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Beginning of White Settlement in Australia
Convicts were sent to Australia as a punishment for crimes which they had committed in Britain. When convicts finished their sentence or were pardoned by the Governor they were given the same rights as free settlers. These freed convicts became known as emancipists. The first free settlers looked down on emancipists as the emancipists had once been convicts. -
Colonisation
NSW was colonised -
Free Settlers began arriving in Australia
Free settlers began arriving in Australia in 1793 with the promise of being given land, tools, some rations and a few convicts to help them work on the land. Some of these convicts escaped and became known as Bolters. Some Bolters turned to crime in the bush and were then called Bushrangers. Other escaped convicts often returned because they were starving. -
Tasmania (previously Van Diemen's Land) was colonised.
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Western Australia was colonised.
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Squatting became legal
Land opened up through exploration and settlers started moving further out. They used the Crown land to farm and graze animals without permission. These settlers became known as squatters. In 1836 squatting became legal and squatters had to pay a fee to use the land. Many squatters became quite wealthy. The squatters were very powerful as they controlled large sections of land. The government therefore decided to give other free settlers some small pieces of land to farm. These people became kno -
South Australia was colonised.
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Gold Rush
By the 1850s, Australia was a penal settlement made up of a collection of British colonies in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania (formerly known as Van Diemen’s Land). Around this time gold was discovered and people flocked to Victoria in search of their fortune. This presented an ideal opportunity for the bushrangers to rob the many people travelling to and from the goldfields. -
Victoria was colonised.
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Ned Kelly was born
Born in Beveridge, Ned Kelly was actually christened Edward but he was always called Ned by his family and friends. Ned’s father, John Kelly, sometimes called Red because of his flaming red hair, was a freed Irish convict who tried unsuccessfully to farm land in Victoria. -
Queensland was colonised.
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Ned Kelly went to jail
At fifteen years old, Ned Kelly went to jail for "violent assault" even though he claimed he was innocent. -
Ned Kelly was sentenced to three years in prison.
Ned Kelly was caught with a stolen horse and beaten up by Constable Fitzpatrick. He was sentenced to three years in prison but his sentence was reduced because of good behaviour. He was released when he was 19. -
Ned Kelly was hanged at Old Melbourne Gaol.
Ned Kelly was convicted of three counts of murder and sentenced to the death penalty. -
Ned Kelly's Dad was arrested.
When Ned was only ten years old, his father was sent back to prison. They were a very tight-knit Irish Catholic family and Ned was extremely protective of his mother and sisters, especially after his father went to prison.