Category: Colonisation
-
Ophir Gold Fields
The discovery of commercial amounts of gold at this site in 1851 precipitated a gold rush, and transformed the colony. We have only recently learned that this heavy metal is created during the collision of two neutron stars, in what is called a kilonova.
-
Parramatta Observatory
Parramatta Observatory was established in 1822 by astronomer Sir Thomas Brisbane, sixth governor of the New South Wales, soon after he and his family arrived in the colony. Although only a few sandstone pillars that once supported Brisbane’s instruments remain, this site in Parramatta Park connects us to our colonial…
-
Dawes Point Ta-Ra
Dawes Point Tar-Ra, on Gadigal Country, is the location of European Australia’s first astronomical observatory, established in 1788 by William Dawes. A young local woman, Patyegarang, taught Dawes her language, which he documented. His notebooks have since been used to revive ‘The Sydney Language’ following its loss due to the…
-
HMS Sirius
HMS Sirius was the flagship of imperial Britain’s First Fleet, which sailed into what is now Sydney Harbour in 1788. It was named for Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky and one of the most culturally significant. The ship was wrecked off Norfolk Island in 1790. Its anchor…
-
Kamay-Botany Bay National Park
The Kamay-Botany Bay astro-sites are difficult to write about because interactions here between the region’s First Peoples and Europeans in 1770, 1788, and in later years, have been so profoundly consequential. Future IAT posts will acknowledge this heritage in the spirit of truth-telling, with reference to the following themes: Page…
-
Wahluu (Mount Panorama)
Wiradyuri people commemorated the 200th anniversary of Governor Brisbane’s 1824 declaration of martial law with a corroboree on Wahluu, their sacred mountain. ‘Martial law was the beginning of the almost complete annihilation of Wiradyuri in this region and this story was almost forgotten,’ Wiradyuri leader Yanhadarambal (Jade Flynn) said.
-
Kamay-Botany Bay 1788
In 1788 the eleven ships of Britain’s so-called First Fleet sailed into Kamay-Botany Bay followed, soon after, by the two French ships of Compte de La Pérouse‘s scientific expedition. Both of these arrivals were extraordinarily consequential, although in different ways.
-
Kamay-Botany Bay 1770
In April 1770, British navigator Lieutenant James Cook, his officers, guests and crew sailed into Kamay-Botany Bay aboard the British barque Endeavour, after observing the 1769 Transit of Venus in Tahiti and circumnavigating New Zealand. Their arrival is now remembered as one of the most consequential events in Australia’s still-contested…
