Australian Patriotic Association

It was formed in 1835 by a group of influential colonists of New South Wales which had among its leaders William Wentworth, the son of a convict woman and the publisher of the influential newspaper the Australian; Sir John Jamison, a surgeon and founder of the Agricultural Society; and William Bland, a prominent emancipist doctor.

In September 1834 Sir Edward Lytton Bulwer, M.P., wrote from England that the situation in the colony was not well understood in London, and suggested that an organised association should be formed, and that it should appoint a parliamentary agent for New South Wales.

The Association had representatives in England to put their case before the British government, which was then considering a new constitution for New South Wales.

The colony's 1842 constitution gave to emancipists the same political rights as free settlers, but which was subject to a property test.

The right to vote was limited to men with a freehold valued at £200 or a householder paying rent of £20 per year, both very large sums at the time.