New South Wales
New South Wales History Timeline
BC - 1700s
- (50,000BC) Aborigines settled along the coast
- (1770) Captain James Cook charted and took possession of the east coast of Australia, named the region "New South Wales"
- (1788) Arthur Phillip arrived with First Fleet to found convict settlment at present-day Sydney
- (1788) Parramatta founded as a likely place for a successful farm
- (1790s) Coal discovered in Hunter and Illawarra regions; Merino sheep were imported into New South Wales
- (1791) Toongabbie founded as a government farm and convict station to grow food for colonies
- (1804) Town of Newcastle established as secondary punishment for convicts
- (1804) In Castle Hill Rebellion, convicts rebelled against colonial authority in Castle Hill area (first and only major convict uprising in Australian history)
- (1807) First export of wool to England
- (1808) Rum Rebellion was act of rebellion against Governor Bligh, government overthrown by military coup
- (1810) Lachlan Macquarie assumed office, military power ended
- (1810 - 1821) Lachlan Macquarie established public works, bank, churches, charitable institutions, sought relations with Aborigines
- (1812) Governor's Court and Supreme Court established
- (1815) Road built over the Blue Mountains
- (1820) Inland settlement established at Bathurst
- (1824) New South Wales proclaimed a crown colony
- (1825) Legislative Council appointed to advise Governor
- (1825) Trial by jury introduced
- (1825) Tasmania seceded from New South Wales, became separate colony
- (1838) In Myall Creek Massacre, 11 stockmen killed 30 unarmed Australian Aboriginals
- (1841) New Zealand, originally part of New South Wales, became separate colony
- (1843) First elections held for the Legislative Council
- (1851) Gold found near Bathurst sparked a gold rush
- (1851) Victoria seceded from New South Wales, became separate colony
- (1855) New South Wales granted responsible government by British
- (1856) Stuart Donaldson named first premier of New South Wales
- (1858) New gold rush in far north
- (1858) Universal male suffrage granted by Parliament
- (1858) Secret ballot introduced
1800s continued
- (1859) Queensland separated from New South Wales
- (1861) Anti-Chinese riots in goldfields killed several people, wounded many others in Lambing Flat Riots
- (1861) Crown Lands Act 1861 introduced, reformed land holdings, broke squatters' domination of land tenure
- (1870) Last British troops left, police and local military maintained law and order
- (1879) Royal National Park, Australia's first national park (and the second in the world), opened in Sydney
- (1883) Silver discovered at Broken Hill
- (1886) Industrial depression began, caused wide-scale unemployment
- (1889) Railroad network linking Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney completed
- (1890) Maritime Strike occurred over pay and working conditions
- (1893) Financial crisis caused closure of 13 trading banks
- (1895) Income tax began
- (1901) New South Wales became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia
- (1901) First elections held, Edmund Barton confirmed as Prime Minister
- (1901) Industrial Arbitration Act passed, provided for compulsory arbitration
- (1902) Women granted right to vote
- (1908) Sydney rockchoppers struck for over two months, employers backed down on all issues as no strikebreakers were found
Trending on WorldAtlas
-
The Most Dangerous Cities in the World
-
The Largest Countries in the World
-
29 Largest Armies In The World
-
The 10 Smallest Countries In The World
-
The 10 Largest Cities in the World
-
The Most Popular Sports in the World
-
The World’s Largest Oil Reserves By Country
-
The World's Most Visited Countries
-
How Long is the Great Wall of China?
States & Territories of Australia
This page was last updated on November 26, 2018.