History of Australia

Again and again I think about the history of Australia and historical facts are confused again and again. Finally I decided to write a short view. This report on the historical evolution of Australia mainly referres to the age since the discovery by the Europeans.

Special thanks to the University of Texas at Austin for the historical maps.

How to use

Every map contains a link in the thumbnail to the large version by mouseclick.
Then a subpage containing the large map will be loaded. You find eight arrows at the edges of the map. By pressing these arrows the map displaces.
A miniature map in the lower right corner informs you about the absolute position of the total view. If required, you can also click directly onto a position of the miniature map.

On this subpages, you can also load the complete map. Because of the large size of the maps excuse the download time via modem/ISDN Internet connections. These maps are outsized and you then must horiziontal and vertical scroll. The scroll bars of your Internet browser are used in this case.

Images of persons and photos on this page can be enlarged by mouseclick. Furthermore you find all my travelphotos (May 1997) in my gallery.

The Discovery by mariners

Anthony van Diemen

The discovery of Australia by the Europeans is especially because it occurred several times.

Abel Janszoon Tasman

At first Fernão de Magelhães (Magellan) (1480-1521) sailed at the beginnung of the 16th century from the east to the west in the north of Australia without seeing the continent. Later Lois Vaez de Torres (1565-1610) sailed between Australia and Papua New Guinea and fall short Australia, too. The first European who stepped onto Australian ground was the Dutch William Janus. He went ashore in 1606 in the northeast in Cape York. The discovered land was now called New Holland. Again many years passed by without action.

The Governor-General Anthony van Diemen (1593-1645) of the Dutch East Indies (today: Indonesia) asked the mariner Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603-1659), to map the coast of New Holland (today: Australia). During his journey holding up from 1642 to 1644 he sailed from the north to the south into the Gulf of Carpentaria and then heading west alongside the australian coast. Approximate at the Tropic of Capricorn at the west coast he turned off the coast and sailed heading west. He came back in a large arch but he missed the continent. He sailed to far away in the south of the continent and discovered a large island that he called Van Diemens Land (since 1856 autonomy: Tasmania).

William Dampier

James Cook

He did not know that this was an island. He thought of one landmass of New Holland (today: Australia) containing Van Diemens Land (today: Tasmania). Sadly his discoveries were not accepted because he explored not enough. The unknown country was not interesting for the Hollander.
About 1700 the british buccaneer William Dampier (1652-1715) explored the coast of Papua New Guinea and western Australia. He arrived at the conclusion that Australia is commercial uninteresting.

About 1768 the british admiralty asked Captain James Cook (1728-1779) to take possession of all territories for England during a south pacific expedition. Cook set sail in 1768 for his first journey using the Endeavour. He circumnavigate South-America. In the south pacific he searched out New Zealand being a double-island. He arrived Australia at the 28th of April in 1770. At the first European he stepped onto Australia at the east coast in a wounderfull bay he called Botany Bay (today: south of Sydney).

Botany Bay

Because of the enormous historical impact this event is declared as the offical discovery of Australia by the Europeans.

Endeavour

Cook annexed the east of the new continent for the British Empire. Then he sailed heading north but he grouded onto the Great Barrier Reef. The ship repairs gave an opportunity to explore the mainlands eastcoast.
In 1788 a news border divided Australia in two parts. The west was called New Holland and the east was called New Southwales. The border take course from the north to the south strict through the middle.

The Colonization

Arthur Phillip

The Declaration Of Independence of the british colony in North-America in 1776 promted the british government to search new places for prisoners.

William Bligh

New-Southwales was suitable for this. In 1787 Great Britain started the colonization of eastern Australia. Captain Arthur Phillip (1738-1814) was appointed governor of New South Wales and he was shipped with 700 british prisoners far away to Australia. Phillip landed with his fleet become famouse under the name of the First Fleet at the 26th of January in 1788 in todays Sydney. This was the establishment day of the colony. But this was the end of the wonderfull Botany Bay

This was a time of chaos. Crimes and korruption branded this period. Bloody conflicts whith the native inhabitants the Aborigines were often. The commanding officers were no good examples because they exploited the situation to become rich for their own. Governor Phillip abdicated at 10th of December in 1792 as a sick man. He went back to England and he was positive about the the coloy: It would survive.

Become famouse of the mutiny of the Bounty the commanding officers William Bligh (1754-1817) tried to organize the chaos since 1805 as governor. But he failed.

Lachlan Macquarie

He was resigned by his own soldiers. But the former governor Phillip should be right because his successor Gouverneur Lachlan Macquarie (1762-1824) eliminated the chaos by violence from 1810 up to 1821. Many settlers protested but New South Wales found boom years.

The prisoners were followed by free settlers and explorers from the mutherland and many other countries.

George Evans

Little by little the country was discovered and explored. On his journey from 1813 to 1815 George Evans (1778-1852) found a path through the great wall of the Blue Mountains to the ranc soil

The Outback exploration

This path discovered in 1813 was very important for the next step the settlement and exploration of the Outback. The barrier to the west was finaly opened

This map shows the explored southeast of Australia up to 1832

You get the detail view by clicking onto the map, too.

Australia Southeast 1832 / "Map of the SouthEast portion of Australia, showing the progress of discovery, in the interior of New South Wales, to 1832." from The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, Volume 2, 1832 to accompany "Recent Information from Australia. From communications made to the Royal Geographical Society."
Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

Charles Sturt

Numerous exploration took place into the inland. For example from 1828 to 1830 the in India born and in

Edward Eyre

England grown up Charles Sturt (1795-1869) managed an expedition along the Macquarie River, Darling River and the Murray River from the source in New South Wales to the mouth of the river in South Australia. The result established the basis of the later settlement in both countries.

In the years of 1840-1841 Edward Eyre (1815-1901) walked across Australia as first from the east to the west from Mount Hopeless in the north of the Flinders Ranges (north of Adelaide) to Albany in the south of Western Australia. He searched a good country way between both location. Edward Eyre discovered a great salt lake in 1840 in todays South Australia. In his honor this lake was later called Lake Eyre. The Aborigines call this lake Kati-Tanda. Lake Eyre is the lowest point of Australia counting 15 meters below zero.

In an other expedition Charles Sturt crossed the Simpson Desert from 1844 to 1845 in central Australia. He searched a big inland lake he assumed to be there. But at this time nobody knows that such a lake does not exist.

A political proposal in 1838 should divide Autralia into countries. This is uncommon with our todays point of view.

You get the detail view by clicking onto the map, too.

Australia, Proposed Divisions 1838 / "Australia, according to the Proposed divisions." from The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, Volume 8, 1838 to accompany "Considerations on the Political Geography and Geographical Nomenclature of Australia by Captain Vetch, Royal Engineers, F.R.S."
Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

Ludwig Leichhardt

The German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt (1813-1848) crossed northeastern Australia at the same time searching a country way from the Darling Downs (near Brisbane) to Port Essington (near Darwin). Sadly Leichhardt was no good outdoor man. Because of this he fighted agains problems with his catering. Furthermore he lost crewmembers in the war against the Aborigines. But the expedition itself was a success.

Edward Hargraves

In 1846 Leichhardt failed in his east-west crossing from the Darling Downs in Queensland to the Swan River in Western Australia because of to much heat and dryness. After his five month trip he gave up. He tried it in 1848 a second time. He started at McPherson Farm to search a country path to Perth. All people were amazed about the bad equipment of this adventure for example only one horse were available per person. Leichhardt's last jorney was a big fail. All crewmembers were lost

In 1851 Edward Hargraves changed whole Australia. In a waterhole near Bathurt (150km west of Sydney) he found gold. After informing the local authorities he get a reward of 10000£. Finaly the economy boomed. One year later 370000 immigrant arrived in Australia. Meanwhile at a lof of other places in New South Wales and Victoria more gold was found. In 1852 Victoria declared 1/3 of the global gold production. The population rised up until 1861 to 1.5 Million.

This map shows Australia in 1860

You get the detail view by clicking onto the map, too.

Australia 1860 / "Australia" with inset maps of "Sydney Harbour" and "Port Phillip and Geelong Harbours". from Stones, William. My First Voyage: A Book for Youth. Second Edition. London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co. 1860.
Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

John McDouall Stuart

The South Australian government submitted an offer in 1859 to pay 2000£ for the first man crossing Australia from the south to the north. This golden important opportunity was taken by the explorer John McDouall Stuart (1815-1866) in 1860. Unfortunately he was defeated by the strong climate forced to turn back. His third attempt in 1862 was successfull. He started in Adelaide reaching the north coast near Darwin in the same year. The today well known Highway No 87 connectiing Adelaide and Darwin, was called afer him the Stuart Highway.

In the meantime the Australian colonies showed interesting in there own politics without Great Britain. As a consequence they build a Federal Council in 1883. But without New South Wales. Because of this the political power was missed.

This map shows the northwest of Australia in 1885

You get the detail view by clicking onto the map, too.

Australia Northwest 1885 / "Physical Sketch Map of Northwest Australia showing the surface characteristics of the country and discoveries of the most recent explorers." from the Scottish Geographical Magazine. Published by the Scottish Geographical Society and edited by Hugh A. Webster and Arthur Silva White. Volume I, 1885.
Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

Kimberley

This map shows the landuse in the northwest. You can clear see the regions being unexplored since 1885. The Kimberley Region was first discovered in the 1950s. Up to now this region belongs to the fewest settled areas within Australia.

Beginning of the 20th Century

Queen Victoria

At the 1st of January in 1901 Queen Victoria (1819-1901) proclaimed

Edmund Barton

the Comonwealth of Australia, the Australian Federation with it's temporarily headquarter in Melbourne. Australia was now a state. The first primeminiter was Edmund Barton (1849-1920). The highest head of state belongs to the British Queen Victoria. The towns Sydney and Melbourne fighted about the status of the Australian capital city. Not until 1927 a new capital was build. On the half way between Sydney and Melbourne a new town called Canberra was build only to be the capital city. In 1927 the parliament and the government moved to Canberra.

This map shows a summary of the history from 1788 to 1911. The map itself is dated 1932.

You get the detail view by clicking onto the map, too.

Australia and New Zealand, 1788-1911 [p.172] / From The Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd, 1923.
Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

Oodnadatta

This map differs in small details to our todays maps. A interesting part you find at Alice Springs. In the middle of the map you cannot read Alice Springs but you can read Alice Spring Station. This small different remembers the location history being a telegraph station. Later the raised town was called Alice Springs.

Old Ghan Railway

The village Oodnadatta (Photo: 1997) located in former time at the (Old) Ghan Railway (Photo: 1997) the north-south railway. Because of the railway the small town was attactive for business. You can see this place in the map in the middle of the image. The left-right dotted line shows the ols telegraph line. Parallel there was the railway. Anyway the small town was it worth to be shown a the only town within more 100kms.

Warrina

The shutdown of this railway in the eary 1980s the business interesting was suddenly gone. Today it exists "without interesting".
A greater fortune suffered other towns and villages at the old Ghan Railway. One of this location is Warrina (Photo: 1997). At that time it had up to 100 inhabitants. Today it is a lost town of ruins.

Another - completely different - nice part in the map is the south island in front of the mainland, the island Tasmania. To inform the reader about the clearly place the new name Tasmania is followed by the old name Van Diemens Land.

Like this there are many other interesting historical differences in this old map of 1923 an todays maps.

Maps of the 21st Century

Australia's location within Oceania - a political map of 2001

You get the detail view by clicking onto the map, too.

Oceania 2001 (political)
Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

Australia's location within Oceania - eine physical map of 2002

You get the detail view by clicking onto the map, too.

Oceania 2002 (physical)
Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

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Wuppertal, June 2006

This map shows the explored southeast of Australia up to 1832
	You get the detail view by clicking onto the map, too.
Australia Southeast 1832 / "Map of the SouthEast portion of Australia, showing the progress of discovery, in the interior of New South Wales, to 1832." from The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, Volume 2, 1832 to accompany "Recent Information from Australia. From communications made to the Royal Geographical Society." Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

A political proposal in 1838 should divide Autralia into countries. This is uncommon with our todays point of view.
	You get the detail view by clicking onto the map, too.
Australia, Proposed Divisions 1838 / "Australia, according to the Proposed divisions." from The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, Volume 8, 1838 to accompany "Considerations on the Political Geography and Geographical Nomenclature of Australia by Captain Vetch, Royal Engineers, F.R.S." Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

This map shows Australia in 1860
	You get the detail view by clicking onto the map, too.
Australia 1860 / "Australia" with inset maps of "Sydney Harbour" and "Port Phillip and Geelong Harbours". from Stones, William. My First Voyage: A Book for Youth. Second Edition. London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co. 1860. Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

This map shows the northwest of Australia in 1885
	You get the detail view by clicking onto the map, too.
Australia Northwest 1885 / "Physical Sketch Map of Northwest Australia showing the surface characteristics of the country and discoveries of the most recent explorers." from the Scottish Geographical Magazine. Published by the Scottish Geographical Society and edited by Hugh A. Webster and Arthur Silva White. Volume I, 1885. Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

This map shows a summary of the history from 1788 to 1911. The map itself is dated 1932.
	You get the detail view by clicking onto the map, too.
Australia and New Zealand, 1788-1911 [p.172] / From The Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd, 1923. Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

Australia's location within Oceania - a political map of 2001
	You get the detail view by clicking onto the map, too.
Oceania 2001 (political) Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

Australia's location within Oceania - eine physical map of 2002
	You get the detail view by clicking onto the map, too.
Oceania 2002 (physical) Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.