The nineteenth century in Australia is particularly interesting from the literary suppression point of view. In this talk, Dr Cains addresses suppression - items of literature withdrawn from the market and not available to the general reader – rather than censorship, a State based activity often invoked to protect the morals of the population. During this period, the Port Phillip colony moved with increasing confidence to self-government and federation, and there were tentative shoots of a domestic literature. But as a young boisterous colony, the excesses of expression and behaviour were curbed, often by legal means and occasionally by literary suppression: some of these instances are the subject of this lecture.
