Damon Mcknight
Australia is a country with a rich history and diverse geography. The world's smallest continent, it is also the sixth-largest country by land area. The country was founded when six colonies were joined together to create the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. These colonies were New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania. The Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory were created by legislation of the Federal Parliament in 1988 and 1978, respectively.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year of Federation | 1901 |
| Date the six colonies became the Commonwealth of Australia | 1 January 1901 |
| Original colonies | New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania |
| Territories with limited self-government | Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory |
| Territories administered by Australia as UN trust territories | Territory of Papua, Territory of New Guinea, Nauru |
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What You'll Learn
The Colony of New South Wales was founded in 1788
The colony was formally proclaimed by Governor Phillip on 7 February 1788 at Sydney. Sydney Cove offered a fresh water supply and a safe harbour, which Phillip described as being, 'with out exception the finest Harbour in the World [...] Here a Thousand Sail of the Line may ride in the most perfect Security'. Between 1788 and 1792, convicts and their jailers made up the majority of the population. However, after this period, a population of emancipated convicts began to grow, and these people pioneered a non-government private sector economy. They were later joined by soldiers whose military service had expired, and then by free settlers from Britain. Governor Phillip departed the colony for England on 11 December 1792, after the new settlement survived near starvation and immense isolation for four years.
New South Wales was the first Australian colony to be established by the British. The colony originally covered the eastern third of Australia, from the Cape York Peninsula to the tip of Van Diemen's Land (later Tasmania). This vast area encompassed a variety of landforms and climatic conditions, ranging from the dry interior to the wetter coastal plains. These stretched from the semitropical north to the more temperate south and were separated from the interior by the Great Dividing Range. Gradually after 1788, New South Wales was subdivided. Van Diemen's Land ceased to come under the governor at Sydney in 1825, some 27 years after the explorer George Bass discovered it was an island.
In 1851, the Colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia, the Northern Territory, as well as New Zealand. In 1856, the first responsible self-government of New South Wales was formed, with Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson appointed as its first Colonial Secretary. On 1 July 1851, the absolute independence of Victoria from New South Wales was established, proclaiming a new Colony of Victoria. On 6 June 1859, Queen Victoria signed Letters Patent to form the separate Colony of Queensland. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania were joined together to create the Commonwealth of Australia, a self-governing Dominion in the British Empire.
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The Colony of Tasmania was founded in 1825
Tasmania was inhabited by an Indigenous population, the Aboriginal Tasmanians, and evidence indicates their presence in the territory at least 35,000 years ago. At the time of British colonisation in 1803, the Indigenous population was estimated to be between 3,000 and 10,000 people. The British established a penal settlement in Van Diemen's Land in 1803, founding Hobart the following year. More than 70,000 convicts were sent there between 1803 and 1853.
In 1825, Van Diemen's Land gained independence from New South Wales, with its own Executive Council, judicial establishment, and Legislative Council. The name 'Tasmania' became official in 1856, and the colony was granted self-government, becoming a self-governing colony of the British Empire.
On 1 January 1901, the Colony of Tasmania became the Australian state of Tasmania, joining with five other Australian colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia.
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The Colony of Western Australia was founded in 1829
The colony was renamed Western Australia in 1832. The Swan River Settlement was later named Perth and became Western Australia's capital city. The site of the future port of Fremantle was founded in June 1829, and the town of Perth was founded 12 miles (19 km) inland.
The colony was established following the first recorded European contact in 1616, when Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog landed on the west coast. In 1791, British explorer George Vancouver claimed the south coast for Britain. In 1826, the Governor of New South Wales, Ralph Darling, ordered the establishment of a settlement at King George's Sound, and an expedition led by Major Edmund Lockyer landed there, founding what became the port city of Albany. In 1827, Lockyer formally took possession of the portion of New Holland not yet claimed for the British Crown.
In 1829, James Stirling explored the Swan River area, and Captain Charles Fremantle claimed the western side of New Holland for the British Crown. The first migrants in 1829-30 were mainly retired servicemen, professional men and their families, and artisans and servants from Britain. Nearly 4,000 settlers came to Western Australia in 1829-30.
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The Province of South Australia was founded in 1836
The foundation of South Australia is typically considered to be Governor Hindmarsh's proclamation of the province at Glenelg on 28 December 1836. Hindmarsh was appointed the first Governor of South Australia in January 1836, and he arrived in Holdfast Bay on 28 December to proclaim the province. Colonel William Light, who had been appointed Surveyor-General in December 1835, was tasked with locating the most advantageous location for the main colony. He rejected potential sites including Kangaroo Island and Port Lincoln, ultimately selecting the Adelaide plains as the best site for settlement.
The early economy of South Australia was based on the wool industry, with the first wool auction held in Adelaide in 1840. Sheep and other livestock were brought in from Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales. Vast tracts of land were leased by "Squatters" until they were required for agriculture, at which point the Squatters were forced to buy their runs or move on. Despite the challenges of establishing farms, by 1860 wheat farms could be found from Encounter Bay in the south to Clare in the north.
The South Australia Act of 1842 repealed the earlier Act, making South Australia an official British Crown Colony and providing for the formation of an appointed Legislative Assembly. This Act granted greater powers to the Governor of South Australia, who now had control of the new colony. The province was designed for migrants, not convicts, and was funded by the sale of land to the wealthy and investors. This money was used to partially fund the transport of labourers and other workers to the colony.
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The Colony of Queensland was founded in 1859
The Colony of Queensland was a British colony from 1859 to 1901, when it became a state in the federal Commonwealth of Australia. In 1823, John Oxley sailed north from Sydney to Moreton Bay, where he found the Brisbane River. In September 1824, he returned and established a temporary settlement at Redcliffe. On 2 December 1824, the Moreton Bay penal settlement was transferred to the Brisbane River, where the Central Business District (CBD) of Brisbane now stands.
In 1851, a public meeting was held to consider Queensland's separation from New South Wales. On 6 June 1859, Queen Victoria signed Letters Patent to form the colony of Queensland. A proclamation was read by George Bowen on 10 December 1859, formally separating Queensland from New South Wales.
Queensland was one of six founding states of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, along with New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania. These colonies originated as separate British colonies prior to Federation in 1901.
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Frequently asked questions
The Australian states were founded on 1 January 1901 when six colonies were joined together to create the Commonwealth of Australia.
The six colonies that became Australian states were New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania.
Yes, the Colony of New Zealand was also a British colony in the region but did not become an Australian state.
