57
HISTORY OF
c. 40,000 bce First
Aborigines arrive
in Australia
from Asia.
1770 Captain
Cook sails into
Botany Bay
and claims
Australia for
Britain.
1788 British
convicts arrive.
1901
Australia
becomes an
independent
dominion
within the
British Empire.
1915
Australian
troops fight at
Gallipoli in
World War I.
1945-65
Government pays
fares for poor
Europeans
to settle in
Australia.As rECEntly As 1600, the only
people who knew about Australia were
the Aboriginal peoples who had lived
there for more than 40,000 years.
the rest of the world had no idea
that the continent existed. In 1606,
the Dutch explorer William Jansz
landed in northern Australia.
Although he did not know it, he was
the first European to see the country.
Further exploration of the coastline by
Dutch and British explorers revealed that
Australia was an island. In 1770, the British
captain James Cook claimed the east coast
of Australia for Britain and named it new
south Wales. the British sent convicts to their new colony, forming the basis
of sydney, today the country’s largest city. throughout the 19th century,
the population of Australia grew as more convicts arrived, followed by free
immigrants. For many of them life was tough, but the British colony grew
richer when gold was discovered in 1851. Farming also became established.
In 1901, Australia became an independent commonwealth, although it
remained close to Britain for many years and Australian
troops fought in both world wars on the side of
Britain. More recently, Australia has
set up links with other countries.The convicts carried
Chopping wood to make timber huts supplies on to the shore.The first British settlement in Australia was at Port
Jackson in Sydney Harbour, next to the location
of the present-day Sydney Opera House.
BotAny BAy
In 1770, the English explorer James Cook dropped anchor in Botany Bay, south
of what is now the city of sydney. In 1788, the first 750 British settlers arrived in
Australia. these people were convicts—guarded by 250 soldiers—who had been
transported abroad to relieve the overcrowded British prisons. they lived in a
prison camp set up on the shores of sydney Harbour. the colonists came close
to starvation, but gradually their lives improved. the tents they lived in were
replaced by brick and timber huts, and eventually the colony began to prosper.
In 1868, the transportation of convicts ended, leaving more than 160,000
convicts living in Australia.At first, the convicts (prisoners)
were miserable and hungry.ABorIGInEs
the first Aboriginal peoples probably arrived
in Australia from the islands of southeast Asia
about 40,000 years ago. In 1770, there were
about 300,000 Aborigines in Australia.Convict ships
in the bayAUSTRALIA
US_057_Australia_1_Hist_of.indd 57 20/01/16 4:33 pm