I am a religious and cultural historian with a passionate interest in the ways in which religion and colonialism have interacted historically to create the modern world. Since 2014 I have worked at the University of Bristol where I am Professor of Imperial and Religious History. Before this, I studied medieval history at the University of Sydney and the University of Oxford. I then taught at Macquarie University, the University of Sydney, and the University of Newcastle, NSW. From 2005 to 2006, I was Keith Cameron Professor of Australian History at University College Dublin. I am a Life Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities.
Methodism has played a major role in all areas of public life in Australia but has been particula... more Methodism has played a major role in all areas of public life in Australia but has been particularly significant for its influence on education, social welfare, missions to Aboriginal people and the Pacific Islands and the role of women. Drawing together a team of historical experts, Methodism in Australia presents a critical introduction to one of the most important religious movements in Australia's settlement history and beyond. Offering ground-breaking regional studies of the development of Methodism, this book considers a broad range of issues including Australian Methodist religious experience, worship and music, Methodist intellectuals, and missions to Australia and the Pacific.Contents: Foreword, Russell E. Richey; Preface; Introduction: Methodism and the southern world, Hilary M. Carey and Glen O’Brien. Part I Histories, 1811-1977: Methodism in the Australian colonies, 1811-1855, Glen O’Brien; Methodism in New South Wales, 1855-1902, Malcolm Prentis; Methodism in Victoria and Tasmania, 1855-1902, Renate Howe; Methodism in South Australia, 1855-1902, David Hilliard; Queensland Methodism until 1902, John Harrison; Methodism in Western Australia, 1829-1977, Alison Longworth; Methodists and Empire, Troy Duncan; Methodist reunion in Australasia, Ian Breward; Methodism and the crises of nationhood, 1903-1955, Samantha Frappell; Methodism and the challenge of ‘the sixties’, Jennifer Clark. Part II Themes: Australian Methodist religious experience, Glen O’Brien; Worship and music in Australian Methodism, D’Arcy Wood; Wesleyan Methodist missions to Australia and the Pacific, David Andrew Roberts and Margaret Reeson; Australian Methodist women, Anne O’Brien; Australian Methodist scholars, Garry W. Trompf; Australian Methodist historiography, Hilary M. Carey; The continuing Methodist legacy, 1977-2014, William Emilsen and Glen O’Brien. Conclusion, Glen O’Brien; Select bibliography; Indexes.
In God's Empire, Hilary Carey charts Britain's nineteenth-century transformation from Protestant ... more In God's Empire, Hilary Carey charts Britain's nineteenth-century transformation from Protestant nation to free Christian empire through the history of the colonial missionary movement. This wide-ranging reassessment of the religious character of the second British empire provides a clear account of the promotional strategies of the major churches and church parties which worked to plant settler Christianity in British domains. Based on extensive use of original archival and rare published sources, the author explores major debates such as the relationship between religion and colonization, church-state relations, Irish Catholics in the empire, the impact of the Scottish Disruption on colonial Presbyterianism, competition between Evangelicals and other Anglicans in the colonies, and between British and American strands of Methodism in British North America.
• Provides a revisionist history of religion in the British Empire and an introduction to major debates about religion in Victorian society • Assumes no prior knowledge of ecclesiastical history or theology • Tables and statistics quantify the scale and significance of the colonial missionary movement and its impact on settler colonies
Contents Part I. God's Empire: 1. Colonialism, colonization and Greater Britain; 2. Protestant nation to Christian Empire, 1801–1908; Part II. Colonial Missions: Introduction: Colonial mission; 3. Anglicans; 4. Catholics; 5. Evangelical Anglicans; 6. Nonconformists; 7. Presbyterians; Part III. Colonial Clergy: 8. Clergy; 9. St Augustine's College, Canterbury; 10. Missionary College of All Hallows, Drumcondra (Dublin); Part IV. Promised Lands: Introduction: Emigrants and colonists; 11. Christian colonization and its critics; 12. Colonies; Conclusion.
Reviewed by Philip Jenkins, Church History / Volume 81 / Issue 03 / September 2012 , pp 696-696 D... more Reviewed by Philip Jenkins, Church History / Volume 81 / Issue 03 / September 2012 , pp 696-696 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0009640712001576 (About DOI), Published online: 02 August 2012"The book is of great value to European historians, who will observe how traditional church structures adapted to the new settings, where colonists and migrants often demonstrated a surprising nostalgia for the old certainties. At the same time, these case-studies lay a powerful and essential foundation for anyone wishing to understand the emergence of post-colonial churches, which would of course soon dwarf their metropolitan founders. In their thoughtful and erudite introduction, the editors raise important questions about the future relationship between old and new churches."
Church-state relations have always been important but the need for an historical re-evaluation has been heightened by recent developments in the relations between governments and religious bodies. Drawing on a wide range of historical case-studies this book focuses particularly on the way in which the traditional European Old World fusion of church and state was reshaped in the New World of European settler colonies of the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Its analysis illuminates both the historical dynamics of such changes and the way in which such developments continue to influence the conduct of church-state relations in both the Old and the New Worlds.
A new and exciting collection of studies that breaks new ground in the history of religion and im... more A new and exciting collection of studies that breaks new ground in the history of religion and imperialism. This is the first study to provide a 'four nations' approach to the history of religious settlement in the British Empire including important new accounts of Irish and Scottish missionary and colonial churches, as well as the way in which religion served to focus metropolitan imperial identity back home and abroad. It includes perspectives from around the British world including the settler societies of Greater Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Cape Colony, as well as the more distant and contested colonies in Madagascar and Botswana. Proper attention is paid to Britain's religious diverse traditions, including Irish Catholicism, low and high church Anglicanism, Presbyterianism and Congregationalism. Including many useful introductions to topics such as religious conflict in Ireland, the history of slavery, foreign missions, the influence of the United States on foreign mission work in Canada, and the slow transformation of colonial to national churches, for students of imperialism, gender studies, race relations and religious history, this book makes essential reading.
Review 'This book is an extremely welcome addition to the growing literature on the British empire, or empires, and religion. It offers much comment that is new while contributing to established historiographical debates. It is to be hoped that this volume will generate further interest and debate on a significant and too-long neglected dimension to imperial history.' - The Journal of the Ecclesiastical History
This book, based on previously unexplored manuscript material, explains the role played by astrol... more This book, based on previously unexplored manuscript material, explains the role played by astrology in late medieval England. Having discovered horoscopes relating to English monarchs from Edward II to Edward V, Hilary Carey shows how astrology fought hard in this period to retain some kind of academic respectability, while in the end becoming overwhelmed by the dangerous politics of the late medieval court. In its glory, astrology shared in and contributed to the brightness of the magnificent courts of Charles V of France, Richard II of England and the Lancastrian usurpers who followed him. By the mid-fifteenth century, however, it had become a risky occupation which nevertheless dramatically increased in demand and influence, first at court and ultimately at all levels of society
Australians have been slow to appreciate the rich variety of their religious inheritance. Believi... more Australians have been slow to appreciate the rich variety of their religious inheritance. Believing in Australia is a much-needed cultural history of Australia's many religions which goes well beyond existing studies of denominationalism. Hilary Carey traces the change in religious practice brought by waves of emigration, including European occupation and the post-war growth of Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist communities. She also examines the slow European discovery of Aboriginal religions, the vital importance of religion for women and the recent growth of Christian fundamentalism and New Age sects. Believing in Australia demonstrates the central place of religion in the Australian experience and offers and engaging introduction to Australia's religious history for believers and non-believers alike.
The Mater Hospital in North Sydney under the care of the Sisters of Mercy has a distinguished his... more The Mater Hospital in North Sydney under the care of the Sisters of Mercy has a distinguished history. In this account, Hilary Carey tracks the transformation of the hospital from its days as a small cottage facility to the glory days of the Mater Public when it achieved teaching hospital status in 1968. Besides giving a full account of the traumatic closure of the Public Hospital in 1982 and the establishment of the new Mater Private Hospital, In the best of hands includes anecdotes and stories about many of the colourful personalities associated with the hospital. A list of a all nurses who graduated from the Mater School of Nursing is included in an appendix, along with a timeline and tables summarising the hospital's achievements.
Truly Feminine, Truly Catholic is a critical study of that characteristic women's organisation, t... more Truly Feminine, Truly Catholic is a critical study of that characteristic women's organisation, the Church auxiliary. The Catholic Women's League in the Archdiocese of Sydney, which is celebrating 75 years of service in 1988, epitomises the traditional work of laywomen in the church - supporting the clergy, raising money and upholding a cherished, and increasingly threatened, view of the home, family and society.
This book explores the uses that have been made of the resource of women's voluntary labour. It is also the story of personalities - from the capable and matriarchal 'Queenie' Barlow, to the distant Cardinal Gilroy, from the gentle Kate Egan to the leaders of the 70s and 80s.
Using new and original sources, Hilary Carey takes the story of the Catholic Women's League to the present day, assessing the conservative Catholic response to the contraceptive pill, the Second Vatican Council and the liberalisation of the divorce laws. It shows how, quietly and in their own way, the women of the C.W.L. have thrown off the restrictions placed on their participation in the life of the Church in the name of Catholic Action, patriotism and loyalty to the clergy.
Today the C.W.L. stands for the defence of traditional values of Catholic family life and worship, and as the acceptable public face of Catholic laywomen in the 1980s. Truly Feminine, Truly Catholic is both a tribute to the talents of an important class of women and a lament for the past failure to appreciate their active contribution to the Church.
From 1788 to 1868, when the last political prisoners were sent to Fremantle, about 160,000 men, w... more From 1788 to 1868, when the last political prisoners were sent to Fremantle, about 160,000 men, women, and children were transported from Great Britain and Ireland to penal colonies in Australia. Many others were consigned to floating prisons in hulks moored on rivers and ports in the United Kingdom and in the overseas naval bases of Bermuda in the West Indies and Gibraltar in the Mediterranean. The legacy of this global forced migration of convicted felons—reputedly the largest in human history—is highly visible in the Australian landscape, with hundreds of convict sites, large and small, scattered throughout the eastern states, island fortresses, Norfolk Island, and Western Australia. Curiously, unlike in other Western democracies, where there is shame about ancestors with criminal convictions, many Australians embrace the convict past and berate the officers, respectable settlers, and Anglican Evangelical establishment who were responsible for maintaining the moral order in the penal colonies. What Roberts (2004) notes as the typical work of attempting the “reformation of the guilty” is not regarded in the popular estimation as having a place in the Australian national story. This essay considers the sectarian basis for this sympathy for the convict, suggesting its importance for understanding the development of Australia’s secular political culture and its sectarian undercurrent.
In Empire, Migration and Identity in the British World, ed. Kent Fedorowich and Andrew S. Thompson. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2013., Jun 2013
The essays in this volume have been written by leading experts in their respective fields and bri... more The essays in this volume have been written by leading experts in their respective fields and bring together established scholars with a new generation of migration and transnational historians. Their work weaves together the 'new' imperial and the 'new' migration histories, and is essential reading for scholars and students interested in the interplay of migration within and between the local, regional, imperial, and transnational arenas. Furthermore, these essays set an important analytical benchmark for more integrated and comparative analyses of the range of migratory processes – free and coerced – which together impacted on the dynamics of power, forms of cultural circulation and making of ethnicities across a British imperial world.
The article reviews the history of astrology in the middle ages including its classical inheritan... more The article reviews the history of astrology in the middle ages including its classical inheritance, ascendancy under Byzantium and Islam, and development in the Latin west. Mediaeval astrology was a part of learned, scientific culture. However, the translation movement in the high middle ages brought challenges of integration to the Latin west, reflected in condemnations and anxieties about the orthodoxy and morality of astrological judgements. It was not until relatively late that astrology was practised on a large scale in mediaeval courts and it never achieved the same level of prominence as it did under Islam. The final section considers new work on the history of astrology, including astrology and medicine and astrology and the court. The article considers major figures, including Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy), Isidore of Seville (c. 600 ad), Māshā’allāh (Messahallah) (c. 735–815), Abū Ma’shar (Albumasar), Ahmad ibn Yūsuf (870–904), John of Seville (fl. 1135–1153), Alfonso X (El Sabio) of Castile (1221–1284), Albertus Magnus (1206–1280), and the fifteenth-century astrologer historian, Simon de Phares. It is argued that astrology was an integral part of the mediaeval world view and it is impossible to understand mediaeval culture without taking it into account.
This essay considers the place of astrology at the early Tudor court through an analysis of Londo... more This essay considers the place of astrology at the early Tudor court through an analysis of London, BL, MS Arundel 66, a manuscript compiled for the use of Henry VII (r. 1485–1509) in the 1490s. It argues that an illustration on fol. 201 depicts King Henry being presented with prognostications by his astrologer, William Parron, with the support of Louis, Duke of Orleans, later King Louis XII of France (r. 1498–1515). It considers the activities of three Tudor astrologer courtiers, William Parron, Lewis of Caerleon, and Richard Fitzjames, who may have commissioned the manuscript, as well as the Fitzjames Zodiac Arch at Merton College Oxford (1497) and the London Pageants of 1501. It concludes that Arundel 66 reflects the strategic cultural investment in astrology and English prophecy made by the Tudor regime at the time of the marriage negotiations and wedding of Arthur, Prince of Wales and Katherine of Aragon, descendant of Alfonso X, the most illustrious medieval patron of the science of the stars.
The Bible was a central symbol of the Victorian age and one which was readily adapted to the Goth... more The Bible was a central symbol of the Victorian age and one which was readily adapted to the Gothic style which became fashionable from the middle of the nineteenth century. This essay provides an analysis for the Aboriginal Gospel of St Luke (Auckland Public Library, Grey MSS 82) which was once owned by the colonial administrator Sir George Grey (1812-1898). This contains a translation of the Gospel of St John which was completed by the missionary Lancelot Threlkeld (1788-1859) and his Aboriginal collaborator Johnnie M ‘Gill or Biraban (fl. 1819- d. 1842) into the language of the Hunter River and Lake Macquarie people of New South Wales on the Australian frontier. At Grey’s request, this was subsequently decorated by the artist Annie Layard (c.1826-1886), wife of ornithologist Edgar Leopold Layard (1824-1900), in the style of a great, medieval illuminated manuscript. In this medievalist guise Threlkeld and Biraban's translation came to represent an extinct Aboriginal culture to the wider imperial world. The paper analyses the relationship between missionary, manuscript, patron and artist and the medievalising context of the 1860s and 1870s including the Gothic revival in palaeography and the Gothic mode of the Anglican missionary movement. It argues that the medieval scheme adopted by Annie Layard for Sir George Grey was not an eccentric choice but can be understood in the light of the cultural, scientific and religious context of imperial Anglicanism.
This paper is an historical and linguistic introduction to some of the missionary translations ma... more This paper is an historical and linguistic introduction to some of the missionary translations made by the Reverend Lancelot Threlkeld (1788-1859) into the language (sometimes called ‘Awabakal’) of the Hunter River-Lake Macquarie region of Australia’s east coast. It focuses in particular on Threlkeld’s shorter texts, including his ‘Selections from the Scriptures’, which is the earliest published scripture translation into an Australian language. The paper places Threlkeld and his Indigenous collaborator Biraban in their local historical context, and also in the broader context of missionary linguistics. It considers some unique features of this genre, and focuses on cases where missionary compositions provide the only substantial records of an extinct language (the ‘Chibcha phenomenon’). Such cases raise the question of reliability, which we propose can be tested. We use as our example a grammatical feature, the subordinator =pa, to determine the extent to which Threlkeld’s construction of subordinate clauses was idiomatic. We conclude that, in spite of a small number of anomalies, which are probably errors, Threlkeld’s usage appears to have been remarkably consistent with what we know about the functioning of such clauses in Australian languages in general.
Key words Threlkeld, Biraban, missionary, linguistics, Australia, Aborigines, Awabakal, subordination
Methodism has played a major role in all areas of public life in Australia but has been particula... more Methodism has played a major role in all areas of public life in Australia but has been particularly significant for its influence on education, social welfare, missions to Aboriginal people and the Pacific Islands and the role of women. Drawing together a team of historical experts, Methodism in Australia presents a critical introduction to one of the most important religious movements in Australia's settlement history and beyond. Offering ground-breaking regional studies of the development of Methodism, this book considers a broad range of issues including Australian Methodist religious experience, worship and music, Methodist intellectuals, and missions to Australia and the Pacific.Contents: Foreword, Russell E. Richey; Preface; Introduction: Methodism and the southern world, Hilary M. Carey and Glen O’Brien. Part I Histories, 1811-1977: Methodism in the Australian colonies, 1811-1855, Glen O’Brien; Methodism in New South Wales, 1855-1902, Malcolm Prentis; Methodism in Victoria and Tasmania, 1855-1902, Renate Howe; Methodism in South Australia, 1855-1902, David Hilliard; Queensland Methodism until 1902, John Harrison; Methodism in Western Australia, 1829-1977, Alison Longworth; Methodists and Empire, Troy Duncan; Methodist reunion in Australasia, Ian Breward; Methodism and the crises of nationhood, 1903-1955, Samantha Frappell; Methodism and the challenge of ‘the sixties’, Jennifer Clark. Part II Themes: Australian Methodist religious experience, Glen O’Brien; Worship and music in Australian Methodism, D’Arcy Wood; Wesleyan Methodist missions to Australia and the Pacific, David Andrew Roberts and Margaret Reeson; Australian Methodist women, Anne O’Brien; Australian Methodist scholars, Garry W. Trompf; Australian Methodist historiography, Hilary M. Carey; The continuing Methodist legacy, 1977-2014, William Emilsen and Glen O’Brien. Conclusion, Glen O’Brien; Select bibliography; Indexes.
In God's Empire, Hilary Carey charts Britain's nineteenth-century transformation from Protestant ... more In God's Empire, Hilary Carey charts Britain's nineteenth-century transformation from Protestant nation to free Christian empire through the history of the colonial missionary movement. This wide-ranging reassessment of the religious character of the second British empire provides a clear account of the promotional strategies of the major churches and church parties which worked to plant settler Christianity in British domains. Based on extensive use of original archival and rare published sources, the author explores major debates such as the relationship between religion and colonization, church-state relations, Irish Catholics in the empire, the impact of the Scottish Disruption on colonial Presbyterianism, competition between Evangelicals and other Anglicans in the colonies, and between British and American strands of Methodism in British North America.
• Provides a revisionist history of religion in the British Empire and an introduction to major debates about religion in Victorian society • Assumes no prior knowledge of ecclesiastical history or theology • Tables and statistics quantify the scale and significance of the colonial missionary movement and its impact on settler colonies
Contents Part I. God's Empire: 1. Colonialism, colonization and Greater Britain; 2. Protestant nation to Christian Empire, 1801–1908; Part II. Colonial Missions: Introduction: Colonial mission; 3. Anglicans; 4. Catholics; 5. Evangelical Anglicans; 6. Nonconformists; 7. Presbyterians; Part III. Colonial Clergy: 8. Clergy; 9. St Augustine's College, Canterbury; 10. Missionary College of All Hallows, Drumcondra (Dublin); Part IV. Promised Lands: Introduction: Emigrants and colonists; 11. Christian colonization and its critics; 12. Colonies; Conclusion.
Reviewed by Philip Jenkins, Church History / Volume 81 / Issue 03 / September 2012 , pp 696-696 D... more Reviewed by Philip Jenkins, Church History / Volume 81 / Issue 03 / September 2012 , pp 696-696 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0009640712001576 (About DOI), Published online: 02 August 2012"The book is of great value to European historians, who will observe how traditional church structures adapted to the new settings, where colonists and migrants often demonstrated a surprising nostalgia for the old certainties. At the same time, these case-studies lay a powerful and essential foundation for anyone wishing to understand the emergence of post-colonial churches, which would of course soon dwarf their metropolitan founders. In their thoughtful and erudite introduction, the editors raise important questions about the future relationship between old and new churches."
Church-state relations have always been important but the need for an historical re-evaluation has been heightened by recent developments in the relations between governments and religious bodies. Drawing on a wide range of historical case-studies this book focuses particularly on the way in which the traditional European Old World fusion of church and state was reshaped in the New World of European settler colonies of the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Its analysis illuminates both the historical dynamics of such changes and the way in which such developments continue to influence the conduct of church-state relations in both the Old and the New Worlds.
A new and exciting collection of studies that breaks new ground in the history of religion and im... more A new and exciting collection of studies that breaks new ground in the history of religion and imperialism. This is the first study to provide a 'four nations' approach to the history of religious settlement in the British Empire including important new accounts of Irish and Scottish missionary and colonial churches, as well as the way in which religion served to focus metropolitan imperial identity back home and abroad. It includes perspectives from around the British world including the settler societies of Greater Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Cape Colony, as well as the more distant and contested colonies in Madagascar and Botswana. Proper attention is paid to Britain's religious diverse traditions, including Irish Catholicism, low and high church Anglicanism, Presbyterianism and Congregationalism. Including many useful introductions to topics such as religious conflict in Ireland, the history of slavery, foreign missions, the influence of the United States on foreign mission work in Canada, and the slow transformation of colonial to national churches, for students of imperialism, gender studies, race relations and religious history, this book makes essential reading.
Review 'This book is an extremely welcome addition to the growing literature on the British empire, or empires, and religion. It offers much comment that is new while contributing to established historiographical debates. It is to be hoped that this volume will generate further interest and debate on a significant and too-long neglected dimension to imperial history.' - The Journal of the Ecclesiastical History
This book, based on previously unexplored manuscript material, explains the role played by astrol... more This book, based on previously unexplored manuscript material, explains the role played by astrology in late medieval England. Having discovered horoscopes relating to English monarchs from Edward II to Edward V, Hilary Carey shows how astrology fought hard in this period to retain some kind of academic respectability, while in the end becoming overwhelmed by the dangerous politics of the late medieval court. In its glory, astrology shared in and contributed to the brightness of the magnificent courts of Charles V of France, Richard II of England and the Lancastrian usurpers who followed him. By the mid-fifteenth century, however, it had become a risky occupation which nevertheless dramatically increased in demand and influence, first at court and ultimately at all levels of society
Australians have been slow to appreciate the rich variety of their religious inheritance. Believi... more Australians have been slow to appreciate the rich variety of their religious inheritance. Believing in Australia is a much-needed cultural history of Australia's many religions which goes well beyond existing studies of denominationalism. Hilary Carey traces the change in religious practice brought by waves of emigration, including European occupation and the post-war growth of Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist communities. She also examines the slow European discovery of Aboriginal religions, the vital importance of religion for women and the recent growth of Christian fundamentalism and New Age sects. Believing in Australia demonstrates the central place of religion in the Australian experience and offers and engaging introduction to Australia's religious history for believers and non-believers alike.
The Mater Hospital in North Sydney under the care of the Sisters of Mercy has a distinguished his... more The Mater Hospital in North Sydney under the care of the Sisters of Mercy has a distinguished history. In this account, Hilary Carey tracks the transformation of the hospital from its days as a small cottage facility to the glory days of the Mater Public when it achieved teaching hospital status in 1968. Besides giving a full account of the traumatic closure of the Public Hospital in 1982 and the establishment of the new Mater Private Hospital, In the best of hands includes anecdotes and stories about many of the colourful personalities associated with the hospital. A list of a all nurses who graduated from the Mater School of Nursing is included in an appendix, along with a timeline and tables summarising the hospital's achievements.
Truly Feminine, Truly Catholic is a critical study of that characteristic women's organisation, t... more Truly Feminine, Truly Catholic is a critical study of that characteristic women's organisation, the Church auxiliary. The Catholic Women's League in the Archdiocese of Sydney, which is celebrating 75 years of service in 1988, epitomises the traditional work of laywomen in the church - supporting the clergy, raising money and upholding a cherished, and increasingly threatened, view of the home, family and society.
This book explores the uses that have been made of the resource of women's voluntary labour. It is also the story of personalities - from the capable and matriarchal 'Queenie' Barlow, to the distant Cardinal Gilroy, from the gentle Kate Egan to the leaders of the 70s and 80s.
Using new and original sources, Hilary Carey takes the story of the Catholic Women's League to the present day, assessing the conservative Catholic response to the contraceptive pill, the Second Vatican Council and the liberalisation of the divorce laws. It shows how, quietly and in their own way, the women of the C.W.L. have thrown off the restrictions placed on their participation in the life of the Church in the name of Catholic Action, patriotism and loyalty to the clergy.
Today the C.W.L. stands for the defence of traditional values of Catholic family life and worship, and as the acceptable public face of Catholic laywomen in the 1980s. Truly Feminine, Truly Catholic is both a tribute to the talents of an important class of women and a lament for the past failure to appreciate their active contribution to the Church.
From 1788 to 1868, when the last political prisoners were sent to Fremantle, about 160,000 men, w... more From 1788 to 1868, when the last political prisoners were sent to Fremantle, about 160,000 men, women, and children were transported from Great Britain and Ireland to penal colonies in Australia. Many others were consigned to floating prisons in hulks moored on rivers and ports in the United Kingdom and in the overseas naval bases of Bermuda in the West Indies and Gibraltar in the Mediterranean. The legacy of this global forced migration of convicted felons—reputedly the largest in human history—is highly visible in the Australian landscape, with hundreds of convict sites, large and small, scattered throughout the eastern states, island fortresses, Norfolk Island, and Western Australia. Curiously, unlike in other Western democracies, where there is shame about ancestors with criminal convictions, many Australians embrace the convict past and berate the officers, respectable settlers, and Anglican Evangelical establishment who were responsible for maintaining the moral order in the penal colonies. What Roberts (2004) notes as the typical work of attempting the “reformation of the guilty” is not regarded in the popular estimation as having a place in the Australian national story. This essay considers the sectarian basis for this sympathy for the convict, suggesting its importance for understanding the development of Australia’s secular political culture and its sectarian undercurrent.
In Empire, Migration and Identity in the British World, ed. Kent Fedorowich and Andrew S. Thompson. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2013., Jun 2013
The essays in this volume have been written by leading experts in their respective fields and bri... more The essays in this volume have been written by leading experts in their respective fields and bring together established scholars with a new generation of migration and transnational historians. Their work weaves together the 'new' imperial and the 'new' migration histories, and is essential reading for scholars and students interested in the interplay of migration within and between the local, regional, imperial, and transnational arenas. Furthermore, these essays set an important analytical benchmark for more integrated and comparative analyses of the range of migratory processes – free and coerced – which together impacted on the dynamics of power, forms of cultural circulation and making of ethnicities across a British imperial world.
The article reviews the history of astrology in the middle ages including its classical inheritan... more The article reviews the history of astrology in the middle ages including its classical inheritance, ascendancy under Byzantium and Islam, and development in the Latin west. Mediaeval astrology was a part of learned, scientific culture. However, the translation movement in the high middle ages brought challenges of integration to the Latin west, reflected in condemnations and anxieties about the orthodoxy and morality of astrological judgements. It was not until relatively late that astrology was practised on a large scale in mediaeval courts and it never achieved the same level of prominence as it did under Islam. The final section considers new work on the history of astrology, including astrology and medicine and astrology and the court. The article considers major figures, including Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy), Isidore of Seville (c. 600 ad), Māshā’allāh (Messahallah) (c. 735–815), Abū Ma’shar (Albumasar), Ahmad ibn Yūsuf (870–904), John of Seville (fl. 1135–1153), Alfonso X (El Sabio) of Castile (1221–1284), Albertus Magnus (1206–1280), and the fifteenth-century astrologer historian, Simon de Phares. It is argued that astrology was an integral part of the mediaeval world view and it is impossible to understand mediaeval culture without taking it into account.
This essay considers the place of astrology at the early Tudor court through an analysis of Londo... more This essay considers the place of astrology at the early Tudor court through an analysis of London, BL, MS Arundel 66, a manuscript compiled for the use of Henry VII (r. 1485–1509) in the 1490s. It argues that an illustration on fol. 201 depicts King Henry being presented with prognostications by his astrologer, William Parron, with the support of Louis, Duke of Orleans, later King Louis XII of France (r. 1498–1515). It considers the activities of three Tudor astrologer courtiers, William Parron, Lewis of Caerleon, and Richard Fitzjames, who may have commissioned the manuscript, as well as the Fitzjames Zodiac Arch at Merton College Oxford (1497) and the London Pageants of 1501. It concludes that Arundel 66 reflects the strategic cultural investment in astrology and English prophecy made by the Tudor regime at the time of the marriage negotiations and wedding of Arthur, Prince of Wales and Katherine of Aragon, descendant of Alfonso X, the most illustrious medieval patron of the science of the stars.
The Bible was a central symbol of the Victorian age and one which was readily adapted to the Goth... more The Bible was a central symbol of the Victorian age and one which was readily adapted to the Gothic style which became fashionable from the middle of the nineteenth century. This essay provides an analysis for the Aboriginal Gospel of St Luke (Auckland Public Library, Grey MSS 82) which was once owned by the colonial administrator Sir George Grey (1812-1898). This contains a translation of the Gospel of St John which was completed by the missionary Lancelot Threlkeld (1788-1859) and his Aboriginal collaborator Johnnie M ‘Gill or Biraban (fl. 1819- d. 1842) into the language of the Hunter River and Lake Macquarie people of New South Wales on the Australian frontier. At Grey’s request, this was subsequently decorated by the artist Annie Layard (c.1826-1886), wife of ornithologist Edgar Leopold Layard (1824-1900), in the style of a great, medieval illuminated manuscript. In this medievalist guise Threlkeld and Biraban's translation came to represent an extinct Aboriginal culture to the wider imperial world. The paper analyses the relationship between missionary, manuscript, patron and artist and the medievalising context of the 1860s and 1870s including the Gothic revival in palaeography and the Gothic mode of the Anglican missionary movement. It argues that the medieval scheme adopted by Annie Layard for Sir George Grey was not an eccentric choice but can be understood in the light of the cultural, scientific and religious context of imperial Anglicanism.
This paper is an historical and linguistic introduction to some of the missionary translations ma... more This paper is an historical and linguistic introduction to some of the missionary translations made by the Reverend Lancelot Threlkeld (1788-1859) into the language (sometimes called ‘Awabakal’) of the Hunter River-Lake Macquarie region of Australia’s east coast. It focuses in particular on Threlkeld’s shorter texts, including his ‘Selections from the Scriptures’, which is the earliest published scripture translation into an Australian language. The paper places Threlkeld and his Indigenous collaborator Biraban in their local historical context, and also in the broader context of missionary linguistics. It considers some unique features of this genre, and focuses on cases where missionary compositions provide the only substantial records of an extinct language (the ‘Chibcha phenomenon’). Such cases raise the question of reliability, which we propose can be tested. We use as our example a grammatical feature, the subordinator =pa, to determine the extent to which Threlkeld’s construction of subordinate clauses was idiomatic. We conclude that, in spite of a small number of anomalies, which are probably errors, Threlkeld’s usage appears to have been remarkably consistent with what we know about the functioning of such clauses in Australian languages in general.
Key words Threlkeld, Biraban, missionary, linguistics, Australia, Aborigines, Awabakal, subordination
This paper considers the literary stereotype of the bush parson and its relationship to the bush ... more This paper considers the literary stereotype of the bush parson and its relationship to the bush legend as articulated by Russell Ward. It examines literary attempts to redress the anti-clerical stereotype in novels and poetry written by members of the four largest churches in colonial Australia: • Tom Bluegum [G. Warren Payne], The Backblock's Parson (1899) – Methodist • Steele Rudd [Arthur Hoey Davis], The Poor Parson (1907) - Presbyterian • C. H. S. Matthews, A Parson in the Australian Bush (1908); Bill, a Bushman (1914) – Anglican High Church • John O'Brien [Patrick Joseph Hartigan], Around The Boree Log and Other Verses (1921) - Catholic. It is argued that practical attempts to provide an effective rural ministry including the work of the Anglican Bush Brothers, the Congregationalist Bush Missionary Society, the Presbyterian Australian Inland Mission and the Evangelical Anglican Bush Church Aid Society did much to reclaim the bush for the Christian churches by the beginning of the First World War.
This chapter tracks the changes which precipitated a fundamental breach between the colonial Chur... more This chapter tracks the changes which precipitated a fundamental breach between the colonial Church of England and the imperial state through the lens of the career of William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898). In the 1850s, Gladstone sponsored a series of colonial church bills which aimed to democratise the Church of England in the colonies and facilitate the emergence of independent synods. In Britain, the passage of the legislation was thwarted because of evangelical fears that it would give too much power to colonial bishops. While unsuccessful, the controversy over Gladstone’s colonial church bills anticipated some of the tensions which would erupt in the wake of the Colenso Affair (1863). By the time of the jubilee of the Colonial Bishoprics Fund in 1891, Gladstone had witnessed an ecclesiastical revolution on an imperial stage
In the middle of the nineteenth century, the Church of England renewed its missionary objectives ... more In the middle of the nineteenth century, the Church of England renewed its missionary objectives for the colonies and aspired to demonstrate its credentials to be a national Church for the empire. This essay considers ways in which “imperial Anglicanism” was reflected in the deployment of the Gothic style for church architecture. It is argued that enthusiasts for the Gothic style in Australia included both Anglicans and Catholics, but was especially favoured by those of English descent. In contrast, Gothic was associated by a number of Irish Catholics with English cultural hegemony whereas Nonconformists generally favoured the Classical style. In this way denominational adherence became refelected in archictectural fasion. It is suggested that resistance to Gothic was more muted in the colonies that in Britain and Ireland, so that by the end of the nineteenth century almost denominations were building churches and chapels in some form of Gothic. Vernacular adaptions of Gothic to the Australian vernacular were slow to emerge. The Gothic style can therefore be regarded as a benign vehicle for English religious imperialism in the Australian colonies.
Comparative Studies in Society and History, Jan 1, 2010
This essay considers the history and significance of the scripture translations undertaken by the... more This essay considers the history and significance of the scripture translations undertaken by the missionary Lancelot Threlkeld (1788-1859) with his Aboriginal collaborator Biraban (fl. 1819-1846) into the language of the Hunter River and Lake Macquarie (“Awabakal”) people of coastal New South Wales between 1829 and 1859. Although created for a primarily evangelical purpose, it is argued that the colonial bible created by Threlkeld and Biraban took on a life of its own, ultimately serving as the memorial of the language and people for whom it was created. It provides a critique of colonialist readings of missionary linguistics which place too much emphasis on the power of the colonial agents, including missionaries, and too little on the capacity of their linguistic informants such as Biraban. In addition, where earlier studies of missionary linguistics have generally focussed on the nature of the relationship between indigenous subjects and colonial agents, it is argued here that such studies are incomplete without an analysis of the independent history of the books which these collaborations produced. Drawing on evidence of the translation process visible in the unpublished and published versions of the Gospel of St Luke and the Gospel of St Mark, and the recently discovered personal journal of Lancelot Threlkeld, it is shown that production of the colonial bible moved through a number of phases which coincide with the passing of the colonial frontier. It concludes that the colonial bible created by Biraban and Threlkeld was a contested and paradoxical object which represents both the destruction of the language community for which it was created and their post-colonial apotheosis.
The article reviews the history of astrology in the middle ages including its classical inheritan... more The article reviews the history of astrology in the middle ages including its classical inheritance, ascendancy under Byzantium and Islam, and development in the Latin west. Mediaeval astrology was a part of learned, scientific culture. However, the translation movement in the high middle ages brought challenges of integration to the Latin west, reflected in condemnations and anxieties about the orthodoxy and morality of astrological judgements. It was not until relatively late that astrology was practised on a large scale in mediaeval courts and it never achieved the same level of prominence as it did under Islam. The final section considers new work on the history of astrology, including astrology and medicine and astrology and the court. The article considers major figures, including Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy), Isidore of Seville (c. 600 ad), Māshā’allāh (Messahallah) (c. 735–815), Abū Ma’shar (Albumasar), Ahmad ibn Yūsuf (870–904), John of Seville (fl. 1135–1153), Alfonso X (El Sabio) of Castile (1221–1284), Albertus Magnus (1206–1280), and the fifteenth-century astrologer historian, Simon de Phares. It is argued that astrology was an integral part of the mediaeval world view and it is impossible to understand mediaeval culture without taking it into account.
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: …, Jan 1, 2010
Interrogations and elections were two branches of Arabic judicial astrology made available in Lat... more Interrogations and elections were two branches of Arabic judicial astrology made available in Latin translation to readers in western Europe from the twelfth century. Through an analysis of the theory and practice of interrogations and elections, including the writing of the Jewish astrologer Sahl b. Bishr, this essay considers the extent to which judicial astrology was practiced in the medieval west. Consideration is given to historical examples of interrogations and elections mostly from late medieval English manuscripts. These include the work of John Dunstaple (ca. 1390-1453), the musician and astrologer who is known have served at the court of John, duke of Bedford. On the basis of the relatively small number of surviving historical horoscopes, it is argued that the practice of interrogations and elections lagged behind the theory.
Australia is a country rich in religious diversity. While constitutionally-speaking Australia is ... more Australia is a country rich in religious diversity. While constitutionally-speaking Australia is a secular society, waves of immigration over its short history have had a large impact on its religious and cultural make-up. The Encyclopedia of Religion in Australia is the first major work of reference to describe the beliefs, practices and organisation of religion in Australia. It examines religion in several different ways: historical development, belief systems and controversies, as well as the social role each faith plays in modern Australian society. This comprehensive volume includes entries on indigenous spirituality, Scientology, hillsong, and atheism, and features all of the major religions. Richly illustrated, it includes a section dedicated to current debates and issues in modern-day Australia, such as the place of religion in politics, fundamentalism, religious education and social cohesion.
This paper provides an historiographical review of the rhetorical and historical sources for reli... more This paper provides an historiographical review of the rhetorical and historical sources for religious suspicion of empires and imperialism in the west. It begins with an analysis of Ronald Reagan’s celebrated ‘evil empires’ speech of March 1983, and traces its polemical roots to scriptural precedents, notably in the Book of Revelation, in which ‘empire’ is equated with the unjust rule of Babylon. Some comparisons are made between the general use of religious ideologies to support imperial regimes in ancient and other, more modern, world empires including China and Islam. The final section considers the debate about the role of religion in supporting – or critiquing – modern, secularised empire states such as the second British Empire. The paper argues that it is not possible to understand the problematical relationship of religion and empire in modern societies without recognising the ongoing force of Christian polemic even when religious arguments have not specifically been invoked.
Keynote talk, The Carceral Archipelago: Transnational Circulations in Global Perspective, 1415-19... more Keynote talk, The Carceral Archipelago: Transnational Circulations in Global Perspective, 1415-1960, University of Leicester 13 – 16 September 2015 College Court Conference Centre Knighton Road, Leicester LE2 3UF
From 1788 to 1865 the British government transported nearly all those convicted of serious crimes... more From 1788 to 1865 the British government transported nearly all those convicted of serious crimes to the other side of the world. Convicts were mostly despatched to penal colonies in Australia but others were sent to Gibraltar, Bermuda and Norfolk Island. While the horrors of transportation are well known - less is understood about the attempt in the middle decades of the nineteenth century to reform transportation through religious education, surveillance and work. It was one of the most far flung penal experiments in history - and one which was surprisingly successful. This talk will look at the religious arguments for and against penal reform and convict transportation in the British penal archipelago and explain why demands that punishment should terrify and physically overwhelm criminals were replaced by those aimed at reformation instead. It will ask about the mutual entanglement of religion and empire and how this was expressed through the penal system.
The tramp in mateship side by side -- / The Protestant and Roman -- / They call no biped lord or ... more The tramp in mateship side by side -- / The Protestant and Roman -- / They call no biped lord or sir, / And touch their hat to no-man!
When Russell Ward quoted this verse of Henry Lawson's, he used it to stress the democratic quality of the Australian frontier. However, it might just as usefully be taken to refer to the religious character of the Australian frontier - a source of perennial anxiety to respectable society. This paper will examine the character of the bush parson in Australian history and literature. Throughout the nineteenth century, colonial missionary societies fought hard to promote the character of the bush as a suitable field for missionary endeavours and the bush parson as part of the bush landscape, not an imposition on it. To what extent were they successful?
Hilary M. Carey is a professor of history at the University of Newcastle. She is a religious and cultural historian with a special interest in the colonial history of religious settlement in the British empire. From 2004 to 2006 she was Keith Cameron Professor of Australian history at University College Dublin. She has recently published an edited collection, Empires of Religion (Palgrave Macmillan 2008) as well as articles in Australian Historical Studies, the Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History and Comparative Studies of Society and History. Her Russell Ward lecture will draw on research for God's Empire: Religion and Colonialism in Greater Britain which is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press. She is also the current President of the Religious History Society.
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Books by Hilary M Carey
• Provides a revisionist history of religion in the British Empire and an introduction to major debates about religion in Victorian society • Assumes no prior knowledge of ecclesiastical history or theology • Tables and statistics quantify the scale and significance of the colonial missionary movement and its impact on settler colonies
Contents
Part I. God's Empire: 1. Colonialism, colonization and Greater Britain; 2. Protestant nation to Christian Empire, 1801–1908; Part II. Colonial Missions: Introduction: Colonial mission; 3. Anglicans; 4. Catholics; 5. Evangelical Anglicans; 6. Nonconformists; 7. Presbyterians; Part III. Colonial Clergy: 8. Clergy; 9. St Augustine's College, Canterbury; 10. Missionary College of All Hallows, Drumcondra (Dublin); Part IV. Promised Lands: Introduction: Emigrants and colonists; 11. Christian colonization and its critics; 12. Colonies; Conclusion.
Church-state relations have always been important but the need for an historical re-evaluation has been heightened by recent developments in the relations between governments and religious bodies. Drawing on a wide range of historical case-studies this book focuses particularly on the way in which the traditional European Old World fusion of church and state was reshaped in the New World of European settler colonies of the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Its analysis illuminates both the historical dynamics of such changes and the way in which such developments continue to influence the conduct of church-state relations in both the Old and the New Worlds.
Review
'This book is an extremely welcome addition to the growing literature on the British empire, or empires, and religion. It offers much comment that is new while contributing to established historiographical debates. It is to be hoped that this volume will generate further interest and debate on a significant and too-long neglected dimension to imperial history.' - The Journal of the Ecclesiastical History
This book explores the uses that have been made of the resource of women's voluntary labour. It is also the story of personalities - from the capable and matriarchal 'Queenie' Barlow, to the distant Cardinal Gilroy, from the gentle Kate Egan to the leaders of the 70s and 80s.
Using new and original sources, Hilary Carey takes the story of the Catholic Women's League to the present day, assessing the conservative Catholic response to the contraceptive pill, the Second Vatican Council and the liberalisation of the divorce laws. It shows how, quietly and in their own way, the women of the C.W.L. have thrown off the restrictions placed on their participation in the life of the Church in the name of Catholic Action, patriotism and loyalty to the clergy.
Today the C.W.L. stands for the defence of traditional values of Catholic family life and worship, and as the acceptable public face of Catholic laywomen in the 1980s. Truly Feminine, Truly Catholic is both a tribute to the talents of an important class of women and a lament for the past failure to appreciate their active contribution to the Church.
Papers by Hilary M Carey
Key words
Threlkeld, Biraban, missionary, linguistics, Australia, Aborigines, Awabakal, subordination
• Provides a revisionist history of religion in the British Empire and an introduction to major debates about religion in Victorian society • Assumes no prior knowledge of ecclesiastical history or theology • Tables and statistics quantify the scale and significance of the colonial missionary movement and its impact on settler colonies
Contents
Part I. God's Empire: 1. Colonialism, colonization and Greater Britain; 2. Protestant nation to Christian Empire, 1801–1908; Part II. Colonial Missions: Introduction: Colonial mission; 3. Anglicans; 4. Catholics; 5. Evangelical Anglicans; 6. Nonconformists; 7. Presbyterians; Part III. Colonial Clergy: 8. Clergy; 9. St Augustine's College, Canterbury; 10. Missionary College of All Hallows, Drumcondra (Dublin); Part IV. Promised Lands: Introduction: Emigrants and colonists; 11. Christian colonization and its critics; 12. Colonies; Conclusion.
Church-state relations have always been important but the need for an historical re-evaluation has been heightened by recent developments in the relations between governments and religious bodies. Drawing on a wide range of historical case-studies this book focuses particularly on the way in which the traditional European Old World fusion of church and state was reshaped in the New World of European settler colonies of the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Its analysis illuminates both the historical dynamics of such changes and the way in which such developments continue to influence the conduct of church-state relations in both the Old and the New Worlds.
Review
'This book is an extremely welcome addition to the growing literature on the British empire, or empires, and religion. It offers much comment that is new while contributing to established historiographical debates. It is to be hoped that this volume will generate further interest and debate on a significant and too-long neglected dimension to imperial history.' - The Journal of the Ecclesiastical History
This book explores the uses that have been made of the resource of women's voluntary labour. It is also the story of personalities - from the capable and matriarchal 'Queenie' Barlow, to the distant Cardinal Gilroy, from the gentle Kate Egan to the leaders of the 70s and 80s.
Using new and original sources, Hilary Carey takes the story of the Catholic Women's League to the present day, assessing the conservative Catholic response to the contraceptive pill, the Second Vatican Council and the liberalisation of the divorce laws. It shows how, quietly and in their own way, the women of the C.W.L. have thrown off the restrictions placed on their participation in the life of the Church in the name of Catholic Action, patriotism and loyalty to the clergy.
Today the C.W.L. stands for the defence of traditional values of Catholic family life and worship, and as the acceptable public face of Catholic laywomen in the 1980s. Truly Feminine, Truly Catholic is both a tribute to the talents of an important class of women and a lament for the past failure to appreciate their active contribution to the Church.
Key words
Threlkeld, Biraban, missionary, linguistics, Australia, Aborigines, Awabakal, subordination
• Tom Bluegum [G. Warren Payne], The Backblock's Parson (1899) – Methodist
• Steele Rudd [Arthur Hoey Davis], The Poor Parson (1907) -
Presbyterian
• C. H. S. Matthews, A Parson in the Australian Bush (1908); Bill, a Bushman (1914) – Anglican High Church
• John O'Brien [Patrick Joseph Hartigan], Around The Boree Log
and Other Verses (1921) - Catholic.
It is argued that practical attempts to provide an effective rural ministry including the work of the Anglican Bush Brothers, the Congregationalist Bush Missionary Society, the Presbyterian Australian Inland Mission and the Evangelical Anglican Bush Church Aid Society did much to reclaim the bush for the Christian churches by the beginning of the First World War.
13 – 16 September 2015
College Court Conference Centre
Knighton Road,
Leicester LE2 3UF
When Russell Ward quoted this verse of Henry Lawson's, he used it to stress the democratic quality of the Australian frontier. However, it might just as usefully be taken to refer to the religious character of the Australian frontier - a source of perennial anxiety to respectable society. This paper will examine the character of the bush parson in Australian history and literature. Throughout the nineteenth century, colonial missionary societies fought hard to promote the character of the bush as a suitable field for missionary endeavours and the bush parson as part of the bush landscape, not an imposition on it. To what extent were they successful?
Hilary M. Carey is a professor of history at the University of Newcastle. She is a religious and cultural historian with a special interest in the colonial history of religious settlement in the British empire. From 2004 to 2006 she was Keith Cameron Professor of Australian history at University College Dublin. She has recently published an edited collection, Empires of Religion (Palgrave Macmillan 2008) as well as articles in Australian Historical Studies, the Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History and Comparative Studies of Society and History. Her Russell Ward lecture will draw on research for God's Empire: Religion and Colonialism in Greater Britain which is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press. She is also the current President of the Religious History Society.