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Despite an increasingly rich historiography detailing the economic, cultural, and political development of eighteenth-century provincial towns, governance and politics under the municipal corporation has received little recent attention. For the most part, a conventional view prevails holding that the corporations were increasingly corrupt, under-resourced and institutionally obsolete. The rise of statutory authorities and other forms of government are seen as evidence of the ineffectiveness of the old corporate regimes. This thesis attempts to understand what sort of role the static, institutionally ossified municipal corporation was able to play in within a community undergoing important social, cultural, and economic changes over the course in the eighteenth century. In the case of Ipswich, Suffolk, it is argued that while the ancient Corporation did not function in accordance with modem standards of bureaucratic effectiveness and democratic openness, it nonetheless played central role in the life of the community. As an instrument of for the regulation of trade and the maintenance of commercially vital infrastructure, the Corporation operated with great effectiveness until the last decades of the eighteenth century. Moreover, in contending with the problem of poverty, the town's leaders were able to co-ordinate parochial relief with considerable resources they directly controlled. The community was not subject to the tyranny of an unresponsive oligarchy nor dominated by its wealthiest members. The Ipswich Corporation's particular institutional structure and the town's developing political culture meant that domination of the senior offices by a narrow elite grew increasingly difficult. Moreover, the negotiation of power relations and the place of the Corporation in the life of the community must be understood within the context of the participation of a broad cross-section of the community in various aspects of government and politics. For most of the eighteenth century the Corporation was able to function effectively and provided various means of participation in its affairs for a wide spectrum of the community. By the 1780s, however, a contentious politics had developed which exploited institutional weaknesses and financially undermined the corporate regime. The Corporation's success depended on its pre-eminence and the cohesiveness of its governing elite. The increasingly profound loss of the later gradually undermined the former. This opened the way for other forms of public authority whose principles, methods, and very existence undermined the ancient Corporation in the early nineteenth century.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

Water withdrawals for human use can reduce water in lakes and streams, with significant consequences for aquatic biota. Urbanization, particularly large lawn areas associated with low-density residential development, increases demand on freshwater resources. Outdoor water use accounts for the largest proportion of residential water use during the summer months, which corresponds to the lowest water levels in freshwater ecosystems. Prior studies have sought to understand property features associated with the highest water use; however, these studies do not consider other types of water use nor do they capture the decisions by residents that result in outdoor water use. Understanding these decisions is critical for developing policies and education tools that reduce outdoor water use by changing people’s water use behavior. Focusing on the Ipswich River Watershed, which has been impacted by extreme low flows due to water withdrawals, a mixed-methods approach was used to understand residents’ outdoor water use and the factors influencing the amount and timing of water use. To quantify water use meters were placed on outdoor spigots at residences, participants were provided with a written survey before and after water metering, and in-person interviews were conducted. Irrigation systems used the most water; however, garden watering occurred as frequently as lawn irrigation and many participants indicated that their garden was a primary factor in water use decisions. Participants’ water use decisions fell into categories from habitual (i.e., watering at the same time of day) to purely cognitive (i.e., watering based on weather and plant needs). While many participants felt that water conservation was necessary, their willingness to implement landscape-level conservation practices, such as rain barrels, did not differ from participants who believed water conservation was unnecessary. Interestingly, many residents reduced their outdoor water use behavior and increased their concern for other environmental issues in response to study participation. To have the greatest impact on overall water use, efforts should focus on residents running irrigation systems on a schedule. Outreach should emphasize individualized approaches to water conservation, regardless of water source (public or private), and include information and conservation options specific to the water needs of the individual property.

The intermontane Ipswich Basin, which is situated 30km south-west of Brisbane, contains coal measures formed in the Late Triassic Epoch following a barren non-depositional period. Coal, tuff, and basalt were deposited along with fluvial dominated sediments. The Ipswich Coal Measures mark the resumption of deposition in eastern Australia after the coal hiatus associated with a series of intense tectonic activity in Gondwanaland during the Permo-Triassic interval. A transtensional tectonic movement at the end of the Middle Triassic deformed the Toogalawah Group before extension led to the formation of the Carnian Ipswich Coal Measures in the east. The Ipswich Coal Measures comprise the Brassall and Kholo Subgroups. The Blackstone Formation, which forms the upper unit of the Brassall Subgroup, contains seven major coal seams. The lower unit of the Brassall Subgroup, the Tivoli Formation, consists of sixteen stratigraphically significant coal seams. The typical thickness of the Blackstone Formation is 240m and the Tivoli Formation is about 500m. The coal seams of the Ipswich Basin differ considerably from those of other continental Triassic basins. However, the coal geology has previously attracted little academic attention and the remaining exposures of the Ipswich coalfield are rapidly disappearing now that mining has ceased. The primary aim of this project was to study the patterns of coal sedimentation and the response of coal seam characteristics to changing depositional environments. The coal accumulated as a peat-mire in an alluvial plain with meandering channel systems. Two types of peat-mire expansion occurred in the basin. Peat-mire aggradation, which is a replacement of water body by the peatmire, was initiated by tectonic subsidence. This type of peat-mire expansion is known as terrestrialisation. It formed thick but laterally limited coal seams in the basin. Whereas, peat-mire progradation was related to paludification and produced widespread coal accumulation in the basin. The coal seams were separated into three main groups based on the mean seam thickness and aerial distribution of one-meter and four-meter thickness contour intervals. Group 1 seams within the one-meter thickness interval are up to 15,000m2 in area, and seams within the four-meter interval have an aerial extent of up to 10,000m2. Group 1A contains the oldest seam with numerous intraseam clastic bands and shows a very high thickness to area ratio, which indicates high subsidence rates. Group 1B seams have moderately high thickness to area ratios. The lower clastic influx and slower subsidence rates favoured peat-mire aggradation. The Group 1A seam is relatively more widespread in aerial extent than seams from Group 1B. Group 1C seams have low mean thicknesses and small areas, suggesting short-lived peat-mires as a result of high clastic influx. Group 2 seams arebetween 15,000 and 35,000m2 in area within the one-meter interval, and between 5,000 and 10,000m2 within the four-meter interval. They have moderately high area to thickness ratios, indicating that peat-mire expansion occurred due to progressively shallower accommodation and a rising groundwater table. Group 3 seams, which have aerial extents from 35,000 to 45,000m2 within the one-meter thickness contour interval and from 10,000 to 25,000m2 within the four-meter interval, show high aerial extent to thickness ratios. They were deposited in quiet depositional environments that favoured prolonged existence of peat-mires. Group 3 seams are all relatively young whereas most Group 1 seams are relatively old seams. All the major fault systems, F1, F2 and F3, trend northwest-southeast. Apart from the West Ipswich Fault (F3), the F1 and F2 systems are broad Palaeozoic basement structures and thus they may not have had a direct influence on the formation of the much younger coal measures. However, the sedimentation patterns appear to relate to these major fault systems. Depocentres of earlier seams in the Tivoli Formation were restricted to the northern part of the basin, marked by the F1 system. A major depocentre shift occurred before the end of the deposition of the Tivoli Formation as a result of subsidence in the south that conformed to the F2 system configuration. The Blackstone Formation depocentres shifted to the east (Depocentre 1) and west (Depocentre 2) simultaneously. This depocentre shift was associated with the flexural subsidence produced by the rejuvenation of the West Ipswich Fault. Coal accumulation mainly occurred in Depocentre 1. Two types of seam splitting occurred in the Ipswich Basin. Sedimentary splitting or autosedimentation was produced by frequent influx of clastic sediments. The fluvial dominant depositional environments created the random distribution of small seam splits. However, the coincidence of seam splits and depocentres found in some of the seams suggests tectonic splitting. Furthermore, the progressive splitting pattern, which displays seam splits overlapping, was associated with continued basin subsidence. The tectonic splitting pattern is more dominant in the Ipswich Basin. Alternating bright bands shown in the brightness profiles are a result of oscillating water cover in the peat-mire. Moderate groundwater level, which was maintained during the development of the peat, reduced the possibility of salinisation and drowning of the peat swamp. On the other hand, a slow continuous rise of the groundwater table, that kept pace with the vertical growth of peat, prevented excessive oxidation of peat. Ipswich coal is bright due to its high vitrinite content. The cutinite content is also high because the dominant flora was pteridosperms of Dicroidium assemblage containing waxy and thick cuticles. Petrographic study revealed that the depositional environment was telmatic with bog forest formed under ombrotrophic to mesotrophic hydrological conditions. The high preservation of woody or structured macerals such as telovitrinite and semifusinite indicates that coal is autochthonous. The high mineral matter content in coal is possibly due to the frequent influx of clastic and volcanic sediments. The Ipswich Basin is part of a much larger Triassic basin extending to Nymboida in New South Wales. Little is known of the coal as it lacks exposures. It is apparently thin to absent except in places like Ipswich and Nymboida. This study suggests that the dominant control on depocentres of thick coal at Ipswich has been the tectonism. Fluvial incursions and volcanism were superimposed on this.

This dissertation explores humanism, the rediscovery of the culture of ancient Greece and Rome, in late fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century England. It does so with reference to texts, institutional settings, and networks both within and beyond England, and examines the activities of several seemingly minor figures who have been absent from recent scholarship on the topic: John Holt, William Lily, Richard Croke, Leonard Cox, and Thomas Lupset. These figures made distinctive and original contributions to the genres in which they operated, whether the grammatical manual, educational treatise, dialogue, or philosophical meditation. They are also noteworthy for their considerable influence, whether in England or further abroad. With regard to Croke and Cox, the integration of previously unknown sources from France and Germany and overlooked ones from eastern Europe reveals that England could be an exporter and not merely an importer of humanism. Taken together, these individuals demonstrate that English humanism was more sophisticated and complex than its frequent characterisation as 'Erasmian' would suggest. In addition, this dissertation analyses the influence of humanism on two school foundations: St Paul's School and Ipswich College. It re-evaluates the portrayal of John Colet as an anti-intellectual, and understands St Paul's as a deeply personal endeavour, reflecting his desire to do better for the next generation. It establishes the depth and significance of humanism in Cardinal Wolsey's foundation of Ipswich College, hitherto accorded less importance by historians than his Oxford college. The examination of the little-known materials he published on the eve of his fall in 1529, together with reports from staff on its progress, show that he regarded it as central to his ambitious vision for England and to the creation of his own reputation as a civic humanist. This research therefore revises our understanding of a neglected period, and engages with the vexed questions at the heart of the study of humanism: how contemporaries dealt with the tension between their faith and their enthusiasm for pagan culture, and regarded the rival attractions of scholarly leisure and active public service.