Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Tuesday 6 October 1857, page 2


MEMORABLE INCIDENTS IN AUSTRALIAN

HISTORY

The following are selections from " a chronological table of remarkable events, from the foundation of the

colony down to the close of the year 1832."

1788. January 20th.– The first fleet, commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of the colony, anchored in Botany Bay. Territory, formally

taken possession of, and the British colors officially hoisted six days afterwards.

February 18.—Norfolk Island established as a dependency of the Australian colonies, under Lieu-tenant King.

June 22. Shock of an earthquake, accompanied with issue of sulphureous vapour.

1789.— A contagious disorder having some resem-blance to smallpox, prevailed in April, amongst the native blacks, and killed many of them. The pustules rose to an extraordinary size. Binalong, a young native, was captured. He became reconciled to the new inhabitants, being kindly treated by Governor Phillip, and was taken to England. The first corn harvest reaped in the colony at Rose Hill (now Parra-matta) in December.

1790.— James Rose, the first settler, was established at Parramatta. He came a prisoner by the first

fleet.

A signal party was established at the South Head.

April 17.— Lieut. King went to England with des-patches, and Lieut. Ball sailed for Batavia to procure provision supplies ; the existing dearth of provisions calling for these measures.

The first brick store in Sydney completed in July.

1791.— February 26. First store at Parramatta com-pleted.

Canvas manufactured at Norfolk Island.

Twelve persons settled between Prospect Hill and the Ponds, on the Hawkesbury Road.

September 26.— Lieut. Governor King returned from England, bringing territorial seal, and Royal permission to grant absolute or conditional pardon to the prisoners.

November 1.— Governor Phillip dangerously wounded in the breast with a spear thrown by one of a party of native blacks, whom his Excellency ap-proached unarmed, with a view of conciliating them.

November 21. Twenty male prisoners set out from Sydney, under the extraordinary supposition that they could reach China by land travel. Several perished in the woods, and the survivors were conveyed back to

the settlement in a most destitute state.

Laborer's commenced hewing out the tanks at Sydney.

1792.— February 24. Detachments of the New

South Wales corps having already arrived by the Neptune and Scarborough, the remainder arrived by the Pitt.

December 11. Governor Phillip sailed for England. Francis Grose, Esq., Lieut. Governor assumed the Government.

1793. —The building of a temporary church com-menced in July.

July 24.—Launch of colonial craft Francis, brought from England in frame.

September.—Twelve hundred bushels of wheat, the first disposed of, was sold by the settlers to the

Government.

November.—The first Government wheat purchase

was issued from the store.

1794. —Captain Paterson, of the New South Wales corps, assumed the Government of the colony, Lieut.-Governor Grose leaving for England.

1795. September 7.—Governor Hunter arrived. Binalong, the native captured in 1789, returned from England.

A dreadful shower of rain, or rather flakes of ice, fell, occasioning serious damage to the growing crops,

as well as to the cattle.

1796. January 16.—A play performed at Sydney. Coal discovered at Port Stephens.

October.—Lieut.-Governor King sailed for England, leaving Captain Townson in command of Norfolk Island.

1797.—January. A granary, with a winnowing machine attached to it, was finished at Sydney.

August—The colonial vessel Cumberland, pirati-cally seized and carried off by convicts.

1798. —January 31. A town clock set up in the church steeple at Sydney.—

February. Dr. Bass returned to Sydney in a whale-boat after having discovered Bass's Straits.

May 14. A dreadful hailstorm, which killed poultry in abundance, and knocked down lambs in the fields,

besides causing most serious injury to vegetation. The

hailstones were six inches in circumference.

1799. —A heavy flood at the Hawkesbury which commenced on the third of March, and did not abate till the 19th.

1800.—March. Another heavy flood at the Hawkes-

bury, which occasioned considerable damage to the settlers.

September 28.—Governor Hunter embarked for England, and Governor King took his place.

October 1.—Female Orphan House founded by Governor King.

December—First issue of copper coin in the colony. 1801.—January 17. The shock of an earthquake felt at Sydney.

March, 2.—A flood at the Hawkesbury. John Stog-

dell was drowned.

May 10.—Accounts received of the ratification of peace between Great Britain and the French Re-public.

1802.—June 4. The King's birthday celebrated with fireworks " and other rejoicing."

1803. —March 5. The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (the first journal in Australia)

instituted by Mr. George Howe, and published by authority.

March 25.—New South Wales corps reduced to peace establishment.

March 29.—The first suicide in the colony was that

of a man who hanged himself in gaol at this date.

April 10.—Public worship in St. John's Church,

Parramatta.

June 23.—Lieut. Bowen sailed to Van Diemen's Land, to form a settlement there.

June 30.—Royal standard hoisted for the first time in this part of the British dominions.

August 10.—The Porpoise, Cato, and Bridgewater sailed for England.

August 26.—Joseph Luker, a constable, inhumanly

murdered while on duty.

September 8.—Captain Flinders arrived in an open boat, with an account of the loss of the Porpoise and

the Cato.

September 18.—The Rolla, Francis, and Cumber-

land despatched to Wreck Reef, to the assistance of the crews of the Porpoise and the Cato.

September 28.—Joseph Samuels, who was convicted of burglary and sentenced to be hanged, three times escaped the ordeal. First of all, the rope broke near the centre, on his being turned off the scaffold, and he fell to the ground. " He was again tied up, and the rope unroved at the noose. A third time he was turned off, and the rope snapped short." The execu-tion being staid, these extraordinary circumstances were represented to the Governor by Provost Marshal Smith, and the unhappy man was granted a reprieve.

October 9.—A service of communion plate, most graciously presented to the colony by his Majesty, was

received.

October 24.—Battery at George's Head com-pleted.

November 19.—Roman Catholic public worship performed for the first time in the colony.

1804.—January 13.—Colonial vessel Integrity

launched.

February 19.—Lieutenant- Governor Collins, with a detachment under his command, and prisoners, &c., having embarked for the river Derwent, arrived at

Hobart Town.

Much 4.—Insurrection at Castle Hill. March 5.—Martial law proclaimed.

March 8.—Ten of the leading insurgents, taken in arms, were tried and condemned. Three of them were ex-ecuted at Parramatta, three at Castle Hill, and two at Sydney. The sentence of the other two was respited.

April.—Walls of St. Philip's Church (now pulled down) were finished. Settlement formed at New-

castle.

May 7.—Shock of an earthquake felt at Parramatta, Prospect, and the Hawkesbury.

May 10.—Vaccination introduced.

September.—Commons appropriated to various dis-

tricts.

September 4.—Fort Phillip named, and the first stone thereof laid by Governor King.

September 25.—Limits of the Counties of Northum-berland, Cornwall, and Buckingham (Van Diemen's Land) defined.

October 15.—Lieutenant-Governor Paterson sailed, to command at Port Dalrymple.

October 16.—The Lady Barlow overset at her moor-ing, in a storm of thunder and lightning, and was raised again the same day.

1805.—April 19. The colonial ship, King George, built under the superintendence of Mr. James Under-wood (of the firm of Lord, Kable, and Underwood)

was launched.

October and November.—Floods at the South Creek.

November 22.—Tippahee, a New Zealand chief visited the colony in company with several New Zealanders, mostly of rank.

December.—A turtle of six hundredweight was

taken in Broken Bay, a fisherman having by chance fastened his hook in its eye.

1806.—Jan. 5. Amelia Bixon gave birth to three

children, at Sydney.

February 25.—Tippahee and his companions are

returned to New Zealand.

March. — Memorable floods at the Hawkesbury. Commenced March 20th, and began to subside on 23rd, after having occasioned excessive devastation. The colony was reduced to a state of want little short of absolute famine by this calamity. Hardly any vegetables were to be obtained; bread was scarcely procurable at 4s. 6d. and 6s. the loaf (size not men-tioned); and wheat rose to 70s. and 80s. a bushel.

April 11.—News received of the declaration of war with Spain.

April 22.—Another flood at South Creek.

The Governor King, a private colonial schooner, was wrecked.

June 4.—The clock tower at Sydney fell.

June 17.—Venus, colonial Vessel, taken by Lanca-shire and other pirates, at Port Dalrymple.

August 5.—Governor Bligh arrived, and took

command August 13.

September 7.—Heavy hailstorm at the Hawke bury, and much damage done to growing wheat.

September 24.—Shock of earthquake strongly felt

Richmond Hill.

October 19.—Three hundred acres of wheat inun-dated at South Creek.

November 22.—£7 (seven pounds) paid at Hawkes bury for one bushel of seed maize.

November 25.—Two seamen of the Atlantic killed in the Cove, by lightning.

1807.—Perseverance, colonial brig, launched, Janu

ary 24 ; - sailed for India February 8.

February 8. - Governor King, his lady, and family embarked for England.

February 25. —Mercury, colonial schooner, launched April 1.—Governor Bligh; colonial schooner launched at the Hawkesbury.

August 28.— Schooner Antipode, brought from England in frame, was launched.

1808. —The King's representative, William Bligh Esq., Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief the colony, was forcibly deposed, placed under arrest and subjected to other great indignities by the New South Wales Corps (afterwards the 102nd Regiment) whilst under the command of Major (afterwards Lieu tenant-Colonel) George Johnston.

January 26.—John Macarthur, Esq., the well known introducer of the Merino sheep into Australia was the Secretary to the Colony during the first months of the Commonwealth.

May.—James Finucane, Esq., superseded Mr Macarthur as secretary.

May 15.—Brig Harrington taken away out of Cove by pirates.

July 20.—Brig Fox took fire at Campbell's Wharf The vessel was scuttled and saved, though sustaining much damage.

August 15.—Ship Dundee, from India, lost

Hunter's River.

May.—Flood at Hawkesbury, nearly as great as the

memorable flood of March 1806. It commenced

rapidly rising on the 24th May, and began to fall grad dually on the 27th. Much damage was done there and also at George's River, where it was ten feet higher than the Great Flood.

July 29.—Flood at Hawkesbury commenced reached its greatest height on the fourth day. Had a second rise two days after, but subsided by degrees the same day. Its effects were severely felt. The whole of the growing crop of wheat on the settlement perished, and stacks of wheat, and great quantities of stock of all kinds were destroyed. The losses at George's River were likewise very severe.

1809. August 14.—A small detachment of the 73rd Regiment arrived in the Boyd, bringing news of death of Sir John Moore at the battle of Corunna.

News of the brig Harrington's recapture by the Phoenix frigate, in the Indian seas, and the brig's subsequent loss on the coast of Leuconia. Stuart, the chief pirate, and his associates " escaped or perished'

* The newspaper announced two similar occurrences last year (1856), and at this moment a publican's wife, residing in

George-street, has three fine children, girls, that were all born a birth.