Cirrus@Austlit

19th-Century Australian Travel Writing

Rev. James Ballantyne (1818-1896) wrote this illustrated handbook featuring Victoria as a site of emigration. Homes and Homesteads in the Land of Plenty provides a positive and enthusiastic account of the colony. Describing England as miserable and overcrowded, Ballantyne argues that there is room for all who choose to emigrate to the broad plains of Victoria. Ballantyne describes the types of people who should consider emigration, the voyage to Australia, the different agricultural industries in Victoria, advice regarding schooling, health and politics. It also includes sections on work opportunities and concludes with an appendix of official statistics of the colony. The first edition having received considerable praise, this work was reprinted again in 1871. Ballantyne later wrote Our Colony in 1880: Pictorial & Descriptive (1880).