Editing History of Australia (section)

==Colonisation==

===Plans for colonisation before 1788===
{{Main|European exploration of Australia}}
[[File:Two of the Natives of New Holland, Advancing to Combat.jpg|thumb|''Two of the Natives of New Holland, Advancing To Combat'' (1784), lithograph based on 1770 sketch by Cook's illustrator [[Sydney Parkinson]]]]
[[File:New Holland including New South Wales.jpg|thumb|''A General Chart of New Holland including [[New South Wales]] & [[Botany Bay]] with The Adjacent Countries and New Discovered Lands'', published in ''An Historical Narrative of the Discovery of New Holland and New South Wales'', London, Fielding and Stockdale, November 1786|left]]

Although various proposals for the colonisation of Australia were made prior to 1788, none were attempted. In 1717, [[Jean-Pierre Purry]] sent a plan to the Dutch East India Company for the colonisation of an area in modern South Australia. The company rejected the plan with the comment that, "There is no prospect of use or benefit to the Company in it, but rather very certain and heavy costs".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Macknight|first=Campbell|date=2008|title=A Useless Discovery? Australia and its People in the Eyes of Others from Tasman to Cook|url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/38599/2/01_Macknight_A_useless_discovery%3F_Australia_2008.pdf|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/38599/2/01_Macknight_A_useless_discovery%3F_Australia_2008.pdf|archive-date=2022-10-09|url-status=live|journal=The Globe|volume=61|pages=1–10}}</ref>

In contrast, [[Emanuel Bowen]], in 1747, promoted the benefits of exploring and colonising the country, writing:<ref>Bowen, Emanuel (1747) ''Complete System of Geography.'' London.</ref>

{{blockquote|It is impossible to conceive a Country that promises fairer from its Situation than this of <small>TERRA AUSTRALIS</small>, no longer incognita, as this Map demonstrates, but the Southern Continent Discovered. It lies precisely in the richest climates of the World... and therefore whoever perfectly discovers and settles it will become infalliably possessed of Territories as Rich, as fruitful, and as capable of Improvement, as any that have hitherto been found out, either in the East Indies or the West.}}John Harris, in his ''Navigantium atque Itinerantium Bibliotheca, or Voyages and Travels'' (1744–1748, 1764) recommended exploration of the east coast of New Holland, with a view to a British colonisation.<ref>John Harris, ''Navigantium atque Itinerantium Bibilotheca or A Complete Collection of Voyages and Travels'', revised by John Campbell, London, 1764, p. 332; cited in [[John Beaglehole|J.C. Beaglehole]] and R.A. Skelton (eds.), ''The Journals of Captain James Cook on His Voyages of Discovery'', Vol. 1, ''The Voyage of the Endeavor, 1768–1771'', Cambridge University Press and the Hakluyt Society, 1955, p. lxxvi.</ref> [[John Callander]] put forward a proposal in 1766 for Britain to found a colony of banished convicts in the South Sea or in [[Terra Australis]].<ref>''Terra Australis Cognita'', Edinburgh, 1766, Vol. I, pp. 10, 20–23.</ref> Sweden's King [[Gustav III of Sweden|Gustav III]] had ambitions to establish a colony for his country at the Swan River in 1786 but the plan was stillborn.<ref>Robert J. King, "Gustaf III's Australian Colony", ''The Great Circle'', Vol. 27, No. 2, 2005, pp. 3–20. Also through APAFT at: search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=200600250;res=APAFT</ref>

The [[American Revolutionary War]] (1775–1783) saw Britain lose most of its North American colonies and consider establishing replacement territories. Britain had transported about 50,000 convicts to the New World from 1718 to 1775 and was now searching for an alternative. The temporary solution of floating prison hulks had reached capacity and was a public health hazard, while the option of building more jails and workhouses was deemed too expensive.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Christopher|first1=Emma|title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I|last2=Maxwell-Stewart|first2=Hamish|year=2013|pages=70–74|chapter=Convict transportation in global context c. 1700–88}}</ref><ref>David Hill. (2008) '' 1788; The Brutal Truth of the First Fleet.'' pp. 9,11. William Heinemann, Australia {{ISBN|978-1-74166-797-4}}</ref>

In 1779, [[Sir Joseph Banks]], the eminent scientist who had accompanied [[James Cook]] on his 1770 voyage, recommended Botany Bay as a suitable site for a penal settlement. Banks's plan was to send 200 to 300 convicts to Botany Bay where they could be left to their own devices and not be a burden on the British taxpayer.<ref>Christopher, Emma; Maxwell-Stewart, Hamish (2013). "Convict transportation in global context c. 1700–88". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I''. pp.&nbsp;78, 81</ref>

[[File:Landing of Lieutenant James Cook at Botany Bay, 29 April 1770 (painting by E Phillips Fox).jpg|alt=|thumb|Landing of Lieutenant James Cook at Botany Bay, 29 April 1770]]

Under Banks's guidance, the American [[Loyalist]] [[James Matra]], who had also travelled with Cook, produced a new plan for colonising New South Wales in 1783.<ref>Harold B. Carter, "Banks, Cook and the Eighteenth Century Natural History Tradition", in Tony Delamotte and Carl Bridge (eds.), ''Interpreting Australia: British Perceptions of Australia since 1788'', London, Sir Robert Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, 1988, pp. 4–23.</ref> Matra argued that the country was suitable for plantations of sugar, cotton and tobacco; New Zealand timber and hemp or flax could prove valuable commodities; it could form a base for Pacific trade; and it could be a suitable compensation for displaced American Loyalists.<ref>James Matra, 23 August 1783, National Archives, Kew, Colonial Office, ''Original Correspondence'', CO 201/1: 57 61; reproduced in Jonathan King, ''"In the Beginning..." The Story of the Creation of Australia, From the Original Writings,'' Melbourne, Macmillan, 1985, p. 18.</ref> Following an interview with Secretary of State [[Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney|Lord Sydney]] in 1784, Matra amended his proposal to include convicts as settlers, considering that this would benefit both "Economy to the Publick, & Humanity to the Individual".<ref>Matra to Fox, 2 April 1784. British Library, Add. Ms 47568; an abridgement of this second version of Matra's proposal was published in issues of ''The General Advertiser'' of 12, 13, 17 and 14October 1786, accessible at: www.nla.gov.au/app/eresources/item/3304</ref>

The major alternative to Botany Bay was sending convicts to Africa. From 1775 convicts had been sent to garrison British forts in west Africa, but the experiment had proved unsuccessful. In 1783, the Pitt government considered exiling convicts to a small river island in Gambia where they could form a self-governing community, a "colony of thieves", at no expense to the government.<ref>Christopher, Emma; Maxwell-Stewart, Hamish (2013). "Convict transportation in global context c. 1700–88". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I''. pp.&nbsp;75–77</ref>

In 1785, a parliamentary select committee chaired by Lord Beauchamp recommended against the Gambia plan, but failed to endorse the alternative of Botany Bay. In a second report, Beauchamp recommended a penal settlement at Das Voltas Bay in modern Namibia. The plan was dropped, however, when an investigation of the site in 1786 found it to be unsuitable. Two weeks later, in August 1786, the Pitt government announced its intention to send convicts to Botany Bay.<ref>Christopher, Emma; Maxwell-Stewart, Hamish (2013). "Convict transportation in global context c. 1700–88". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I''. pp.&nbsp;77–78</ref> The Government incorporated the settlement of [[Norfolk Island]] into their plan, with its attractions of timber and flax, proposed by Banks's Royal Society colleagues, [[John Call|Sir John Call]] and Sir George Young.<ref>Robert J. King, "Norfolk Island: Phantasy and Reality, 1770–1814", ''The Great Circle'', Vol. 25, No. 2, 2003, pp. 20–41.</ref>

There has been a longstanding debate over whether the key consideration in the decision to establish a penal colony at Botany Bay was the pressing need to find a solution to the penal management problem, or whether broader imperial goals – such as trade, securing new supplies of timber and flax for the navy, and the desirability of strategic ports in the region – were paramount.<ref>Christopher, Emma; Maxwell-Stewart, Hamish (2013). "Convict transportation in global context c. 1700–88". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I''. pp.&nbsp;70, 83–89</ref> Christopher and Maxwell-Stewart argue that whatever the government's original motives were in establishing the colony, by the 1790s it had at least achieved the imperial objective of providing a harbour where vessels could be careened and resupplied.<ref>Christopher, Emma; Maxwell-Stewart, Hamish (2013). "Convict transportation in global context c. 1700–88". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I''. pp.&nbsp;89</ref>

=== The colony of New South Wales ===
{{Main|History of Australia (1788–1850)}}

==== Establishment of the colony: 1788 to 1792 ====
[[File:The perilous situation of The Guardian Frigate as she appeared striking on the rocks of ice c1790.jpg|thumb|''The perilous situation of The Guardian Frigate as she appeared striking on the rocks of ice'' ({{circa|1790}}) – Robert Dighton; depicting the [[Second Fleet (Australia)|Second Fleet]]]]

The [[colony of New South Wales]] was established with the arrival of the [[First Fleet]] of 11 vessels under the command of Captain [[Arthur Phillip]] in January 1788. It consisted of more than a thousand settlers, including 778 convicts (192 women and 586 men).<ref>Alan Frost, ''The First Fleet: The Real Story'', Melbourne, Black Inc., 2011. Rosalind Miles (2001) ''Who Cooked the Last Supper: The Women's History of the World'' Three Rivers Press. {{ISBN|0-609-80695-5}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=6vPOD6Ol15MC&q=first+fleet google books]</ref> A few days after arrival at [[Botany Bay]] the fleet moved to the more suitable [[Port Jackson]] where a settlement was established at [[Sydney Cove]] on 26 January 1788.<ref>Peter Hill (2008) pp.141–50</ref> This date later became Australia's national day, [[Australia Day]]. The colony was formally proclaimed by Governor Phillip on 7 February 1788 at Sydney. Sydney Cove offered a fresh water supply and a safe harbour, which Phillip described as being,<ref>{{cite web|date=9 October 2009|title=SL/nsw.gov.au|url=http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/terra_australis/letters/phillip/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203035645/http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/terra_australis/letters/phillip/index.html|archive-date=3 February 2013|access-date=14 July 2011|publisher=SL/nsw.gov.au}}</ref>
{{blockquote |text=with out exception the finest Harbour in the World [...] Here a Thousand Sail of the Line may ride in the most perfect Security [...].}}

The territory of New South Wales claimed by Britain included all of Australia eastward of the meridian of 135° East. This included more than half of mainland Australia.<ref name="King-1998">Robert J. King, "Terra Australis, New Holland and New South Wales: the Treaty of Tordesillas and Australia", ''The Globe'', No. 47, 1998, pp. 35–55.</ref> The claim also included "all the Islands adjacent in the Pacific" between the latitudes of [[Cape York Peninsula|Cape York]] and the southern tip of [[Van Diemen's Land]] (Tasmania).<ref>Robert J. King, "Terra Australis, New Holland and New South Wales: the Treaty of Tordesillas and Australia", ''The Globe'', No. 47, 1998, pp. 35–55, 48–49.</ref> In 1817, the British government withdrew the extensive territorial claim over the South Pacific, passing an act specifying that Tahiti, New Zealand and other islands of the South Pacific were not within His Majesty's dominions.<ref name="King-1998" /> However, it is unclear whether the claim ever extended to the current islands of New Zealand.<ref name="Kingston-2006b">{{Cite book|last=Kingston|first=Beverley|title=A History of New South Wales|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2006|location=Cambridge|pages=1–2}}</ref>

[[File:Arthur_Phillip_-_Wheatley_ML124.jpg|thumb|[[Arthur Phillip]], first [[Governor of New South Wales]]]]
[[File:Founding of the settlement of Port Jackson at Botany Bay in New South Wales in 1788 - Thomas Gosse.jpg|left|thumb|''Founding of the settlement of Port Jackson at Botany Bay in New South Wales in 1788'' – Thomas Gosse]]

Governor Phillip was vested with complete authority over the inhabitants of the colony. His intention was to establish harmonious relations with local Aboriginal people and try to reform as well as discipline the convicts of the colony. Early efforts at agriculture were fraught and supplies from overseas were scarce. Between 1788 and 1792 about 3546 male and 766 female convicts were landed at Sydney. Many new arrivals were sick or unfit for work and the condition of healthy convicts also deteriorated due to the hard labour and poor food. The food situation reached crisis point in 1790 and the [[Second Fleet (Australia)|Second Fleet]] which finally arrived in June 1790 had lost a quarter of its passengers through sickness, while the condition of the convicts of the [[Third Fleet (Australia)|Third Fleet]] appalled Phillip. From 1791, however, the more regular arrival of ships and the beginnings of trade lessened the feeling of isolation and improved supplies.<ref name="HttpadbonlineanueduaubiogsAbhtmhiliteArthurPhillip">{{cite book|author=B.H. Fletcher|title=ADBonline.anu.edu.au|publisher=ADBonline.anu.edu.au|chapter=Phillip, Arthur (1738–1814)|access-date=14 July 2011|chapter-url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020292b.htm?hilite=Arthur%3BPhillip}}</ref>

In 1788, Phillip established a subsidiary settlement on [[Norfolk Island]] in the South Pacific where he hoped to obtain timber and flax for the navy. The island, however, had no safe harbour, which led the settlement to be abandoned and the settlers evacuated to Tasmania in 1807.<ref>King, Robert J. "Norfolk Island: Phantasy and Reality, 1770–1814." ''The Great Circle'', Vol. 25, No. 2, 2003, pp. 20–41.</ref> The island was subsequently re-established as a site for secondary transportation in 1825.<ref>Macintyre (2020). p. 78</ref>

Phillip sent exploratory missions in search of better soils, fixed on the [[Parramatta]] region as a promising area for expansion, and moved many of the convicts from late 1788 to establish a small township, which became the main centre of the colony's economic life. This left Sydney Cove only as an important port and focus of social life. Poor equipment and unfamiliar soils and climate continued to hamper the expansion of farming from Farm Cove to Parramatta and [[Toongabbie]], but a building program, assisted by convict labour, advanced steadily. Between 1788 and 1792, convicts and their gaolers made up the majority of the population; however, a free population soon began to grow, consisting of emancipated convicts, locally born children, soldiers whose military service had expired and, finally, free settlers from Britain. Governor Phillip departed the colony for England on 11 December 1792, with the new settlement having survived near starvation and immense isolation for four years.<ref name="HttpadbonlineanueduaubiogsAbhtmhiliteArthurPhillip" />

==== Consolidation: 1793 to 1821 ====
[[File:WilliamBligh.jpeg|left|thumb|Governor [[William Bligh]]]]

After the departure of Phillip, the colony's military officers began acquiring land and importing consumer goods obtained from visiting ships. Former convicts also farmed land granted to them and engaged in trade. Farms spread to the more fertile lands surrounding [[Parramatta|Paramatta]], [[Windsor, New South Wales|Windsor]], [[Richmond, New South Wales|Richmond]] and [[Camden, New South Wales|Camden]], and by 1803 the colony was self-sufficient in grain. Boat building developed in order to make travel easier and exploit the marine resources of the coastal settlements. Sealing and whaling became important industries.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Karskens|first=Grace|title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I, Indigenous and colonial Australia|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2013|isbn=9781107011533|editor-last=Bashford|editor-first=Alison|location=Cambridge|pages=90–114|chapter=The early colonial presence, 1788-1822|editor-last2=MacIntyre|editor-first2=Stuart}}</ref>

[[File:View_of_Sydney_Cove_-_Thomas_Watling.jpg|thumb|View of [[Sydney Cove]] ([[Australian Aboriginal languages|Aboriginal]]: ''Warrane'') by [[Thomas Watling]], 1794–1796]]

The [[New South Wales Corps]] was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment of the [[British Army in Australia|British Army]] to relieve the marines who had accompanied the First Fleet. Officers of the Corps soon became involved in the corrupt and lucrative rum trade in the colony. Governor [[William Bligh]] (1806–1808) tried to suppress the rum trade and the illegal use of Crown Land, resulting in the [[Rum Rebellion]] of 1808. The Corps, working closely with the newly established wool trader [[John Macarthur (wool pioneer)|John Macarthur]], staged the only successful armed takeover of government in Australian history, deposing Bligh and instigating a brief period of military rule prior to the arrival from Britain of Governor [[Lachlan Macquarie]] in 1810.<ref>{{cite book|author=A.G.L. Shaw|title=ADB.online.anu.edu.au|publisher=ADB.online.anu.edu.au|chapter=Bligh, William (1754–1817)|access-date=14 July 2011|chapter-url=http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010111b.htm?hilite=william%3Bbligh}}</ref><ref>Macintyre (2020). p. 65.</ref>

Macquarie served as the last autocratic [[Governor of New South Wales]], from 1810 to 1821, and had a leading role in the social and economic development of New South Wales which saw it transition from a [[penal colony]] to a budding civil society. He established a bank, a currency and a hospital. He employed a planner to design the street layout of Sydney and commissioned the construction of roads, wharves, churches, and public buildings. He sent explorers out from Sydney and, in 1815, a road across the [[Blue Mountains (New South Wales)|Blue Mountains]] was completed, opening the way for large scale farming and grazing in the lightly wooded pastures west of the [[Great Dividing Range]].<ref name="Kingston-2006a"/><ref>Karskens, Grace (2013). pp. 115–17</ref>

Central to Macquarie's policy was his treatment of the [[emancipist]]s, whom he considered should be treated as social equals to free-settlers in the colony. He appointed emancipists to key government positions including [[Francis Greenway]] as colonial architect and [[William Redfern]] as a magistrate. His policy on emancipists was opposed by many influential free settlers, officers and officials, and London became concerned at the cost of his public works. In 1819, London appointed [[John Bigge|J. T. Bigge]] to conduct an inquiry into the colony, and Macquarie resigned shortly before the report of the inquiry was published.<ref>{{cite book|author=N.D. McLachlan|title=ADB.online.anu.edu.au|publisher=ADB.online.anu.edu.au|chapter=Macquarie, Lachlan (1762–1824)|access-date=14 July 2011|chapter-url=http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020162b.htm?hilite=lachlan%3Bmacquarie}}</ref><ref>Macintyre (2020). pp. 54–59</ref>

==== Expansion: 1821 to 1850 ====
[[File:Map NSW 1850 SLNSW FL3688835.jpg|thumb|Map of the south eastern portion of Australia, 1850]]

In 1820, British settlement was largely confined to a {{convert|100|km|mi|adj=mid|-radius}} around Sydney and to the central plain of Van Diemen's land. The settler population was 26,000 on the mainland and 6,000 in Van Diemen's Land. Following the end of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in 1815, the transportation of convicts increased rapidly and the number of free settlers grew steadily.<ref>Macintrye (2020). pp. 55, 60, 77</ref> From 1821 to 1840, 55,000 convicts arrived in New South Wales and 60,000 in Van Diemen's Land. However, by 1830, free settlers and the locally born exceeded the convict population of New South Wales.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=McCalman|first1=Janet|title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I|last2=Kippen|first2=Rebecca|year=2013|pages=297|chapter=Population and health}}</ref>

From the 1820s [[Squatting (Australian history)|squatters]] increasingly established unauthorised cattle and sheep runs beyond the official limits of the settled colony. In 1836, a system of annual licences authorising grazing on Crown Land was introduced in an attempt to control the [[pastoral farming|pastoral industry]], but booming wool prices and the high cost of land in the settled areas encouraged further squatting. By 1844 wool accounted for half of the colony's exports and by 1850 most of the eastern third of New South Wales was controlled by fewer than 2,000 pastoralists.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Ford|first1=Lisa|title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I|last2=Roberts|first2=David Andrew|year=2013|pages=128–135|chapter=Expansion, 1820–1850}}</ref><ref>W.P. Driscoll and E.S. Elphick (1982) ''Birth of A Nation'' p. 147-48. Rigby, Australia. {{ISBN|0-85179-697-4}}</ref>

In 1825, the western boundary of New South Wales was extended to longitude 129° East, which is the current nominal eastern boundary of [[Western Australia]]. As a result, the territory of New South Wales reached its greatest extent, covering the area of the modern state as well as modern Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory.<ref>''[[Historical Records of Australia]]'', Series III, Vol. V, 1922, pp. 743–47, 770.</ref><ref name="Kingston-2006b"/>

By 1850 the settler population of New South Wales had grown to 180,000, not including the 70,000–75,000 living in the area which became the separate colony of Victoria in 1851.<ref>Ford, Lisa; Roberts, David Andrew (2013). p.138</ref>

===Establishment of further colonies===
{{Main|History of Tasmania|History of Victoria|History of Western Australia}}
{{Main articles|History of South Australia|History of Queensland}}
After hosting [[Baudin expedition to Australia|Nicholas Baudin's]] French naval expedition in Sydney in 1802, Governor [[Philip Gidley King|Phillip Gidley King]] decided to establish a settlement in [[Van Diemen's Land]] (modern [[Tasmania]]) in 1803, partly to forestall a possible French settlement. The British settlement of the island soon centred on Launceston in the north and Hobart in the south.<ref>Macintyre (2020). pp. 46–48,</ref><ref>Karskens, Grace (2013). "The early colonial presence, 1788–1822". In ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I.'' p. 108.</ref> From the 1820s free settlers were encouraged by the offer of land grants in proportion to the capital the settlers would bring.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Russell|first=Penny|title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I|year=2013|pages=464–65|chapter=Gender and colonial society}}</ref><ref>Macintyre (2020). p. 65</ref> Van Diemen's Land became a separate colony from New South Wales in December 1825 and continued to expand through the 1830s, supported by farming, sheep grazing and whaling. Following the suspension of convict transportation to New South Wales in 1840, Van Diemen's land became the main destination for convicts. Transportation to Van Diemen's Land ended in 1853 and in 1856 the colony officially changed its name to Tasmania.<ref>Macintyre (2020). pp. 84–85</ref>

[[File:Landing at melbourne 1840.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Melbourne]] Landing, 1840; watercolor by W. Liardet (1840)]]

Pastoralists from Van Diemen's land began squatting in the [[Port Phillip]] hinterland on the mainland in 1834, attracted by its rich grasslands. In 1835, [[John Batman]] and others negotiated the transfer of {{convert|100,000|acres|order=flip}} of land from the Kulin people. However, the treaty was annulled the same year when the British [[Colonial Office]] issued the ''Proclamation of [[Richard Bourke|Governor Bourke]].'' The proclamation meant that from then, all people found occupying land without the authority of the government would be considered illegal trespassers.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Governor Bourke's proclamation 1835 (UK)|url=https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-sdid-75.html|access-date=22 July 2021|website=Museum of Australian Democracy}}</ref>

In 1836, Port Phillip was officially recognised as a district of New South Wales and opened for settlement. The main settlement of Melbourne was established in 1837 as a planned town on the instructions of Governor Bourke. Squatters and settlers from Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales soon arrived in large numbers. In 1851, the Port Phillip District separated from New South Wales as the colony of Victoria.{{sfnp |Shaw |1983 |pp=118–119 }}<ref>Macintyre (2020). pp. 85-86</ref>

[[File:The Foundation of Perth.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|''[[The Foundation of Perth 1829]]'' by [[George Pitt Morison]], depicting a, possibly incorrect, 20th-century reconstruction of the founding ceremony on 12 August 1829]]
In 1826, the governor of New South Wales, [[Ralph Darling]], sent a military garrison to [[King George Sound]] to deter the French from establishing a settlement in New Holland. In 1827, the head of the expedition, [[Edmund Lockyer|Major Edmund Lockyer]], formally annexed the western portion of the continent not already claimed by Britain as a British colony.<ref name="srnsw">{{cite web|title=King George's Sound Settlement|url=http://search.records.nsw.gov.au/agencies/2517|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140624194804/http://search.records.nsw.gov.au/agencies/2517|archive-date=24 June 2014|access-date=14 May 2014|work=State Records|publisher=[[State Records Authority of New South Wales]]}}</ref> In 1829, the Swan River colony was established at the sites of modern [[Fremantle]] and [[Perth]], becoming the first convict-free and privatised colony in Australia. However, by 1850 there were a little more than 5,000 settlers. The colony accepted convicts from that year because of the acute shortage of labour.<ref>Ford, Lisa; Roberts, David Andrew (2013). p.73</ref><ref>Macintyre (2020). pp. 86–87</ref>

[[File:Adelaide North Tce 1839.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Adelaide]] in 1839. South Australia was founded as a free-colony, without convicts.]]

The Province of South Australia was established in 1836 as a privately financed settlement based on the theory of "systematic colonisation" developed by [[Edward Gibbon Wakefield]]. Convict labour was banned in the hope of making the colony more attractive to "respectable" families and promote an even balance between male and female settlers. The city of [[Adelaide]] was to be planned with a generous provision of churches, parks and schools. Land was to be sold at a uniform price and the proceeds used to secure an adequate supply of labour through selective assisted migration.<ref name="Ford-2013">Ford, Lisa; Roberts, David Andrew (2013). pp. 139–40</ref><ref name="Macintyre-2020a">Macintyre (2020). pp. 87–88</ref><ref name="foundingdocs.gov.au2">{{cite web|title=Foundingdocs.gov.au|url=http://foundingdocs.gov.au/item.asp?sdID=37|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602002025/http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item.asp?sdID=37|archive-date=2 June 2011|access-date=14 July 2011|publisher=Foundingdocs.gov.au}}</ref> Various religious, personal and commercial freedoms were guaranteed, and the [[Letters Patent]] enabling the [[South Australia Act 1834]] included a guarantee of Aboriginal land rights.<ref name="Foundingdocs-2011">{{cite web|title=Foundingdocs.gov.au|url=http://foundingdocs.gov.au/item.asp?sdID=38|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602002233/http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item.asp?sdID=38|archive-date=2 June 2011|access-date=14 July 2011|publisher=Foundingdocs.gov.au}}</ref>

The colony, however, was badly hit by the depression of 1841–44. Conflict with Indigenous traditional landowners also reduced the protections they had been promised. In 1842, the settlement became a Crown colony administered by the governor and an appointed Legislative Council. The economy recovered and by 1850 the settler population had grown to 60,000. In 1851, the colony achieved limited self-government with a partially elected Legislative Council.<ref name="Ford-2013" /><ref name="Macintyre-2020a" /><ref name="Parliament-2006">{{cite web|date=21 August 2006|title=Parliament.sa.gov.au|url=http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/AboutParliament/History/Overview/Pages/Legislative%20Council.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706122623/http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/AboutParliament/History/Overview/Pages/Legislative%20Council.aspx|archive-date=6 July 2011|access-date=14 July 2011|publisher=Parliament.sa.gov.au}}</ref>

[[File:StateLibQld_2_305410_Image_of_a_watercolour_painting_of_Moreton_Bay_Settlement_New_South_Wales_in_1835.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Brisbane]] (Moreton Bay Settlement), 1835; watercolour by H. Bowerman]]

In 1824, the [[Moreton Bay Penal Settlement|Moreton Bay penal settlement]] was established on the site of present-day [[Brisbane]]. In 1842, the penal colony was closed and the area was opened for free settlement. By 1850 the population of Brisbane had reached 8,000 and increasing numbers of pastoralists were grazing cattle and sheep in the [[Darling Downs]] west of the town. Frontier violence between settlers and the Indigenous population became severe as pastoralism expanded north of the [[Tweed River (New South Wales)|Tweed River]]. A series of disputes between northern pastoralists and the government in Sydney led to increasing demands from the northern settlers for separation from New South Wales. In 1857, the British government agreed to the separation and in 1859 the colony of Queensland was proclaimed.<ref>Macintyre (2020). p. 88</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Curthoys|first1=Ann|title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I|last2=Mitchell|first2=Jessie|year=2013|pages=163–64|chapter=The advent of self-government}}</ref>{{sfnp |Shaw |1983 |pp=137–38 }}

===Convicts and colonial society===

==== Convicts and emancipists ====
{{Main|Convicts in Australia}}
[[File:Black-eyed_Sue_and_Sweet_Poll_of_Plymouth_taking_leave_of_their_lovers_who_are_going_to_Botany_Bay.jpeg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|''Black-eyed Sue and Sweet Poll of Plymouth, England mourning their lovers who are soon to be transported to Botany Bay'' (published in London in 1792)]]

Between 1788 and 1868, approximately 161,700 convicts were transported to the Australian colonies of New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land and Western Australia.<ref>Jan Bassett (1986) p. 258</ref> The literacy rate of convicts was above average and they brought a range of useful skills to the new colony including building, farming, sailing, fishing and hunting.<ref>Karskens, Grace (2013). p. 93</ref> The small number of free settlers meant that early governors also had to rely on convicts and emancipists for professions such as lawyers, architects, surveyors and teachers.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hirst|first=John|title=Australian History in 7 Questions|publisher=Black Inc.|year=2014|isbn=9781863956703|location=Melbourne|pages=31}}</ref>
Convicts initially worked on government farms and public works such as land clearing and building. After 1792, the majority were assigned to work for private employers including [[emancipist]]s. Emancipists were granted small plots of land for farming and a year of government rations. Later they were assigned convict labour to help them work their farms.<ref>Karskens, Grace (2013). pp. 91–97, 104</ref> Some convicts were assigned to military officers to run their businesses. These convicts learnt commercial skills which could help them work for themselves when their sentence ended or they were granted a "ticket of leave" (a form of parole).<ref>Karskens, Grace (2013). pp. 91–97</ref>

Convicts soon established a system of piece work which allowed them to work for wages once their allocated tasks were completed.<ref>Karskens, Grace (2013). p. 113</ref> By 1821 convicts, emancipists and their children owned two-thirds of the land under cultivation, half the cattle and one-third of the sheep.<ref>Karskens, Grace (2013). p. 104</ref> They also worked in trades and small business. Emancipists employed about half of the convicts assigned to private masters.<ref>Hirst, John (2014). p. 44</ref>

A series of reforms recommended by J. T. Bigge in 1822 and 1823 worsened conditions for convicts. The food ration was cut and their opportunities to work for wages restricted.<ref>Hirst, John (2014). pp. 39–40</ref> More convicts were assigned to rural work gangs, bureaucratic control and surveillance of convicts was made more systematic, isolated penal settlements were established as places of secondary punishment, the rules for tickets of leave were tightened, and land grants were skewed to favour free settlers with large capital.<ref>Karskens, Grace (2013). pp. 116, 122–125</ref> As a result, convicts who arrived after 1820 were far less likely to become property owners, to marry, and to establish families.<ref>McCalman, Janet; Kippen, Rebecca (2013). "Population and health". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I''. p.&nbsp;296–97</ref>

==== Free settlers ====
[[File:Caroline Chisholm.jpg|thumb|The humanitarian [[Caroline Chisholm]] was a leading advocate for women's issues and family friendly colonial policy.]]

The Bigge reforms also aimed to encourage free settlers by offering them land grants in proportion to their capital. From 1831, the colonies replaced land grants with land sales by auction at a fixed minimum price per acre, the proceeds being used to fund the assisted migration of workers. From 1821 to 1850, Australia attracted 200,000 immigrants from the United Kingdom. However, the system of land allocations led to the concentration of land in the hands of a small number of affluent settlers.<ref>Ford, Lisa; Roberts, David Andrew (2013). pp. 122, 126–7, 131, 135–36</ref>

Two-thirds of the migrants to Australia during this period received assistance from the British or colonial governments.<ref>Haines, Robin, and Ralph Shlomowitz. "Nineteenth century government-assisted and total immigration from the United Kingdom to Australia: quinquennial estimates by colony." ''Journal of the Australian Population Association'', vol. 8, no. 1, 1991, pp. 50–61. ''JSTOR'', www.jstor.org/stable/41110599. Accessed 20 July 2021.</ref> Families of convicts were also offered free passage and about 3,500 migrants were selected under the [[English Poor Laws]]. Various special-purpose and charitable schemes, such as those of [[Caroline Chisholm]] and [[John Dunmore Lang]], also provided migration assistance.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Richards|first=Eric|title=How Did Poor People Emigrate from the British Isles to Australia in the Nineteenth Century?|jstor=176082|journal=Journal of British Studies|volume=32|issue=3|date=July 1993|pages=250–279|doi=10.1086/386032|s2cid=162223882}}</ref>

====Women====
[[File:ElizabethMacarthur.jpg|thumb|left|Businesswoman [[Elizabeth Macarthur]] helped establish the merino wool industry.]]

Women comprised only about 15% of convicts transported. Due to the shortage of women in the colony they were more likely to marry than men and tended to choose older, skilled men with property as husbands. The early colonial courts enforced the property rights of women independently of their husbands, and the ration system also gave women and their children some protection from abandonment. Women were active in business and agriculture from the early years of the colony, among the most successful being the former convict turned entrepreneur [[Mary Reibey]] and the agriculturalist [[Elizabeth Macarthur]].<ref>Karskens, Grace (2013). pp. 94, 112.</ref> One-third of the shareholders of the first colonial bank (founded in 1817) were women.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Frost|first=Lionel|title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I|year=2013|pages=323|chapter=The economy}}</ref>

One of the goals of the assisted migration programs from the 1830s was to promote migration of women and families to provide a more even gender balance in the colonies. Caroline Chisholm established a shelter and labour exchange for migrant women in New South Wales in the 1840s and promoted the settlement of single and married women in rural areas.<ref>{{cite book|last=Iltis|first=Judith|title=Biography – Caroline Chisholm – Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=Adbonline.anu.edu.au|chapter=Chisholm, Caroline (1808–1877)|access-date=14 July 2011|chapter-url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010208b.htm}}</ref><ref>Macintyre (2020). p. 89</ref>

Between 1830 and 1850 the female proportion of the Australian settler population increased from 24 per cent to 41 per cent.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014|title=3105.0.65.001 Australian Historical Population Statistics, 2014, Table 1.1|url=https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3105.0.65.0012014|access-date=21 July 2021|publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics}}</ref>

==== Religion ====
The [[Church of England]] was the only recognised church before 1820 and its clergy worked closely with the governors. [[Richard Johnson (chaplain)|Richard Johnson]] (chief chaplain 1788–1802) was charged by Governor [[Arthur Phillip]], with improving "public morality" in the colony and was also heavily involved in health and education.<ref name="adbonline.anu.edu.au2">{{cite book|author=K.J. Cable|title=ADBonline.anu.edu.au|publisher=ADBonline.anu.edu.au|chapter=Johnson, Richard (1753–1827)|access-date=14 July 2011|chapter-url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020018b.htm}}</ref> [[Samuel Marsden]] (various ministries 1795–1838) became known for his missionary work, the severity of his punishments as a magistrate, and the vehemence of his public denunciations of Catholicism and Irish convicts.<ref>{{cite book|author=A.T. Yarwood|title=ADBonline.anu.edu.au|publisher=ADBonline.anu.edu.au|chapter=Marsden, Samuel (1765–1838)|access-date=14 July 2011|chapter-url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020176b.htm}}</ref>

[[File:Castle Hill Rebellion (1804).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|A painting depicting the [[Castle Hill Rebellion]] in [[Sydney]] of 1804]]

About a quarter of convicts were Catholics. The lack of official recognition of Catholicism was combined with suspicion of Irish convicts which only increased after the Irish-led [[Castle Hill Rebellion]] of 1804.<ref name="catholicaustralia.com.au2">{{cite web|title=Catholicaustralia.com.au|url=http://www.catholicaustralia.com.au/page.php?pg=austchurch-history|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324111940/http://www.catholicaustralia.com.au/page.php?pg=austchurch-history|archive-date=24 March 2012|access-date=14 July 2011|publisher=Catholicaustralia.com.au}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=O'Brien|first=Anne|title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I|year=2013|pages=417–18|chapter=Religion}}</ref> Only two Catholic priests operated temporarily in the colony before Governor Macquarie appointed official Catholic chaplains in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land in 1820.<ref name="O'Brien-2013">O'Brien, Anne (2013). "Religion". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I''. pp. 419–20</ref>

The Bigge reports recommended that the status of the Anglican Church be enhanced. An Anglican archdeacon was appointed in 1824 and allocated a seat in the first advisory Legislative Council. The Anglican clergy and schools also received state support. This policy was changed under Governor Burke by the Church Acts of 1836 and 1837. The government now provided state support for the clergy and church buildings of the four largest denominations: Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian and, later, Methodist.<ref name="O'Brien-2013" />

Many Anglicans saw state support of the Catholic Church as a threat. The prominent Presbyterian minister [[John Dunmore Lang]] also promoted sectarian divisions in the 1840s.<ref>O'Brien, Anne (2013). p. 421</ref><ref>Macintyre (2020), p. 90</ref> State support, however, led to a growth in church activities. Charitable associations such as the Catholic [[Sisters of Charity of Australia|Sisters of Charity]], founded in 1838, provided hospitals, orphanages and asylums for the old and disabled. Religious organisations were also the main providers of school education in the first half of the nineteenth century, a notable example being Lang's Australian College which opened in 1831. Many religious associations, such as the [[Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart|Sisters of St Joseph]], co-founded by [[Saint Mary MacKillop|Mary MacKillop]] in 1866, continued their educational activities after the provision of secular state schools grew from the 1850s.<ref>Macintyre (2020), pp. 123–27</ref><ref>O'Brien, Anne (2013). "Religion". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I''. pp. 422–23</ref>

===Exploration of the continent===
{{main|European exploration of Australia}}
[[File:Flinders prepares to circumnavigate Terra Australis.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|''Flinders prepares to circumnavigate Terra Australis'', July 1802]]

In 1798–99 [[George Bass]] and [[Matthew Flinders]] set out from Sydney in a sloop and circumnavigated [[Tasmania]], thus proving it to be an island.<ref name="ReferenceA3">{{cite book|last=Macrae|first=Keith|title=Biography – George Bass – Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=Adbonline.anu.edu.au|chapter=Bass, George (1771–1803)|access-date=14 July 2011|chapter-url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010062b.htm}}</ref> In 1801–02 Matthew Flinders in {{HMS|Investigator|1801|6}} led the first circumnavigation of Australia. Aboard ship was the Aboriginal explorer [[Bungaree]], who became the first person born on the Australian continent to circumnavigate it.<ref name="ReferenceA3" />

[[File:Flinders01.jpg|left|thumb|[[Matthew Flinders]] led the first successful circumnavigation of Australia in 1801–02.]]

In 1798, the former convict John Wilson and two companions crossed the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, in an expedition ordered by Governor Hunter. Hunter suppressed news of the feat for fear that it would encourage convicts to abscond from the settlement. In 1813, [[Gregory Blaxland]], [[William Lawson (explorer)|William Lawson]] and [[William Wentworth]] crossed the mountains by a different route and a road was soon built to the [[Central Tablelands]].<ref>Karskens, Grace (2013). pp. 102, 108, 116</ref>

In 1824, [[Hamilton Hume]] and [[William Hovell]] led an expedition to find new grazing land in the south of the colony, and also to find out where New South Wales' western rivers flowed. Over 16 weeks in 1824–25, they journeyed to Port Phillip and back. They discovered the [[Murray River]] (which they named the ''Hume'') and many of its tributaries, and good agricultural and grazing lands.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hume|first=Stuart H.|title=Biography – Hamilton Hume – Australian Dictionary of Biography|date=17 August 1960|publisher=Adbonline.anu.edu.au|chapter=Hume, Hamilton (1797–1873)|access-date=14 July 2011|chapter-url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010527b.htm?hilite=hume%3Band%3Bhovell}}</ref>

[[Charles Sturt]] led an expedition along the [[Macquarie River]] in 1828 and discovered the [[Darling River]]. Leading a second expedition in 1829, Sturt followed the [[Murrumbidgee River]] into the Murray River. His party then followed this river to its junction with the [[Darling River]]. Sturt continued down river on to [[Lake Alexandrina (South Australia)|Lake Alexandrina]], where the Murray meets the sea in South Australia.<ref>{{cite book|author=H.J. Gibbney|title=Biography – Charles Sturt – Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=Adbonline.anu.edu.au|chapter=Sturt, Charles (1795–1869)|access-date=14 July 2011|chapter-url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020458b.htm}}</ref>

Surveyor General Sir [[Thomas Mitchell (explorer)|Thomas Mitchell]] conducted a series of expeditions from the 1830s to follow up these previous expeditions. Mitchell employed three Aboriginal guides and recorded many Aboriginal place names. He also recorded a violent encounter with traditional owners on the Murray in 1836 in which his men pursued them, "shooting as many as they could."<ref>Macintyre (2020). pp. 64–65</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=D.W.A. Baker|title=Biography – Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell – Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=Adbonline.anu.edu.au|chapter=Mitchell, Sir Thomas Livingstone (1792–1855)|access-date=14 July 2011|chapter-url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020206b.htm?hilite=thomas%3Bmitchell}}</ref>

The Polish scientist and explorer Count [[Paul Edmund Strzelecki]] conducted surveying work in the [[Australian Alps]] in 1839 and, led by two Aboriginal guides, became the first European to ascend Australia's highest peak, which he named [[Mount Kosciuszko]] in honour of the Polish patriot [[Tadeusz Kościuszko]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Heney|first=Helen|title=Biography – Sir Paul Edmund de Strzelecki – Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=Adbonline.anu.edu.au|chapter=Strzelecki, Sir Paul Edmund de (1797–1873)|access-date=14 July 2011|chapter-url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020457b.htm}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=11 June 2021|title=Paul Edmund de Strzelecki|url=https://australian.museum/about/history/exhibitions/trailblazers/paul-edmund-de-strzelecki/|access-date=22 July 2021|website=Australian Museum}}</ref>

[[File:John Longstaff - Arrival of Burke, Wills and King, 1861 (digitally modified).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[John Longstaff]], ''Arrival of Burke, Wills and King at the deserted camp at Cooper's Creek, Sunday evening, 21 April 1861'']]

The German scientist [[Ludwig Leichhardt]] led three expeditions in northern Australia in the 1840s, sometimes with the help of Aboriginal guides. He and his party disappeared in 1848 while attempting to cross the continent from east to west.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Gascoigne|first1=John|title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I|last2=Maroske|first2=Sara|year=2013|pages=444, 449|chapter=Science and technology}}</ref> [[Edmund Kennedy]] led an expedition into what is now far-western Queensland in 1847 before being speared by Aboriginals in the Cape York Peninsula in 1848.<ref>Macintyre (2020). p. 109</ref>

In 1860, [[Burke and Wills]] led the first south–north crossing of the continent from Melbourne to the [[Gulf of Carpentaria]]. Lacking bushcraft and unwilling to learn from the local Aboriginal people, Burke and Wills died in 1861, having returned from the Gulf to their rendezvous point at [[Cooper Creek|Coopers Creek]] only to discover the rest of their party had departed the location only a matter of hours previously. They became tragic heroes to the European settlers, their funeral attracting a crowd of more than 50,000 and their story inspiring numerous books, artworks, films and representations in popular culture.<ref>Macintyre (2020). pp. 109–10</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=McDonald|first=John|title=Art of Australia, Volume I, exploration to Federation|publisher=Pan Macmillan|year=2008|isbn=9781405038690|location=Sydney|pages=271–80}}</ref>

In 1862, [[John McDouall Stuart]] succeeded in traversing central Australia from south to north. His expedition mapped out the route which was later followed by the [[Australian Overland Telegraph Line]].<ref name="Macintyre-2020b">Macintyre (2020). p. 110</ref>

The completion of this telegraph line in 1872 was associated with further exploration of the [[Gibson Desert]] and the [[Nullarbor Plain]]. While exploring central Australia in 1872, [[Ernest Giles]] sighted [[Kata Tjuta]] from a location near [[Kings Canyon (Northern Territory)|Kings Canyon]] and called it ''Mount Olga''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Green|first=Louis|date=1972|entry=Giles, Ernest (1835–1897)|entry-url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/giles-ernest-3611|access-date=23 July 2021|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University}}</ref> The following year [[William Gosse (explorer)|Willian Gosse]] observed [[Uluru]] and named it ''Ayers Rock'', in honour of the [[Chief Secretary of South Australia]], Sir [[Henry Ayers]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gosse|first=Fayette|date=1972|entry=Gosse, William Christie (1842–1881)|entry-url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gosse-william-christie-3643|access-date=23 July 2021|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University}}</ref>

In 1879, [[Alexander Forrest]] trekked from the north coast of Western Australia to the overland telegraph, discovering land suitable for grazing in the Kimberley region.<ref name="Macintyre-2020b" />

===Impact of British settlement on Indigenous population===
{{Further|Smallpox in Australia}}
When the First Fleet arrived in Sydney Cove with some 1,300 colonists in January 1788 the Aboriginal population of the Sydney region is estimated to have been about 3,000 people.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Broome|first=Richard|title=Aboriginal Australians, A history since 1788|publisher=Allen and Unwin|year=2019|isbn=9781760528218|edition=Fifth|location=NSW|pages=15}}</ref> The first governor of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip, arrived with instructions to:{{sfnp |George |1914 |p=13 }}
{{blockquote |text=endeavour by every possible means to open an intercourse with the natives, and to conciliate their affections, enjoining all our subjects to live in amity and kindness with them.}}

[[File:Alexander_Schramm_-_A_scene_in_South_Australia_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Alexander Schramm's ''A Scene in South Australia'' (1850) depicts German settlers with Aboriginals]]

==== Disease ====
The relative isolation of the Indigenous population for some 60,000 years meant that they had little resistance to many introduced diseases. An outbreak of smallpox in April 1789 killed about half the Aboriginal population of the Sydney region. The source of the outbreak is [[Australian history wars|controversial]]; some researchers contend that it originated from contact with Indonesian fisherman in the far north while others argue that it is more likely to have been inadvertently, or deliberately, spread by settlers.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=MacKnight|first=Campbell|date=2011|title=The view from Marege': Australian knowledge of Makassar and the impact of the trepang industry across two centuries|journal=Aboriginal History|volume=35|pages=121–43|doi=10.22459/AH.35.2011.06|jstor=24046930|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-04-17|title=Was Sydney's smallpox outbreak of 1789 an act of biological warfare against Aboriginal tribes?|url=https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/ockhamsrazor/was-sydneys-smallpox-outbreak-an-act-of-biological-warfare/5395050|access-date=2023-12-21|website=ABC listen|language=en-AU}}</ref><ref name="Warren Christopher-2013">{{cite journal|author=Warren Christopher|year=2013|title=Smallpox at Sydney Cove – Who, When, Why|journal=Journal of Australian Studies|volume=38|pages=68–86|doi=10.1080/14443058.2013.849750|s2cid=143644513}}</ref>

There were further smallpox outbreaks devastating Aboriginal populations from the late 1820s (affecting south-eastern Australia), in the early 1860s (travelling inland from the Coburg Peninsula in the north to the Great Australian Bight in the south), and in the late 1860s (from the Kimberley to Geraldton). According to Josphine Flood, the estimated Aboriginal mortality rate from smallpox was 60 per cent on first exposure, 50 per cent in the tropics, and 25 per cent in the arid interior.<ref>Flood, Josephine (2019). pp. 153–55</ref>

Other introduced diseases such as measles, influenza, typhoid and tuberculosis also resulted in high death rates in Aboriginal communities. Butlin estimates that the Aboriginal population in the area of modern Victoria was around 50,000 in 1788 before two smallpox outbreaks reduced it to about 12,500 in 1830. Between 1835 and 1853, the Aboriginal population of Victoria fell from 10,000 to around 2,000. It is estimated that about 60 per cent of these deaths were from introduced diseases, 18 per cent from natural causes and 15 per cent from settler violence.<ref>Broome, Richard (2019). pp. 76–77</ref>

Venereal diseases were also a factor in Indigenous depopulation, reducing Aboriginal fertility rates in south-eastern Australia by an estimated 40 per cent by 1855. By 1890 up to 50 per cent of the Aboriginal population in some regions of Queensland were affected.<ref>Flood, Josephine (2019). p. 156</ref>

==== Conflict and dispossession ====
{{Main|Australian frontier wars}}
[[File:Mounted police and blacks.jpg|thumb|Mounted police engaging Indigenous people during the Slaughterhouse Creek Massacre of 1838, during the [[Australian frontier wars]]]]

The British settlement was initially planned to be a self-sufficient penal colony based on agriculture. Karskens argues that conflict broke out between the settlers and the traditional owners of the land because of the settlers' assumptions about the superiority of British civilisation and their entitlement to land which they had "improved" through building and cultivation.<ref>Karskens, Grace (2013). "The early colonial presence, 1788–1822". In Bashford, Alison; MacIntyre, Stuart (eds.). ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume 1, Indigenous and Colonial Australia''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.&nbsp;106. ISBN 9781107011533.</ref>

[[File:Gov Davey's proclamation-edit2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|Proclamation issued in [[Van Diemen's Land]] around 1828–1830 by [[Sir George Arthur, 1st Baronet|Lieutenant-Governor Arthur]], which explains the precepts of British justice in pictorial form for the [[Tasmanian Aboriginals]]. Tasmania suffered a higher level of conflict than the other British colonies in Australia.<ref>[https://socialcorner.co.uk/education/the-amazing-250-year-adventure-of-australian-history/ The Amazing 250-Year Adventure of Australian History] 4 February 2024 ''Adventure of Australian History''</ref>]]

Conflict also arose from cross-cultural misunderstandings and from reprisals for previous actions such as the kidnapping of Aboriginal men, women and children. Reprisal attacks and collective punishments were perpetrated by colonists and Aboriginal groups alike.<ref>Flood, Josephine (2019). pp. 124–25</ref> Sustained Aboriginal attacks on settlers, the burning of crops and the mass killing of livestock were more obviously acts of resistance to the loss of traditional land and food resources.<ref>Broome, Richard (2019). pp. 46–47</ref>

There were serious conflicts between settlers in the Sydney region and Aboriginals ([[Darug]] people) from 1794 to 1800 in which 26 settlers and up to 200 Darug were killed.<ref>Flood, Josephine (2019). p. 66</ref><ref>Broome, Richard (2019). pp. 25–26</ref> Conflict also erupted south-west of Sydney (in Dharawal country) from 1814 to 1816, culminating in the [[Appin Massacre|Appin massacre]] (April 1816) in which at least 14 Aboriginal people were killed.<ref>Flood, Josephine (2019). p. 70</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Banivanua Mar|first1=Tracey|title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I|last2=Edmonds|first2=Penelope|year=2013|pages=344|chapter=Indigenous and settler relations}}</ref>

In the 1820s, the colony spread over the [[Great Dividing Range]], opening the way for large scale farming and grazing in [[Wiradjuri]] country.<ref name="Kingston-2006a">{{Cite book|last=Kingston|first=Beverley|title=A History of New South Wales|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2006|isbn=9780521833844|location=Cambridge|pages=118–19}}</ref> From 1822 to 1824 [[Windradyne]] led a group of 50–100 Aboriginal men in raids which resulted in the death of 15–20 colonists. Estimates of Aboriginal deaths in the conflict range from 15 to 100.<ref>Flood, Josephine (2019). pp. 120–23</ref><ref>Broome, Richard (2019). p. 42</ref>

In Van Diemen's land, the [[Black War]] broke out in 1824, following a rapid expansion of settler numbers and sheep grazing in the island's interior. Martial law was declared in November 1828 and in October 1830 a "Black Line" of around 2,200 troops and settlers swept the island with the intention of driving the Aboriginal population from the settled districts. From 1830 to 1834, [[George Augustus Robinson]] and Aboriginal ambassadors including [[Truganini]] led a series of "Friendly Missions" to the Aboriginal tribes which effectively ended the war.<ref>Banivanua Mar, Tracey; Edmonds, Penelope (2013). "Indigenous and settler relations". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I''. pp. 346–49</ref> Around 200 settlers and 600 to 900 Aboriginal Tasmanians were killed in the conflict and the Aboriginal survivors were eventually relocated to Flinders Island.<ref>{{Citation|last=Clements|first=Nicholas|title=Frontier Conflict in Van Diemen's Land (PhD thesis)|url=http://eprints.utas.edu.au/17070/2/Whole-Clements-thesis.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518103925/http://eprints.utas.edu.au/17070/2/Whole-Clements-thesis.pdf|archive-date=2015-05-18|url-status=live|pages=329–31|year=2013|publisher=University of Tasmania}}</ref><ref>Flood, Josephine (2019). pp. 105–107</ref>

[[File:Skirmish_near_Creen_Creek.jpg|thumb|Fighting near Creen Creek, Queensland in September 1876]]

The spread of settlers and pastoralists into the region of modern Victoria in the 1830s also sparked conflict with traditional landowners. Broome estimates that 80 settlers and 1,000–1,500 Aboriginal people died in frontier conflict in Victoria from 1835 to 1853.<ref>Broome, Richard (2019). pp. 44–45, 54, 77</ref>

The growth of the Swan River Colony in the 1830s led to conflict with Aboriginal people, culminating in the [[Pinjarra massacre]] in which some 15 to 30 Aboriginal people were killed.<ref>Banivanua Mar, Tracey; Edmonds, Penelope (2013). "Indigenous and settler relations". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I''. p.&nbsp;350</ref><ref>Broome, Richard (2019). pp. 44</ref> According to Neville Green, 30 settlers and 121 Aboriginal people died in violent conflict in Western Australia between 1826 and 1852.<ref>Flood, Josephine (2019). p. 127</ref>

[[File:1870nativepolice.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Australian native police]] consisted of native troopers under the command of white officers that was largely responsible for the 'dispersal' of Aboriginal tribes in eastern Australia, but particularly in [[New South Wales]] and [[Queensland]]]]

The spread of sheep and cattle grazing after 1850 brought further conflict with Aboriginal tribes more distant from the closely settled areas. Aboriginal casualty rates in conflicts increased as the colonists made greater use of mounted police, [[Australian native police|Native Police]] units, and newly developed revolvers and breech-loaded guns. Conflict was particularly intense in NSW in the 1840s and in Queensland from 1860 to 1880. In central Australia, it is estimated that 650 to 850 Aboriginal people, out of a population of 4,500, were killed by colonists from 1860 to 1895. In the Gulf Country of northern Australia five settlers and 300 Aboriginal people were killed before 1886.<ref>Flood, Josephine (2019), pp. 125–30, 138</ref> The last recorded massacre of Aboriginal people by settlers was at [[Coniston massacre|Coniston]] in the Northern Territory in 1928 where at least 31 Aboriginal people were killed.<ref>Broome, Richard (2019). p. 202</ref>

The spread of British settlement also led to an increase in inter-tribal Aboriginal conflict as more people were forced off their traditional lands into the territory of other, often hostile, tribes. Butlin estimated that of the 8,000 Aboriginal deaths in Victoria from 1835 to 1855, 200 were from inter-tribal violence.<ref>Broome, Richard (2019). pp. 74–77</ref>

Broome estimates the total death toll from settler-Aboriginal conflict between 1788 and 1928 as 1,700 settlers and 17–20,000 Aboriginal people. Reynolds has suggested a higher "guesstimate" of 3,000 settlers and up to 30,000 Aboriginals killed.<ref>Broome, Richard (2019). pp. 54–55</ref> A project team at the University of Newcastle, Australia, has reached a preliminary estimate of 8,270 Aboriginal deaths in frontier massacres from 1788 to 1930.<ref>Ryan, L. (2020). Digital map of colonial frontier massacres in Australia 1788–1930. ''Teaching History'', ''54''(3), p. 18</ref>

{{Clear left|left}}

==== Accommodation and protection ====
[[File:Augustus Earle Portrait of Bungaree.jpg|thumb|Portrait of [[Bungaree]] at Sydney in 1826, by [[Augustus Earle]].]]

In the first two years of settlement the Aboriginal people of Sydney mostly avoided the newcomers.  In November 1790, [[Bennelong]] led the survivors of several clans into Sydney, 18 months after the smallpox epidemic that had devastated the Aboriginal population.<ref>Karskens, Grace (2013). "The early colonial presence, 1788–1822". In  ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume 1.'' pp. 106, 117–19</ref> [[Bungaree]], a Kuringgai man, joined Matthew Flinders in his circumnavigation of Australia from 1801 to 1803, playing an important role as emissary to the various Indigenous peoples they encountered.<ref>Broome, Richard. (2019). p. 33</ref>

Governor Macquarie attempted to assimilate Aboriginal people, providing land grants, establishing Aboriginal farms, and founding a Native Institution to provide education to Aboriginal children.<ref>Flood, Josephine (2019). pp. 69–70</ref> However, by the 1820s the Native Institution and Aboriginal farms had failed. Aboriginal people continued to live on vacant waterfront land and on the fringes of the Sydney settlement, adapting traditional practices to the new semi-urban environment.<ref name="Banivanua Mar-2013">Banivanua Mar, Tracey; Edmonds, Penelope (2013). "Indigenous and settler relations". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I''. p.&nbsp;344–45</ref><ref>Karskens, Grace (2013). "The early colonial presence, 1788–1822". In ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume 1.'' pp. 117–19</ref>

Following escalating frontier conflict, ''Protectors of Aborigines'' were appointed in South Australia and the Port Phillip District in 1839, and in Western Australia in 1840. The aim was to extend the protection of British law to Aboriginal people, to distribute rations, and to provide education, instruction in Christianity, and occupational training. However, by 1857 the protection offices had been closed due to their cost and failure to meets their goals.<ref>Broome, Richard (2019). pp. 52–53</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nettelbeck|first=Amanda|date=2012|title='A Halo of Protection': Colonial Protectors and the Principle of Aboriginal Protection through Punishment|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/1031461X.2012.706621|journal=Australian Historical Studies|volume=43|issue=3|pages=396–411|doi=10.1080/1031461X.2012.706621|s2cid=143060019}}</ref>

[[File:Aboriginal farmers at Franklinford 1858.jpg|thumb|left|Aboriginal farmers at Loddon Aboriginal Protectorate Station at [[Franklinford, Victoria]], in 1858]]

In 1825, the New South Wales governor granted {{convert|10,000|acres|order=flip}} for an Aboriginal [[Christian mission]] at Lake Macquarie.<ref>Banivanua Mar, Tracey; Edmonds, Penelope (2013). "Indigenous and settler relations". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I''. p.&nbsp;345</ref> In the 1830s and early 1840s there were also missions in the Wellington Valley, Port Phillip and Moreton Bay. The settlement for Aboriginal Tasmanians on Flinders Island operated effectively as a mission under George Robinson from 1835 to 1838.<ref>Broome, Richard (2019). pp. 31–32,72</ref>

In New South Wales, 116 Aboriginal reserves were established between 1860 and 1894. Most reserves allowed Aboriginal people a degree of autonomy and freedom to enter and leave. In contrast, the ''Victorian Board for the Protection of Aborigines'' (created in 1869) had extensive power to regulate the employment, education and place of residence of Aboriginal Victorians, and closely managed the five reserves and missions established since self government in 1858. In 1886, the protection board gained the power to exclude "half caste" Aboriginal people from missions and stations. The Victorian legislation was the forerunner of the racial segregation policies of other Australian governments from the 1890s.<ref>Banivanua Mar, Tracey; Edmonds, Penelope (2013). "Indigenous and settler relations". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I''. p.&nbsp;355–58, 363–64</ref>

In more densely settled areas, most Aboriginal people who had lost control of their land lived on reserves and missions, or on the fringes of cities and towns. In pastoral districts the British [[Waste Land Act 1848]] gave traditional landowners limited rights to live, hunt and gather food on Crown land under pastoral leases. Many Aboriginal groups camped on pastoral stations where Aboriginal men were often employed as shepherds and stockmen. These groups were able to retain a connection with their lands and maintain aspects of their traditional culture.<ref>Banivanua Mar, Tracey; Edmonds, Penelope (2013). "Indigenous and settler relations". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume I''. p.&nbsp;355–58, 358–60</ref>

Foreign pearlers moved into the Torres Strait Islands from 1868 bringing exotic diseases which halved the Indigenous population. In 1871, the London Missionary Society began operating in the islands and most Torres Strait Islanders converted to Christianity which they considered compatible with their beliefs. Queensland annexed the islands in 1879.<ref>Flood (2019) pp. 199–200</ref>