NSW Colonial Chronology
New South Wales 1850 - 1900
| Date | New South Wales Events | Other Events |
|---|---|---|
1850 |
1850 - Australia's first adhesive postage stamps issued in NSW (1/1/1850). 1850 - University of Sydney Act 1850 (NSW). 1850 - Caroline Chisholm formed the Family Colonisation Loan Society.
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1850 - Australian Constitutions Act (UK). 1850 - Port Phillip district separated from NSW and renamed Victoria. 1850 - South Australia, Van Diemens Land and Victoria gain two-thirds elected legislatures. 1850 - Crimean War - Britain fears an invasion of the Colony by the Russian Pacific Fleet. 1850 - Convict transportation to Western Australia begins. 1850 - Convict transportation to Moreton Bay ceased. |
1851 |
1851 - Discovery of payable gold near Bathurst, New South Wales, began the gold rushes (7/4/1851). 1851 - Gold discovered at Araluen, Braidwood district. |
1851 - Hargreaves digs for gold on Summerhill Creek. 1851 - Gold found at Ballarat. 1851 - Australian Census. |
1852 |
1852 - University of Sydney founded. 1852 - Arrival of last exiles (convicts) in eastern Australia. 1852 - Gold discovered at Mongarlowe, Braidwood district. |
|
1853 |
1853 - Gladesville Post Office completed. 1853 - Cobb & Co. began operations. 1853 - Hunter River Railway Company formed. |
1853 - Last convicts transported to Van Diemens Land (May 1853). 1853 - Foundation of the University of Melbourne. |
1854 |
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1854 - Miners rebellion at Eureka Stockade, Ballarat, Victoria (3/12/1854). |
1855 |
1855 - New South Wales Constitution Act 1855 (UK). 1855 - Responsible government established in New South Wales. 1855 - Governor Thomas Denison took office. 1855 - Opening of first railway line in New South Wales from Sydney to Parramatta (26/9/1855). 1855 - Second St. Johns Church of England opened at Parramatta. |
1855 - Victoria Constitution Act 1855 (UK). 1855 - Responsible government established in Victoria. 1855 - Chinese Immigration Act 1855 (Vic) (first anti Chinese legislation). 1855 - Order-in-Council changing name of Van Diemen's Land to Tasmania (UK) (21/7/1855). 1855 - Transportation of Norfolk Island ceased. |
1856 |
1856 - First bridge built over Nepean River (swept away in heavy storms in 1857). 1856 - Water Police Court at Sydney constructed. 1856 - Coal discovered at Cessnock. |
1856 - Constitution Act 1856 (SA) - a Constitution for South Australia. 1856 - Colony of Van Diemens Land changed name to Tasmania and given permission to form an elected government (1/1/1856). 1856 - An Order in Council issued by Queen Victoria separating Norfolk Island From VDL making it a distinct and separate settlement and for it to be administered by the Governor of NSW (24/6/1856). . 1856 - Responsible government in South Australia and Tasmania. 1856 - Pitcairn Islanders moved to Norfolk Island, under control of NSW Governor. 1856 - Voting by secret ballot introduced in Victoria and South Australia. 1856 - First electric telegraph from Melbourne to Ballarat (3/12/1856). |
1857 |
1857 - Parramatta Park created. 1857 - The Sisters of Charity opened St. Vincents Hospital in Sydney which was the first hospital run by a religious order. 1857 - 'The Dunbar' wrecked at the Gap, Sydney. 1857 - Circular arch dam at Hunts Creek, Parramatta opened. 1857 - Main building of the University of Sydney is completed. 1857 - Paterson Court House completed. 1857 - Randwick incorporated as a Municipality. |
|
1858 |
1858 - Railway reached Maitland from Newcastle. |
1858 - Telegraph lines from Sydney to Melbourne.
1858 - Welcome Nugget unearthed (9/6/1858). 1858 - Torrens Real Property Act passed. |
1859 |
1859 - Wollongong Municipality was proclaimed. 1859 - Goulburn Municipality was proclaimed. 1859 - Albury Municipality was proclaimed. 1859 - Kiama Municipality was proclaimed. 1859 - Windsor Gaol built. 1859 - Gundagai Court House completed. 1859 - St. Johns Church of England at Hartley constructed. |
1859 - Letters Patent established Colony of Queensland (UK) (6/6/1859). 1859 - Queensland separates from New South Wales (10/12/1859). 1859 - Importation & release of the rabbit pest into Australia. |
1860 |
1860 - Formation of a labour union by coal miners at Newcastle. 1860 - Second bridge built over Nepean River (later swept away by flood waters). |
1860 - The European population of Australia reached one million.
1860 - John McDougall Stuart reached the geographical centre of Australia (22/4/1860). 1860 - The Queensland Parliament opens for the first time (29/5/1860). 1860 - The Burke & Wills expedition left Melbourne. |
1861 |
1861 - Anti-Chinese riots at Lambing Flat goldfields, near Young. 1861 - First colliery opened near Cessnock. 1861 - Crown Lands Act 1861 (NSW). 1861 - Governor John Young took office. 1861 - Work commenced to extend Wollongong Harbour. 1861 - Forbes Post Office established. 1861 - Municipality of Parramatta incorporated. 1861 - Municipality of Marrickville incorporated (5/11/1861). |
1861 - Death of explorers Burke and Wills in central Australia, near Cooper Creek, after crossing the country from south to north.
1861 - Telegraph lines link Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. 1861 - Australian Census.
|
1862 |
1862 - Municipality of Newtown is incorporated (12/12/1862). 1862 - Fingal Lighthouse constructed at Port Stephens. |
1862 - John McDougall Stuart completed the first land crossing of Australia from south to Port Darwin (24 July). 1862 - Letters Patent altering the western boundary of Queensland 1862 (23/12/1862) (UK). |
1863 |
1863 - Goulburn proclaimed the first inland city in Australia (14/3/1863). 1863 - Railway reached Penrith. 1863 - Railway reached Singleton. 1863 - Ryde Court House completed. 1863 - Oberon proclaimed a Village. |
1863 - First Pacific Islanders (Kanakas) imported to work on Queensland sugar cane plantations. 1863 - Letters Patent annexing the Northern Territory to South Australia 1863.
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1864 |
1864 - Railway viaduct at Picton constructed. |
|
1865 |
1865 - First shale oil produced. 1865 - William Arnott began Arnott's, the biscuit company. 1865 - Braidwood Post and Telegraph Office constructed. 1865 - Ben Hall, Bushranger, shot by Police near Forbes. 1865. - First St. Marys Roman Catholic Cathedral destroyed by fire (29/6/1865). 1865 - Lapstone viaduct built. |
1865 - Victoria introduced a protective tariff on imports. |
1866 |
1866 - Prison erected in Parramatta Asylum for Criminal Lunatics. 1866 - Sir Henry Parkes' Public Schools Act' passed. 1866 - Ballina lighthouse constructed. |
|
1867 |
1867 - Governor Somerset Richard Lowry-Corry took office. |
1867 - End of transportation to Western Australia. |
1868 |
1868 - Foundation stone for second St. Marys Roman Catholic Cathedral laid by Archbishop Polding (8/12/1868). 1868 - Oil shale discovered in Newnes area. |
1868 - Arrival of last convicts in Australia, at Freemantle, Western Australia. 1868 - Aboriginal cricket team tours England. 1868 - First Queensland Act to regulate Kanaka labour. |
1869 |
1869 - Extensions to Wollongong Harbour were officially opened. 1869 - Railway arrived in Goulburn. 1869 - Western railway line through to Bowenfels (including the Lithgow Zig Zag) completed. 1869 - Port Macquarie Court House constructed. |
1869 - Darwin was established. Originally known as Palmerston.
1869 - John Forrest's journey in search of Leichhardt. |
1870 |
1870 - Gulgong's gold rush commenced. 1870 - Bushranger 'Captain Thunderbolt' (Frederick Ward) shot at Uralla (25/5/1870). |
1870 - Withdrawal of last British troops from Australia. Colonies to be defended by local volunteer militia.
|
1871 |
1871 - Breakwater lighthouse at Wollongong Harbour completed. 1871 - Municipality of Petersham is incorporated (14/12/1871). 1871 - Hill End began to flourish as a gold mining town. |
1871 - Australian Census.
|
1872 |
1872 - Governor Hercules George Robert Robinson took office. 1872 - Municipality of MacDonald Town is incorporated. 1872 - Asylum for retarded opened at Newcastle. 1872 - Breakwater lighthouse at Wollongong commenced service. 1872 - Hay proclaimed at Municipality. 1872 - Dubbo proclaimed a Municipality. 1872 - Holterman gold specimen unearthed at Hill End (largest single mass of gold extracted from the earth). |
1872 - Overland telegraph line from Adelaide to Port Darwin constructed.
|
1873 |
1873 - Commencement of extension of railway from Goulburn to Yass. |
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1874 |
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1874 - University of Adelaide founded. |
1875 |
1875 - Richmond Post Office constructed. 1875 - Sugarloaf Point lighthouse constructed. |
1875 - Ernest Giles inland journey. |
1876 |
1876 - Lithgow pottery established manufacturing pipes and bricks. 1876 - Kiama harbour opened. 1876 - Tamworth proclaimed a Municipality (17/3/1876). 1876 - Gold found at Copeland. 1876 - Stroud Police Station and Court House constructed. 1876 - Nelson Head lighthouse at Nelson Bay constructed. |
|
1877 |
1877 - Callan Park Asylum established. 1877 - Railway extended from Bathurst to Orange. 1877 - Monkerai Bridge over Karuah River constructed (oldest timber truss bridge in NSW). |
1877 - Port Arthur in Van Diemens Land closed.
|
1878 |
1878 - Department of Lunacy established. 1878 - Railway reaches Wagga Wagga. |
1878 - No known Tasmanian Aborigines in Tasmania.
|
1879 |
1879 - Governor Augustus William Frederick Spencer Loftus took office. 1879 - Steam tram service from Sydney to Redfern established. 1879 - Tacking Point lighthouse at Port Macquarie constructed. 1879 - Lismore Municipality proclaimed. 1879 - Eveleigh railway yards at Redfern commence operation. 1879 - National Park at Sutherland created (renamed Royal National Park in 1955). 1879 - Lithgow Court House completed. |
1879 - Discovery of the Great Artesian Basin.
1879 - First Australian Trade Union Congress.
|
1880 |
1880 - Bushranger 'Captain Moonlite' (Andrew George Scott) hanged (20/1/1880). 1880 - Railway reached Gerogery in New South Wales. 1880 - Forbes Court House Completed. |
1880 - First issue of the nationalist weekly, 'The Bulletin'.
1880 - Hanging of bushranger Ned Kelly in Melbourne. |
1881 |
1881 - Smallpox epidemic. Board of Health established. 1881 - Railway reached Albury from NSW side. 1881 - Goulburn Post Office completed. 1881 - Maitland Post Office completed. |
1881 - Most colonies passed laws to restrict the entry of Chinese.
1881 - Australian Census.
|
1882 |
1882 - The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital opens on Missendon Road, Sydney. 1882 - Railway extended from Narrandera to Hay. |
1882 - Discovery of Mount Morgan.
1882 - The Kimberley gold rush. |
1883 |
1883 - Parramatta Town Hall completed. 1883 - Goulburn waterworks completed. 1883 - Railway lines from Sydney and Melbourne linked for the first time at Albury (14/6/1883). |
1883 - Discovery of huge deposits of silver and lead at Broken Hill, which became the basis of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company (formed 1885).
1883 - Volcano Krakatoa erupts (26/8/1883). |
1884 |
1884 - Gaol opened at North Goulburn. 1884 - Wollongong Court House completed. 1884 - Cathedral Church of St. Saviour at Goulburn completed. 1884 - Stroud Post Office completed. |
|
1885 |
1885 - Governor Charles Robert Wynn-Carrington took office. 1885 - Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) formed. 1885 - The Newtown Courthouse is completed (5/6/1885). 1885 - Railway completed to Bourke. 1885 - Newcastle proclaimed as a city. 1885 - Grafton proclaimed as a city. 1885 - Narrandera Municipality proclaimed (17/3/1885). 1885 - Bare Island Fort in Botany Bay completed. 1885 - Soudan contingent from NSW. |
1885 - Gold discoveries in Western Australia.
|
1886 |
1886 - Fort Scratchley, Newcastle, completed. 1886 - Rail bridge over Georges River at Como completed. 1886 - Construction commenced of rail bridge over the Hawkesbury River at Brooklyn. 1886 - Kiama lighthouse turned on (1/1/1886). 1886 - Inverell Court House completed. 1886 - Strathfield to Hornsby Junction railway opened. 1886 - Blast furnace established at Lithgow. |
1886 - Foundation of a wool shearer's union, which was the ancestor of the Australian worker's Union.
|
1887 |
1887 - Goulburn Court House opened. 1887 - Kiama Post Office constructed. 1887 - Walka Water Works at Maitland completed. |
|
1888 |
1888 - Centennial Park opened (26/1/1888). 1888 - First general meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science held in Sydney. 1888 - Centenary celebrations in Sydney. 1888 - Railway reached Bombo. |
1888 - Intercolonial Conference on Chinese immigration. |
1889 |
1889 - Bridge over the Hawkesbury River, Sydney, completes railway network linking Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane (May 1889). 1889 - Sir Henry Parkes 'Tenterfield oration' advocating Federation (24/10/1889). 1889 - Lithgow Municipality proclaimed. |
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1890 |
1890 - General strike in eastern Australia based on maritime and pastoral employees. About 50,000 struck work (August to October 1890).
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1890 - Australian Federal Conference: colonies decide to hold a Convention on Federation (6-13 February 1890). 1890 - University of Tasmania founded. |
1891 |
1891 - Entry of organised labor into NSW politics. First Labor candidates were elected to parliament (17/6/1891). 1891 - Smoky Cape lighthouse constructed. 1891 - Governor Victor Albert George Child Villiers took office.
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1891 - First attempts to federate the Australian colonies at the National Australasian Convention in Sydney (March to April). Agreed to adopt the name 'Commonwealth of Australia' and adopt a draft Constitution. 1891 - Australian census. 1891 - A financial depression affects all Australian colonies. 1891 - The great shearer's strike begins on the Darling Downs. |
1892 |
1892 - Hay Court House constructed. 1891 - Picton Post Office constructed. |
1892 - Death of Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence & Avondale (14/1/1892).
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1893 |
1893 - Corowa Federation Conference (31/7/1893-1/8/1893). First of the 'people's conventions'. 1893 - Devastating floods in the Hunter. 1893 - Governor Robert William Duff took office. |
1893 - Discovery of gold in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, produced the second great gold rush in Australian history. 1893 - Recession hits and causes financial panic. |
1894 |
1894 - Peak Hill Municipality proclaimed. |
|
1895 |
1895 - Opening of the Bankstown railway line. 1895 - Governor Henry Robert Brand took office. |
1895 - Beginning of a severe drought that lasted until 1903. 1895 - Waltzing Matilda is first sung in public in Winton, Queensland. 1895 - South Australia and NSW pass Federation enabling Acts. |
1896 |
1896 - Parramatta Court House completed. |
1896 - Tasmania and Victoria pass Federation enabling Acts. 1896 - Bathurst Federation Conference to discuss the 1891 draft constitution. Second of the 'people's conventions'. |
1897 |
1897 - Castle Hill Police Station constructed. |
1897 - Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. |
1898 |
1898 - Lunacy Law enacted. 1898 - Hampden Bridge, Kangaroo Valley opened (May 1898). |
1898 - A draft Federal constitution was passed by voters in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, but rejected in New South Wales. |
1899 |
1899 - Governor William Lygon took office. |
1899 - A second round of voting on Federation produced majority votes in favour of a revised Constitution. Western Australia also voted reluctantly in favour of the draft Constitution in July 1900. 1899 - Boer War begins in South Africa, colonial troops embark to support British forces. |
1900 |
1900 - Plague breaks out in The Rocks. 1900 - Tram depots open at Newtown and Tempe.
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1900- The British Parliament passed the Act to Constitute the Commonwealth of Australia. Queen Victoria gave the Royal Assent to the Act on 9/7/1900. The Act set out the national Constitution. 1900 - Australian naval contingent sent to Boxer Rebellion, China. |
