Documenting Democracy

Timeline 1837–1899

1837		Queen Victoria crowned William Light and Boyle Travers Finniss survey Adelaide Governor Bourke names Melbourne Church Act in Van Diemen's Land

1838		British naval base established at Port Essington, Cobourg Peninsula Molesworth Select Committee recommends abolition of convict transportation to New South Wales German settlers fleeing religious persecution arrive in South Australia and in Brisbane

1839		John Lort Stokes of HMS Beagle charts and names Port Darwin Governor La Trobe's Instructions, 11 September 1839 (NSW) Enter La Trobe First immigrants from Scotland arrive at Port Phillip First Supreme Court sitting in South Australia In New South Wales, military juries for criminal trials abolished

1840		In New Zealand, Maori chiefs cede lands to Queen Victoria in Treaty of Waitangi In Van Diemen's Land, military juries for criminal trials abolished Order-in-Council ending transportation of convicts 22 May 1840 (UK) The hated convict system given its notice

1842		New South Wales Constitution Act 1842 (UK) The seeds of democracy sown in the colonies Sydney and Melbourne incorporated as towns South Australia Act 1842 (UK) Back to basics: a Legislative Council for South Australia Robert Towns establishes company to trade in the Pacific Islands

1843		First elections for two-thirds elected legislature in New South Wales

1845		Port Phillip members of New South Wales Legislative Council petition for establishment of separate Colony

1846		Aboriginal people on Flinders Island in Bass Strait petition Queen Victoria

1847		Anti-transportation movement begins in Van Diemen's Land

1849		Ordinance enabling transportation of convicts to Western Australia 29 December 1849 (WA) Western Australia prepares for the first convict ship British occupation of north coast ends when Port Essington base abandoned

1850		Convict transportation to Western Australia begins Australian Constitutions Act 1850 (UK) Constituting colonies Port Phillip District separated from New South Wales and renamed Victoria South Australia, Van Diemen's Land and Victoria gain two-thirds elected legislatures University of Sydney Act 1850 (NSW) An opportunity to become great and useful to your country

1851		Gold rushes begin in New South Wales and Victoria Victoria separates from New South Wales

1853		Last convicts transported to Van Diemen's Land

1854		Miners rebellion – Eureka stockade at Ballarat, Victoria

1855		New South Wales Constitution Act 1855 (UK) The first self-governing Parliament is created by Britain, on the initiative of the Australians Victoria Constitution Act 1855 (UK) The spirit of Eureka Responsible government in New South Wales and Victoria Chinese Immigration Act 1855 (Vic) Charging for 'certain immigrants' Constitution Act 1855 (Tas) Parliamentary self-government Order-in-Council changing name to Tasmania 21 July 1855 (UK) A new identity

1856		Constitution Act 1856 (SA) A Constitution for South Australia Responsible government in South Australia and Tasmania Pitcairn Islanders moved to Norfolk Island, under control of New South Wales Governor Electoral Act 1856 (Vic) The Australian ballot Voting by secret ballot introduced in Victoria and South Australia

1858		Real Property or 'Torrens Title' Act 1858 (SA) Real property in South Australia

1859		Queensland separates from New South Wales Letters Patent erecting Colony of Queensland 6 June 1859 (UK) Creating Queensland Order- in-Council establishing Representative Government in Queensland 6 June 1859 (UK) A Queensland first: two Houses

1861		Crown Lands Acts 1861 (NSW) On our Selection? The Robertson Land Acts Telegraph lines link Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane

1862		Letters Patent altering the western boundary of Queensland 1862 (UK) Queensland goes West John McDouall Stuart's final expedition reached the north coast of the continent, mapping a route from Adelaide

1863		Letters Patent annexing the Northern Territory to South Australia 1863 Stuart's sixth journey starts a successful land grab The Northern Territory Act of 1863 (SA) Acting in the dark

1867		Constitution Act 1867 (Qld) Getting it together, constitutionally

1868		Convict transportation to Western Australia ceases

1869		Aboriginal Protection Act 1869 (Vic) Democracy in reverse Tasmania and Victoria connected by telegraph South Australian Surveyor-General George Goyder begins Northern Territory survey at Port Darwin

1870		British troops withdrawn from the Australian colonies; each established own forces Western Australia becomes the sixth colony to have a part-elected legislature Payment of Members Act 1870 (Vic) The cost of representation

1872		Education Act 1872 (Vic) Schools for citizens South Australian government completes construction of Overland Telegraph from Port Augusta to Port Darwin

1876		South Australia becomes the first Colony to allow registration of trade unions

1877		Completion of telegraph link from Adelaide to Perth

1879		Queensland Coast Islands Act 1879 (Qld) Queensland goes North

1881		First census of all Australian colonies gives non-Indigenous population as 2.3 million people

1883		Queensland Government of Sir Thomas McIlwraith annexes southern New Guinea, but the British Government overrules this

1884		Pacific Island Labourers Act Amendment Act 1884 (Qld) A model of shame British Protectorate declared over south-eastern New Guinea; Germany then annexes north-eastern New Guinea Henrietta Dugdale, Annie Lowe and Vida Goldstein form Victorian Women's Suffrage Society, soon followed by active societies in all the Australian colonies

1885		Gold discoveries in Western Australia

1886		Federal Council of Australasia formed

1887		Queen Victoria's 50-year Jubilee Palmerston (Darwin) to Pine Creek (NT) railway completed

1888		Five premiers agree to a common policy restricting Chinese immigration Britain annexes south-eastern New Guinea

1889		Bridge over the Hawkesbury River, New South Wales, completes railway network linking Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, though with different railway gauges Sir Henry Parkes' 'Tenterfield oration' advocating Federation

1890		Constitution Act 1890 (UK) Western Australia's Constitution becomes law Letters Patent re Constitution 25 August 1890 (UK) Creating a Western Australian Governor under the Constitution Western Australia's Foundation Day – the Constitution proclaimed on 21 October Australasian Federal Conference: colonies decide to hold a Convention on Federation

1891		National Australasian Convention, held in Sydney, agrees to adopt the name 'Commonwealth of Australia' and adopts a draft Constitution Jessie Ackermann organises colonial branches of the international Woman's Christian Temperance Union, established here since 1882, into a national organisation, lobbying for the suffrage, 'the symbol of freedom'

1892		Queensland Elections Act introduces 'preferential' voting system

1893		Corowa Federation Conference

1895		Constitution (Female Suffrage) Act 1895 (SA) First in the world – voting rights for South Australian women South Australia and New South Wales pass Federation Enabling Acts

1896		Tasmania and Victoria pass Federation Enabling Acts Bathurst 'People's Convention' discusses the 1891 draft Constitution

1897		Delegates from five colonies at National Australasian Convention sessions in Adelaide and Sydney Queen Victoria's Diamond (60-year) Jubilee Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 (Qld) Drugs and discrimination

1898		National Australasian Convention session agrees on amended draft Constitution People in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia vote 'yes' in referendum for Federation

1899		Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1899 (WA) First votes for women in Western Australia Second referendums on the Australian Constitution succeed in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia Secret Premiers conference in Melbourne 30 000 supporters of Federation on the Western Australian goldfields send a petition to Queen Victoria Boer War begins in South Africa, colonial troops embark to support British forces

60,000 BC to 1836 | 1837 to 1899 | 1900 to 1926 | 1927 to 1951 | 1952 to 2001 | 2002 onwards

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