EARLY MERCHANTS, BANKERS & SQUATTERS

Early Merchants, Bankers & Squatters : Ventures, speculation & risks records the emergence and the growth of trade from the Colony. It follows two Scottish Walker families, from Leith and from Perth, including nine Archer brothers from Norway, and their sons and grandsons, navigating a new and turbulent economy, from 1813 to the end of the First World War. They began as merchants, trading in whale oil and wool, they went on to became bankers, pastoralists and politicians.

This is the first history to record the enduring connections and achievements of these two Scottish families and their contribution to the growth and  prosperity of the Colony.