ABSTRACT
the activities of scottish merchants, shipowners and investors in Australia, particularly in the sixty years after 1822, contributed greatly to the pastoral and commercial development of the colonies there. Indeed, Scotland’s contribution in this respect was out of all proportion to its relative share of the population and resources of the United Kingdom. A study of Scottish commercial enterprise in Australia is particularly interesting for the way in which it reveals the contemporaneous workings of the Scottish economy. It is a story of experiments, failures and eventual success, especially in the evolution of efficient, economically-run investment companies, and it illustrates very clearly the growing confidence and expertise of Scottish projectors and entrepreneurs.
