-
Period: to
Overview
-
British Convict Transportation
London was overpopulated with high unemployment and poor living conditions which made the city troubled with crime. The most common crime was theft. Prisons already overcrowded, the British Parliament decided to change empty towers into prison cells. Parliament passed the first Transportation Act in 1717. In 1788, 759 convicts were sent to New South Wales to establish a penal colony on the other side of the world. -
The First Fleet
The first fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that travelled to Australia to start the colony in the land Captain Cook named 'New South Wales'.The First Ship arrived on the 18th of January 1788 and the last of the ships arrived on the 20th of January 1788. The First Fleet held 1487 people aboard, including 759 convicts of which 192 were women. -
The Second Fleet
The Second Fleet arrived between 3-28 June 1790. The ships that travelled over were Guardian, Justinian, Lady Juliana, Neptune, Scarborough and Surprize. There were approximately 1000 men convicts and 222 women. Unfortunately 267 people died on the voyage.It took ten months to reach Van Diemens land (Tasmania). -
Britain Abolishes Slave Trade
The Slave Trade Act was an Act of Parliament made in the U.K passed on 25 March 1807. The original act is in the Parliamentary Archives. The act abolished the slave trade in the British Empire, but not slavery itself. It was not until 26 years later that slavery itself was actually abolished. -
John Batman (Founder of Melbourne)
John Batman and John Fawkner settled in the new town, which had several names, including Batville, before being officially named Melbourne in honour of the British Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, in 1837. -
Caroline Chisholm
Caroline Chisholm arrived in Sydney in 1838 and was
apalled to discover several newly arrived emigrant women
sleeping in the streets or in bushland. Once a ship had
landed, passengers were allowed to stay on board for only
10 days. They then had to leave even if they had no job or
accommodation. Caroline Chisholm established a home for
female emigrants and tried to find work for them. By the
time she returned to England in 1846, she had helped more
than 10 000 people to find work. -
Convict Transportation to NSW Effectively Ends
By 1838 it was clear that transportation to the Colony of New South Wales would soon end. The transportation of convicts to New South Wales was suspended in 1840, and assignment of convicts to private settlers formally ended in 1841. By then no more than 10 convicts were working at Tocal, compared to 33 10 years earlier. -
Poonindie Mission
In 1848 the first Bishop of Adelaide Augustus Short arrived in the colony with his Archdeacon Mathew Hale. They became concerned about the attempts that were being made to educate the aborigines in Christian values. In 1850, the Poonindie Mission was opened at Port Lincoln. In 1852, the last school for Aborigines closed as there were no more young people with qualifications. -
Opening of Federal Government
The first Australian federal election occured on 30 March 1901. Edmund Barton’s Protectionist Party barely defeated the Free Trade Party led by George Reid. On 9 May, the first Australian federal parliament was officially opened inside Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building. The Duke of Cornwall and York, had come to Australia especially for the occasion. -
Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Forcelands in New Guinea
The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force was a small volunteer force of approximately 2,000 men. Raised in Australia shortly after the outbreak of the First World War to destroy German wireless stations in German New Guinea in the south-west Pacific. Britain required the German wireless installations to be destroyed because they were used by the Vice-Admiral's German East Asian Cruiser. -
ANZAC Day
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly pays tribute to all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars and conflicts, Originally 25 April every year was to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. -
Battle of Fromelles
The Battle of Fromelles started on July 19th 1916. The battle was an attempt to stop the Germans moving troops away from this sector to the Battle of the Somme that was being fought 50 miles to the south of Fromelles. The battle was an attempt to disrupt this and possibly to force the German High Command to move more troops to Fromelles from the Somme battlefield in an effort to support their troops there. By the night of the battle there were 5533 men from the Australian’s 5th division killed.
