Through Australian Eyes: Colonial Perceptions of Imperial Britain

In the last twenty-five years of the 19th century, around 200,000 visitors from Australia landed in Britain. As members of the colonial elite, they sailed to the Old Country to experience their Britishness: they toured Westminster Abbey; they visited graves of parents; they threw snowballs at Christmas. Yet they were also aware of themselves as Australians. In 1891, one Irishman wrote of his birthplace: 'The north of Ireland is a disgusting climate for an Australian who loves his blue skies and …