-
Jun 1, 1580
Dirk Hartog 1
Europeans had believed for long time that there was a great mass of land in the Southern Hemisphere. They called the giant mass of land in Latin, Terra Australis Incognita, in English, Unknown South Land. In 1616 Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog sets sail with a fleet of ships to trade with Batavia (now known as Jakarta, Indonesia). Hartog’s ship the Eendracht, got separated with the rest of the fleet in a storm and ended up rounding the Cape of Hope, dropping anchor on the island what is known today -
Jun 1, 1580
Dirk Hartog 2
as Dirk Hartog Island. Hartog wrote a short record of his visit on a pewter dinner plate afterwards he nailed the plate to a post and put it on the top of a cliff. -
Period: Jun 1, 1580 to
Colonisation
-
European Explorers 1
The first European sightings of Australia were made by a Dutchman called Willem Janszoon on the Duyfken (meaning Little Dove). Willem sailed into the Australian waters charting 300 km of the coast on the journey. Janszoon also met with the Aboriginal people on the journey. Janszoon was the first recorded European to achieve such feats. Later that year Louis Vaez de Torres sailed through the Torres Strait, named after himself. Both Captains have been recorded as having sighted the Cape York -
European Explorers 2
as having sighted the Cape York Peninsula. -
Abel Tasman
In 1642 Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman was chosen to find out if Dirk Hartog’s discovery was part of the Unknown South Land that Hartog claimed to have discovered, Tasman was also instructed to find a route to Chile in South America. Tasman’s first journey to Australia was in 1644. The Australian state of Tasmania was named after this famous explorer. Little did Tasman know that he actually discovered part of the Great South Land. -
Captain James Cook
Captain James Cook receives orders to go to Tahiti to observe when Venus is to pass the Sun and receives secret orders which he is to open upon arrival.
Cook sets sail from Plymouth in the Endeavour with a team of naturalists and artists. -
Captain James Cook Tahiti
On the 3rd of June, Cook and his crew reach Tahiti and viewed the eclipse. They spent 3 months with the friendly locals of the island and when they left Cook found out the letter that Cook had received was actually another instruction to find the Great South Land, it read to make friends with the locals of the country and with them make an agreement to take possession of suitable areas of land. -
Caprain James Cook Australia
Captain Cook, lands in Botany Bay (29th of April) on the Eastern side of Australia in the ship HM Bark Endeavour and claims New South Wales for Great Britain he also observed the Aboriginals in Australia and commented on how healthy and well fed they looked. Cook also wrote “They may appear to some to be the most wretched people upon the earth, but in reality they are far more happier than we Europeans” -
First Fleet 1
The First Fleet arrives at Sydney Cove under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip to establish the first settlement in Australia, for a penal colony. Captain Cook had reported good things about Botany Bay but when Phillip inspected the Bay he only found problems. On 21st of January Phillip sailed north with three ships to Port Jackson, 5 days later the entire fleet set sailed north and dropped anchor on a cove. Phillip named the cove Sydney Cove, after the politician Lord Sydney. -
First Fleet 2
The date of his arrival, 26th of January, went on to mark Australia Day. The reasons why Australia was colonised is because at the time North America declared independence and because of that the jails filled up with lots of convicts in Britain. Another reason why is because at the time Britain wanted to build a port near Asia so trading could be easier. Here are some of the perspectives of the people who were part of the First Fleet: -
First Fleet 3
William Bradley, First Lieutenant aboard HMS Sirius.
On our landing we observed some women at the place the men came down from, they would not come near us, but peep’d from behind the rocks & trees; when the boats put off, the men began dancing & laughing. -
Federation
Britain was still in control of Australia before 1901. In 1901 all the colonies of Australia gathered together and proposed changes in the independence of Australia. initially Western Australia didn’t want to join but in the end they joined, Britain agreed and it was signed by Queen Victoria and Australia became a Nation. -
World War 1
In World war 1 over 416,000 Australians joined together and fought for the ‘Mother Country’ which at the time is what Britain was usually called. Britain was home to Australia, so Australia thought that it was their duty to help Britain in any way they could. They also thought that by fighting they were making the world a better place for everybody. -
British Influence on Australia
In 1788 the first British settlers arrived in Australia, and from there the British influence still remains in the Australian culture today. The Australian flag is based on The British Union Jack and Australia also bases its language and culture on British descendants.
