432:
the applications for selections under the Act, especially in areas of low rainfall such as the
Riverina and the lower Darling River. The greater number of selections were made by squatters or their agents, or by selectors unable to establish themselves or who sought to gain by re-sale. The Crown Lands Act of 1884, introduced in the wake of the Morris-Ranken inquiry, sought to compromise between the integrity of the large pastoral leaseholds and the political requirements of equality of land availability and closer settlement patterns. The Act divided pastoral runs into Leasehold Areas (held under short-term leases) and Resumed Areas (available for settlement as smaller homestead leases) and allowed for the establishment of local Land Boards.
523:
404:
286:, were defined from 1826; beyond these limits land could not be squatted on or subdivided and sold. This was because of the expense of providing government services (police ...etc.) and difficulty supervising convicts over a wide tract of land. However the nature of the sheep industry which required access to vast grassy plains meant that despite the limitations, squatters often occupied land far beyond the colony's official limits. From 1833 Commissioners of Crown Lands were appointed under the
754:
263:
689:
108:
97:
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424:. The application of the legislation was delayed until 1866 in inland areas such as the Riverina where existing squatting leases were still to run their course. In any case severe drought in the Riverina in the late 1860s initially discouraged selection in areas except those close to established townships. Selection activity increased with more favourable seasons in the early 1870s.
40:
238:(one shilling per 50 acres (200,000 m) to be paid after five years) and a requirement for the grantee to reside on and cultivate the land. In line with the British government's policy of concentrated land settlement for the colony, governors of New South Wales tended to be prudent in making land grants. By the end of
394:
to attract immigrants to
Queensland. Although Queensland legislation was framed with the aim of a comprehensive land policy, lobbying by both groups led to numerous rule changes about the conditions of occupancy of the land and who had priority. Consequently there were over 50 principal and amending
389:
in 1859, land was considered the new
Queensland colony’s greatest asset and its prosperity as a colony was measured according to the extent of land settlement. Rent from land leases was the colony’s largest revenue earner. The initial political contest was between the squatters who controlled large
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The impetus for squatting activities during this early phase was an expanding market for meat as the population of Sydney increased. The first steps in establishing wool production in New South Wales also created an increased demand for land. Squatting activity was often carried out by emancipist
431:
However discontent was rife and a political shift in the early 1880s saw the setting up of a commission to inquire into the effects of the land legislation. The Morris and Ranken committee of inquiry, which reported in 1883, found that the number of homesteads established was a small percentage of
427:
Both selectors and squatters used the broad framework of the Land Acts to maximise their advantages in the ensuing scramble for land. There was a general manipulation of the system by squatters, selectors and profiteers alike. The legislation secured access to the squatter's land for the selector,
324:
Whilst life was initially tough for the squatters, with their huge landholdings many of them became very wealthy and were often described as the "squattocracy". The descendants of these squatters often still own significant tracts of land in rural
Australia, though most of the larger holdings have
249:
term, however, land grants were more readily made. In addition regulations introduced during
Brisbane's term enabled settlers to purchase (with his permission) up to 4,000 acres (16 km) at 5s an acre (with superior quality land priced at 7s 6d). During Governor Brisbane's four years in office
174:
The term soon developed a class association, suggesting an elevated socio-economic status and entrepreneurial attitude. By 1840 squatters were recognized as being amongst the wealthiest men in the colony of New South Wales, many of them from upper and middle-class
English and Scottish families. As
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in June 1844. The lessees of the Crown lands came into
Melbourne on horseback, and marched to the place of the meeting with flags flying, preceded by a Highland piper playing martial airs. At this meeting petitions were adopted to be transmitted to the several branches of the Home and Colonial
162:
From the mid-1820s, however, the occupation of "unoccupied" land without legal title became more widespread, often carried out by those from the upper echelons of colonial society. As wool began to be exported to
England and the colonial population increased, the occupation of pastoral land for
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made two regulations with the intention of remodelling the squatting system. The first, gazetted on 2 April, permitted squatters to occupy runs on payment of £10 for every 20 square miles (52 km). The second regulation allowed squatters after 5 years occupancy to purchase 320 acres (130
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The Dangar family, who by 1850 held 300,000 acres of grazing properties and town allotments, with the family business involving Henry Dangar and his brothers. As well as land holdings in the Hunter Valley, properties in
Newcastle and business partnerships, the Dangar family became involved in
827:
La Croix, Sumner J., 'Sheep, Squatters, and the
Evolution of Land Rights in Australia: 1787-1847' (University of Hawaii-Manoa) – paper presented at "Inequality and the Commons", 3rd annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Washington DC, USA, 18–20
69:. Though most squatters initially held no legal rights to the land they occupied, the majority were gradually recognised by successive colonial authorities as the legitimate owners of the land due to being among the first (and often only) white settlers in their area. The term
536:
The squattocracy have historically retained close ties to Britain. Many families retained properties in both Britain and Australia, often retiring to Britain after making their fortune and leaving vast stretches of land to be controlled by hired staff or younger sons.
415:
that allowed those with limited means to acquire land. With the stated intention of encouraging closer settlement and fairer allocation of land by allowing "free selection before survey", the Land Acts legislation was passed in 1861. The relevant acts were named the
313:, being the term for an ongoing public discussion on Australia's interpretation of its history. Squatters were only occasionally prosecuted for killing indigenous people. The first conviction of white men for the massacre of Indigenous people followed the
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hectares) of a run and gave purchasers security of tenure over a whole run for another 8 years. 150 squatters gathered in Sydney later in the month of April and protested against Gipps's changes drafting a petition to the Queen and forming the
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divided land into settled, intermediate and unsettled areas, with pastoral leases of one, eight and 14 years for each category respectively. From here on, squatters were able to purchase parts of their land, as opposed to just leasing it.
345:
Legislatures, requesting alterations in the law of Crown lands and a total separation from the Middle District (New South Wales). A new association was formed at this meeting, and designated the Pastoral Society of Australian Felix.
150:
had a similar connotation, referring primarily to a person who had "squatted" on Aboriginal land for pastoral or other purposes. In its early derogatory context the term was often applied to the illegitimate occupation of land by
234:. Governors of New South Wales were given authority to make land grants to free settlers, emancipists (former convicts) and non-commissioned officers. When land grants were made they were often subject to conditions such as a
663:
deals with the failure of many large grazier properties in the mid-twentieth century, as well as the Squattocracy's close historic links with the British Aristocracy, with whom they frequently intermarried. The film's star,
440:
Prior to 1851, squatters paid a licence fee of £10 per year (regardless of area), with no surety of tenure from one year to the next. After 1851, leases could be acquired for 14 years, with annual rent. The
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334:
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A significant proportion of squatters opposed the movement for self-determination by workers that gained impetus in the last decades of the 19th century in Australia. The events of the
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tracts of land and the new immigrants who wanted small land holdings. The resumption of squatters' land for division into smaller farms (known as closer settlement) was promoted by the
428:
but thereafter effectively left him to fend for himself. Amendments passed in 1875 sought to remedy some of the abuses perpetrated under the original selection legislation.
654:, the title character, The Honourable Phyrne Fisher, is resistant to her class and acts as a contrast to her Aunt Prudence, who typifies grazier and squattocracy snobbery.
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738:
668:, is herself a relative of the prominent squatter family the Kidmans, who, at the height of their power, held 107,000 square miles of land in Central Australia.
1038:
163:
raising cattle and sheep progressively became a more lucrative enterprise. Squatting had become so widespread by the mid-1830s that Government policy in
1027:""Cattle King" dead.". The Northern Miner. Charters Towers, Queensland: National Library of Australia. 3 September 1935. p. 2. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
519:
and the harsh counter-measures by government and squatters left a bitter legacy that adversely affected class relationships in the ensuing decades.
202:
title). In Australia the term is still used to describe large landowners, especially in rural areas with a history of pastoral occupation. The term
1111:
Victorian Settler Narratives: Emigrants, Cosmopolitans and Returnees in Nineteenth-Century Literature, Tamara S Wagner, Routledge, 6 October 2015
981:
480:
1006:"A South-Eastern Estancia". The Border Watch. Mount Gambier, SA: National Library of Australia. 19 January 1943. p. 5. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
888:
142:
derives from its English usage as a term of contempt for a person who had taken up residence at a place without having legal claim. The use of
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available for ten pounds per year. This fee was for a lease of the land, rather than ownership, which is what the squatters wanted. The 1847
1157:
1127:
1067:
The Benara Estate". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 23 October 1874. p. 4. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
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communities in the areas they occupied, though such battles were rarely investigated. These battles/massacres are the subject of the
179:
to permanent water became more scarce, the acquisition of runs increasingly required larger capital outlays. A "run" is defined in
171:
was applied to those who occupied land under a lease or license from the Crown, without the negative connotation of earlier times.
1087:
635:
explores the power of Australia to transform those with a lowly social station in Britain into the Aristocracy of a new world.
575:
317:
in 1838, in which Aboriginal subject status was employed by colonial courts for the rare co-incidence of local, colonial and
866:
1137:
17:
645:
is an Austenesque social comedy exploring the evolution of the pseudo-aristocratic manners which define the squattocracy.
411:
The squatters' grip on agricultural land in the colony of New South Wales was challenged in the 1860s with the passing of
930:
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came to refer to a person of high social prestige who grazes livestock on a large scale (whether the station was held by
118:
730:
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as: "land claimed by the Squatter as sheepwalks, open, as nature left them, without any improvement from the Squatter."
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tenure in 1821 less than 1,000 square miles (2,600 km) of land had been granted in the colony of New South Wales.
522:
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560:, reduced to 38,610 square miles in 2016, for $ 386m to mining magnate Gina Reinhardt and Chinese interests.
282:
From 1824 there were acts and regulations to limit squatting. The "limits of location", also known as the
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The Forrest family of Western Australia, who have produced a number of conservative politicians for the
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567:
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855:
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47:
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Literature: The power of the squatters, including their affinity with the police, is referenced in
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912:
779:
473:
310:
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in recognition for the contributions to Australian society made by the politician and financier
548:
The Kidman family, who held 107,000 square miles worth of land in central Australia, founded by
305:
It is known that many squatters fought battles with advanced European weapons against the local
167:
towards the practice shifted from opposition to regulation and control. By that stage, the term
632:
306:
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and native-born colonists as they sought to define and consolidate their place within society.
227:
43:
31:
841:, edited by Graeme Davidson, John Hirst & Stuart MacIntyre, Oxford University Press, 1998.
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902:
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366:
314:
54:
908:
Australian Dictionary of Dates containing the History of Australasia from 1542 to May 1879
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8:
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claims to the land. Land that had been deemed "unoccupied" by Europeans was described as
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been broken up, or, in more isolated areas, have been sold to corporate interests.
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allowed free selection of Crown land, including that occupied by pastoral leases.
906:
673:
246:
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583:
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1039:"The bitter family feud behind the sale of S. Kidman & Co's cattle empire"
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began in 1860 and continued under a series of land acts in subsequent years.
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in 1869 provided for replacing large pastoral runs with closer-settled more
222:
in 1788 the colonial government claimed to own all of Australia east of the
579:
337:- the first formalising of the identity of squatters as a political group.
329:
275:
80:
702:
219:
215:
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931:"Part 1: A Brief History of land selection – Stories from the Archives"
487: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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231:
156:
114:
62:
862:
Mount Abundance: or The Experiences of a Pioneer Squatter in Australia
270:
341:
235:
107:
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66:
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138:
274:
1845 political cartoon by Edward Winstanley, critical of Governor
266:
Warfare between squatters and Aboriginal people in South Australia
127:
Squatter of N. S. Wales: Monarch of more than all he Surveys, 1863
257:
206:, a play on "aristocracy", was used derisively as early as 1841.
27:
Occupation of Crown land in order to graze livestock in Australia
30:"Squatting (Australia)" redirects here. Not to be confused with
592:
The Baillieu family of Victoria, who were awarded the title of
540:
Prominent Australian families from the squattocracy include:
250:
the total amount of land in private hands virtually doubled.
185:
Reminiscences of Australia, with Hints on the Squatter's Life
775:
Reminiscences of Australia with Hints on the Squatter's Life
293:
From 1836 legislation was passed to legalise squatting with
353:
In the 1860s several colonies passed legislation to permit
39:
963:, Macmillan / Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1924.
757: This article incorporates text available under the
974:"South Australia - Miscellany: Squatters and Pastorists"
123:
Squatter of N. S. Wales: Monarch of all he Surveys, 1788
83:
and the immense sociopolitical power they possessed.
684:
61:was the act of extrajudicially occupying tracts of
1015:Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1,1966.
348:
1119:
961:History of Australian Land Settlement, 1788-1920
395:acts covering all land legislation up to 1910.
1086:. South Australia. 30 March 1923. p. 12.
844:
452:
978:The Manning Index of South Australian History
407:Squatting districts in New South Wales, 1844
340:A large squatting demonstration was held in
146:in the early years of British settlement of
1098:– via National Library of Australia.
887:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
839:The Oxford Companion to Australian History
503:Learn how and when to remove this message
209:
1107:
1105:
877:– via Project Gutenberg Australia.
582:(Western Australia's first premier) and
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402:
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261:
79:, was coined to refer to squatters as a
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772:Hodgson, Christopher Pemberton (1846).
771:
335:Pastoral Association of New South Wales
86:
14:
1120:
1036:
901:
625:", Australia's most famous folk song.
612:
589:The Gilbert family of South Australia.
1102:
1090:from the original on 16 December 2019
604:, after whom the Baillieu library at
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928:
924:
922:
869:from the original on 8 February 2021
741:from the original on 6 December 2022
725:
723:
563:The Ellis family of South Australia.
485:adding citations to reliable sources
456:
258:Darling and the "limits of location"
1158:Aboriginal land rights in Australia
1128:History of agriculture in Australia
24:
778:. Pall Mall: W.N. Wright. p.
435:
398:
25:
1174:
1049:from the original on 25 July 2023
984:from the original on 7 April 2019
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381:The process of land selection in
121:and condemns the Squattocracy in
1163:Settler colonialism in Australia
994:State Library of South Australia
941:from the original on 11 May 2020
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854:'s account of his squatting at
695:Agriculture and Agronomy portal
556:. The family sold the business
472:needs additional citations for
1037:Hyland, Anna (27 April 2017).
953:
895:
831:
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651:Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
387:Separated from New South Wales
349:Legislation to allow selection
46:, a prominent squatter in the
13:
1:
911:. George Robertson. pp.
837:Denholm, David, 'Squatting',
713:
376:
181:Christopher Pemberton Hodgson
218:established a settlement at
7:
1138:Social history of Australia
1043:Australian Financial Review
929:Kerr, Ruth (3 April 2018).
680:
552:. Living relatives include
545:manufacturing and shipping.
453:Political and social legacy
360:
10:
1179:
422:Crown Lands Occupation Act
418:Crown Lands Alienation Act
29:
935:Queensland State Archives
809:. 19 June 1841. p. 2
531:George Washington Lambert
155:convicts or ex-convicts (
48:colony of New South Wales
671:The strategy board game
517:shearers' strike of 1891
1143:Crown land in Australia
1078:"A PIONEER PASTORALIST"
801:"Domestic intelligence"
677:is named for the term.
527:The Squatter's Daughter
175:"unoccupied" land with
1153:Livestock in Australia
1148:Squatting in Australia
633:Catherine Helen Spence
533:
408:
279:
267:
210:Background and history
119:Aboriginal land rights
50:
44:Archibald Clunes Innes
32:Squatting in Australia
959:Roberts, Stephen H.,
525:
406:
392:Queensland Government
307:Indigenous Australian
290:to manage squatting.
273:
265:
65:, typically to graze
42:
1133:Culture of Australia
737:. 12 February 2016.
735:State Library of NSW
606:Melbourne University
481:improve this article
315:Myall Creek massacre
240:Governor Macquarie's
190:Eventually the term
87:Evolution of meaning
55:history of Australia
18:Squatting (pastoral)
613:Cultural resonances
443:Strangways Land Act
247:Governor Brisbane's
224:135th meridian east
817:– via Trove.
708:Adverse possession
639:Mary Theresa Vidal
598:Sir Clive Baillieu
558:S. Kidman & Co
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409:
280:
268:
51:
806:The Sydney Herald
572:Alexander Forrest
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447:intensive farming
365:In the colony of
299:Orders in Council
284:Nineteen Counties
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1092:. Retrieved
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1051:. Retrieved
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992:– via
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943:. Retrieved
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474:verification
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311:history wars
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873:23 February
703:Pastoralism
369:, the 1860
220:Sydney Cove
216:First Fleet
157:emancipists
77:aristocracy
1122:Categories
813:11 October
785:9 February
745:11 October
714:References
383:Queensland
377:Queensland
232:Crown land
228:Indigenous
115:S. T. Gill
63:Crown land
883:cite book
759:CC BY 4.0
660:Australia
657:The film
608:is named.
600:, son of
413:Land Acts
355:selection
342:Melbourne
236:quit rent
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196:leasehold
148:Australia
136:The term
117:supports
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1094:3 August
1088:Archived
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761:license.
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681:See also
674:Squatter
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192:squatter
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139:squatter
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643:Bengala
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