SYDNEY HISTORY |
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The area surrounding Sydney Harbour has been inhabited by Aboriginal tribes,
notably the Eora and Cadigal, for at least 40,000 years. Although
urbanisation has destroyed most evidence of these settlements (such as shell
middens), there are still rock carvings in several locations. European
interest arose with the sighting of Botany Bay (now a southern suburb of
Sydney) in 1770 by Captain James Cook. Under instruction from the British
government, a convict settlement was founded by Arthur Phillip in 1788. (See
the First Fleet article for more information.) Phillip first landed at
Botany Bay, but found it unsatisfactorily shallow for a permanent settlement.
After a brief sail north, Phillip founded the colony at Sydney Cove on Port
Jackson (the correct name for Sydney Harbour). |
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Phillip originally named the colony "New Albion", but for some uncertain
reason the colony acquired the name "Sydney", after the (then) British Home
Secretary, Thomas Townshend, Lord Sydney (Viscount Sydney from 1789). This
is possibly due to the fact that Lord Sydney issued the charter authorising
Phillip to establish a colony. Prisoners were quickly set to work to build
the settlement and by 1822 the town had banks, markets, well-established
thoroughfares and an organised constabulary; by 1847, convicts accounted for
only 3.2 per cent of the population.
Each week, ships would arrive from Europe with Irish, English, and European
immigrants looking to start a new life in a new country. The first of
several gold rushes was in 1851, since which time the port of Sydney has
seen many waves of people from around the world. With industrialisation
Sydney expanded rapidly, and by the early 20th century it had a population
well in excess of one million. Throughout the 20th century Sydney continued
to expand with various new waves of European and (later) Asian immigration,
resulting in its highly cosmopolitan atmosphere of the present day. |
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