Early Merchant Families of Sydney: Speculation and Risk Management on the Fringes of Empire

Description

Establishing business enterprise in a tiny, remote penal settlement appears to defy the principles of sustainable demand and supply. Yet early Sydney attracted a number of business entrepreneurs, including Campbell, Riley and Walker. If the development of private enterprise in early colonial Australia is counterintuitive, an understanding of its rationale, nature and risk strategies is the more imperative. This book traces the development of private enterprise in Australia through a study of the antecedents, connections and commercial activities of early Sydney merchants.

Janette Holcomb is an Honorary Associate of the School of Humanities at the University of New England, where she obtained her doctorate. In October 2009, Janette received a NSW History Fellowship from the NSW government to assist her in researching and writing this book. She has published several refereed articles in the Great Circle and the Journal of Australian Colonial History.