Regulating labour in a colonial context: Maritime labour legislation in the Australian colonies, 1788–1850

Melville and the Lucy Ann Mutiny

“…Australian seamen were more active in standing up for their rights than any other group of colonial workers (Quinlan, “Industrial Relations” 288, 290; “Regulating Labour”). At least 60 percent of strikes in the colonies between 1801 and 1850 occurred in the maritime sector (Quinlan, Gardner, and Akers 161).…”