Your Task
It is 1827. You are about to take control of an area of land near Goulburn. You will name the property ‘Springfield’.
Your task is to make a number of decisions that will help develop Springfield into a successful and prosperous property. This will give employment to local people, create a society in the area, and help create wealth for the area. In this way you will contribute to the economic, social and cultural growth of the nation.
Make good decisions that will help achieve those developments, and you will receive points. Make decisions that will not help achieve those developments and you lose them.
Can you be a good nation-maker? Let’s see.
But first, look at this video introduction to what to expect at Springfield.
Then read the Background Information on the next page and start making your decisions.
Background Information
You are about to choose an area of land, and develop it. The land is near Goulburn, in New South Wales.
During a tour of the area in 1820 Governor Macquarie noted that it was 'a most beautiful rich tract of country extending from Breadalbane Plains on the north to fine open forest on the south... fit for both purposes of cultivation and grazing, with a plentiful supply of fresh water ponds, and hardly a tree to be seen in this whole extent of plain, but with plenty of good timber on the hills and ridges which gird these plains like a belt.'
The traditional owners are the Ngunawal and the Gundungurra people. In nearby areas they have been gradually displaced, and their sources of food have disappeared. Some Gundungurra people resisted the invasion by killing settlers and attacking farms, and in 1816 Governor Macquarie ordered a military expedition that
killed 14 men, women and children in their camp at night. Since then there has been no more violence against the settlers, or by the settlers against the local people.
You will be fairly isolated on your property, but will have some workers and their families if you want them. There are roads being made by convict work gangs. The nearest town is Goulburn, a service centre which is growing and developing as more people move into the area.
You should now start making decisions, starting with selecting which of three possible areas you will choose to start your property, Springfield.
*Lachlan Macquarie Governor of New South Wales: Journals of his Tours in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land 1810 -1822. Edited by Phyllis Mander Jones. Sydney: Trustees of the Public Library of New South Wales, 1956.