Legend and Reality: The Genius of Russel Ward

In 'The Australian Legend' (1958) Russel Ward wrote that a people's idea of itself "is always connected with reality [and] ... springs largely from a people's past experiences". If he is right - and I believe he is - then we have a major problem. In many areas, Australians' idea of themselves is based on the propaganda of some free settlers whose version of events still infects too much of our thinking. To summarise a long story, a small group of migrants, many of them clergymen, arrived in eastern Australia and Van Diemen's Land between 1839-1843. Here they found flourishing communities created by former convicts over the previous fifty years. Rather than being ashamed of the past, the local citizens were proud of their society and the opportunities it offered their children.