istoryworld
Events relating to australia
A second fleet arrives in Sydney, bringing more convicts and a regiment, the New South Wales Corps, to keep order
British explorer George Bass sails round Tasmania in an open whaleboat, discovering the strait which now bears his name
The city of Hobart is founded on the southern coast of Tasmania
James Stirling explores up the Swan River in western Australia to find a site for the settlement which he names Perth
The last surviving Aborigines of Tasmania are moved by the British to a small island where they soon die out
Six farm labourers, from Tolpuddle in Dorset, are transported for seven years to Australia for administering unlawful oaths in the forming of a union
Melbourne, founded by settlers from Tasmania, develops as the centre of a sheep-rearing community
A site is selected for Adelaide and emigration begins from Britain to south Australia
The Tolpuddle Martyrs are brought back to England from Australia after public protest leads to their sentences being remitted
The Australian gold rush begins with the discovery of gold fields at Ballarat and a few months later at Bendigo
Australian gold diggers, angered by the requirement to purchase a licence, make a defiant stand at the Eureka stockade
Chinese immigrants to Australia are the victims of violent racial attacks at Lambing Flat
John McDouall Stuart reaches the north coast of Australia at Van Diemen's Gulf seven months after setting off from Adelaide
The bones of Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills are brought back to Melbourne after the heroic failure of their attempt to cross Australia
Adelaide and Darwin are linked across the entire Australian continent by the Overland Telegraph Line
An outbreak of measles in Fiji, brought to the islands by British visitors, kills a quarter of the population
The first Test match is played in Melbourne between English and Australian cricket teams, with victory going to Australia
When Australia win the second Test match, in London, the Sporting Times declares that they will take home with them 'the ashes of English cricket'
The British empire is first described as a 'Commonwealth of Nations', by Lord Rosebery speaking in Australia
The Australian soprano Nellie Melba makes her operatic debut as Gilda in Rigoletto in Brussels
French artist Paul Gauguin travels to Tahiti and stays in the Pacific islands for most of the rest of his life
The French chef Auguste Escoffier creates and names a dessert in honour of the Australian soprano Nellie Melba
Australia has a catchy new song in "Waltzing Matilda", written by Banjo Paterson to music by Christina Macpherson
The Hawaiian islands are made a US territory, five years after American involvement in the overthrow of the ruling dynasty
The Australian soprano Nellie Melba forms the Melba Grand Opera Company as a touring venture in the USA
