Forests, character and conscience: Lane Poole in Western Australia as recounted mainly by John Thomson

Abstract

This paper offers a preliminary look at the role attributed to 'character', 'manners' and 'conscience' in the creation of support for policies promoted by British foresters in Western Australia. My data mainly concerns the period from 1916 to 1922 when Lane Poole was Conservator of Forests in WA. I outline how trained foresters, like Fairbridge, Lane Poole and John Thomson, argued that specific policy interventions required the development of a specific kind of moral person. By outlining these men's accounts of the importance of 'character' and 'manners' the paper also seeks to understand how Australian radicals, such as John Thomson, came to support many of the ideas and policies of imperial foresters.