Charles Joseph LA TROBE

LA TROBE, CHARLES JOSEPH (b. London, England, 30 Mar 1801; d. London, 4 Dec 1875). Colonial governor and mission supporter.

Born into a distinguished Moravian family, Charles La Trobe's father, Christian Ignatius La Trobe, was a prominent minister and mission administrator. Charles La Trobe received the usual Moravian education in preparation for the ministry. Never ordained, La Trobe embarked on a life as an adventurer and travel writer. In Switzerland in 1835 he married Sophie de Montmollin.

The La Trobe family were supporters of William Wilberforce in the anti-slavery movement. In 1837, La Trobe was sent by the British government to report on assistance to freed slaves in the West Indies. Impressing the Colonial Office, he was appointed superintendent of the Port Phillip district (NSW) in 1839, and later governor when it became the colony of Vic in 1851.

In these fifteen years he presided over the expansion of the pastoral industry and the explosive impact of the gold rushes with conscientious aplomb moderated by severe self-doubt. Ambitious colonists intent on wealth found him too cautious, and very aware of the various interests jostling for advantage. He argued for the importance of 'sound moral and religious institutions' rather than 'individual aggrandisement, by the possession of numerous flocks or herds' as the key to the colony's prosperity and happiness. The colonists paid little heed to such exhortations, based as they were on La Trobe's evangelical convictions.

La Trobe's early interest in the welfare of Aborigines was an example of this outlook. He criticised the failure of previous efforts to assist them and prevent their mistreatment. His brother Peter having succeeded his father as secretary of the Moravian missionary society, La Trobe arranged with him for Moravian missionaries to be sent to Vic. As well, La Trobe gained support for his plans from both the Church of England and the Presbyterian Church.

The first two missionaries, the Rev Andrew Tager and F William Spieseke (q.v.), arrived from Germany in 1849. La Trobe travelled to north-west Victoria to supervise personally their receipt of a lease of 25 000 acres at Lake Boga. Boga mission failed, victim of the opposition of corrupt white colonists. It served, however, as a spur to greater efforts and was followed by the two very long-lived and influential Moravian missions in the Wimmera and in Gippsland.

La Trobe resigned his governorship, returning to retirement in England in 1854. Not only had he assisted churches, but he had been significantly involved in the development of the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the University of Melbourne, the Royal Philharmonic, the Benevolent Society, and the Mechanics Institute. He had not, however, been a popular governor, his high ethical values being in direct conflict with the material aspirations of many of the settlers.

ADB 2; DNB; J Harris, One Blood (Sutherland, 1990)

JOHN HARRIS