Australians

by Thomas Keneally

  1797 May–June Captain John Macarthur, Reverend Samuel Marsden, William Cox and Alexander Riley bought merino sheep imported from the Cape of Good Hope.

  1798 January Sydney’s first public clock was installed in a tower on Church Hill.

  1798 Vessels were permitted to hunt seals in Bass Strait.

  1798–99 George Bass and Lieutenant Matthew Flinders circumnavigated Van Diemen’s Land, having earlier confirmed the existence of a strait between the mainland and the island.

  1800–06 Captain Philip Gidley King, Governor, New South Wales.

  1801 February Commander Matthew Flinders was given command of the Investigator and instructed to examine the ‘the unknown coast’. Between 1801 and 1803 Flinders circumnavigated Australia.

  1801 Passes, later known as tickets-of-leave, were introduced by Governor King to allow for greater flexibility in the convict labour force.

  1803 March Australia’s first newspaper, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, was instigated by Governor King for the publication of government orders, proclamations and general information. It was published until 1842.

  1803 September First settlement in Van Diemen’s Land founded on the Derwent River.

  1804 March Irish convicts, transported following the Irish rebellion of 1798, rioted at Castle Hill and marched on Parramatta. The NSW Corps checked their advance.

  1804 May Settlers were authorised by Lieutenant Moore to shoot Aborigines at Risdon Cove, Van Diemen’s Land. Hostilities between Aboriginal communities and convict settlers intensified.

  1805 Robert Campbell’s Lady Barlow was the first ship to sail directly to England with an all-colonial cargo, breaking the East India Company’s monopoly on trade. The monopoly finally ended in 1834.

  1806–08 Captain William Bligh, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief, New South Wales and its dependencies.

  1807 February Governor Bligh issued a regulation against the use of rum as currency. This measure was intended to weaken the hold on the colony’s economy exercised by the NSW Corps (the ‘Rum Corps’).

  1807 August Robert Davidson advertised the first dry-cleaning service in Sydney.

  1808–10 Major George Johnston, Major Joseph Foveaux and Colonel William Paterson administered the colony throughout this period.

  1808 January Governor Bligh was unlawfully removed from office by the NSW Corps, in what is known as the Rum Rebellion. Major George Johnston declared martial law and assumed authority as Lieutenant-Governor.

  1809–17 Following the overthrow of Bligh, Macarthur and Johnston left the colony for England. Macarthur’s wife, Elizabeth, administered his property during his time away.

  1810–21 Colonel Lachlan Macquarie (later Major-General), Governor, New South Wales.

  1810 June Governor Macquarie approved the establishment of a post office and Isaac Nichols as Australia’s first postmaster.

  1810 October A week-long sports carnival was held in Sydney. Activities included the fi rst recorded race meeting, footraces and a boxing match.

  1810 November Alexander Riley, Garnham Blaxall and Darcy Wentworth signed a contract with the governor to build Sydney Hospital, known as the Rum Hospital, as the men were granted a near-monopoly on the import of spirits.

  1811 May Johnston was found guilty of mutiny for his role in Bligh’s overthrow and sentenced to be cashiered. The NSW Corps was returned to England.

  1811 December Reverend Samuel Marsden shipped the first commercial consignment of wool to England.

  1813 May George Blaxland, William Charles Wentworth and William Lawson crossed the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, thus opening a way to the promising grazing lands beyond.

  1813 November Governor Macquarie issued the ‘holey dollar’ and ‘dump’—a Spanish coin with the central disc (the dump) removed—to prevent the colony’s supply of coin becoming depleted. The holey dollar was outlawed as legal tender in 1842.

  1814 February The Norfolk Island settlement was abandoned. It was later re-opened in 1825 and contained the worst convicts from New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land. It was again closed in 1854.

  1815 January Governor Macquarie chose the site for Bathurst, the first settlement west of the Great Dividing Range.

  1815 The end of the Napoleonic Wars prompted social and economic upheaval in Britain. The demobilisation of military forces, combined with poor harvests, contributed to an increase in crime and, subsequently, transportation.

  1817 April Governor Macquarie, with Sydney merchants and officials, established Australia’s first trading bank, the Bank of New South Wales.

  1817 December The stonework for Australia’s first lighthouse, designed by the convict architect Francis Greenway, was completed at South Head. It was lit by a revolving lantern in 1818.

  1818 May–November New South Wales Surveyor-General John Oxley discovered the Warrumbungle Ranges, the Liverpool Plains and crossed the Great Dividing Range to make Port Macquarie.

  1819 January The British government appointed John Thomas Bigge to investigate all aspects of the colony’s government and convict system. The State of the Colony of New South Wales was published in 1822. Bigge’s subsequent reports were published in 1833 and recommended widespread reform.

  1820 November Governor Macquarie issued ‘Order 25’ which officially sanctioned limited grazing outside the Cumberland Plains. This marked the beginning of the movement of graziers inland.

  1820 The dairy industry was founded in the Illawarra district. Butter and cheese were the primary products.

  1820 Macarthur planted Australia’s first commercial vineyard, using cuttings acquired in France.

  1821 March The penal settlement for inveterate convicts was established at Port Macquarie. Following severe criticism of its management, it was closed in 1830.

  1821–25 Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, Governor, New South Wales.

  1823 July The New South Wales Judicature Act included provisions for a legislative council, for Supreme Courts in New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land, and for trial by jury. This act was replaced by the Australian Courts Act in 1828.

  1823 July William Charles Wentworth’s ode ‘Australasia: A Poem, Written for the Chancellor’s Medal at the Cambridge Commencement, July 1823’ was published in London, and is the first book of verse by an Australian-born author.

  1824 June The first sitting of the Supreme Court of New South Wales took place, with Francis Forbes as Chief Justice.

  1824 June–July A British act established the Australian Agricultural Company. It was granted one million acres of grazing land near Port Stephens. In 1828 it accepted a thirty-year lease of land and coalmines at Newcastle, effectively obtaining a monopoly in coal production.

  1824 August The formation of a Legislative Council was proclaimed in New South Wales and met later that month.

  1824 September A penal settlement was established at Moreton Bay.

  1824 September–October Fort Dundas on Melville Island (Northern Territory) was established to prevent French encroachment. It was abandoned in 1829.

  1824 October The Australian, published by William Charles Wentworth and Dr Robert Wardell, was first issued without government authority and advocated for ‘a free press’.

  1824 October Hamilton Hume and William Hovell explored the country south to Bass Strait, discovered the Australian Alps and the Upper Murray, and reached Port Phillip in December.

  1825–31 Lieutenant-General Ralph Darling, Governor, New South Wales

  1825 June Van Diemen’s Land became a separate colony.

  1825 October A board of trustees, chaired by Macarthur, was formed to coordinate the establishment of the Sydney Public Free Grammar School. The trustees included the former convict Mary Reibey who became the first woman to hold public office in her own right.

  1826 April Sydney’s first streetlight, an oil lamp, was lit in Macquarie Place. 1826 June Earl Bathurst, Secretary of State for the Colonies, ruled that Eliza Walsh, a single woman, was en
titled to receive a land grant, provided she fulfilled the stipulations imposed by government.

  1826 July Britain legislated for the use of sterling as the official currency in Australia. A branch of the Royal Mint opened in Sydney in 1855, at the height of the gold rushes.

  1826 December Major Edmund Lockyer founded a settlement on King George Sound (now Western Australia) in an attempt to prevent French encroachment. The settlement was moved to the Swan River in March 1831.

  1827 April–September Allan Cunningham explored north of Sydney to the Moreton Bay district, observing the fertile Darling Downs.

  1827 December The first library in Australia, the Australian Subscription Library and Reading Room, opened in Sydney. The Hobart Town Book Society was formed; there had been a reading and newspaper room in Hobart since 1822.

  1828 April The Australian Racing and Jockey Club was founded.

  1828 July The Masters and Servants Act was made law in New South Wales. Servants and labourers who neglected or disobeyed orders could be gaoled, just as employers who mistreated their employees could be forced to pay compensation.

  1828 November The first census of New South Wales was held. Twenty-four per cent of the total population was born in the colony. Aborigines were not included.

  1829 May–June Captain Charles Fremantle took formal possession of the western third of Australia. The free settlement of Fremantle quickly followed. Perth was founded in August.

  1829 October Governor Darling proclaimed the nineteen counties of New South Wales. The ‘Limits of Location’ (proclaimed in 1826) allowed settlement within a defined radius of Sydney. The restrictions proved unsuccessful. Graziers settled beyond the boundaries within a year.

  1830 September Port Arthur penal station was founded on the Tasman Peninsula, south-east of Hobart. It was designed as a place of secondary punishment for the worst of recidivist convicts.

  1830 October Lieutenant-Governor Arthur attempted to force the Aborigines of eastern Van Diemen’s Land into the Tasman Peninsula where they were to be confined.

  1831 February The commencement of government-assisted free migration brought about the end of the land grants system. The British government instructed through the ‘Ripon Regulations’ that remaining land in New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land was to be auctioned to support migration schemes.

  1831 July The first assisted immigrants arrived in Australia.

  1831 The first novel printed in Australia was Henry Savery’s Quintus Servinton: A tale founded upon incidents of real occurrence, published in Hobart.

  1831–32 Select Committee on Secondary Punishments inquired into the effectiveness of transportation following public attacks on its desirability. Its findings encouraged greater harshness in the treatment of convicts to emphasise the deterrent effect of transportation.

  1831–32 The Land and Emigration Commission was set up in Britain to assist migration to Australia. Appointed commissioners were to compile information about the colonies and regulate emigration controls.

  1831–37 Colonel Patrick Lindesay, administered briefl y in 1831, to be replaced by Major-General Sir Richard Bourke, Governor, New South Wales.

  1834 August South Australian Colonisation Act was approved. All land was to be sold and revenue was to finance emigration.

  1834 October Governor James Stirling and a party of armed men attacked Aborigines near Pinjarra (now Western Australia). Many Aborigines were killed during the battle.

  1835 October George Augustus Robinson took control of a settlement for Aborigines on Flinders Island in Bass Strait. The protectorate was abandoned in 1849.

  1835 The Australian Patriotic Association was formed in New South Wales to advocate the establishment of representative government for the colony. The association disbanded in 1842.

  1836 June Major Thomas Mitchell, New South Wales Surveyor-General, led an expedition into western Victoria, an area so fertile he named it ‘Australia Felix’. His discoveries encouraged settlement.

  1836 September Governor Bourke declared the Port Phillip district open for settlement, though squatters had already entered the area, many from Van Diemen’s Land.

  1836 December A ceremony was held to announce the commencement of settlement in South Australia.

  1837 March Governor Bourke landed in Port Phillip and later named the site of a proposed township after the British prime minister Viscount Melbourne.

  1837 December The first overland mail left Sydney for Melbourne. A few months later a regular fortnightly service was introduced.

  1837–38 Lieutenant-Colonel Kenneth Snodgrass administered the New South Wales colony.

  1837–38 December–January Major James Nunn’s campaign, taking the form of mounted police raids against hostile Aborigines on the central north New South Wales frontier, commenced. In June 1838 the Myall Creek Massacre was committed. Acts of frontier warfare occurred frequently until 1845.

  1838–46 Sir George Gipps, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief, New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land and their dependencies.

  1838 August Select Committee of Parliament on Transportation released its fi nal report, attacking the penal system of New South Wales.

  1838 November Prepaid letter sheets were introduced in New South Wales.

  1839 March Land outside the ‘Limits of Location’ was divided into nine districts, in recognition of the squatting movement.

  1839 July Moreton Bay penal settlement was closed and the area was later offered for private sale.

  1839 September Port Darwin was discovered and named during a survey of the northern waters by HMS Beagle.

  1840s All the colonies suffered depressed economic conditions.

  1840 March Paul Edmund Strzelecki, scientist and explorer, climbed Australia’s highest mountain, which he named Mount Kosciuszko.

  1840 May–August The British government ended transportation to New South Wales. The last convicts arrived in November. Convicts were still to be sent to Van Diemen’s Land, Norfolk Island and later, Port Phillip.

  1840 June Edward John Eyre commenced his explorations north of Adelaide, but he failed in his attempts and instead decided on an east–west crossing. He reached King George Sound in July 1841.

  1841 July The convict assignment system was abolished in New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land.

  1841 October Caroline Chisholm, a Catholic philanthropist, established the Female Immigrants’ Home to help those unemployed on arrival.

  1842 September Discovery of copper at Kapunda, and later Burra Burra Creek in 1845, led to the establishment of towns north of Adelaide. By 1850, South Australia’s exports of copper had surpassed wheat and wool.

  1843 June–July A general election for the reconstituted Legislative Council was held in New South Wales. The Act allowed for twenty-four members elected on a restricted franchise and twelve Crown nominees. The governor retained executive power. It was the fi rst election for an Australian legislature.

  1844 January The fi rst peal of bells rang out in Australia from St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Sydney.

  1844 April–May Governor Gipps introduced new regulations in an attempt to reconfi gure the squatting system; squatters were to be permitted to occupy runs on payment of a fee per square mileage. Squatters won security of tenure in 1846–47.

  1844 For the fi rst time in New South Wales exports exceeded imports.

  1844–45 August–January South Australia Surveyor-General Captain Charles Sturt’s expedition failed to find an inland sea in central Australia.

  1844–45 October–December Ludwig Leichhardt set out from Moreton Bay and fi nally reached Port Essington (now the Northern Territory) despite major setbacks.

  1846–55 Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy, Governor-General, all Her Majesty’s Australian possessions, and Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief, New South Wales, Van Diemen’s Land and South Australia and their dependencies.

  1848 January Last convicts disembarked at Port Phillip.

  1848 Octob
er First shipload of Chinese indentured labourers arrived in Sydney.

  1849 February Earl Grey, Secretary of State, announced the resumption of transportation. Prisoners considered reformed in Britain were sent as ‘exiles’, living free under conditional pardons.

  1850s The anti-transportation movement gained momentum. Resolutions against transportation were passed by the Legislative Councils of both New South Wales and Victoria in 1851.

  1850s Gold rushes dominated Australian life throughout this period.

  1850 January The Australian Agricultural Company’s monopoly on coal mining in New South Wales ended. Newcastle soon became the principal town of the Hunter region following the opening of the railroad between Newcastle and Hexham in 1857.

  1850 June Transportation to Western Australia commenced where there was a demand for convict labour.

  1850 August The Port Phillip District was separated from New South Wales and became the new colony of Victoria in July 1851. The Australian Colonies Government Act also gave the colonies permission to build their own constitutions, with provision for bicameral legislatures comprising elected and nominated members.

  1851 February Edward Hargraves and John Lister found specks of gold not far from Bathurst.

  1851 May The New South Wales government proclaimed all gold found in the colony the property of the Crown. Licences were introduced to dig or search for gold. Similar requirements were soon imposed in Victoria.

  1851 July–August Gold was discovered in Victoria, just south of Ballarat.

  1852 July Britain ended transportation to eastern Australia, including Van Diemen’s Land.

  1852 July–August The first mail steamer arrived in Sydney from England, after calling in to Melbourne.

  1853 Gold surpassed wool as Australia’s chief export.

  1854 January The Cobb and Co coaching firm offered passenger services between Castlemaine, Bendigo and Melbourne, daily except Sundays.

  1854 February Australia’s first telegraph line opened between Melbourne and Williamstown. The first inter-colonial line was opened between Melbourne and Adelaide in 1858. The Sydney–Melbourne line followed shortly afterward.