The 1881 Parliamentary Coranderrk Inquiry marked the only occasion in the history of nineteenth-century Victoria when an official commission was appointed to address Aboriginal peoples’ calls for land and self-determination, and one of the few times that Aboriginal witnesses were called to give evidence on matters concerning their own lives and interests. As such, it is a rare and historically significant moment in the history of relations between Victoria’s indigenous and settler populations, in which Aboriginal peoples’ claims to justice were addressed by the colonial government in an official forum. For the Kulin clans living at Coranderrk, the stakes could not have been any higher; this was the last chance to contest an eviction that would have completed their total dispossession.
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The project examines the pivotal role of commissions of inquiry in reforming law throughout the British Empire from 1815 to 1840. Using traditional methods and digital tools, this international collaboration will be the first to investigate the design, instantiation and impact of inquiry on colonial law. We will also explore the transformation of the imperial constitution and mechanisms of imperial governance across the Empire. The research will enhance our understanding of law reform, the historical functions of commissions of inquiry, and the legacy of British imperial rule throughout the world. Our international team draws together historians of culture, law and […]
