DEPOSITIONS, HOUSEHOLD SPACE AND OWNERSHIP IN COLONIAL NEW SOUTH WALES.

An examination of the language used in courts and legal documents shows that in colonial Sydney "things" were central to managing relationships and much of life was commoditised, particularly the housing market. The society was transitory, people moved constantly from house to house. Entangled with illiteracy, this created a particular power structure where paper became symbolic and a group of ex-convict clerks controlled as much of the society as they could. Indigenous people also participated in this logic of settlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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