Constructing Subaltern Silence in the Colonial Archive: An Australian Case Study

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dc.contributor.authorSpeedy, K.E.
dc.date.issued2016
dc.description.abstractOn 8 June 1857, the barque Sutton, chartered by Franco-Australian Sydney trader Didier Numa Joubert and Reunionese merchant, 'Monsieur Chateau', and captained by Joseph Wilson, sailed from Sydney harbour. Her mission was to proceed to the Pacific Islands to take on board up to 370 'male and female immigrants'. These were to be sold to sugar planters in Reunion who, post-abolition and in the midst of a sugar boom, were desperate for workers. When the Sutton dropped anchor in St. Denis nearly five months later, however, her South Sea Island 'cargo', the first known group of workers from Micronesia and Melanesia to be introduced into Reunion, comprised only 66 male 'recruits'. These 'natives' were 'carefully examined and interrogated by the - Immigration and Medical Board' before being 'hired for 5 years'. Captain Wilson pocketed 40 per worker. But any plans for a second shipment were scuttled by the two disgruntled white men that Wilson had picked up in the Gilberts (Kiribati). For quite self-serving reasons, they alerted Mauritian authorities to certain irregularities on board. An enquiry was launched by the Mauritian Governor, William Stevenson, for whom this incident had the hallmarks of illegal French slave trading.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityKarin Speedy
dc.identifier.citationJournal of Australian Colonial History, 2016; 18:95-114
dc.identifier.issn1441-0370
dc.identifier.orcidSpeedy, K.E. [0000-0002-7108-7452]
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/135343
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherUniversity of New England
dc.rights© University of New England, 2016
dc.source.urihttps://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.342658785663895
dc.titleConstructing Subaltern Silence in the Colonial Archive: An Australian Case Study
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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