Free Settler or Felon
Convict and Colonial History




Colonial Events Index


1788
Arrival of the First Fleet to Botany Bay; removal to Port Jackson; colony of NSW formally proclaimed


1789
Marines executed; outbreak of small pox; James Ruse's farm; return of the Sirius with supplies for the colony; wreck of the convict ship Guardian


1790
Sirius wrecked off Norfolk Island; first salt made at Dawe's Battery; arrival of the Second Fleet; Governor Phillip speared by Willemering.


1791
Escape from the colony of William and Mary Bryant; first land grant in Australia; arrival of the Third Fleet; commencement of whale fishery


1792
Arrival of convict ships Pitt, Royal Admiral and Kitty. Return to England of Governor Phillip and the NSW Marine Corp


1793
Arrival of convict ships Bellona and Sugar Cane; the vessel Francis launched in Sydney; John Macarthur granted 100 acres


1794


Arrival of convict ships William and Surprize. Attempt by Henry Hacking to cross the Blue Mountains


1795
Port Stephens surveyed by Charles Grimes; arrival in the colony of Governor Hunter; expeditions by Matthew Flinders and George Bass in the Tom Thumb


1796
Escape of Thomas Muir on the Americal ship Otter; bushranger Black Caesar shot and killed; arrival of convict ships Marquis Cornwallis and Indispensable


1797
Wreck of the Sydney Cove; arrival of the convict ships Britannia and Ganges; mutiny on the Lady Shore; Lieutenant John Shortland entered and named the Hunter River; departure of George Bass to explore the south coast.


1798
Wilson's Promontory sighted by George Bass; arrival of convict ships Barwell and Britannia


1799
Circumnavigaton of VDL completed by Bass and Flinders; arrival of convict ship Hillsborough


1800
Arrival of convict ships Minerva, Speedy, Friendship, Porpoise and Royal Admiral; entrance to Lake Macquarie discovered. Irish conspiracy uncovered; arrival of James Grant on the Lady Nelson


1801
Arrival of convict ships Anne, Earl Cornwallis, Canada, Minorca and Nile. Expedition to Hunter (Coal) River. Settlement established at Coal River (Newcastle)


1802
Attempt by George Caley to cross the Blue Mountains; Matthew Flinders encounter with Nicholas Baudin at Encounter Bay. Attempt by Francis Barrallier to cross the Blue Mountains; government settlement at Newcastle closed.


1803
Exploration of the site of Melbourne by Charles Grimes; Disappearance of George Bass; Cato and Porpoise wrecked


1804
Stone bridge built over the Tank Stream; government brewery at Parramatta; uprising of convicts at Castle Hill; Newcastle re-opened as a penal settlement


1805
Launch of the Governor Hunter; Lieut. Menzies resigned from position at Newcastle; loss of the Francis off Newcastle


1806
Catastrophic flooding at the Hawkesbury; arrival of William Bligh on the Lady Madeline.


1807
Report by Governor Bligh re the public buildings in Sydney; departure of Phillip Gidley King for England; John Tucker appointed storekeeper at Newcastle


1808
John Macarthur charged with sedition; Governor Bligh arrested


1809
William Lawson commandant at Newcastle; first post office in the colony established


1810
Lachlan Macquarie took up his appointment as Governor of NSW; Lieut. John Purcell appointed Commandant at Newcastle; death of Lieut-Governor Collins in VDL


1811
William Evans appointed surgeon at Newcastle; James Hardy Vaux to Newcastle; Lieut. Skottowe appointed Commandant at Newcastle; building of Sydney Hospital commenced


1812
Governor Macquarie visited Newcastle; Simeon Lord established a glass blowing shop; publication of select committee report into transportation


1813
Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth crossed the Blue Mountains opening up the interior of NSW for European settlement. John Macarthur sent the first wool exports to England. Holey dollar and dump became legal tender


1814
In 1814 the penal settlement at Norfolk Island was closed and Newcastle became the main repository for second time offenders; Arrival in the colony of 46th Regiment under command of Lieutenant - Colonel Molle


1815
Road westwards across the Blue Mountains completed under the superintendence of Lieut. William Cox; Government Notice - Permission from authorities needed to land at Newcastle


1816
Over 14,000 convicts transported to Colony by the end of the year; Survey of the Mouth of the Hunter River by Lieut. Charles Jeffreys


1817
Bank of New South Wales opened for business in Macquarie Place Sydney ; Expedition by John Oxley westward from Bathurst to explore inland plains.


1818
Orphan Institution for boys established in Sydney ; Government men to load boats with coal at Newcastle


1819
Convict James Hardy Vaux, published first slang dictionary - 'Vocabulary of the Flash Language' - Australia's first dictionary - compiled while Vaux was at Newcastle


1820
John Howe, Benjamin Singleton and others on an expedition to Hunter River. This discovery opened up the vast plains of upper Hunter for selection and settlement


1821
Arrival of Settler John Bingle. Departure from the colony of Commissioner John Thomas Bigge


1822
Departing for England after 11 years - Governor Lachlan Macquarie & family on the Surrey


1823
Discovery of gold at Fish River near Bathurst by surveyor James McBrien
Arrival of more settlers in the Hunter Valley


1824
Australian Agricultural Co. formed in London; settlement at Moreton Bay


1825
NSW police first use black trackers and Horses Patrols to pursue absconding prisoners and Bushrangers


1826
Robert Dawson's expedition north to Port Stephens


1827
Newcastle Wharf completed; departure of Allan Cunningham on expedition


1828
Holey dollar withdrawn from circulation; Westerport settlement abandoned


1829
James Thomas Morisset appointed Commandant at Norfolk Island