Charles Joseph La Trobe was Superintendent of Port Philip District and Victoria's first Lieutenant-Governor (1851-54), and his administration, which coincided with the turbulent challenges of the Victorian gold rushes, was highly controversial. He departed from office a wearied and disappointed man whose contribution to the development of the colony was not immediately recognised. As Dianne Reilly shows in this fascinating investigation of the man, La Trobe's actions, ideas, assumptions and behaviours during his fifteen years in office in Melbourne may, however, be best understood by an examination of the way his character was shaped, especially by the influences on him of the Moravian faith and education, by his passion for travel, and by the devotion and support of his family and friends in England and in Switzerland.
