-
1770: Captain James Cook sailed around Australia
-
British ships called the “First Fleet” left England with convicts to establish a prison colony
-
British settled in Australia
-
New South Wales was officialy a penal (prison) colony
-
The first conflict between the First Fleet arrivals and Aboriginal people takes place near Rushcutters Bay, Sydney. Two convicts are killed.
-
William Moree, a lieutenant of the New South Wales Rum Corps, orders to open fire at Risdon Cove, Tasmania, on a group of about 300 Aboriginal people who are probably hunting kangaroos. Between 30 and 60 Aboriginal people are killed.
-
Bungaree dies. He came from the Broken Bay area and was a go-between in colonial Sydney where he was known because he liked to dress in military and naval uniforms given to him.
-
King William IV recognises the continued rights to land for Aboriginal people in South Australia’s founding document, the Letters Patent. It was the first ever recognition of Aboriginal rights granted in Australia’s colonial history. But the promise of legal entitlement to the land was never kept.
-
Commonwealth of Australia was established
-
federal government began to pass legislation to help the Aborigines
