1821

February 3

Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Brisbane is commissioned as Governor to succeed Lachlan Macquarie.

February 14

Commissioner John Thomas Bigge returns to Britain.

March 4

A stage coach begins operating between Sydney and Richmond.

March 13

Former Governor of NSW, John Hunter, dies age 83.

March 17

Capt Francis Allman and a party of soldiers and convicts sail from Sydney in the Prince Regent and Lady Nelson to found a penal settlement at Port Macquarie, New South Wales.

April

Charles Throsby explores the Murrumbidgee River.

April 17

A penal settlement is established at Port Macquarie, NSW, under Capt Francis Allman who landed at the "town green" at the top of what is now Clarence Street. The settlement consisted of the expedition leaders, 2 officers’ wives &¨ 4 children, 38 soldiers and the first group of about 60 selected convicts.

May 1

Australia’s first periodical, the Australian Magazine, begins publication.

May 11

George Howe, Australia’s first printer, dies age 51?

May 26

Phillip Parker King leaves on his final survey voyage to the west coast of Australia on the Bathurst.

May 30

On his last visit to Van Diemen’s Land, Gov Lachlan Macquarie selects the site of Perth, then Campbell Town (31st May), Ross (2nd June), Oatlands (3rd June) and Brighton (4th June)

June 30

John Septimus Roe, sailing aboard the Bathurst, survives a 16 metre fall from the masthead.

October 19

Explorer Francis Thomas Gregory, brother of Augustus Charles Gregory born in Farnsworth, Nottingham, England.

October 29

Gov Lachlan Macquarie lays the foundation stone of St Mary’s Chapel (Cathedral) in Sydney, the first Catholic church built in Australia.

November 2

Qld and Vic Governor, Sir George Ferguson Bowen, born in County Donegal, Ireland.

November 7

Sir Thomas Brisbane arrives in Sydney to take over from Lachlan Macquarie as Governor.

December 1

Lieut-Gen Sir Thomas Brisbane is sworn in as Governor.

December

Lieut Robert Johnston, Alexander Berry and Hamilton Hume examine the Clyde River, NSW.

In this year

Francis Greenway‘s Windsor Courthouse opens.

1822

January 1

The Van Diemen’s Land Agricultural Society is formed in Hobart.

January 2

A Penal settlement is established at Macquarie Harbour, Van Diemen’s Land, for prisoners convicted of a second offence.

January 6

The first service is held in the unfinished St James’ Church, Sydney.

February 9

Pioneer Murray River navigator Francis Cadell born.

February 15

Lachlan Macquarie sails for England in the Surry.

March 1

Gov Brisbane reinstates Rev. Samuel Marsden as Magistrate.

May 6

Commissioner John Thomas Bigge ‘s first report on the convict system and the state of the Colony of NSW, is submitted to Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl of Bathurst.

June 2

Carl Rumker, private astronomer to Gov Brisbane, verifies the reappearance of Encke’s Comet.

July 5

The Agricultural Society of NSW (later the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW) is founded at a public meeting in Sydney.

August 2

Rev. Samuel Marsden and Dr James Hall try to induce convict servant Ann Rumsby to leave the house of Dr J.H. Douglass; she refuses; the magistrates at Parramatta subsequently refuse to sit on the Bench with Douglass.

August 8

The first sale of Australian-grown tobacco leaf is held in Sydney.

August 19

The Parramatta magistrates convict Ann Rumsby of perjury against Dr James Hall (superintendent surgeon of the ship on which she was transported) and sentence her to gaol at Port Macquarie.

August 23

Gov Brisbane dismisses Rev. Samuel Marsden, Hannibal Macarthur and other Parramatta magistrates and remits Rumsby’s sentence.

November 15

Francis Greenway is dismissed as Civil Architect following a series of disagreements with his superiors.

December 24

Rev Archibald Macarthur, the first Presbyterian minister in Australia, arrives in Hobart.

In this year

Work commences on the construction of Darlinghurst Gaol, Sydney, NSW (completed 1824).

1823

January 1

The distilling of spirits is permitted in the colony of New South Wales.

January 5

First fleeter George Johnston dies, age 58.

February 24

Lieut Percy Simpson arrives at Wellington Valley, with a party of convicts and soldiers to establish an agricultural depot.

March 21

Convict Thomas Pamphlet and three others leave Port Jackson in an open boat and are driven north for several days by a gale. They are eventually wrecked at Moreton Bay, where Pamphlett and two surviving companions settle with the Aboriginal people of the region.

May 12

Rev. Samuel Marsden is charged with allowing his assigned servant, James Ring, to be at large. Marsden refuses to pay and the fines are eventually remitted.

May 2

Lieut-Gov of Van Diemen’s Land, Thomas Davey, dies age 64?

May 22

Capt Mark Currie and Maj John Ovens (an aide-de-camp to Gov Brisbane) explore the Monaro district, NSW.

June 5

A path through the Liverpool Range (Pandora’s Pass) is found by Allan Cunningham.

July 19

The NSW Judicature Act receives royal assent. This enables the establishment of a nominated Legislative Council, a Supreme Court with full independence, courts of quarter sessions, the appointment of a Chief Justice to replace the Judge Advocate and Supreme Court judge, and trial by jury in civil cases under certain conditions.

October 23

John Oxley Surveyor-General of New South Wales, leaves to examine Port Bowen, Port Curtis and Moreton Bay. He examines the Tweed River (31st Oct) and Brisbane River (2nd Dec).

November 13

A band of Tasmanian Aboriginal people led by Musquito (transported from New South Wales) and Black Jack kills two stock-keepers at Grindstone Bay.

November 29

John Oxley Surveyor-General of New South Wales, meets castaways Thomas Pamphlett, Richard Parsons and John Finnegan, who told him of a large river. Oxley, James Stirling and Finnegan explore the river and name it the Brisbane River. Oxley surveys Moreton Bay, the future site of the city of Brisbane.

December 2

The cutter Eclipse begins a regular service between Sydney and Newcastle.

1824

February 11

St James’ Church, Sydney, consecrated by Rev. Samuel Marsden.

March 5

Sir Francis Forbes arrives in Sydney to take up his position as the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

March 15

The Bank of Van Diemen’s Land opens for business in Hobart.

May 10

The Supreme Court of Van Diemen’s Land is opened.

May 12

Col George Arthur arrives in Hobart and replaces Col William Sorell as Lieut-Gov of Van Diemen’s Land.

May 17

New charter of justice proclaimed in Sydney; Sir Francis Forbes installed as Chief Justice, Saxe Bannister as Attorney-General.

July 1

Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales 1810-1821, dies in London age 61.

July 15

William Charles Wentworth returns to Sydney with Robert Wardell to start a newspaper.

July 24

Gov Brisbane initiates a system for the sale of Crown land.

August 5

Convict Alexander Pearce is hanged in Hobart. He had escaped from Macquarie Harbour twice and survived his trek from the West Coast by eating his companions.

August 14

Gov Brisbane proclaims martial law in the Bathurst district following attacks by Aborigines. It is revoked on 11th December.

August 24

Captain James John Gordon Bremer in HMS Tamar leaves Sydney to establish a settlement in northern Australia.

August 25

The Legislative Council of New South Wales meets for the first time.

September 1

Gov Brisbane sends John Oxley with a party of convicts and soldiers under Lieutenant Henry Miller to found a penal settlement at Moreton Bay. Oxley recommends an alternative settlement site on the Brisbane River.

September 11

William Charles Wentworth and Robert Wardell are admitted as barristers.

September 14

John Oxley with a party of convicts and soldiers under Lieutenant Henry Miller establishes a penal settlement at Moreton Bay. It was later moved up the Brisbane River to where Brisbane central city is now.

October 2

Alexander Hamilton Hume and William Hilton Hovell leave to find an overland route South to Port Phillip, reaching Corio Bay on 16th December. See Hume and Hovell’s Journey to Port Phillip.

October 14

William Charles Wentworth and Robert Wardell begin publication of the Australian, the first independent newspaper in Australia.

October 15

Freedom of the press is recognised. Censorship of the Sydney Gazette ends.

In this year

St John’s Church, Launceston, Tas, and Scots Church, Sydney, opens.

In this year

Robert Campbell opens Sydney’s first music shop in George Street.

1825

January 1

Richmond Bridge, Richmond, Tas, opens.

February 28

Gov Brisbane orders the removal of the Moreton Bay settlement from Redcliffe to the site of present-day Brisbane.

March 4

A penal settlement on Maria Island, Tasmania, is established.

March 18

Sydney Turf Club formed.

March 24

Gov Brisbane issues regulations for the sale of Crown land (from 5 shillings to 10 shillings per acre).

May 20

Andrew Bent is prosecuted for libelling Lieut-Gov George Arthur in the Hobart Town Gazette. He is subsequently fined and gaoled.

May 26, 26

Sydney Turf Club holds its first meeting at Bellevue Hill, Sydney, NSW.

June 6

Norfolk¨ Island is reopened as a penal settlement for incorrigibles.

June 14

Van Diemen’s Land is separated administratively from New South Wales. The Van Diemen’s Land Company is established by act of parliament to operate pastoral and agricultural interests.

June 30

Botanist and explorer Baron Sir Ferdinand Jakob Heinrich von Mueller born.

July 16

Lieutenant-General Ralph Darling is given separate commissions as Governor of New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land. The area of New South Wales has its western boundary extended from 135’E to 129’E, to include Fort Dundas, Melville Island, and has its southern boundary extended to Wilson’s Promontory. South of that is to be Van Diemen’s Land.

July 21

The Australian Agricultural Company is promised a 31 year lease of Newcastle Coal mines.

September

Sugar first made by T.A. Scott from cane grown at Port Macquarie, NSW.

November 4

Sydney Free Grammar School opens with L.H. Halloran as its headmaster It closes late 1826.

October 3

Lieutenant-General Ralph Darling is sworn in as Governor of Van Diemen’s Land. He proclaims the colony’s independence from New South Wales, and establishes the Legislative Council, and then hands over control to Lieut-Gov George Arthur.

October 31

Writer and reformer Catherine Helen Spence boin.

December 17

Gov Ralph Darling arrives at Port Jackson in the Catherine Stewart and takes over from Sir Thomas Brisbane as Governor (19th December).

December 20

The new Legislative Council of New South Wales is sworn in.

December

Buffaloes are imported from Timor and acclimatised at Fort Dundas, Melville Island.

In this year

St John’s Church, Launceston, Tas, and Scots Church, Sydney, opens.

In this year

Robert Campbell opens Sydney’s first music shop in George Street.

1826

January 3

Father Philip Conolly opens the first Catholic school in Van Diemen’s Land at Hobart.

March 9

The Letters Patent is issued in London to form a Church and School Corporation, giving the Anglican Church the status of an established religion in New South Wales with the right to vast areas of Crown land and control of the school system.

March 19

Bushranger Matthew Brady is captured by John Batman near Launceston. Brady is hanged on 4th May.

April 8

The first street lamp in Australia is lit in Macquarie Place, Sydney.

May 6

Explorer George Augustus Frederick Elphinstone Dalrymple born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

May 16

Irish rebel and farmer Joseph Holt dies, age 69.

June 3

A Chamber of Commerce is founded in Sydney.

June 12

Gas lighting is installed by shopkeeper J.T. Wilson of Pitt Street, Sydney. It is the first recorded commercial use of gas lighting in Australia.

June 24

Surveoy and explorer George Woodroffe Goyder born.

August 21

Capt Patrick Logan rowed up the Logan River, Queensland, to approximately where Macleans Bridge is now. He named the river after Gov Ralph Darling, but the governor graciously declined and ordered it to be called the Logan River.

August 29

Governor Ralph Darling cancels tickets-of-occupation of land (from 1st March 1827) and substitutes grazing licences at £1 per 100 acres.

September 25

A convict uprising on Norfolk¨ Island is suppressed.

October 7

French navigator J.S.C. Dumont d’Urville in L’Astrolabe is at King George’s Sound (to 25th October), and at Westernport (12-19th November).

November 8

Privates Joseph Sudds and Patrick Thompson openly commit robbery in order to be convicted, considering a convict’s life better than a soldier’s life. Governor Ralph Darling orders that they serve seven years hard labour in a chain-gang and then be returned to their regiment.

November 27

Joseph Sudds dies, giving rise to public criticism of Governor Ralph Darling.

December 1

A settlement is established by Captain Samuel Wright at Westernport as a precaution against French colonisation. It is to be abandoned in January 1828.

December 25

Major Edmund Lockyer and a party of soldiers and convicts in the brig Amity arrive at King George Sound to take possession of the western part of the continent and establish a settlement called Frederickstown on the site of present-day Albany.

1827

January 1

The Sydney Gazette begins daily publication. On 10th February this is reduced to three times a week.

January 3

A Regatta, organised by the officers of HMS Success and HMS Rainbow, held on the River Derwent, Tas.

January 26

A public meeting is held in Sydney to demand trial by jury, taxation by representation, and a Legislative Assembly elected on manhood suffrage.

February 5

Leader of the Eureka uprising, Peter Lalor, born.

February 27

Henry Hellyer, an explorer and surveyor for the Van Dieman’s Land Company, sets out on an expedition from Circular Head which takes him through various parts of Tasmania’s north west including Cradle Mountain.

March 3

G.T. Howe publishes the first edition of ‘The Tasmanian’ in Hobart.

March 5

Captain James Stirling in HMS Success examines the Swan River district with a view to establishing a settlement there.

March 13

Frirst Fleet chaplain Rev. Richard Johnson dies, age 73.

April 11

Gov Ralph Darling introduces two bills into the Legislative Council, to stifle criticism in newspapers by imposing a tax of fourpence a copy and licensing them, however, Chief Justice Francis Forbes refuses to certify the legislation.

April 28

A Regatta, organised by the officers of HMS Success and HMS Rainbow, held on Sydney Harbour, NSW.

April 30

Allan Cunningham explores north of the Hunter River, crossing the Gwydir, MacIntyre and Dumaresq Rivers (May), and the Condamine River and the Darling Downs (June).

May 11

The Colonial Times, Hobart, reports the common rabbit to be running in thousands on some estates.

June 18

Captain James Stirling establishes a settlement at Raffles Bay, NT.

July 7

Colonial surgeon D’Arcy Wentworth dies, age 65?

August 2

John Lee Archer takes up the post of Colonial Architect in Tasmania.

September 15

Lieut-Gov George Arthur passes acts to restrict the press and impose duties on newspapers.

September 29

Robert Wardell is tried for seditious libel for referring to Governor Ralph Darling in The Australian as "ignorant and obstinate".

October 2

Newspaper propprietor David Syme born.

December 6

Biscuit maker William Arnott, creator of Arnott’s Biscuits, born at Pathhead near Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland.

December 14

John ‘Bold Jack’ Donohoe and his gang rob carts on the Sydney-Windsor road. He is subsequently caught and condemned, his gang members are hung. Donohoe escapes and begins terrorising the countryside.

In this year

Work commences on the construction of Vaucluse House, Vaucluse, Sydney.

1828

February 6

Orders are issued against the practice of ‘squatting’ in Tasmania.

March 1

Post offices open at Parramatta, Windsor, Liverpool, Campbelltown, Penrith, Bathurst, and Newcastle. Australia’s first postman is appointed in Sydney, a twice weekly horse post is established between principal towns, and a regular sea postal service started between Sydney, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, and Hobart.

March 3

Several deaths from whooping cough occur for the first time in Sydney including the death of Gov Ralph Darling‘s son.

April 2

Pioneer settler and explorer Charles Throsby dies, age 50?

April 15

Lieut-Gov George Arthur issues a proclamation excluding all Aboriginal people from settled areas in Tasmania.

May 26

Explorer and surveyor John Oxley dies, age 42.

May 28

Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell becomes Surveyor-General of New South Wales following the death of John Oxley.

July 5

Australian Courts Act 1828 (UK) enacted legislation of the British Parliament which ensured that the laws of England would be applied in the two existing Australian colonies, New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land. The main provisions of the Act were: Existing courts were to be retained (apart from the Governor’s Court, the local Court of Appeal); The Legislative Councils in New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land were enlarged, to have 10-15 members each, appointed by the Crown; Jury trials in the Court of Quarter Sessions were abolished until established in the Supreme Court, but a Supreme Court judge could allow juries in civil actions, if either party applied.

July 30

Captain James Stirling urges the Colonial Office to form a colony on the Swan River.

August 25

Explorer Allan Cunningham discovers and passes through ‘Cunningham’s Gap’ in the Great Dividing Range, linking the Darling Downs with the Moreton Bay District.

September 14

The Bank of Australia in Sydney is robbed of a large amount by a gang who break into the strong room by a tunnel from a water drain. The Bank never recovers from the loss.

September 17

‘Holey dollar‘ are withdrawn from circulation.

November 1

Martial law is proclaimed by Lieut-Gov George Arthur in the settled districts of Van Diemen’s Land and is seen by the roving parties who now hunt the Aboriginal population as a license to kill.

November 10

Explorer Charles Sturt and Alexander Hamilton Hume embark on Sturt’s first exploratory trip, on which he traces the course of the Macquarie River.

November

The Netherlands claims the south-west coast of New Guinea.

December 30

Captain James Stirling is given instructions to occupy the Swan River area and is officially appointed Lieutenant-Governor of West Australia.

December 30

Cascades female convict factory opens at Hobart.

December

New legislation provides for the forfeiture of wages and six months’ imprisonment for any servant or workman leaving a job in breach of their contract.

December

Architect John Verge arrives in Sydney.

1829

January 1

Explorer Charles Sturt’s party reaches the Bogan River. He examines the Darling River near present day Bourke, and traces the Castlereagh River.

February 9

The Launceston Advertiser is founded by John Pascoe Fawkner.

March 1

William Charles Wentworth impeaches Governor Ralph Darling in a letter to the Colonial Office.

March 5

John Adams, the last survivor from the Bounty mutiny, dies age 62.

March 25

George Augustus Robinson is appointed guardian of the Aboriginal population at Bruny Island, Tas.

March 31

Fort Dundas, Melville Island, NT, is abandoned. Settlers move to Raffles Bay, NT.

April 10

Edward Smith Hall is found guilty of seditious libel of Gov Ralph Darling in The Monitor of 22nd November 1828. He is sentenced to 12 months’ gaol.

April 14

E. Hayes, editor of The Australian, is fined and gaoled for six months for libelling Governor Ralph Darling.

May 2

Capt Charles Howe Fremantle of HMS Challenger lands at the site of Fremantle and takes formal possession of the western third of Australia, that is, all of the mainland not included in New South Wales.

May 30

Captain James Stirling in HMS Parmelia arrives at Cockburn Sound, WA, to form a settlement on the Swan River.

June 18

The colony of Western Australia is proclaimed, with James Stirling as Lieutenant-Governor. By 12th August the site of Perth is chosen.

August 15

Foreign coins are no longer accepted by the government in Australia.

August 21

The Legislative Council of New South Wales meets for the first time in the present Parliament House.

September 5

Land sales in Perth and Fremantle begin.

September 5

Archdeacon William Grant Broughton, later Bishop Broughton, the first Anglican bishop in Australia, arrives in Sydney.

October 9

Emancipists become eligible for jury service. Such juries consist of 12 men.

October 14

Governor Ralph Darling proclaims the 19 counties of New South Wales, redefining the Limits of Location, beyond which settlement is prohibited.

October 15

Ensign Robert Dale leads an exploration party from the Swan River colony to trace the Helena River.

October

New South Wales’ four-year drought breaks.

November 3

Explorer Charles Sturt leaves to determine the course of the Murrumbidgee River.

November 17

Dr Alexander Collie and Lieut. Preston leave the Swan River colony to explore the coast south to Georgraphe Bay.

November 29

On her way from Sydney to Lomdon, HMS Success runs aground on the rocks near Fremantle. ¨ One of the passengers, the Revd. Thomas Scott, is marooned in Perth for 12 months, and for the first two months finds himself the only ordained minister of religion in the community. He officiates in the very first Anglican Service to be held in Western Australia, which takes place under a jarrah tree, possibly on the corner of Irwin and Hay Streets in December 1829.

November 30

Compositors on The Australian newspaper strike over a reduction in wages owing to the currency depreciation.

December 15

Thomas Peel arrives at the Swan River colony with 300 settlers. They are, however, too late to be eligible for the land grant for his colonisation scheme.

December 25

The first service is held in Perth‘s first church. The church, built partly of wood, with rushes filling up the sides, in the space of three weeks, was appropriately known as the ‘rush church’. It was built on the corner of Hay & Irwin Streets. It lasts for seven years. Eighty people are present for the first service on Christmas Day, 11 of whom communicated, and the offertory amounted to two guineas.

December

The Shipwrights’ Society of Sydney is formed. It is believed to be the first trade association in New South Wales.

In this year

Commissariat Store in Brisbane, Qld, erected.

1830

January 2

Novelist Henry Kingsley born.

January 7

Explorer Charles Sturt begins his journey by whaleboat down the Murrumbidgee River and enters "a broad and noble river" which he names the Murray River (14th January). By February he has examined Lake Alexandria and begins the return journey along the Murray River against the current.

January 27

George Augustus Robinson sets out from Hobart for Port Davey to conciliate the Aborigines.

January 29

Legislation to restrict the press is passed by the New South Wales Legislative Council. It is disallowed by the Colonial Office, January 1831.

April 21

The NSW Bushranging Act authorises arrest on suspicion.

May

The Swan River floods at Perth (to June).

July 13

Port Macquarie is opened to free settlers. Most convicts come from Moreton Bay or Norfolk¨ Island.

September 1

John ‘Bold Jack’ Donohoe is shot dead by police near Campbelltown, NSW.

September 1

The Port Arthur penal settlement is founded in Van Diemen’s Land. It is named after Lieut-Gov George Arthur.

September 16

Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Patrick Francis Moran, born.

October 7

Lieut-Gov George Arthur organises a drive by police, soldiers, and settlers – the Black Line – to capture and confine all Aboriginal people of Van Diemen’s Land (to 26th November). Only two are captured. Two others are shot.

November 1

Western Australia becomes a separate Crown colony with its own (not elected) Legislative Council.

November 15

The first hackney coach begins operation in Sydney.

December 14

Captain Thomas Barrister commences an overland trek from Fremantle to King George Sound (Albany).

December

James Busby establishes the Kirkton Vineyard, the first in the Hunter Valley, NSW.