The Weston Room, Maughan Library & Information Services Centre, Chancery Lane
Tuesday 9 September – Saturday 13 December 2008
9.30-17.00, Monday to Saturday
>From classical antiquity Europeans speculated on the existence of a continent in the Southern Hemisphere and imagined what it might contain. The voyages of men like Abel Tasman in the seventeenth century began to replace speculation and fancy with facts, while the voyages of Cook in the following century laid the foundations for the eventual settlement of the newly-discovered southern lands of Australia and New Zealand. This exhibition explores the experiences of the early European settlers as they began new lives under unfamiliar skies filled with strange constellations, such as the Southern Cross, and the effect they had upon their new homelands.
New South Wales was originally conceived as a penal colony to deal with Britain’s problem of overcrowded prisons; against the expectations of many, it became a functioning society. The colonial settlements of South Australia and New Zealand, on the other hand, were largely modelled on the mother country. In both Australia and New Zealand the experience of colonial settlement had a colossal – though in some ways differing – impact on the indigenous populations. As the exhibition reveals, disease, displacement and conflict with settlers were the results, leading in the case of the Tasmanian Aborigines to their practical annihilation.
The same spirit of curiosity that had led the Dutch and the British to explore the Southern Hemisphere was soon turned by the early settlers to the exploration of their new homes. In the exhibition we look at the early explorers of the Australian interior and their motivations. Australia and New Zealand offered scope for scientific exploration and we look at how their unique flora and fauna were viewed by naturalists and what impact that European settlement had on this wildlife.
The majority of items on display are from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Historical Collection, which was transferred on permanent loan to King’s in 2007.
Access to the exhibition is free. On arrival at the Maughan Library, please follow the signs to the Weston Room. Please note that visitors who are not registered members of the Maughan Library are required to complete an exhibition ticket on arrival at the Library. Further details are available on the Special Collections web pages, where you will also find a guide to the exhibition.
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/iss/library/spec/exhib/
