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Issue Details: First known date: 1851... 1851 A Voice From Australia ; Or, an Inquiry into the Probability of New Holland Being Connected with the Prophecies Relating to New Jerusalem and the Spiritual Temple
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

An attempt to propose a possible future for Australia based on the biblical and prophetic history of Christianity, A Voice from Australia is an analysis and critique of British and Australia society founded on the concept of socialism. In this respect Boyd's utopian desire for the future of Australia, as argued by Sarah Paddle, is one of communal 'self-sufficiency, democratic decision-making and local, even domestic, control over the cultural, social and working lives of their people' (p.157). Boyd also proposes the notion of Australia becoming a pastoral retreat for the 'farmer refugee' from the evils of the British industrial system (p.155). In some respects this logic may well have emerged in response to the work of her brother, John Scott Vandeleur, the founder of the Rathlahine Co-operative in Ireland in the 1830s. Paddle goes on to note, too, that a constant in Boyd's vision is her emotional identification with the wrongs of the poor, and from which she suggests a critique of contemporary industrialisation (p.155).


Notes

  • Title page quotation: "And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the Wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God" - Ezekiel xx. 35, 36.

  • Dedication: "To the descendants of Abraham who are scattered over Europe, Asia, Africa and America and to all those Christians who pray with sincerity "Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven" this little work is respectfully dedicated by a believer in the truths contained in the old and new testament scriptures as published by the British and Foreign Bible Society."

  • Further References:

    • "Domestic Intelligence." Moreton Bay Courier 11 March (1848), 3 (sighted 23/5/2012).
    • "Estate: "Vandeleur (Rathlaheen)" Landed Estates Database (sighted 23/5/2012).
    • "Review of A Voice from Australia, and Memoirs of Mrs Caroline Chisholm." Athenaeum 21 Aug. 1852, pp. 850-851.


Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

An Apocalyptic Map : New Worlds and the Colonization of Australia Roslyn Weaver , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Apocalypse in Australian Fiction and Film : A Critical Study 2011; (p. 23-53)
'This chapter examines the map that preceded, and eventually superseded, the territory of Australia, in order to demonstrate that early maps of the south land established an apocalyptic tradition that still resonates in contemporary fictions. If one reinterprets Jean Baudrillard's comments in the context of colonization and Australia, it is possible to see how European imagination delineated an apocalyptic map of the country before explorers and settlers even arrived, a map that located Australia as a tabula rasa, a blank slate where heaven and hell might equally be feasible. This chapter surveys the dialectic emerging from these confliction visions.' (24)
Hannah Villiers Boyd and Colonial Culture Sarah Paddle , 1988 single work criticism
— Appears in: Lilith , Spring no. 5 1988; (p. 148-164)
Review of 'A Voice From Australia,' and 'Memoirs of Mrs Caroline Chisolm' 1852 single work review
— Appears in: The Athenaeum , 21 August 1852; (p. 850-851)

— Review of A Voice From Australia ; Or, an Inquiry into the Probability of New Holland Being Connected with the Prophecies Relating to New Jerusalem and the Spiritual Temple Hannah Villiers Boyd , 1851 single work prose ; Memoirs of Mrs Caroline Chisholm Eneas Mackenzie , 1852 single work biography
Review of 'A Voice From Australia,' and 'Memoirs of Mrs Caroline Chisolm' 1852 single work review
— Appears in: The Athenaeum , 21 August 1852; (p. 850-851)

— Review of A Voice From Australia ; Or, an Inquiry into the Probability of New Holland Being Connected with the Prophecies Relating to New Jerusalem and the Spiritual Temple Hannah Villiers Boyd , 1851 single work prose ; Memoirs of Mrs Caroline Chisholm Eneas Mackenzie , 1852 single work biography
Hannah Villiers Boyd and Colonial Culture Sarah Paddle , 1988 single work criticism
— Appears in: Lilith , Spring no. 5 1988; (p. 148-164)
An Apocalyptic Map : New Worlds and the Colonization of Australia Roslyn Weaver , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Apocalypse in Australian Fiction and Film : A Critical Study 2011; (p. 23-53)
'This chapter examines the map that preceded, and eventually superseded, the territory of Australia, in order to demonstrate that early maps of the south land established an apocalyptic tradition that still resonates in contemporary fictions. If one reinterprets Jean Baudrillard's comments in the context of colonization and Australia, it is possible to see how European imagination delineated an apocalyptic map of the country before explorers and settlers even arrived, a map that located Australia as a tabula rasa, a blank slate where heaven and hell might equally be feasible. This chapter surveys the dialectic emerging from these confliction visions.' (24)
Last amended 12 Apr 2016 09:52:36
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