Australia's Timeline

1869

10 January

The clipper Thermopylay completed fastest voyage from London to Melbourne, in 64 days.

1868

09 January

Convict transportation to Australia ends

1861

07 November

First Melbourne Cup

1858

07 August

First organised game of Australian Rules Football in Victoria

1856

04 February

The secret ballot was introduced, and all adult men could vote

1856

03 January

Name 'Tasmania' replaced Van Diemen's Land.

1855

01 January

Robert Knox formed the Colonial Sugar Refining Company.

1854

03 December

Rebellion of goldminers at Eureka Stockade, Ballarat,VIC

1852

24 June

89 die in the Gundagai floods, Australia's deadliest flood

1851

01 July

The separation of the colony of Victoria from New South Wales

1851

12 February

The discovery of gold in New South Wales and Victoria sparked a rush of excitement among prospectors.

1851

06 February

The Black Thursday bushfires. A devastating series of fires that swept the state of Victoria, burning up 5 million hectares (50,000 sq km), about a quarter of the state's area. Twelve human lives were lost.

1850

01 October

Founding of Sydney University

1848

15 June

To help colonizers settle in southern Queensland, the New South Wales Government formed a Native Police force of Aboriginal troopers and European officers in 1848.

1841

01 July

New Zealand becomes a separate colony from the Colony of New South Wales and made a colony in their own right. Ending more than 50 years of confusion over the relationship between the islands and the Australian colony.

1838

19 January

A group of stockmen in the Colony revenged themselves against innocent, unsuspecting Native Aborigines by murdering them and burning their bodies in a remote part of the Bush. The Myall Creek massacre.

1833

01 January

During a period of eighty years, over 162,000 convicts were sent to Australia, with around 7,000 arriving in 1833 alone!

1832

14 July

From 1831 the British and Australian colonial governments subsidised or paid for thousands of migrants to move to Australia.

1831

18 April

The Sydney Herald (later to become The Sydney Morning Herald) was first published.

1831

07 March

Administration of King George Sound passes to Swan River Colony, convicts returned to New South Wales.

1831

04 March

'Quintus Servinton' by Henry Savery, was the first novel to be written and published in Australia (Hobart).

1830

31 October

Europeans formed the 'Black Line', a human chain across Tasmania, in an attempt to capture and relocate the remaining Aboriginal people, allowing them to take control of the region.

1829

12 August

Founding of Perth, Western Australia

1829

04 June

Colony of Western Australia established at Perth by Captain James Stirling. The British Government agreed to found the colony as the first free settlement in Australia.

1829

01 June

Colonists first sighted land. The first significant European settlements were established on the Swan River by James Stirling.

1829

02 May

Captain Charles Fremantle declared the Swan River Colony (Western Australia) for Britain

1826

26 December

New South Wales established first settlement in Western Australia at King George Sound as a convict-supported military garrison, named Frederick Town but renamed Albany in 1832.

1825

14 June

Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) becomes a separate colony

1825

22 January

Founding of Brisbane, Moreton Bay Penal Settlement

1824

10 September

A penal settlement is established at Redcliffe on Moreton Bay (still NSW). The following February it is moved to the Brisbane River, which is now the City of Brisbane

1824

04 June

Ex-convict Andrew Bent founds first free press in the Australian colonies

1823

15 February

The first gold discovery is made by James McBrien in the Fish River, near Bathurst, New South Wales

1822

02 January

Agricultural Society formed in Tasmania.

1818

26 January

The first official celebrations are held in Sydney to mark the 30th anniversary of the original settlement

1817

08 April

Governor Macquarie establishes the Bank of New South Wales

1816

01 January

Rum Hospital (now called Sydney Hospital), which opened in 1816 as the first public hospital in Australia and was the site of Lucy Osburn founding modern nursing in Australia, has been providing medical care to the poor since 1845.

1815

07 May

Governor Lachlan Macquarie's establishment of the inland town of Bathurst was a great achievement, but it carried a heavy cost for the local Aboriginal population.

1814

17 July

Matthew Flinders' book "A Voyage to Terra Australis" recommended using the name Australia instead of New Holland

1814

25 February

Introducing the exciting 'holey dollar', Australia's first coin with a hole in the middle!

1813

18 May

Blaxland, Lawson & Wentworth cross the Blue Mountains

1811

20 April

A road from Sydney to Parramatta is open to traffic

1810

15 January

Australia's first official horse race is held in Hyde Park, Sydney. It was held by the Officers of the 73rd regiment

1810

01 January

Governor Lachlan Macquarie arrives in Sydney

1809

25 April

Convict Isaac Nichols appointed as Australia's first postmaster

1808

26 January

The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australian history. Later referred to as the Great Rebellion. It lasted until 1st January, 1810.

1808

26 January

Martial Law is declared & Governor William Bligh is placed under house arrest & held prisoner for more than a year before being returned to England

1804

14 March

Irish convicts mutiny at Castle Hill, Sydney

1804

04 March

Castle Hill convict rebellion, also known as the second Battle of Vinegar Hill, occurred in New South Wales.

1804

20 February

The Risdon settlement was moved to Sullivan's Cove (now Hobart) by Colonel David Collins.

1804

08 January

A report of a cricket match is published in the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. It is the first account of a sporting event in Australia

1803

12 September

Rear-Admiral John Bowen arrived at Risdon Cove, which later became Hobart. Among the original 49 settlers at Risdon Cove were 21 male and 3 female convicts, members of the New South Wales Corps and free settlers and their families.

1803

09 June

Captain Matthew Flinders completed the first circumnavigation of the Australian continent (still known as "New Holland"). His ship the Investigator was subsequently judged to be unseaworthy and condemned.

1803

05 March

Australia's first newspaper, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, begin publishing on a weekly basis

1802

02 June

Aboriginal warrior Pemulway is killed near Paramatta

1802

08 April

Captain Matthew Flinders named Encounter Bay when he met Nicolas Baudin, the commander of the Baudin expedition, who was on a similar expedition for the French government.

1801

06 December

Captain Matthew Flinders reached and named Cape Leeuwin and proceeded to make a survey along the southern coast of the Australian mainland.

1801

01 January

Union Jack first hoisted in Australia.

1797

26 June

First Merino sheep are imported from South Africa

1796

15 February

Australia's first bushranger John 'Black' Caeser is shot & killed at Liberty Plains (now Strathfield), near Sydney

1795

07 September

John Hunter arrives as second Governor of NSW

1794

02 October

In the Hawkesbury River massacre, British settlers retaliated against Bediagal people for stealing clothing and provisions by killing seven of them and taking some of their children as farm laborers.

1793

30 November

The name Australia was specifically applied to the continent for the first time with the botanists George Shaw and Sir James Smith writing of "the vast island, or rather continent, of Australia, Australasia or New Holland" in their 1793 Zoology and Botany of New Holland.

1792

01 May

Pemulwuy bravely fought against the colonists to protect his people's land.

1791

17 October

Establishing a whaling station in Sydney was an exciting event.

1791

09 July

The first ship of the Third Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove.

1791

09 July

The first ship of the Third Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove.

1790

28 June

5 of 6 ships of the beleaguered Second Fleet have arrived during the past month. The colony was gripped by a food crisis.

1790

28 June

The Second Fleet arrived in Sydney with convicts & the first detachment of 100 men from the NSW Corps

1790

03 June

5 of 6 ships of the beleaguered Second Fleet arrived. The colony was gripped by a food crisis.

1789

04 June

The first play performed in Australia was for the Kings birthday. The play called The Recruiting Officer was performed by convicts

1789

01 April

Smallpox and other diseases brought by European settlers decimated First Nations populations while the colonists remained relatively unscathed.

1788

31 December

Aboriginal Australians couldn't be coaxed into the settlement. Captain Phillip wanted to promote good relations between Aboriginal Australians and Europeans, so he captured one named Arabanoo & held him in confinement, hoping to learn his language.

1788

02 November

A party of marines from the New South Wales Marine Corps and 10 convicts left to establish a farming settlement at Rose Hill (Later called Parramatta).

1788

20 August

Lt. William Bligh in HMS Bounty, en route to Tahiti, anchored at Adventure Bay, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). The party planted apple trees, fruit stones and various vegetables before departing on 4 September.

1788

26 April

An exploring party led by Captain Phillip sighted and named the Blue Mountains.

1788

15 March

Captain Phillip issued the first government conservation order, that no trees should be cut down within 50 feet (15 metres) of the stream that ran into Sydney Cove.

1788

06 March

Lt. King took possession of Norfolk Island. British settlement founded.

1788

02 March

Captain Phillip set out to explore Broken Bay. On this trip he discovered and named Pittwater.

1788

27 February

Thomas Barratt was hanged for stealing in stores, the first execution.

1788

07 February

Captain Phillip addressed the convicts, wishing them ‘reformation, happiness, and prosperity, in this new country'.

1788

06 February

The women convicts came ashore. There followed a ‘scene of debauchery and riot’, accompanied by a violent thunderstorm.

1788

03 February

Rev. Richard Johnson held the colony’s first religious service ‘on the grass’.

1788

28 January

17 Wives of marines and 14 children disembarked from Prince of Wales. They were the first women and children to land. The first of the livestock was brought ashore.

1788

27 January

Convicts disembarked at Sydney Cove and helped clear the ground.

1788

26 January

11 ships of the First Fleet land at Sydney Cove with 1373 settlers which included 732 convicts & their children

1788

26 January

Early in the morning, Captain Phillip took a party ashore at Sydney Cove, raised the British colours and formally proclaimed British sovereignty over New South Wales.

1788

24 January

The French ships Boussole and Astrolabe appeared off Botany Bay. The expedition vanished mysteriously in 1788 after leaving Botany Bay on 10 March 1788.

1788

18 January

The First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay

1787

13 May

The First Fleet led by Captain Arthur Phillip left England to found a penal colony in Australia. It reached Botany Bay in mid-January 1788.

1785

11 May

The botanist Sir Joseph Banks, who accompanied Capt. Cook, tells the British Govt that Botany Bay is a suitable place for a convict colony

1770

22 August

In 1770, Lieutenant James Cook declared the eastern coast of Australia as New South Wales and 18 years later, the First Fleet arrived to establish a penal colony.

1770

22 August

Captain Cook takes possession of the whole eastern coast in the name of King George III, naming it New South Wales

1770

20 April

British Lieutenant James Cook, in search of the postulated continent of Terra Australis, was to be the first documented European expedition to reach the eastern coastline.

1770

19 April

Captain Cook aboard the Endeavour sights the Australian coast at Port Hicks, in Victoria

1700

01 January

Aboriginal people of northern Australia and Makasar from Sulawesi began trading with each other in an engaging manner.

1697

05 January

A well-armed party landed near the present-day Cottesloe Beach & marched eastward to the Swan River near Freshwater Bay

1696

30 December

Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh charted the southwestern coast of Australia, making a landfall at Rottnest Island.

1688

05 January

English explorer William Dampier explored the West Coast of Australia making many discoveries, before later being court-martialled for cruelty.

1688

05 January

William Dampier sighted north-west coast of New Holland.

1642

24 November

Abel Tasman sighted the west coast of Tasmania, north of Macquarie Harbour. He named his discovery Van Diemen's Land.

1629

05 June

The ship Batavia wrecked on Houtman Abrolhos, off Geraldton. Mutiny ensued and at least 110 men, women and children were murdered. First European structure in Australia

1629

03 June

The Dutch ship Batavia is wrecked off the Western Australian coast. Mutineers kill 125 passengers.

1627

26 January

François Thijssen came upon the most south-west tip of Australia, near Cape Leeuwin

1622

26 May

The Tryall, under the command of John Brooke, was wrecked on the Tryal Rocks off the north-west coast of Western Australia in 1622. Her crew were the first Englishmen to sight or land on Australia. The wreck is Australia's oldest known shipwreck.

1616

25 October

Dirk Hartog, commanding the Eendracht, made history as the first European to land in Western Australia, leaving a recording of his voyage on a pewter plate.

1606

01 May

Pedro Fernandes de Queirós expedition reached the islands later called the New Hebrides (Vanuatu). Queirós landed on a large island which he took to be part of the southern continent, and named it Australia del Espiritu Santo.

1606

01 May

The name "Austrialia" was used for the first time by Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, a Portuguese navigator, who sailed south with the intention of finding Terra Australis, the mythical "great south land," and claiming it for Spain and the Church.

1606

01 March

The Dutch East India Company (VOC) ship Duyfken, under Captain Willem Janszoon, explored the western coast of Cape York Peninsula. This was the first recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil.

Australia's Timeline

A Journey Through Time