1801

January 21

Co-founder of Melbourne, John Batman, born in New South Wales.

February 10

A ticket-of-leave system is introduced by Gov Philip Gidley King enabling convicts to work for wages and choose their own master.

February 14

Matthew Flinders is placed in charge of HMS Investigator and given the commission to explore the Australian coastline.

February 21

Transport ship Ann arrives in Port Jackson with 251 convicts, including 137 Irish political prisoners.

March 20

Superindentent and Lieut-Gov of Port Phillip, Charles Joseph La Trobe, born in London.

March 21

Artist Conrad Martens, born in London, England.

March

Lieut James Grant surveys Westernport Bay until May in the Lady Nelson. Lieut William Paterson is then directed by Gov Philip Gidley King to examine the Hunter River in the Lady Nelson.

May 1

Gov Philip Gidley King orders the Aboriginal population of the Parramatta River and Prospect Creek districts to be driven out.

May 2

Gov Philip Gidley King refuses to allow the landing of spirits from the US ship Missouri on its arrival at Port Jackson.

May 30

Nicholas Baudin (Le Geographe) and Captain Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin (Le Naturalist) arrive in Western Australian waters and begin their exploration of the Australian coastline. The ships part company; Hamelin explores Rottnest Island and the Swan River, and Baudin explores DeWitts Land (July).

June 16

Lieut William Paterson founds a settlement on the Hunter River. It is abandoned in 1802.

July 18

Explorer Matthew Flinders leaves England in HMS Investigator to explore the Australian coastline.

August 8

A Female Orphanage is opened in Sydney by Rev. Samuel Marsden under Gov Philip Gidley King‘s patronage.

August 21

Shipping magnate, merchant, banker, pastoralist and station owner, member of the Legislative Council, Benjamin Boyd born.

August 26

Magistrate William Balmain leaves for England in the Albion. He dies in November 1803, some months prior to his planned return to Sydney; Surgeon John Harris replaces him as Naval Officer.

August 28

George Bass returns to Sydney aboard Venus (Charles Bishop), which he part owns. He leaves again on 22nd November on a commercial voyage into the Pacific.

September 14

John Macarthur is arrested following a duel with his superior, Lieut William Paterson, who is wounded.

November 12

Lieut John Murray leaves in the Lady Nelson to explore southern waters (Port Phillip and Western Port).

November 15

John Macarthur leaves Sydney for court martial in England. he arrives in London on 20th December 1802.

December 6

Matthew Flinders arrives on the west coast of Australia. He names Cape Leeuwin and enters King George III Sound, renaming it King Georges Sound.

1802

January 4

Lieut John Murray explores the entrance to Port Phillip in Lady Nelson, taking possession in March. He also examines King Island.

January 5

Explorer Matthew Flinders sights the Stirling Range, explores Nuyts Archipelago, and surveys Port Lincoln, Spencer Gulf (February), Kangaroo Island (March) to Port Phillip.

February 24

An engraved sheet of copper is erected by Matthew Flinders on 24th February on a ‘stout post’ at Memory Cove, SA, in memory of eight of Flinders’ sailors who were drowned on 21st February. A portion found on the beach 20th August 1866. A replacement plate was mounted at the head of the bay 21th February 1897. This plate subsequently destroyed; replaced in August 1924.

February 26

Matthew Flinders names Port Lincoln, South Australia.

March 8

Lieut John Murray takes formal possession of the Port Phillip area.

March 21

Matthew Flinders explores Kangaroo Island; sights a hill on the mainland which he names Mt Lofty (23rd).

April 7

Matthew Flinders & Nicholas Baudin, who are separately mapping the SA coast, meet at Encounter Bay. France & Britain are at war with one another at the time.

April 24

Nicholas Baudin‘s expedition’s survey vessel, Le Naturaliste (Emmanuel Hamelin), arrives in Port Jackson.

May

Rations are reduced in Sydney owing to the growing food shortage.

June 2

Aboriginal leader Pemulwuy is shot and killed following the killing of four white men at Parramatta and Toongabbie.

June 20

French explorer Nicholas Baudin arrives at Port Jackson aboard Le Geographe.

June 26

The ship Hercules arrives with 121 convicts. During the voyage 14 convicts were killed during a mutiny and 30 others died of sickness. It brings a consignment of meat which eases the food shortage.

July 22

Matthew Flinders and John Murray leave Sydney aboard the Lady Nelson to explore and chart the northern coast of Australia.

July 23

Sydney is divided into two parishes – St Phillip’s (Sydney) and St John’s (Parramatta).

September 7

The first properly assembled Masonic lodge in Australia is held by officers of Le Naturaliste. Capt. Anthony Fenn Kemp becomes the first person to be admitted into Masonry in Australia.

October 16

Major George Johnston returns to Sydney aboard Buffalo, his trial in England having been quashed. Also on board are explorers and surveyors John Oxley and George William Evans and merchant and trader, Garnham Blaxcell.

November 5

Francis Barrallier of the NSW Corps makes an unsuccessful attempt to cross the Blue Mountains.

November 18

Le Geographe, Le Naturaliste and a vessel purchased by Baudin in Sydney, the Casuarina (Louis de Freycinet), leave Port Jackson for Bass Strait. In Sydney, rumours that the French are on their way to establish a colony in Van Diemens Land abound.

November 23

Gov Philip Gidley King sends Lieut Charles Robbins in the Cumberland to examine Bass Strait and to thwart any colonising attempts by the French.

November 24

Matthew Flinders finds his ship, the Investigator, unfit to return to Port Jackson. After charting Arnhem Bay, NT, he sails for Timor to make repairs.

December 13

Lieut Charles Robbins hoists the British flag near Nicholas Baudin‘s tents on King Island and fires a volley over the heads of the French expedition members.

1803

January

Frenchman’s Rock, Hog Bay, Kangaroo Island, SA, inscribed by members of Nicholas Baudin‘s expedition aboard Le Geographe and Casuarina (A protective brick structure was built 1906; rock removed in 1917-18 and a cement cast substituted for the original, which is now displayed in the Mortlock Library). Meanwhile, Baudin and Le Naturaliste have parted company with the group, and headed for Ile de France (Mauritius),

January 8

Capt. Anthony Fenn Kemp and Lieuts Thomas Hobby and Nicholas Bayly arrested for being involved in "scurrilous attacks" on Gov King.

February 2

Charles Grimes of the Cumberland explores the Yarra Valley. He explores the Yarra Rver and maps the present site of Melbourne, that would be occupied by John Batman (1801-1839), John Pascoe Fawkner (1792-1869) and others some 32 years.

February 5

George Bass leaves Port Jackson in the Venus. He is never heard of again.

February 12

Robert Campbell‘s ship, Castle of Good Hope, arrives in Port Jackson with 307 Bengal cows and 64,000 litres of spirits. Gov Philip Gidley King allows only 18,000 litres to be landed.

February 23

Major George Johnston, residing over the court martial of Capt. Kemp, stops proceedings and arrests deputy Judge-Advocate John Harris for revealing votes at Lieut Hobby’s trial.

March 5

Capt. Kemp is aquitted on resumption of his court martial.

March 5

Matthew Flinders charts Arnhem Bay on the Gulf of Carpentaria, then sets sail to Timor to repair the Investigator.

March 5

George Howe publishes the first issue of the weekly Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, Australia’s first newspaper.

March 11

Judge-Advocate John Harris is aquitted by court martial.

April 10

St John’s Church, Parramatta, is opened. Rev. Samuel Marsden conducts the inaugural service.

April 22

Two vessels, HMS Calcutta and the chartered transport Ocean, sailed from England under David Collins. On board the vessels are fifty marines, civil and military establishments, about 300 convicts, some of their wives and children, and 48 free settlers – one of which is Rev. Robert Knopwood. Two of the children aboard the Calcutta are John Pascoe Fawkner, aged 11 years, and his sister, Elizabeth. Their mother accompanies her husband who is one of the convicts. They arrive at Sullivan Bay, on Port Phillip near present day Sorrento, on 7th October 1803.

May 15

The first authorised public Roman Catholic mass and the first Catholic in Australia are celebrated in Sydney by Father James Dixon after he is given conditional emancipation a month earlier.

June 9

Matthew Flinders arrives at Port Jackson, having circumnavigated Australia.

June 19

Assistant Surgeon at Norfolk Island, William Redfern, granted a free pardon.

August 10

Matthew Flinders sails for England on the Porpoise. The ship runs aground on Wreck Reef and Flinders returns to Port Jackson.

September 11

Lieut John Bowen arrives at the River Derwent, Tasmania, in the Albion with a party of 48 to found the first settlement in Van Diemen’s Land. They settle at Risdon Cove, but the site is abandoned within a year.

September 16

French explorer of the Australian coastline, Nicolas Baudin, dies in Mauritius on his way home to France upon completion of his exploration of the Australian coast, age 49.

September 26

When attempts to hang convicted murderer Joseph Samuels fail, he is reprieved as the sentence to hang him has been carried out.

October 9

Lieut-Col. David Collins arrives at Port Phillip and founds a settlement at Sullivan Bay on the site of present-day Sorrento. Collins, whose leadership was inadequate, soon becomes disheartened by the poor site and misbehaviour by convicts and soldiers.

October 10

Matthew Flinders leaves for England on the Cumberland.

October 23

Rev. Robert Knopwood conducts the first Christian church service at Port Phillip.

November 5

Lieut-Col. David Collins sends a request to Gov Philip Gidley King to move the settlement from Port Phillip.

December 12

Lieut-Col. David Collins receives conscent from Gov King to move the settlement from Port Phillip and join the settlement on the River Derwent at Risdon Cove.

December 17

On his way to England on the Cumberland, Matthew Flinders is forced to stop at Mauritius after his ship springs a leak. He arrives just three months after Nicholas Baudin arrived and died there, also on his way home after exploring the Australian coastline. Flinders refuses an invitation by Governor Captain-General De Caen to dine with him. Insulted by the rejection, De Caen accuses Flinders of violating neutrality by entering Mauritius without authority and places him under house arrest. Flinders remains there until June 1810 when the British blockaded the island, and De Caen releases him.

December 24

Pioneer Barossa Valley winemaker Johann Christian Henschke born in Kutschlau in the province of Brandenburg. He migrated to South Australia aboard the Skjold, arriving in South Australia on 27th October 1841. He lived for a while at Klemzig, Hahndorf, and Lobethal before moving to the Barossa where his son planted vines in 1847.

December 27

Convict William Buckley escapes and lives for the next 32 years with a tribe of Aborigines.

1804

January 4

Lieut-Col. David Collins examines the site of Launceston, but decides to continue on to the River Derwent.

February 2

On completion of a survey of the islands of Bass Strait, Lieutenant John Murray, master of the survey vessel Lady Nelson, heads back to the mainland to explore Port Phillip, which was known but had not been entered or explored. He goes ashore at Point King, 2km west of present-day Sorrento on Port Phillip Bay to claim the land for Britain. Murray names the harbour Port King, though this was later changed to Port Phillip Bay by Governor Philip Gidley King.

February 16

Lieut-Col. David Collins becomes Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land after arriving at the Derwent from Port Phillip. After a cannonade salute at Risdon Cove, Collins sends a party off to find a more suitable site for a settlement.

February 20

Having taken possession of Van Diemen’s Land at Risdon Cove, and selected Sullivan Cove the previous day above another site considered suitable for a settlement (present day New Town), and, Lieut-Col. David Collins lands a party at Sullivan Cove.

February 26

Rev. Robert Knopwood holds the first church service at Hobart on the site of Hobart Town Hall.

March 4

Irish convicts at Castle Hill launch a full-scale rebellion. Martial law is declared in Parramatta and nearby districts. The uprising is put down at Vinegar Hill.

March 30

Lieutenant Charles Menzies re-establishes a settlement at the Hunter River, naming it Newcastle.

April 22

Soldiers from Sullivan Cove refuse guard duties at Risdon Cove, as they fear a convict uprising.

May 3

The Risdon Cove settlers fire upon approaching Aboriginal men; 50 are killed.

May 7

The ship Coromandel arrives at Port Jackson with 200 convicts and a consignment of smallpox vaccine.

May 8

After a battle of wills over who was in charge of the River Derwent settlement, Lieut John Bowen finally relinquishes command to David Collins.

June 15

The settlement at Sullivan Cove, Van Diemen’s Land is named Hobart Town by Lieut-Gov. David Collins.

August 9

The settlement at Risdon Cove is abandoned. Most of the extablishment, including Bowen, return to Sydney aboard the Ocean.

September

Most convicts and half the military detachment are withdrawn from Norfolk� Island. Capt John Piper replaces Joseph Foveaux as Lieut-Gov there; Foveaux sails for England in the Albion on leave.

September 16

Government brewery at Parramatta begins producing beer.

October 15

Col. William Paterson leaves Port Jackson aboard Buffalo to establish a settlement at Port Dalrymple (northern Tasmania).

November 11

Col. William Paterson arrives at Port Dalrymple, takes possession on the site of present day George Town.

November 26

Guards at Port Dalrymple, Van Diemen’s Land fire upon a band of Aboriginal people, killing one and wounding another. The incident leads Paterson to move to west Arm of the Tamar on 27th December. He names the settlement York Town.

December

Campbell’s wharf completed in Sydney, NSW.

December 27

Col. William Paterson moves his settlement to the West Arm of the Tamar River, and names the new settlement York Town.

1805

January 21

The Lady Barlow leaves Port Jackson with the first all-colonial cargo (sealskins, seal oil, and timber) to be shipped directly to the United Kingdon, in defiance of the East India Company‘s monopoly .

February 23

Surveyor-General George William Evans is discharged for fraud.

March 21

Colonial schooner Francis wrecked near Newcastle, NSW.

April 27

Following the deaths of several settlers at the hands of some Aboriginal people, Gov Philip Gidley King orders troops to be sent to the Hawkesbury.

April 30

Sydney colonists Henry Kable and James Underwood launch their 185 tonne whaler, King George, the largest vessel ever built in Sydney.

May 3

NSW Governor William Thomas Denison born in London, UK.

May 24

William Bligh is commissioned in London as Governor of New South Wales.

June 7

John Macarthur arrives back in Sydney as a private citizen with 8 merino sheep from King George III’s flock, and a letter ordering Gov Philip Gidley King to grant him 5,000 acres of land. The land granted is in the Camden region to the south-west of Sydney (possession taken, 13th October).

July 5

Judge Advocate Richard Atkins states the colonial law that as the Aboriginal people are believed to have neither religion nor morals they cannot give evidence in a case of law.

October 24

Newspaper publisher John Fairfax born.

November 28

Food and settlers from Norfolk� Island arrive at the River Derwent settlement of Hobart, Van Diemen’s Land.

December 12

Four convicts escape from Newcastle and are recaptured near Castle Hill. They and their pursuers become the first white ‘explorers’ to travel from Newcastle to Sydney by land.

December 13

The first land grants are made in Van Diemen’s Land. They include 10 acres to Rev. Robert Knopwood.

1806

January 14

Sir Charles Hotham, Governor of Victoria, born.

March

The settlement of Launceston established in Van Diemen’s Land. It is called Patersonia for a short time after Lieut William Paterson, the founder and first commandant, but he changed it to Launceston in honour of Gov Philip Gidley King whose birthplace was the Cornish township of Launceston. Thus commenced a long association of the new Launceston with the ancient English township.

March 15

Massive flooding of the Hawkesbury River destroys crops.

March 29

James Mario Matra, crew member of HMS Endeavour (1770) who later recommended Botany Bay as a suitable site for British settlement, dies.

April 11

Ship William Pitt arrives in Sydney bringing news of the Battle of Trafalgar. On board are 117 convicts and numerous free citizens, including Gregory Blaxland and his family, and Charles Grimes returning from leave.

April 22

Colonial schooner Governor King wrecked on Oyster Bank, Newcastle.

June 16

Convicts as Port Dalrymple, Van Diemens Land, seize the brig Venus and sail to New Zealand.

August 6

The schooner Lady Madelaine Sinclair arrives at Port Jackson with its escort, HMS Porpoise. On board are William Bligh to take up his post as Governor, William Gore as Provost Marshall, and Bligh’s daughter, Mary Putland.

August 13

William Bligh takes over the governorship of the colony from Philip Gidley King.

August 15

Philip Gidley King embarks on the Buffalo, but collapses, and his departure is delayed for six months.

August 20

Transport Alexander arrives at Port Jackson with 56 convicts, including Solomon Wiseman.

August 21

The residents of Hobart are granted permission to hunt kangaroos as their food supplies dwindle.

September 22

Sydney’s free citizens present an address of welcome to Gov William Bligh, repudiating an earlier address signed by John Macarthur on their behalf.

October 4

Gov William Bligh announces new and stricter port regulations.

October 21

Food shortages in Hobart are relieved with the arrival of the Royal George with provisions.

December 4

Gov William Bligh introduces new rules and regulations regarding wages and conditions for certain tasks, and that all able bodied mem are to assist in bringing in the harvest.

1807

January 24

The first ship built in the colony by merchant Robert Campbell, the Perseverance, is launched at his shipyard on Sydney Cove. It sails for China via Norfolk Island on 9th February.

February 8

Lieut Thomas Laycock, Quartermaster NSW Corps, explores Van Diemen’s Land, finding the Clyde River.

February 10

Rev. Samuel Marsden sails to England to recruit clergy for the colony. He also takes the first consignment of Australian wool, large enough to weave into a length of cloth. Also on board is Philip Gidley King returning to England.

February 14

Gov William Bligh prohibits the use of spirits to barter for food and clothing.

March 9

The ship Dart, part-owned by John Macarthur, arrives at Port Jackson. Gov William Bligh confiscates two stills on board to the annoyance of their owners, Macarthur and Deputy Judge-Advocate Capt. Edward Abbott.

April 4

John Blaxland arrives at Port Jackson with his ship, Brothers.

May 2

Robert Campbell is appointed Naval Officer in place of John Harris after the latter allowed Macarthur to remove the boilers from the still aboard the Dart against Gov William Bligh‘s orders.

June 16

Russian corvette Neva (Captain Leontii Hagemeister) on a voyage of exploration, is the first Russian vessel to call at Port Jackson. The vessel left on 1st July.

July 25

Gov William Bligh suspends D’Arcy Wentworth for alleged misconduct in administering Parramatta Hospital.

August 2

William Blue advertises in the Sydney Gazette as a licensed ferryman on Sydney Harbour.

August 11

Gov William Bligh fines Simeon Lord, Henry Kable and James Underwood and gaols them for a month for "writing a letter in improper terms" seeking permission to tranship goods without unloading them.

October 22

Gov William Bligh orders the confiscation of boilers imported with two stills earlier in the year by John Macarthur and Deputy Judge-Advocate Capt Edward Abbott.

October 24

John Macarthur institutes legal proceedings against Gov William Bligh for unlawful seizure of the boilers.

November 15

After leaving Port Jackson for Tahiti on 27th June with an escaped convict on board, the ship Parramatta, owned by John Macarthur and Garnham Blaxcell, returns to Port Jackson and is immediately placed under arrest and its bond of £800 forfeited.

December 7

John Macarthur advises the master of the Parramatta that he has abandoned the ship and will not be responsible for pay or rations.

December 14

The master and crew of the Partamatta go ashore and are promptly arrested and charged with violating regulations. Judge-Advocate Richard Bowyer Atkins summons Macarthur to come to Sydney to ‘show cause’ for his conduct in the Parramatta affair.

December 15

John Macarthur defies Atkins‘ arrest warrant over the Parramatta affair by giving a written refusal to comply to the issuing officer.

December 16

John Macarthur is arrested on a second warrant, and granted bail. Upon his commitment for trial before the Criminal Court, he demands payment of a 15-year old debt from Judge-Advocate Atkins.

1808

January 12

The ship City of Edinburgh arrives at Port Jackson with a cargo of 100,000 litres of whiskey. Part owner Alexander Berry is on board.

January 25

John Macarthur comes before court on a charge of sedition over the Parramatta case. He challenges Judge-Advocate Richard Bowyer Atkins‘ impartiality in the case and the court adjourns in confusion.

January 26

John Macarthur is arrested and gaoled, sparking the Rum Rebellion. Military officers forming the court demand Gov William Bligh grants Macarthur bail and stands down Atkins‘; Bligh summons them to appear before his the next day; Major George Johnston signs an order for the release of Macarthur, proclaims martial law, marches on Government House and arrests Bligh.

January 27

Major George Johnston suspends Atkins and other officials; martial law is repealed.

January 30

Charles Grimes becomes acting Judge-Advocate.

February 2

Lieut-Gov William Paterson sails to Sydney from Port Dalrymple to take over the administration of New South Wales, after being informed of the arrest of Bligh by Johnston.

February 6

After a new trial, John Macarthur is aquitted.

February 12

John Macarthur usurps the position of magistrate and "Secretary to the Colony" – its virtual administrator.

February 16

The US whaler Topaz discovers the last survivor of the HMS Bounty mutineers, Alexanader Smith (alias John Adams, on Pitcairn Island with the mutineers’ descendants.

February 17

D’Arcy Wentworth is exonerated in the matter of the administration of Parramatta Hospital.

May 15

The brig Harrington is seized by 50 convicts, led by Robert Stewart, in Farm Cove and sails for the Philippines. They are captured three months later and Stewart is hanged in Sydney in August.

May 28

Capt. Anthony Fenn Kemp is appointed acting Judge Advocate after the resignation of Grimes on 2nd April.

May

Caroline Chishilm born in Northamptonshire, England.

July 28

Lieut-Col Joseph Foveaux arrives in the colony to begin administration of Norfolk� Island, and the next day takes over as acting Governor of New South Wales, being Johnston ‘s senior.

July 30

Lieut-Col Joseph Foveaux refuses William Bligh‘s request to reinstate him.

August 16

Lieut-Col Joseph Foveaux sends a request to Lieut-Gov William Paterson to return to Sydney immediately to take over the governorship, or send a plan for the government of the colony. Foveaux advises Bligh of this, but Bligh refuses to vacate Government House to make way for Paterson.

August 16

Lieut-Col Joseph Foveaux refuses William Bligh‘s request to reinstate him.

September 1

William Redfern receives the first medical diploma issued in Australia. Having come to Australia as a convict, being emancipated in 1803, he had to obtain this diploma in order to quality for the post of assistant colonial surgeon.

September 3

Philip Gidley King dies in England.

November 1

The ship Porpoise leaves Port Jackson for Port Dalrymple to bring Lieut William Paterson to Sydney.

December 13

Anthony Fenn Kemp resigns as Judge-Advocate; Foveaux reinstates Atkins.

1809

January 1

Lieut William Paterson arrives at Port Jackson and assumes the role of Governor.

February 7

William Bligh boards the porpoise, agreeing to return to England.

March 27

John Macarthur and Major George Johnston sail for England aboard the returning transport Admiral Gambier, to put forward their version of the Rum Rebellion.

March 31

William Bligh disembarks at Hobart despite having agreed to sail to England. He moves into a government cottage there with his daughter, Mrs Mary Putland. John Macarthur and Major George Johnston sail to England to put forward their version of the Rum Rebellion.

April 23

Isaac Nichols, assistant to the Naval Officer, is appointed Sydney’s first postmaster. The post office was located in Nichols’ house.

May 8

Upon news of Bligh‘s arrest reachng England, Lieut-Col. Lachlan Macquarie is selected and appointed Governor of New South Wales.

May 21

In Hobart, David Collins makes public a proclamation by Gov William Paterson forbidding communication with William Bligh by officials.

May 23

Lieut-Col. Lachlan Macquarie sails for Britain to Port Jackson aboard HMS Dromadery. Sailing with his was Mrs Macquarie, Ellis Bent (later to be appointed Judge Advocate) and Lieut-Col. Maurice O’Connell (on the escort ship HMS Hindostan).

May 25

The Hawkesbury River floods, rising to a higher level than the great flood of March 1806.

July 30

The Hawkesbury floods which continue until August, reach a level higher than the 1806 Great Flood. The River Derwent at Hobart also floods.

August 14

Schooner Boyd arrives at Port Jackson with 134 Irish convicts and a detachment of the 73rd Regiment ( Gov. Macquarie‘s own regiment).

August

Three vessels arrive in Port Jackson with 45,000 seal skins caught in the region of Foveaux Strait, New Zealand.

October 29

George William Evans appointed Assistant Surveyor at Port Dalrymple.

December 28

Dromodery and Hindostam arrive in Port Jackson. Macquarie lands 3 days later.

December 28

Boyd, a vessel chartered by Simeon Lord, is attacked and burnt by Maoris at Whangaroa, New Zealand, and about 60 persons on board are massacred. Only a woman and three children survive.

1810

January 1

Lachlan Macquarie takes over as Governor of New South Wales.

January 4

Gov Lachlan Macquarie dismisses all those appointed to official positions since Gov William Bligh‘s removal. He restores those previously in office and nullifies all trials, land grants, and gifts made to members of the NSW Corps.

January 8

The Derwent Star and Van Diemen’s Land Intelligencer, Australia’s second newspaper and the first in Van Diemen’s Land, begins publication.

January 12

Governor Lachlan Macquarie appoints emancipist Andrew Thompson a Justice of the Peace and Chief Magistrate at the Hawkesbury. He is the first emancipist magistrate appointed.

January 17

William Bligh arrives at Port Jackson from Hobart in HMS Porpoise.

February 24

Gov Lachlan Macquarie issues a proclamation condemning cohabitation and immorality.

February 27

Rev Samuel Marsden returns to Sydney in the transport Anne, with 197 convicts, Rev. Robert Cartwright and Maori chief Ruatara, who had gone to England with Marsden.

March 22

A charity school is opened by Macquarie in Parramatta; John Eyre is apppinted teacher.

March 24

David Collins dies suddenly in Hobart.

March

William Charles Wentworth, age 19, returns to Port Jackson after schooling in England.

April 10

Lieut. T.A. Crane replaces John Piper as commandant at Norfolk Island.

May 8

Mary Putland, daughter of William Bligh, marries Lieut-Col. Maurice O’Connell.

May 12

William Bligh sails for England in HMS Hindostan, acompanied by HMS Porpoise, and HMS Dramadery. Aboard are various officials including Richard Bowyer Atkins and William Gore who will be Bligh’s witnesses at Major George Johnston‘s court marshall, and William Paterson.

June 13

Matthew Flinders leaves Mauritius for Britain on the Otter after being released from 6 1/2 years internment there. He arrives home on 24th October.

June 21

Lieut William Paterson dies at sea on the voyage home to England.

July 11

Capt. Frederick Hasselburg, on a sealing voyage in Robert Campbell‘s ship Perseverance, discovers Macquarie Island.

August 14

Explorer (Gippsland, Vic) Angus McMillan born at Glenbrittle, Isle of Skye, Scotland.

August

Australia’s first Congregational Church is formed in Sydney by William Pascoe Crook, a missionary from England.

October 6

Governor Lachlan Macquarie divides Sydney into five police districts, with seven constables being allotted to each. Amongst others, he names four major streets as well as Hyde Park and Macquarie Place.

November 6

Alexander Riley, D’Arcy Wentworth and Garnham Blaxcell sign a contract giving them a monopoly on the import of rum (205,000 litres of spirits) in exchange for their building the ‘Rum Hospital‘.

November 6

Governor Lachlan Macquarie, his wife, Elizabeth, and party set out from Sydney on a two-month visit to all inhabited inland districts.

November 7

Governor Lachlan Macquarie fixes the site of the township of Liverpool and orders James Meehan to begin a survey.

December 6

Governor Lachlan Macquarie names five township sites: Windsor, Richmond, Castlereagh, Pitt Town, and Wilberforce.

December 10

Naturalist Francois Peron, who sailed with Nicolas Baudin on an exploratory voyage to Australia in 1802, dies in Cerilly, France, age 35, of a chest complaint and injuries from his war service, before completing the writing of his account of the expedition.

December 29

D’Arcy Wentworth appointed Superintendent of Police in Sydney.