Exploration and Expansion

Early Exploration

From 1788, when Governor Phillip established his colony on the shores of Port Jackson, expeditions began to expore the immediate area of settlement in search of good farming land. Among suitable locations discovered were those just above the head of the Paramatta River, where the settlement of Rose HIll (later Parramatta) was established in November 1788, and the alluvial flats of the Hawkesbury River, which were explored in 1789.

Other minor exploratory journeys in the 1790s and early 1800s included:

John Wilson's investigation of various parts of the Southern Highlands of New South Wales
Lieutenant John Shortland's discovery of the Hunter River and the future site of Newcastle

and expeditions by Henry Hacking (1794), George Bass (1796), Francis Barrallier (1802) and George Caley (1804) in attempts to penetrate the mountain foothills west of the Nepean River.

After two decades of colonisation, settlement stretched along the east coast from the Hawkesbury River to the cedar forrests of Illawarra yet reached barely 65 kilometres inland, where a seemingly impenetrable barrier was presented in the form of the Blue Mountains.

In 1813 Gregory Blaxland, Lieutenant William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth succeeded in finding a route through the mountain range, thereby allowing the later exploratory parties of George William Evens (1813 and 1815), John Oxley (1817 and 1818), Allan Cunningham (1823 and 1827), Hamilton Hume and William Hovell (18224) and others, to open the way for expansion from Port Phillip in the south, to the Darling Downs in the north.

Important Dates to 1900

1793	Arrival of the first free immigrants on the "Bellona". First Australia church opened in Sydney.
1795	First printing press opened in Sydney.
1797	Introduction of merino sheep from the Cape of Good Hope. Coal discovered near Newcastle.
1798	Tasmania is proved to be an island by the voyage of Bass and Flinders.
1800	First Customs House established in Sydney.
1802	Discovery of Port Phillip
1803	First Australian wool taken to England. Issue of the Sydney Gazette, the first Australian newspaper. First settlement at Port Phillip attempted.
1804	Hobart founded. Abandonment of settlement at Port Phillip.
1805	First extensive sheep farm established at Camden by Captain Macarthur.
1807	First shipment of merchantable wool from New South Wales to England.
1809	Free school established in Sydney.
1810	Post office established in Sydney.
1813	Passage of the Blue Mountains discovered by Wentworth, Lawson and Blaxland.
1814	The name 'Australia', instead of 'New Holland ', suggested by Flinders. Civil courts created.
1815	First free settlers arrive in Hobart.
1816	Sydney Hospital opened.
1817	First bank in Australia--------Bank of New South Wales-opened in Sydney.
1821	Penal settlement at Macquarie Harbour in Tasmania established.
1823	New South Wales Judicature Act passed.
1824	New South Wales constituted a Crown Colony. Executive Council formed. Supreme Court at Sydney established, and trial by jury introduced. Penal settlement founded at Moreton Bay, Brisbane.
1825	Tasmania proclaimed a separate colony.
1827	First official claim of British sovereignty over all Australia.
1828	Second Constitution of New South Wales and first census.
1829	Foundation of Perth as a settlement on Swan River, Western Australia.
1830	Publication of Quintus Srevinton, first novel to be published in Australia
1831	SS Surprise, the first steamship built in Australia, launched at Sydney. First coal ship from Newcastle launched. First assisted immigration to New South Wales.
1835	Foundation of Melbourne.
1836	Foundation of Adelaide. Port Phillip (Victoria) district Proclaimed as open for settlement.
1838	Assignment of convicts discontinued. Settlement at Port Essington, Northern Territory.
1840	Transportation of convicts to New South Wales abolished. Moreton Bay (Queensland) opened for free settlement.
1841	New Zealand proclaimed a separate colony from New South Wales.
1842	Incorporation of Sydney and incorporation of Melbourne.
1847	Overland mail established between Sydney and Adeliaide.
1849	Exodus of population to the goldfields of California. Transportation to Western Australia commenced
1850	Final abolition of transportation to New South Wales. Sydney University founded. Representative government granted to Victoria and Tasmania.
1851	Gold discovered in New South Wales. Port Phillip created an independent colony under the name of Victoria. Legislative Council established in western Australia.
1852	Arrival of Chusan, first P & o mail steamer from England.
1853	Transportation to Tasmania abolished. Melbourne University founded.
1854	Riots on the Ballarat goldfields and the Eureka stockade stormed. Telegraph first used. First Australia Railway opened on Victoria.
1857	Manhood suffrage and vote by ballot introduced in Victoria.
1858	Manhood suffrage and vote by ballot introduced in New South Wales. Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide linked by telegraph. Population of Australia reached 1,000,000.
1859	Queensland proclaimed a separate colony.
1860	Burke and Wills expedition leaves Melbourne.
1861	Anti-Chinese riots in goldfields of New South Wales. Regulations introduced on Chinese immigration. Burke and Wills perish at Coopers Creek, South Australia. World's first freezing works built in Sydney, eventually leading to meat exports. First Melbourne Cup Held.
1863	Intercolonial Conference in Melbourne.
1864	First sugar made from Queensland cane.
1866	Camels introduced to South Australia
1867	First Royal visit to Australia. Protective tariff imposed.
1868	Hougomont, the last convict ship arrived in Western Australia.
1870	Intercolonial Exhibition held in Sydney. Imperial troops withdrawn from New South Wales. Intercolonial Congress in Melbourne.
1872	Telegraph cable from Java to Port Darwin. Transcontinental telegraph line completed
1873	Intercolonial Conference at Sydney. Mail service with San Franciso inaugurated.
1874	Intercolonial Conference at Sydney. University of Adelaide founded
1876	Completion of telegraph cable between Sydney and Wellington, New Zealand.
1877	Population of Australia reached 2,000,000.
1878	Chinese immigration to Queensland restricted. Telephone introduced to Australia
1880	First telephone exchange opened in Melbourne. Federal Conference at Sydney and Melbourne. Women first admitted to universities.
1881	Censuses taken on same date in all colonies for the first time.
1883	New South Wales and Victoria linked by railway. Federal Conference held at Sydney and Melbourne.
1884	Federation Bill passed in Victoria but rejected in New South Wales. British Protectorate declared over New Guinea.
1885	Australia contingent sent to the war in Sudan.
1887	First 'Colonial' Conference held in London.
1888	Railway communication opened between Sydney and Brisbane. World Expo held in Melbourne to commemorate Australia's centenary.
1889	A new Constitution framed in Western Australia. Railway Communication opened between Melbourne and Adelaide. Population of Australia reached 3,000,000
1890	Western Australia granted responsible government. Australian Federation Conference at Melbourne. University of Tasmania founded.
1891	First Federal Convention at Sydney, draft Bill framed and adopted. Assisted immigration to New South Wales ceased.
1893	Financial crisis in eastern States.
1894	Women's suffrage granted in South Australia-first Australian State to do so.
1895	Conference of Premiers on Federation at Hobart. Land and income taxes introduced in New South Wales.
1897-98	Sessions of Federal Convention at Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne.
1898	Draft Federal Constitution Bill rejected by New South Wales.
1899	Australian troops sent to war in South Africa. Conference of Melbourne, Federal Constitution Bill amended.
1900	Naval troops sent to war in China. Commonwealth Constitution Act received Royal assents, 9 July. Proclamation of the Commonwealth signed 17 September. Mr ( later Sir) Edmund Barton formed the first Federal Ministry. Old age pension instituted in New South Wales.