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Captain Cook Landing in Australia
James Cook's landing at Botany Bay in HMS Endeavour. -
First Settlement at Sydney Cove
New South Wales: first settlement at Sydney Cove -
Van Diemen's Landing
Van Diemen's Land: first settlement at Ridson Cove on the Derwent River, followed by the Hobart settlement in early 1804. -
Crossing of the Blue Mountains
In 1813, Gregory Blaxland, William Charles Wentworth, and Lieutenant Lawson, along with four servants, four pack horses and five dogs, set off on an exploration which was to create history. On the 11th May 1813 the explorers departed from Emu Plains reaching the foothills of the Blue Mountains, or Glenbrook as it is known today. -
Moreton Bay convict settlement (FIND OUT REAL DATE)
The Moreton Bay penal settlement became self-sufficient in 1826 after the arrival of Captain Patrick Logan, a harsh disciplinarian, and became a byword for severity, described in the old song, ‘Moreton Bay’, as a place where ‘excessive tyranny each day prevails’. Between 1826 and 1829 the number of prisoners at Moreton Bay rose from 200 to nearly 1000, but throughout the 1830s increasing agitation to bring about the end of the system of convict transportation led to a decline in prisoners coming -
Western Australia: Swan River Colony
The first ship to reach the Swan River was HMS Challenger. After anchoring off Garden Island on 25 April 1829, its Captain Charles Fremantle declared the Swan River Colony for Britain on 2 May 1829. -
Victoria: settlement of Port Phillip colony and the foundation of Melbourne (FINDOUT REAL DATE)
Port Phillip was then left mostly undisturbed until 1835, when settlers from Tasmania led by John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner (who had been at the Sorrento settlement as a child) established Melbourne on the lower reaches of the Yarra. John Batman encountered William Buckley who then became an important translator in negotiations with the local indigenous tribesmen. -
Settlement of Adelaide
The site for Adelaide is chosen by Colonel William Light beside the River Torrens as Australia's first free colony. Governor John Hindmarsh on the HMS Buffalo lands at Holdfast Bay and proclaims the new colony of South Australia on 28 December. -
Myall Creek Massacre, New South Wales
Myall Creek Massacre involved the killing of up to 30 unarmed Australian Aborigines on 10 June 1838 at the Myall Creek near Bingara in northern New South Wales.[1] After two trials, seven of the 11 colonists involved in the killings were found guilty of murder and hanged. -
Start Of the Australian Gold Rush
The first gold rush in Australia began in May 1851 after prospector Edward Hargraves claimed the discovery of payable gold near Bathurst, New South Wales at a site he called Ophir.[4] Hargraves was offered a reward by both the Colony of New South Wales and the Colony of Victoria. Before the end of the year the gold rush had spread to many other parts of the state where gold had been found, not just to the west, but also to the south and north of Sydney.[ -
Eight Hour Day
On 21 April 1856, following negotiations between building tradesmen and contractors, and with the approval of the colonial government, an eight hour day was introduced into the building trades in Melbourne. The movement was led by the stonemasons who argued that eight hours a day was appropriate in the Australian heat. It would also give them time to improve their 'social and moral condition'. -
Free Compulsory and Secular Education
The Education Act 1872 (Vic) made attending school compulsory for most Victorian children between the ages of 6 and 15. The principles of this Act were that schooling should be free, secular and compulsory, and the aim was to ensure that all children would learn the three 'R's' - reading, writing and arithmetic. The Act made provision for the creation of a government-funded education department to oversee the schools and the building of new schools. The government enforced strict guidelines a -
Henry Parkes Tenterfeild
Henry Parkes laid out his campaign for federation at a banquet held in his honour in the New South Wales town of Tenterfield. The year was 1889. Now, some notable historians have quickly pointed out how dreadful this speech was. But no-one denied its significance. Historian and author Ken Halliday is based in Tenterfield. He's the chair of the local National Trust committee and he's written a book on Parkes called Parkes' Federation Calls To The People. And, Ken, welcome to Bush Telegraph. -
Federation: Commonweath of Australia proclaimed
Australia became an independent nation on 1 January 1901. The British Parliament passed legislation allowing the six Australian colonies to govern in their own right as part of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Commonwealth of Australia was established as a constitutional monarchy. Constitutional' because the Commonwealth of Australia was established with a written constitution, and monarchy' because Australia's head of state was Queen Victoria. -
Harvester Judgement
In 1907, the President of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration (now known as the Australian Industrial Relations Commission) Sir Justice Higgins was concerned that some Australian workers were paid so little that they could not afford to buy enough food to sustain themselves through their working day. He voiced his concern in response to evidence given during a famous case called the Harvester judgement, which established the first wage fixing system in Australia.
