Sydney History
Australia's First City
Do you know that the British were not the first European to set foot in Australia...and yet it has become an English colony? Read on...
The First Inhabitants Sydney history date back thousands of years ago. Australia has been populated over a period of up to 50 000 years. The first inhabitants were the Aborigines, from the Latin word, ab origine, meaning "from the beginning". They were called the "Eora" people by the British. When being asked where they came from, the Aborigines would answer "Eora", meaning "here", or "from this place" in their language. The native Australians have their... Dreamtime They believe that the land was given to them during the Dreamtime. Dreamtime is a time long ago when the earth was a great plain. It was a time when the ancestral spirits wandered over the land . As they wandered, they made the people, plants, animals, hills and rivers. A lot of Aboriginal paintings depict a Dreamtime story. 
Thus Aborigines claimed to be descendants of these original beings. The tribal land was theirs as their hunting ground,to look after and gather the plants and animals. They were very much part of the landscape as were the gum trees and kangaroos. There is not much record of the way of life of the first inhabitants of Sydney history. All that remained of the early life of the Aborigines are some Sydney rocks engravings, carvings and rock arts on the sandstone cliffs and the garbage mounds on the beaches. Aborigines learned about their ancestors and their way of life through the stories, dances and songs of their tribes. Nothing has been written down. All was lost when the Aborigines of Sydney history disappeared.
Most Aborigines living in Sydney region belonged to the Dharug tribe. The other linguistic tribes were: the Kuringgai in the north and the Dharawal in the south. From these larger
tribes, there were smaller groups called bands or clans. Notable were the Cadigal tribe around Sydney Cove; the Camaraigols in the North Sydney area; and the Wangols along the Parramatta River.
Each tribe spoke its own language, had their own culture and territory. It is believed that approximately 4,000 to 8,000 Aboriginal people lived around the Sydney area before the contact with the British settlers during this early chapter of Sydney history.
The Coming Of the White Settlers Most people think that it was Captain James Cook who "discovered" Australia. The Portuguese were probably the first European to to see the coast of Australia in the early 16th century.The Dutch, Spanish, French made sightings and occasional landings. A British, William Dampier made a few exploration on the western part of the continent, and agreed with the early explorers that the barren west of the continent was not worth of settlement. Not much luck for them. They were on the "wrong" side of Australia.Seventy years later, Captain Cook(one lucky guy) sailed along the east coast in 1770, landed in Botany Bay in Kurnell Peninsula, found the land favourable and claimed the land for Britain. But it was not until 17 years later that Australia would be in England's radar.
Britain having lost its American colonies after the American Revolution (1775-1783), needed an outlet for the convicts overcrowding the British prisons. The British Government solution was to established a penal colony in New South Wales.
In 13 May 1787, a fleet of 11 ships with full provisions and carrying about 1,000 people, majority of them convicts, set out for Botany Bay under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip.This was the first wave of European mass immigration in Sydney history.
In 20 January 1788, the fleet arrived in Botany Bay. After a few days, Captain Phillip decided the site was not a good place to start a colony. A ship was sent to investigate other bays and found and decided on Port Jackson now popularly known as Sydney Harbour. It offered what they needed.. a good water supply and a safe anchorage for ships.
On 26 January 1788, the British flag flew over Sydney Cove, claiming the area as a British Colony. He named the place after the British Home Secrtetary, Thomas Townshend, Lord Sydney.
The Early Colony Captain Phillip's main concern was feeding the early colony. Provisions were running low with a threat of starvation. The belief that the land was fertile and crops would grow quickly as glowingly described by Captain Cook was gravely mistaken. It was a grave time in Sydney Australia as it almost ruined the colony. Captain Phillip sent the ship Sirius to Cape Town to buy food to save the colony. Soon, land around Parramatta(That's where we live. No wonder I can grow plants in our backyard!) and along Hawkesbury River were found to be fertile. The colony's first land grant was given and farms were soon established in the Parramata area. Corn and vegetables were grown to feed the colony at Sydney Cove. The Elizabeth Farm was established in 1793 by James Macarthur and pioneered Australia's wool industry. As a result, Parramatta became the first centre of government in Sydney history.
By the 1800, Sydney emerged as an important port and commercial centre. The focus for settlement was reestablished in Sydney but most of the governors chose to live in Parramatta up to late 1840.
Life was also made hard for the Aborigines living in Sydney Cove. The grassy banks of the stream where the colony had built their shelter were feeding grounds for kangaroos, emus and possums. The first inhabitants lost their hunting grounds where they rely for food especially on winter weather in Sydney when fish were scarce.
The white settlers also brought with them new diseases, like smallpox, which caused the death of many Aborigines. There was a great and violent resistance to the settlement trying to stop the take over of their tribal land. There were raids on houses, crops and live stock that military protection was needed.
Captain Phillip encouraged friendly relations with the Aborigines. The best known Aborigine he befriended was Bennelong. A hut was built for him in Sydney Cove Point which later became known as Bennelong Point. It is the present site of the Sydney Opera House. It is now one of the famous iconic Sydney attractions.
Within 10 years of settlement, Sydney now belonged to the white settlers. The Aborigines had lost their tribal lands, their hunting grounds and most of the tribe dead. Sydney history was now in the hands of the British.
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