Welsh Journals

well into the twentieth century, was a grand affair, attended by many prominent Victorian personalities and dignitaries. On the first day, the presidential address was delivered by Dr David John Thomas (1813-71), a native of Uangadog, Carmarthenshire, and one of Melbourne's early settlers, having arrived in the area in 1839. Thomas was a distinguished medical man, the first surgeon to perform a variety of operations in Australia, and the first to introduce ether anaesthesia and, possibly, chloroform. He was also a colourful, if slightly controversial, figure in the Melbourne society of his time: his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry describes him as 'an ardent Welshman a small man of boundless energy and good humour, partial to a good dinner and a convivial gathering a delightful combination of Puck, Peter Pan and Fluellen'.5 Thomas's presidential address was delivered in English and the text was later published as a pamphlet,6 a fortuitous act for subsequent historians since the full content of the speech was not reproduced in the local newspapers. His words will be reported and quoted in detail here in order to convey the language in which some ideas about Welsh national or ethnic identity were being expressed at the time in the Victorian goldfields. They also serve to illustrate a particular discourse on Welsh emigrant experiences in the modern era and as such they exemplify some issues which this article seeks to examine. Thomas began by apologizing for addressing his audience in English. Although a period of thirty-five years had elapsed since he had left his native country, he still felt proud to tell his listeners that he had not altogether forgotten his mother tongue, and that 'I sincerely trust I never shall; nevertheless I must crave your indulgence for not address- ing you in the language dear to us, but which for so long a time I have not had an opportunity of speaking'. He also modestly averred his 4 For accounts of the 1867 eisteddfod, see Yr Australydd, January 1868, 165-8; Ballarat Courier, 31 December 1867; Ballarat Star, 27 December 1867. Ballarat's eisteddfodau, evolving as they did into the renowned South Street festivals, are worthy of study in their own right. The same is true of the history of that institution in Australia generally. 5 For biographical details of David John Thomas (1813-71), see Yr Australydd, July 1871, pp. 10-11; AfustralianJ DfictionatyJ of BfiographyJ, vol. 2, pp. 514-5; Australian Medical Journal, 16 (1871), 187-90. 6 Address of the President, Dr D. J. Thomas at The Eisteddfod held at the Theatre in Ballarat on the 25 December, 1867 (Ballarat, n.d.). 7 Ibid., p. 1.