This anomalous community : Dungog Magistrates̢۪ Letterbook, 1834-1839

Bound in a single volume of copied letters, running from the beginning of 1834 until early 1839, is a record of the outward correspondence of magistrates sitting at the newly established courthouse at what was first referred to as 'Upper William' and from about August 1834, Dungog. 1 This correspondence was to local landowners, magistrates of surrounding districts, the Commissioner of the nearby Australian Agricultural Company (AAC), and of course to numerous functionaries in Sydney including the Superintendent of Convicts, the Colonial Storekeeper and most often, the Colonial Secretary. This outward correspondence by Dungog's magistrates contains numerous insights into local administration in the convict period of Australian history, capturing as it does a slice of life across a wide range of matters over a few years in the late 1830s. The Letterbook gives a glimpse into Australian history at a time when convicts, indigenous people and newly granted landowners lived side by side on the edge of white settlement, some 150 miles and at least two hard days travel from Sydney. Perhaps most suggestive of the basis of this 'anomalous community' is the paradoxical phrase - 'free by servitude'" frequently used to refer to those members of it no longer in formal custody.