Kate Fullagar – Rethinking the History of Arthur Phillip

Arthur Phillip is often seen to be too well-known, too unimportant, or too boring to warrant deep scholarly attention. In the absence of much contemporary debate about him, several old assertions about the first governor of New South Wales have risen to the status of solid truths. This paper will tackle at least three abiding ideas about Phillip: ideas about his personal background, ideas about his political qualities, and ideas about the role of NSW in his career. It emerges out of my current project, which is a new history of the relationship between Phillip and Bennelong.  

Kate Fullagar is professor of history at the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University. She is also honorary professor of history at Macquarie University and currently co-editor of the Australian Historical Association’s journal, History Australia.

You can join us for this seminar in person at Burwood (C2.05.01) or Waurn Ponds (CIc2.108). You can also join via zoom by clicking this link at 11am on Wednesday 4th May.