Australasia

The concept of terra nullius has long been at the heart of explanations of why the British did not treat with Aboriginal people following Cook’s arrival in Australia. But should it be?

Continental Australia has a surprising history of South Asian immigration.

Western Australia’s desire to secede as ‘Westralia’ in 1933 was undermined by a change in Britain’s attitude towards its Empire.

Kate Wiles introduces a map highlighting the diversity of indigenous tribes that was in danger of being lost.

Just over a hundred and thirty years ago, writes Sarah Searight Great Britain acquired New Zealand with a minimum of political and financial fuss.

Michael Langley analyses the achievements of a great explorer of early colonial Australia.

J.W. Davidson describes how whalers, traders, and settlers represented the first waves of Western colonisation of the Pacific islands.

Traders and missionaries from Europe, writes Sarah Searight, settled on the islands many years before official annexation.

Bertha S. Dodge follows the journey of John Ledyard, a captain’s son from Connecticut, who helped to explore the Pacific and travelled across the Russian Empire.

George Woodcock describes how British and French officials jointly presided over the chain of Melanesian islands oddly named by Captain Cook after the Scottish west coast.