Swan River mania

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Swan River mania was a brief rush of immigration to the Swan River Colony in Western Australia. It happened because British newspapers told sensational stories about the land, claiming big riches in a “land of promise.” The craze mainly lasted in 1829–1830, and after the first mail ship returned with reports of hardships, interest faded and emigration slowed for many years. Immigration picked up again later due to forced convict transportation in 1850 and the Western Australian gold rush of the 1890s.