Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Arrest of Bligh
This shameful, and
invented, scene shows
the hated Governor
William Bligh, in
full regalia, hiding
under a servant's
bed to avoid arrest
by the NSW Rum
Corps in 1808.
WHERE TO SEE EARLY
COLONIAL SYDNEY
The Rocks was the hub of
early Sydney. Wharves,
warehouses, hotels, rough
houses and even rougher
characters gave it its colour.
Dramatic cuts were made in
the rocky point to provide
building materials and filling
for the construction of
Circular Quay, and allow for
streets. The houses are gone,
except for Cadman's Cottage
(see p68)
, but the irregular,
labyrinthine lanes are still give
the flavour of convict history.
The buildings
may
look impressive,
but most were
poorly built with
inferior materials.
Male and female
convicts housed
separately
Waratah
(1803)
John Lewin, naturalist
and engraver, drew
delicate and faithful
representations of the
local flora and fauna.
Elizabeth Farm
(pp138-9)
at Parramatta is the oldest sur-
viving building in Australia.
It was built by convicts using
lime mortar from the penal
colony of Norfolk Island.
Barracks housing
NSW Rum Corps
Experiment Farm Cottage
,
an early dwelling
(see p139)
,
displays marked convict-made
bricks. Masons also marked
each brick, as they were paid
according to the number laid.
Kangaroo
(1813)
Naturalists were amazed at
Sydney's vast array of strange
plant and animal species. The
first pictures sent back to
England caused a sensation.
1799
Explorers Bass and
Flinders complete their circum-
navigation of Van Diemen's
Land (now Tasmania), before
returning to Port Jackson
1808
Rum Rebellion
brings social upheaval.
Estimated population
of New South Wales
stands at 9,100
1803
The first issue of the
weekly Sydney Gazette,
Australia's first newspaper,
is published
1800
1805
1810
1801
Ticket-of-leave
system introduced,
enabling the convicts
to work for wages
and to choose their
own master
1804
Irish convict
uprising at Castle Hill
1810
New convict
arrivals craft
such items as
love tokens
1802
Aboriginal leader Pemulwy is
shot and killed following the killing
of four white men by Aboriginal men
Love
token
