ABSTRACT
Colonially based and funded joint stock gold mining companies were uncommon in Australia before the mid-1850s. This was due to the necessity of gaining a parliamentary Act of Incorporation to limit shareholders’ liabilities, and the diggers’ antipathy to companies in Victoria. By 1855, however, the balance was swinging towards cooperative enterprises, reflected by the passage of legislation known as Haines’ Act to encourage the formation of companies in Victoria.2 Based on the cost book system, which required frequent meetings of shareholders, it proved impractical owing to the widespread nature of the goldfields and their highly mobile populations.
