Princeland, a proposed amalgamation of the Wimmera, Mallee and the Western District of Victoria with the Limestone Coast and Riverland regions of South Australia, would have been Australia's ninth state.

But how did it all start?

For background, read Part one 'Looking back a Princeland, a short-lived separation bid'.

The University of SA Emeritus Professor Roger Harris, who penned the paper 'The 'Princeland' secession movement in Victoria and South Australia, 1861-1867' said by the late-1850s, both the South-East of SA and the Western District of Victoria were feeling neglected.

"These regions felt neglected by their respective colonial governments, which they believed only looked as far as the copper fields to the near north of Adelaide and the gold fields in the near west of Melbourne," Professor Harris said.

"The two regions had a lot in common and so empathised with each other.

Besides distance from their capitals, they had similar social ties and geography.

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The region was first opened by squatters from the east, and a great many of the early settlers in the South East had come from Victoria.

"Geographically, one extensive volcanic plain stretched from the east coast of the continent through to the lower South East, there were similar Wimmera and Tatiara wheat-belts, and the 90-Mile Desert linked up with the Big and Little Deserts of Victoria."

Professor Harris said other geographic, economic and political reasons for South Australians to back the new colony.

"South-East residents felt, and were, cut-off from the rest of SA by the 90-Mile Desert; it took five days to reach the South-East," he said.

"They were dissatisfied with the drain of Crown Land revenue (£358,351) from the region with little expenditure (£104,455, 29%) being returned by way of improvements."

He added the perceived lack of political representation was another sore point.

"Below the Murray was one huge electorate with only one politician, George Charles Hawker until 1862," Professor Harris said.

"There are two problems: Hawker was not from the region and so could not be expected to know about local issues, and he was the Speaker and thus deemed to be in no position to advocate adequately for the region."

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By 1862, there were two politicians, with Hawker joined by Stow, but the same problems existed,

"(Stow) was also not from the region and was Attorney-General," Professor Harris said.

"Other districts were seen to have more members, even though this district was sixth of 17 districts in numbers in the colony.

On August 5, 1864, The Border Watch wrote, "We venture to say, and that too without fear of contradiction, that we have been the worst treated community in South Australia."

"While the South East was South Australian politically, it was to a considerable degree Victorian in geography, social ties and trade," Professor Harris said.

"There was the feeling in Adelaide that whatever was done for the region would only be making improvements to surrender to the Victorians, or in the 1860s to the new colony of Princeland."

The first meeting took place on May 10, 1861, in Portland, with the chairman of the Municipal Council, James Trangmar, corralling the 400-500 people in attendance. The Victorian Separation League was born.

"The League believed the time was favourable and the case strong," Professor Harris said.

"After all, there were other secession movements around this time. For example, Port Phillip had separated from NSW ten years previously, Queensland had broken away only a couple of years before, and New England and the Riverina were also agitating.

"And all this was a reflection of secessionist struggles also going on in America. There was support via telegram from MH Marsh, the member for Salisbury in England, who also was reported to have spoken in the House of Commons in favour of previous separations in Australia."

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Professor Harris said there was also early backing from the two prominent newspapers in the area, the Portland Guardian and the Border Watch.

The latter proclaimed in its Editorial in July 1861, "The sooner we are separated the better. Wherever the seat of government in a new province might be, we are morally sure that we could be no more neglected or worse governed than we have been by South Australia; at all events our government would be local and justice would be accessible to the poor as well as the rich, without their undertaking a journey of 300 miles."

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