The Last ‘New Australia’ Communard

Join us to learn more about the New Australia commune in Paraguay!

Talk Abstract

The ‘girl’ is Margaret Hoare who was born on 22 January 1883 at Barcaldine, Queensland. In late 1893 Margaret and her family joined William Lane’s would-be utopian commune, called ‘New Australia’, in Paraguay.

As part of my doctoral research, by luck and my historian’s sleuthing, on 19 March 1984, I located and interviewed the 102-year-old Margaret, the last survivor of this remarkable communal experiment.

This talk will include extracts from that interview, and describe New Australia commune from her adolescent perspective – a humorous yet painful story of one girl’s ‘utopia’? Or was it her dystopia?

Speaker Bio

Dr Bill Metcalf is a retired social historian holding honorary positions at University of Queensland and Griffith University.

He is the author of twelve books and numerous journal and popular articles about history, particularly of utopian and communal ventures as well as Queensland/Brisbane history.

He has been granted the Distinguished Scholar Award, by the Communal Studies Association, USA, the ‘John Douglas Kerr Medal of Distinction in Research and Writing Australian History’, by RHSQ, and Distinguished Scholar award by the International Communal Studies Association, Israel.

He is a long-term member of RHSQ and serves on its Council.