In this lecture Professor Alan Reid explores political life in South Australia in the 1860s. He focuses particularly on the lives and contributions of the fifth to eighth Premiers of the State - ‘Teapot Tommy’ Reynolds, George Waterhouse, Francis Dutton and Henry Ayers – and how they tried to (re)imagine democracy in the first decade of responsible government in South Australia. Part of a broader project on the 47 Premiers of South Australia, the presentation will build on last year’s lecture about the first four Premiers, exploring various issues and events that tested and shaped our democracy such as the famous ‘Justice Boothby Affair’ which dogged successive Premiers in the 1860s.

Image: South Australian Parliament; the House of Assembly, c.1867, James Shaw (1815-1881), Art Gallery of South Australia