Australian History List

Here are some details from Australian History which I find either scandalous or amusing...

1. One of the suggested names for Canberra was 'Aryan Town'
2. Gov. Grose would not let the soldiers marry their mistresses because they were ex-convicts and so, beneath the soldiers' station.
3. In World War 2, Britain tried to defend Singapore with two aging battleships. Not too surprisingly they were unsuccesful and Australia had to find a new alliance (with a country slightly more interested in the Pacific).
4. Protestants were involved in the subscription for the first Catholic chapel in the colony.
5. Lang was the only person who thought the Aboriginal people should be converted and not first civilised in the 19th Century. Of course, no one listened.
6. A baptist preacher was sued by the Herald in Sydney for asserting that Aboriginal people were human beings.
7. For a period of time, the economy of the colony was rum. That paper money ain't good for anything! We're not a country of alcoholics. Not us.
8. The highest percentage increase in any place or at any time for Methodism was in the late 1800's on the Victorian goldfields.
9. Lutheran churches were burnt down during WWI, pastors imprisoned and general persecutions against Lutherans took place. Most were generations-old Australians, but because their church services were conducted in German this was considered a betrayal of England. Many German names were changed to their English equivalents during this time.
10. The most awful problems caused to the Aboriginal people were as a result of Social Darwinism adopted by the government (and many missions) in the mid 1800's.

There you go. There's nothing like a few random facts to brighten one's day. I hope yours is glowing.