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1606
The Dutch ship dufyken (dove in Dutch) on which the captain was William Janz was sailing around in search for the Great Southern Land (Australia hadn't been discovered yet) and they hit the western coast of Cape York Peninsula. Janz was the first known Dutchman to set foot on Australia, but was not impressed with the new land he had named 'New Holland'. and its people. -
1616
10 years after Janz found Australia the captain Dirk Harthog sighted the Western coast of Australia. Landing at Shark Bay and leaving behind a metal sign with his name carved into it, and with that he left again for Holland (probably to brag about it to his friends). -
1642
In 1642 a Dutch captain by the name of Abel Janzoon Tasman set out to find a shorter route from the East Indies to South America. Sighting land on the 24th November ( as shown above) he sort of gave up on his previous task. He sailed towards the strip of land until he discovered Tasmania only he called it 'Van Diemans Land'. He then travelled North-East to the South island of New Zealand to refill his suplies and then set off again. -
1688
Dutch explorers were joined by the British in the late seventeenth century. Englishman William Dampier was a member of the Cyggnet which visited the West coast, around King Sound, in 1688. Dampier endorsed the Dutch assessment of the country in a book on his voyage. According to him the land was unsuitable for settlement and inhabited by the 'most miserable people in the world'. -
1770
Another Englishman Captain James Cook, was appointed by the British Admiralty to command the Endeavour on a voyage exploration of the Great South Land . After navigating a circle (circumnavigating) around New Zeland, Cook sighted the East coast of Australia at what is now called Cape Everald on 19 April 1770 (as shown above). He then travelled North sketching the coast as he went. Claiming possesion of "New Holland" for Britain and naming it New South Wales. -
1788
European collonisation of Australia commenced on Jan 26 1788 when a group of ships under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip landed at Sydney Cove. Those 11 ships of the First Fleet left from Portsmouth in England on 13 May 1787 and arrived in Australia with convicts, marines and officials. The ships also carried domestic animals and enough food to last two years. When governor Phillip took possesion of the land, he assumed that because the Aboriginals moved around they did not own the land. -
1802
Because of the continuing sightings of the French ships (until the 1820's that is) the fear the French would try and take over had come. The arrival of some French ships along the coast of "Van Diemens Land" only increased the settlers fears. To make the British presence srtronger, a group of 49 convicts who's leader was lieutenant Bowen formed a settlement at Ridson Cove on the Derwent River, Tasmania in 1803. -
1803
From 1803 a large number of new settlements were needed. There are a few reasons for this. The first is the number of convicts still being sent to Australia. Another reason for this is the need for more houses for the free settlers who were oozing into Australia at a steady pace. Lastly because from 1842 the convicts had started to be freed, even though this was happening very slowly the convicts that were free needed homes too. -
1824
In 1824 Moreton Bay became a convict settlement. However, within a year the settlement had been moved a tad South to what we now call Brisbane. A rather small amount of freed convicts (its amazing the English actually set some peoplre free.YAY.) made their way up to Moreton Bay when the district was declared. -
1826
Concern that the French might try and steal Western Australia led the English to form a military then to be sent to Albany in 1826( as shown above). They also founded the Swan River colony which was under the comand of Captain James Srtirling. The colony had the town of Fremantle as their port and Perth as their settlement. -
1835
John Pascoe Fawkner, led a small group of men from Launceston in 1835. He claimed land on the Yarra River on 30th August 1835 ( as shown avbove) and on the land he built first building. By the end of that year the settlement had gained had been recognised as Melbourne. Farmers then began to move into Victoria from New Soutrh Wales and Van Diemans Land ( Tasmania). By 1842 Melbourne had 4000 people living there. -
1851
Even though gold was found in the 1840's, the fact was kept quiet because the goverment was scared that it would cause chaos ( and because the goverment was greedy). But in 1851 the goverment saw the advantages of having goldmines so they were offering incentives to potential gold seekers. Using techniques he learned in the gold mines of California Edmund Hargraves announced he had found gold near Bathurst. He earned 10,000 pounds, and with that the chaos began.
