The first people reached Australia around 50,000 years ago. These were the ancestors of the country’s modern-day Aborigines. For the next several thousand years, Australia and its people were almost completely isolated from the outside world, except for occasional visits of the northern coasts by Indonesians, Melanesians, and other nearby seafarers.
Because of its remote location, Australia wasn’t “discovered” by Europeans until the Dutch arrived in the early 1600s. The Dutch named Australia “New Holland”, and explored its coasts, but never tried to establish settlements. In the 1770s, James Cook claimed Australia’s east coast for Britain, calling it New South Wales.
Britain decided to establish a colony there after the loss of the American colonies in the American Revolution. The early British colony, a penal settlement for deported convicts, was founded in 1788. The town of Sydney served as the capital of the new colony of New South Wales.
In the decades that followed, British explorers and settlers gradually explored, mapped and colonized Australia’s vast territory, founding new towns like Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, and Hobart on the island of Tasmania.
“Discoveries in New South Wales, Australia (1818-1819)” contains contemporary reports from the New South Wales colonial government of discoveries made by two explorers in New South Wales in the years 1818 and 1819.
The two explorers who led these expeditions were Charles Throsby (1771-1828) and John Oxley (1784-1828). Both these men were born in England but came to Australia as settlers. Throsby was born in Glenfield, Leicestershire, while Oxley was born at Kirkham Abbey near Westow in Yorkshire.
Throsby was one of the first Europeans to explore the interior of New South Wales, beyond the Blue Mountains that marked the boundary of the earliest European settlers. He may have travelled through the region of modern-day Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory. One of Canberra’s suburbs, Throsby, is named after him. Throsby served on the colonial council of New South Wales, but committed suicide in 1828 while suffering from poor health and depression.
Oxley served as the Surveyor General of New South Wales. He was the first European to explore the Brisbane River. Oxley married Emma Norton (1798-1885), the sister of prominent colonist James Norton. The couple had two sons. Both sons, John Norton Oxley, and the younger brother, Henry Oxley, served as elected members of the colony’s Legislative Assembly. Oxley had two daughters with two different women before his marriage. Oxley suffered from poor health, perhaps related to his expeditions, and died of illness in 1828 at the age of 45.
Because of its remote location, Australia wasn’t “discovered” by Europeans until the Dutch arrived in the early 1600s. The Dutch named Australia “New Holland”, and explored its coasts, but never tried to establish settlements. In the 1770s, James Cook claimed Australia’s east coast for Britain, calling it New South Wales.
Britain decided to establish a colony there after the loss of the American colonies in the American Revolution. The early British colony, a penal settlement for deported convicts, was founded in 1788. The town of Sydney served as the capital of the new colony of New South Wales.
In the decades that followed, British explorers and settlers gradually explored, mapped and colonized Australia’s vast territory, founding new towns like Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, and Hobart on the island of Tasmania.
“Discoveries in New South Wales, Australia (1818-1819)” contains contemporary reports from the New South Wales colonial government of discoveries made by two explorers in New South Wales in the years 1818 and 1819.
The two explorers who led these expeditions were Charles Throsby (1771-1828) and John Oxley (1784-1828). Both these men were born in England but came to Australia as settlers. Throsby was born in Glenfield, Leicestershire, while Oxley was born at Kirkham Abbey near Westow in Yorkshire.
Throsby was one of the first Europeans to explore the interior of New South Wales, beyond the Blue Mountains that marked the boundary of the earliest European settlers. He may have travelled through the region of modern-day Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory. One of Canberra’s suburbs, Throsby, is named after him. Throsby served on the colonial council of New South Wales, but committed suicide in 1828 while suffering from poor health and depression.
Oxley served as the Surveyor General of New South Wales. He was the first European to explore the Brisbane River. Oxley married Emma Norton (1798-1885), the sister of prominent colonist James Norton. The couple had two sons. Both sons, John Norton Oxley, and the younger brother, Henry Oxley, served as elected members of the colony’s Legislative Assembly. Oxley had two daughters with two different women before his marriage. Oxley suffered from poor health, perhaps related to his expeditions, and died of illness in 1828 at the age of 45.
