Ninth governor of New South Wales.

Born in England.

Was governor during the period of transition to representative self government – an Imperial Act of 1842 added to the Legislative Council a two-thirds proportion of members elected on a limited franchise. It was enlarged to 36 members, 24 were to be elected. Of the twelve government nominees only six could be officials This limited the amount of influence the Governor could have on the Legislative Council. Most of these seats were won by the graziers and their friends and were ‘exclusive and anti-emancipist’. The Governor could no longer determine the course of deliberations of the Council.

Had many problems with the settlers at Port Phillip District. They demanded separation as they could not afford the time and expense to travel the six hundred miles to Sydney to attend Legislative Council meetings and so felt they were denied proper representation. They also had very few convicts and wanted to keep the district free of them as much as possible. During Gipps’ administration, separation was not achieved.

During Gipps’ rule, penal transportation was abolished to New South Wales although convicts were still sent to Norfolk Island. Had to deal with the issue of squatters demanding security of tenure. When Gipps arrived, the economy was ‘riding on the sheep’s back’. Graziers were squatting both within and outside the boundaries of location. He fought against the Legislative Council controlling crown lands and felt it should remain under the control of the Imperial Government as he felt the current Legislative Council was not truly representative of the people of New South Wales but represented the rich. He insisted all squatters should be treated alike.

First and last governor of the colony to make a serious effort to collect quintrents from squatters and landowners. He also tried to regulate the size of stations, and to impose on them an annual ten-pound license. Squatters, not surprisingly, bitterly opposed him.

Gipps supported free immigration. Two schemes were running during his rule – the government scheme where free passage for immigrants was paid from government funds, and the bounty system by which individual settlers were subsidised from government land revenue to bring out their nominated immigrant workmen. The bounty system was cheaper, a smaller proportion of children were introduced and it brought out better immigrants. These schemes were popular as there was to be no more transportation and the labour supply therefore had to be supplemented. Neither Gipps nor the Colonial Office would agree to import Indian or Chinese labour.

Countered the drought induced economic depression by keeping his government out of debt but would not assist private enterprise.

During his rule, the New South Wales’ population almost doubled. Education was important to Gipps. He supported a comprehensive public school system but after great debate, the National system was introduced.

Gipps’ policy towards the Aboriginal people was one of humanity, practicality and courage. His governance coincided with the British government’s first serious attempt to supervise the welfare of the indigenous inhabitants of its colony. Officially the Aboriginal people were considered a British subject, sheltered by British law and justice. In Sydney, a select committee of the Legislative Council was appointed to study the Aboriginal question. They reached only one conclusion: not to transfer the Tasmanian Aboriginals from Flinders Island to the mainland. On the frontier an atmosphere of force and fear prevailed. The philosophy was that the only good Aboriginal was a dead one. The Aboriginals did not combine but massacres occurred with the most infamous one being the Myall Creek massacre in 1838 where 22 Aboriginal men, women and children were brutally shot and burned. It was under Gipps that these men were brought to trial for murder, and when acquitted, he ordered a second trial. Seven were found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. Public reaction to this ensured no such 'justice' in the future. During his rule, he continuously sent reports to the Colonial Office on the state of the ‘Aboriginal problem’. Missions and protectorates were seen as a failure and the Colonial Office discontinued government grants to these missions. The Aboriginal Protectorate was the most ambitious and comprehensive effort ever made to ‘civilize, Christianize and protect’ the Aboriginal people. It lasted from 1838 to 1849. It failed in that atrocities continued unabated, the majority of the population of the colony had little sympathy for the indigenous inhabitants of the land and the newspapers in Sydney and Melbourne were unrelenting in their criticism.

Gipps was vitally interested in exploration during his administration. Strzelecki reached Westernport via the Australian Alps. Ludwig Leichardt went north and west and successfully travelled overland to Port Essington. Sir Thomas Mitchell discovered the Victoria River (Barcoo). Angus McMillan made several expeditions to the south-east corner of Australia, which he named Gippsland.

Gipps was constantly attacked, particularly by the colonial newspapers, as a ‘creature of the crown’ rather than a governor interested in the colony’s development. In fact, a few days before he left the colony, the Sydney Morning Herald stated ‘from the matured observation of eight years that…. Sir George Gipps has been the worst governor New South Wales ever had.’