Book extract: Prendergast: Legal Villain? Part 1/2

Read part 2 of this extract here. 

Colonial Beginnings: The impact of the Australian experience on James Prendergast’s future career

Although James spent only 28 months in Victoria, his experience there had an obvious effect upon his career. When he arrived in Dunedin in 1862 during the Otago gold rush, he could draw on his experiences in Victoria.

The administrative skills James acquired at Elephant Bridge and Carisbrook were put to use in a New Zealand context.

A more wary approach to people, politics and power was also a result of the Australian episode. In Dunedin, instead of attempting to become a miner himself and make a quick fortune, James set up a legal practice to support the mining community.

After two years in Victoria, he was poor and disillusioned. After two years in Dunedin, he was on the verge of becoming Attorney-General of New Zealand.

The different personalities of the three brothers became evident during the trials and tribulations of the Victorian experience.

Luckily, the brothers kept in contact with their father in London through letters. These letters have survived and provide the historian with a rich source of primary material. James appears as a conscientious, hard-working young man, though with a quick temper.

Michael, the eldest brother, seems to be more inspired and emotional. Compared with James, Michael’s personality is more volatile, eventually leading to alcoholism and mental illness. Philip described the essential difference between his two brothers:

Unlike Michael who has a distinct and different genius he [James] will apply himself assiduously to the drudgery of his profession and so will be sure of securing first the confidence of the Attornies and eventually the favour of the Public . . . You know him to be a good son and I know him to be an excellent brother and a tried friend.

The experience of the Prendergast brothers in Victoria provides the historian with insights into the class structure of the 1850s. Whether onboard the Francis Henty or on the goldfields, the Prendergasts are very aware of their role as gentlemen and the treatment to which they are entitled. Cultural encounter is also apparent, for example, in the disparaging attitude of the Prendergast brothers towards the Irish Protestant settlers in Victoria.

James Prendergast’s dismissive comments about indigenous Australians also highlight the ethnocentric view of many European colonists.

The Prendergast story also provides insight into the beginnings of Melbourne city. In the Prendergast letters, the fledgling city is described in detail, with especial reference to rapid population growth, crime and architecture.

The Victorian goldfields are detailed as a place of both hardship and opportunity, where qualities such as perseverance and stamina are more important than class and breeding. If gentlemen did not adapt to the colonial frontier they were faced with two choices: return home or perish. The experiences of the three brothers provide a case study which sheds light on major events such as the Victorian gold rush, the Eureka Stockade and the development of the Victorian Legislative Assembly.

In particular, Michael Prendergast played an important role in all of these historical events.

When comparing James Prendergast’s experience in Dunedin with that of Victoria, the question arises: why was Dunedin so successful and Victoria a relative failure? The first answer would be that Victoria was a training ground for Dunedin.

[The first of two extracts. Part two is here.]

© Prendergast: Legal Villain? by Grant Morris. Victoria University Press paperback, $40. Reprinted with permission