History of Australia

European Exploration: Dutch

Jan 1, 1606

First Europeans to sail to Australia were the Dutch (Netherlands) but they did not settle there.

James Cook

Jan 1, 1770

Captain James Cook sailed around Australia

Europeans

Mar 27, 1787

British ships called the “First Fleet” left England with convicts to establish a prison colony

Prisoners

Mar 27, 1788

British prisoners settled in Australia

Tribes

Mar 27, 1830

In the 1830s remnants of the tribes in the settled areas were moved onto Reserves

Tribes

Mar 30, 1830

In the 1830s remnants of the tribes in the settled areas were moved onto Reserves

New South Wales

Mar 27, 1832

1788 to 1832 New South Wales was officially a penal (prison) colony

Port Arthur, Tasmania

Mar 30, 1833

1833 until the 1850s Port Arthur, Tasmania was the destination for the hardest of convicted British and Irish criminals

British

Mar 30, 1868

British transported prisoners to Australia until 1868

Aborigines

Mar 30, 1967

Federal government began to pass legislation to help the Aborigines

Australia Act

Mar 30, 1986

All legal ties with the British Empire were severed