John Dunmore Lang in Sydney

Abstract

This chapter describes the early career of John Dunmore Lang (1799–1878) who moved to Sydney in 1822 where he became the first Presbyterian minister in the city. Lang became critical of the dominant position of Anglicans in colonial society and the lack of support available for Scottish Presbyterians. Lang’s politics, this chapter argues, were shaped by his commitment to Scottish Presbyterian values. Lang was inspired by a reading of the Scottish past which interpreted Anglicanism and Catholicism as tyrannising faiths. Lang maintained that the Treaty of Union had guaranteed to Scots in perpetuity the religious and civil liberties secured to them by the sacrifices of the Covenanters. He criticised the exclusive nature of crown colony rule in Australia, where Anglicans, he argued, were a protected class, and called for the institution of a more accountable government.