The role and significance of bullocks and horses in the development of Eastern Australia 1788 to 1900

Abstract

The central theme of this thesis is to demonstrate the vital importance of working bullocks and horses in the economic development of eastern Australia. It is argued that the roles and functions of bullocks and horses have been largely neglected in historical accounts of Australia and that in particular historians must revise the view that draught powered transport was always expensive, unreliable and limited. The development of the colonial economies depended heavily upon the successful application of draught power to a range of haulage and transport tasks in exploration, pastoralism, the exploitation of minerals, the development of large scale cereal production, farming, and the development of towns and cities. (From introduction in chapter 1)