"The tie that binds”: commerce, migration, and the Australian Scottish delegation of 1928

By examining the commercial and migratory connections forged between Australia and Scotland between the wars, this article extends discussions of the relationship between the Empire and the Scottish diaspora in Australia. Foreign trade and investment was central to Scotland’s role in the British Empire, and Scottish commercial activities in Australia had their own unique contexts and outcomes. The Australian Scottish Delegation of 1928 offers a distinct example of the commercial links forged between Australia and Scotland in the context of the Empire, and presents insights into the way in which Scottish émigrés imagined their role in the imperial project. Additionally, the linkage of economic development and migration during the interwar period took on a distinctive Scottish flavour with the delegation, and the selection of migrants for emigration offers insights into the ways in which delegates defined and understood the Scottish diaspora in Australia.