Geographies of Displacement in a Colonial Context: Allen F. Gardiner’s Writings on Australia

Abstract

Naval officer, cartographer, town planner, explorer, missionary, Allen Gardiner’s life encompassed many of the roles afforded within the framework of the British Empire. This article explores his engagement with Australia through a discussion of two texts: a series of letters that he wrote to his father in 1821-1822, and a pamphlet of 1833 advocating the further exploration and settlement of the continent. It explores the overlap between the two texts and their underlying ideological coherence within the context of colonial appropriation.