. It covers the period when squatters, miners and settlers transformed the landscape that had been created by Aboriginal people. As a detailed study of a narrow mountain valley,...
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ftmonashunivfig:oai:figshare.com:article/4765342 2023-05-15T18:42:53+02:00 Landscapes and People of the Mitta Valley 1830 – 1914: an Environmental History Kathleen Raulings 2017-03-19T21:44:18Z https://doi.org/10.4225/03/58cefbb4b76bd https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Landscapes_and_People_of_the_Mitta_Valley_1830_1914_an_Environmental_History/4765342 unknown doi:10.4225/03/58cefbb4b76bd https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Landscapes_and_People_of_the_Mitta_Valley_1830_1914_an_Environmental_History/4765342 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 CC-BY-NC-ND Historical studies not elsewhere classified Colonial history Landscape change Environmental history North-east Victoria Land settlement History Text Thesis 2017 ftmonashunivfig https://doi.org/10.4225/03/58cefbb4b76bd 2022-06-06T15:45:32Z This thesis is an environmental history of the Mitta Valley in north-east Victoria from pre-colonial times through to 1914. It covers the period when squatters, miners and settlers transformed the landscape that had been created by Aboriginal people. As a detailed study of a narrow mountain valley, it challenges conventional narratives of colonial land settlement that have few references to landscape change across time. Drawing on social history, historical geography, archaeology, botany, art history, family history and fieldwork, as well as newspapers, land selection records and official documentary sources, this study employs a multi-disciplinary approach to provide an alternative methodology for local history. By combining and analysing these sources, the thesis uses changes in the landscape to uncover how different groups of settlers, many of whom were illiterate or left few documentary records, have responded to and shaped their surroundings. With a central focus on landscape, people and environment of the nineteenth century, this study of the Mitta Valley demonstrates how the incursion of Europeans with herds of livestock dispossessed the Aboriginal occupants and brought an end to Aboriginal land management practices. Economic and social imperatives of the squatters are shown to have further changed the landscape with new ideas about ownership of land. However there was not the devastating destruction of native vegetation reported in other studies, although ecological changes to fauna occurred, due to the propensity of nineteenth century settlers’ love of hunting and shooting. The discovery of gold in the 1850s resulted in less environmental destruction during early alluvial phases of mining than elsewhere. However, hydraulic sluicing and dredging, which continued into the twentieth century, left significant landscape scars. The extended period of gold mining brought permanent village settlement as well as tracks and roads that opened up the mountainous country. The thesis goes on to show that more ... Thesis Victoria Land Monash University: Figshare Victoria Land |
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Monash University: Figshare |
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ftmonashunivfig |
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topic |
Historical studies not elsewhere classified Colonial history Landscape change Environmental history North-east Victoria Land settlement History |
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Historical studies not elsewhere classified Colonial history Landscape change Environmental history North-east Victoria Land settlement History Kathleen Raulings Landscapes and People of the Mitta Valley 1830 – 1914: an Environmental History |
topic_facet |
Historical studies not elsewhere classified Colonial history Landscape change Environmental history North-east Victoria Land settlement History |
description |
This thesis is an environmental history of the Mitta Valley in north-east Victoria from pre-colonial times through to 1914. It covers the period when squatters, miners and settlers transformed the landscape that had been created by Aboriginal people. As a detailed study of a narrow mountain valley, it challenges conventional narratives of colonial land settlement that have few references to landscape change across time. Drawing on social history, historical geography, archaeology, botany, art history, family history and fieldwork, as well as newspapers, land selection records and official documentary sources, this study employs a multi-disciplinary approach to provide an alternative methodology for local history. By combining and analysing these sources, the thesis uses changes in the landscape to uncover how different groups of settlers, many of whom were illiterate or left few documentary records, have responded to and shaped their surroundings. With a central focus on landscape, people and environment of the nineteenth century, this study of the Mitta Valley demonstrates how the incursion of Europeans with herds of livestock dispossessed the Aboriginal occupants and brought an end to Aboriginal land management practices. Economic and social imperatives of the squatters are shown to have further changed the landscape with new ideas about ownership of land. However there was not the devastating destruction of native vegetation reported in other studies, although ecological changes to fauna occurred, due to the propensity of nineteenth century settlers’ love of hunting and shooting. The discovery of gold in the 1850s resulted in less environmental destruction during early alluvial phases of mining than elsewhere. However, hydraulic sluicing and dredging, which continued into the twentieth century, left significant landscape scars. The extended period of gold mining brought permanent village settlement as well as tracks and roads that opened up the mountainous country. The thesis goes on to show that more ... |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Kathleen Raulings |
author_facet |
Kathleen Raulings |
author_sort |
Kathleen Raulings |
title |
Landscapes and People of the Mitta Valley 1830 – 1914: an Environmental History |
title_short |
Landscapes and People of the Mitta Valley 1830 – 1914: an Environmental History |
title_full |
Landscapes and People of the Mitta Valley 1830 – 1914: an Environmental History |
title_fullStr |
Landscapes and People of the Mitta Valley 1830 – 1914: an Environmental History |
title_full_unstemmed |
Landscapes and People of the Mitta Valley 1830 – 1914: an Environmental History |
title_sort |
landscapes and people of the mitta valley 1830 – 1914: an environmental history |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.4225/03/58cefbb4b76bd https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Landscapes_and_People_of_the_Mitta_Valley_1830_1914_an_Environmental_History/4765342 |
geographic |
Victoria Land |
geographic_facet |
Victoria Land |
genre |
Victoria Land |
genre_facet |
Victoria Land |
op_relation |
doi:10.4225/03/58cefbb4b76bd https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Landscapes_and_People_of_the_Mitta_Valley_1830_1914_an_Environmental_History/4765342 |
op_rights |
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC-ND |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.4225/03/58cefbb4b76bd |
_version_ |
1766232645957582848 |