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Land, Labour And Gold (HB, 1972)

Title: Land, Labour And Gold

Sub Title: Or, Two years in Victoria with visits to Sydney and Van Diemen's Land

Genre: Australiana, History

ISBN: 0424064308

Format: Hardback

Author: William Howitt

Publisher: Sydney University Press

Publication Date: 1972

Edition: Facsimile Edition

Language: English

Number of Pages / Size (cm): 397, 20 x 12.3 x 4

Weight (gm): 1,066

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Book Condition / Grade: Like New

Dust-jacket Condition / Grade: Like New

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Synopsis: In 1852 William Howitt (1792-1879) set sail for Australia with two of his sons in order to try his luck in the goldfields of Victoria. By then he was already a prolifically published author of both prose and verse. He was only moderately successful as a gold-digger, but his account of life in the new colony, published in 1855 after his return to England, provides an extraordinary snapshot of the rapid early growth of Melbourne.

This book covers Howitt's first impressions of Australia, his experiences on the journey to the diggings at Bendigo, the throngs of prospectors, the exorbitant prices charged by profiteering merchants, and the miners' protest over high government licence fees. He describes the hard life endured by the diggers and warns against women coming to the colony.