Empire and mobility in the long nineteenth century

246 Pages·2020·9.284 MB·English

by  David Lambert (editor), Peter Merriman (editor)

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General editors: Andrew S. Thompson and Alan Lester
Founding editor: John M. MacKenzie
When the ‘Studies in Imperialism’ series was founded
by Professor John M. MacKenzie more than thirty
years ago, emphasis was laid upon the conviction that
‘imperialism as a cultural phenomenon had as significant
an effect on the dominant as on the subordinate societies’.
With well over a hundred titles now published, this remains
the prime concern of the series. Cross- disciplinary work
has indeed appeared covering the full spectrum of cultural
phenomena, as well as examining aspects of gender and sex,
frontiers and law, science and the environment, language
and literature, migration and patriotic societies, and much
else. Moreover, the series has always wished to present
comparative work on European and American imperialism,
and particularly welcomes the submission of books in these
areas. The fascination with imperialism, in all its aspects,
shows no sign of abating, and this series will continue to
lead the way in encouraging the widest possible range of
studies in the field. ‘Studies in Imperialism’ is fully organic
in its development, always seeking to be at the cutting edge,
responding to the latest interests of scholars and the needs
of this ever- expanding area of scholarship.
Empire and mobility in the

long nineteenth century
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SELECTED TITLES AVAILABLE IN THE SERIES
WRITING IMPERIAL HISTORIES
ed. Andrew S. Thompson
GENDERED TRANSACTIONS
Indrani Sen
EXHIBITING THE EMPIRE
ed. John McAleer and John M. MacKenzie
BANISHED POTENTATES
Robert Aldrich
MISTRESS OF EVERYTHING
ed. Sarah Carter and Maria Nugent
BRITAIN AND THE FORMATION OF THE GULF STATES
Shohei Sato
CULTURES OF DECOLONISATION
ed. Ruth Craggs and Claire Wintle
HONG KONG AND BRITISH CULTURE, 1945– 97
Mark Hampton
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Empire and

mobility in the long
nineteenth century
Edited by
David Lambert and Peter Merriman
MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Copyright © Manchester University Press 2020
While copyright in the volume as a whole is vested in Manchester University Press,
copyright in individual chapters belongs to their respective authors, and no chapter
may be reproduced wholly or in part without the express permission in writing of
both author and publisher.
Published by Manchester University Press
Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 5261 2638 2 hardback
First published 2020
The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs
for any external or third-p arty internet websites referred to in this book,
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
Cover image: Vintage World Map, 2015 © Michal Bednarek, bednarek-art.com
Cover design: riverdesignbooks.com
Typeset by Newgen Publishing UK
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To Alex and Tilly

To Eiry and Fflur
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CONTENTS

List of figures—viii
Notes on contributors—x
Acknowledgements—xiv
1 Empire and mobility: an introduction David Lambert
and Peter Merriman 1
2 Military print culture, knowledge and terrain: knowledge
mobility and eighteenth- century military
colonialism Huw J. Davies 29
3 A contested vision of empire: anonymity, authority and
mobility in the reception of William Macintosh’s Travels
in Europe, Asia, and Africa (1782) Innes M. Keighren 50
4 The art of travel in the name of science: mobility and
erasure in the art of Flinders’s Australian voyage,
1801– 3 Sarah Thomas 69
5 ‘On their own element’: nineteenth- century
seamen’s missions and merchant seamen’s
mobility Justine Atkinson 92
6 ‘Easy chair geography’: the fabrication of an immobile
culture of nineteenth- century exploration Natalie Cox 112
7 Consorting with ‘others’: vagrancy laws and unauthorised
mobility across colonial borders in New Zealand from
1877 to 1900 Catharine Coleborne 136
8 Trekking around Upper Burma: Charlotte
Wheeler- Cuffe’s exploration of the frontier districts,
1903 Nuala C. Johnson 152
9 Reading the skies, writing mobility: on the road with a
colonial meteorologist Martin Mahony 174
10 Grounded: the limits of British imperial
aeromobility Liz Millward 195
11 Afterword: Westward the course of empire takes
its way Tim Cresswell 216
Index—225
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viii
FIGURES

4.1 Ferdinand Bauer, Trichoglossus haematodus (Rainbow lorikeet),
c. 1811, London, watercolour on paper, 33.6 × 50.6 cm;
The Natural History Museum, London (© The Trustees of
the Natural History Museum, London) page 74
4.2 Ferdinand Bauer, Thysanotus patersonii (Twining fringe- lily),
1806– 10, London, watercolour on paper, 52.5 × 35.8 cm; The
Natural History Museum, London (© The Trustees of the
Natural History Museum, London) 75
4.3 Ferdinand Bauer, Acanthaluteres brownii (Spiny- tailed, or
Brown’s, leatherjacket), c. 1811, London, watercolour on paper,
33.8 × 50.5 cm; The Natural History Museum, London (© The
Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London) 77
4.4 William Westall, Views on the South Coast of Terra Australis,
engraving on paper, 72.4 × 99.8 cm, from Matthew Flinders, A
Voyage to Terra Australis, London: G. and W. Nicol, 1814,
plate XVII (By permission of the National Library of
Australia, Canberra) 81
4.5 William Westall, South Coast, Bald Head, Eclipse Island
and Seal Island, [1801], pencil on paper, 20.0 × 36.5 cm (By
permission of the National Library of Australia, Canberra) 82
4.6 William Westall, Views on the South Coast of Australia,
1801– 2, watercolour on paper, 31.1 × 44.5 cm (By permission of
the National Library of Australia, Canberra) 82
4.7 Ferdinand Bauer, Portunus pelagicus (Blue swimming crab),
c. 1802, St Vincent’s Gulf, South Australia, pencil on paper,
52.8 × 35.6 cm (By permission of Naturhistorisches
Museum, Wien) 84
4.8 William Westall, King George’s [i.e. George] Sound, View from
the North- West, [1801], pencil and wash on paper, 16 × 26.7 cm
(By permission of the National Library of Australia, Canberra) 85
6.1 W. D. Cooley, ‘Map of Dr Lacerda’s Route from Tete to
Cazembe’, c. 1845 (© Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)) 120–1
6.2 Letter from David Livingstone to the editor of the Athenaeum,
25 November 1856 (© Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)) 123
6.3 ‘Dr Livingstone at Work on his Journal’, from Henry
M. Stanley, How I Found Livingstone, London: Sampson Low,
1872, facing p. 563 (© Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)) 127
6.4 Chair used by Dr Livingstone during his expedition to Lake
Nyasa, 1858– 64 (© Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)) 128
8.1 Map of Burma 158
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ix
FIGURES
8.2 Dendrobium fimbriatum growing on Bauhinia purpurea over
Chaung ta Shé, Mogôk (Courtesy of the National Botanic
Gardens, Dublin) 164
8.3 Charlotte Wheeler- Cuffe sketching at Mandalay, no date
(Courtesy of the National Botanic Gardens Dublin) 167
11.1 Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, Westward the Course of Empire
Takes Its Way, mural study, US Capitol, 1861/ 62 (Image
in public domain, available from Architect of the Capitol,
Washington, DC, www.aoc.gov/ art/ other- paintings- and-
murals/ westward- course- empire- takes- its- way) 219
11.2 Alexander Gardner, ‘Westward the Course of Empire Takes
Its Way’: Laying Track 600 Miles West of St. Louis, Missouri,
19 October 1867, albumen silver print, 33.2 × 47.6 cm,
84.XM.1027.37; The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
(Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program) 220
11.3 Frances Flora Bond Palmer, Across the Continent –
Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way, 1868,
New York: Published by Currier & Ives, 152 Nassau Street
(Photograph, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Division, www.loc.gov/ item/ 90708413/ ) 222
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