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.

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.

Edward Hammond Hargraves
1816 - 1891

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.

 
University of Sydney

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

Eureka Stockade

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.

 
The Dunbar

1858

1858 – Railway reached Maitland from Newcastle.

1858 – Telegraph lines from Sydney to Melbourne.

The Welcome

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.

John McDouall Stuart
1815 - 1866

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.

William John Wills
1834 - 1861

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.

Robert O'Hara Burke
1821 - 1861

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.

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.

History of Arnott Family

Ben Hall
1837 - 1865 

1866

1866 – Prison erected in Parramatta Asylum for Criminal Lunatics.

1866 – Sir Henry Parkes’ Public Schools Act’ passed.

1866 – Ballina lighthouse constructed.

 
Sir Henry Parkes
1815 - 1896

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.

Indigenous Cricket Team

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.

Sir John Forrest [Baron Forrest]
1847 - 1918

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.

Frederick (Captain Thunderbolt) Ward
1835 - 1870

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.

Holterman's Gold

1873

1873 – Commencement of extension of railway from Goulburn to Yass.

1874

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.

 
Nelson Head Lighthouse

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.

Edward (Ned) Kelly
1855 - 1880

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.

1890

1890 - General strike in eastern Australia based on maritime and pastoral employees. About 50,000 struck work (August to October 1890).

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.

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).

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.

Sir Robert William Duff
1835 - 1895

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.

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.