On 26 September 1819 John Thomas Bigge arrived in New South Wales with instructions from Lord Bathurst, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies in Britain, to carry out a wide-ranging commission of inquiry into the state of the colony.
Between 1822 and 1823 Bigge published three reports, all highly critical of the administration of Governor Lachlan Macquarie. The reports were pivotal in changing the administration of New South Wales – not least because they inspired the British Parliament to adopt the New South Wales Act of 1823, which established the First Legislative Council.
This will be a key theme of bicentenary events scheduled for 2023 and 2024. However, the impact of Bigge’s reports was felt across all aspects of colonial life – including currency.
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When the colony was established in 1788, no provision had been made for an internal currency. This resulted in unstable and experimental currency arrangements, with the colonists relying on a small supply of coins from other countries including Dutch guilders, Indian rupees, Portuguese Johannas, as well as the barter of produce, goods and services, and other makeshift currencies such as rum (as all spirits were then called).
Governor Lachlan Macquarie attempted to remedy the coin shortage by creating the ‘holey dollar’, which was a Spanish dollar whose centre had been removed, producing two coins: a ring or ‘holey dollar’ and a dump or core. Paper Spanish dollars were also utilised.
Other forms of currency such as IOUs, promissory notes and squatter’s cheques were also in broad circulation.
Bigge made damning findings regarding the use and form of currency in the colony – both its varying forms, and its fluctuating values. In response, the first Act passed by the Legislative Council was the Currency Act of 1824, which formalised British Sterling as the official currency of the colony.
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