1989 The Pastoral Era

These stamps depict the pastoral history of Australia, between 1810 and 1850. It features themes of European settlement in Australia from immigrants, pioneers, squatters, shepherds, and explorers. Influenced by engravings, watercolours and topographical drawings of the period, the top of the of the se-tenant strip depicts a panoramic view, starting from the seacoast to the inland desert interior.

Beneath, the first stamp features an immigrant ship at a wharf in the 1830s when immigration form the British Isles to Australia began. The second stamp shows a simple wattle and daub hut, a typical home of the early pioneers of the era. Two indigenous Australians are also seen in the foreground. The pioneers had a mixed relations with them, on hand they fought over land use and on the other the indigenous also led to good land and water courses. The huts then developed into homesteads in late 1830s, when squatters took up land with increasing prosperity from food and wool production.

A lone shepherd with his herd is then depicted on the fourth stamp. They were usually assigned convicts who were pivotal to the growth of the Australian wool industry. And lastly an explorer searching the new territory.

While these stamps celebrate the prosperity of Australia’s pasture, it came at a cost. Indigenous Australians had their land stolen from them and the natural ecosystem was disrupted and cleared for agricultural purposes.

Technical Details

Stamp design: David Lancashire

Issue date: 10 May 1989

You may receive a stamp strip or loose stamps depending on availability.