Dear Histarchers,
 
I plan on presenting a co-authored paper in Albuquerque on the 'Parsonage' of the Rev. Willoughby Bean, the first permanent Anglican minister (or indeed minister of any Christian denomination) to settle in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.  
 
The site was occupied 1848-1858, and has remained undeveloped agricultural land since the house burned down in c.1861, providing us with a rare example of a short occupation pre-gold rush site in regional Victoria.  The site is also a rare surviving example of a coherent ploughed [or 'plowed', if you prefer] Australian historic site.  We have recovered an extensive, period-appropriate material culture assemblage from the site which we are currently cataloguing; analysis will be complete by the conference.  
 
The paper co-authors are Susan Lawrence and Jane Lennon.  The paper is a small part of the outcome of a 3 year Australian government-funded research project.
 
I would much prefer to present this paper in an organised symposium if possible, rather than a general session.  However, notwithstanding the sessions I organised or helped co-organise for York and Williamsburg, it can be difficult to put a session together for an SHA conference when you're based in Australia - or to find an appropriate session for an Australia-based paper.
 
So I'm mailing to Histarch to ask whether any session organisers would potentially be interested in including this paper in their session.  Our precise theme can be adapted depending on the needs of the session we end up in, but essentially we would plan on discussing the material culture of a middle class Anglican minister in an early settlement in regional Victoria, with a particular view towards what we can interpret of everyday life at this particular site, life in early Gippsland, and the material culture of mid-19th century Australia (and potentially the British Empire) more generally.  The site is simultaneously religious and domestic.
 
Potential session themes we could easily fit into might include:
Religious sites/landscapes
Any one of a number of themes on mid-19th century material culture (material culture of the British Empire / material culture of religious sites / domestic material culture / frontier settlement material culture, etc.)
19th-century colonialism / imperialism
 
 
We would happily consider other sessions as appropriate if you think this paper would fit in.
 
Please contact me at my _work_ e-mail address ([log in to unmask]) if this paper sounds of interest to you.
 
Thank you,
 
Alasdair Brooks