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First Europeans to sail to Australia were the Dutch (Netherlands) in 1606, but they didn’t settle there.
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1770: Captain James Cook sailed around Australia.
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1788—British prisoners settled in Australia.
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1787 – British ships called the “First Fleet” left England with convicts to establish a prison colony.
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1788 to 1832: New South Wales was officially a penal (prison) colony consisting mainly of convicts, marines (guards), and the marines’ families.
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From 1833, until the 1850s, it was the destination for the hardest of convicted British and Irish criminals, those who were secondary offenders having re-offended after their arrival in Australia.