1819 Emu Plains Agricultural Farm
The Emu Plains Agricultural Farm was established to provide work for an influx of convicts after the end of the… Read More
1810s
1819 Mango cultivation on Murray Island reported
A newspaper report from 1819 talks of mangoes, among other fruits, being cultivated by Torres Strait Islanders on Murray Island.… Read More
1819 Convict rations included tea for the first time
In the early years of the New South Wales colony, tea was a precious commodity. Although the First Fleet brought… Read More
1817 Macquarie recommends name ‘Australia’
In 1814, Matthew Flinders had suggested that the name 'Australia' be adopted for the continent which had, until then, been… Read More
1815 Road across the Blue Mountains completed
William Cox was appointed by Governor Macquarie to construct a road across the Blue Mountains to Bathurst. New farming land… Read More
1815 First steam-driven mill
John Dickson was a Scottish engineer who applied to settle in New South Wales. He arrive in 1813 and brought… Read More
1814 Holey dollar replaces rum as currency
In the early days British currency, or sterling, was in short supply in New South Wales. Much of it was… Read More
1813 Crossing the Blue Mountains
Crossing the Blue Mountains had proved a challenge to the white colonists, although aboriginal people had been moving through the… Read More
1813 Colonists self-sufficient
A letter from Sydney dated June 30 1813 pointed to a flourishing agricultural and pastoral industry, making the colonists self-sufficient.… Read More
1812 First water mill in Sydney
Thomas West who arrived on the Earl Cornwallis in 1801 received a conditional pardon because of 'his general good conduct and character… Read More
1810 Food canning process patented in England
Although Frenchman Nicolas Appert earlier pioneered the preserving of food in glass jars, it was an Englishman, Peter Durand, who… Read More
1810 The Rum Hospital
The rum trade was influential in the new colony. In 1810, when government funds were insufficient to build a new… Read More