William Henty stands on his legs in front of Governor Gipps. Independence, manners and manliness in colonial Australia

William Henty’s detailed journal of a visit to Sydney in December 1842 to meet with the New South Wales Executive Council reveals an uneasy relationship between claims for independence and displays of manners. This disquiet is, firstly, a result of the illusory nature of independence and, secondly, a manifestation of the disquiet that manners may have been unmanly. And the uneasiness was played out at the level of bodily comportment and gesture in social interactions. When Henty met Governor Gipps, financial security, family reputation and personal autonomy were compressed into anxiety about when to speak and when not to speak, and whether to sit or stand.