1791: Fifty Convicts Try to Walk to China From Parramatta

Twenty-one convicts escaped from Port Jackson, who had limited knowledge about Australia and attempted to walk to China. Some died in the bush, and others were recaptured.

Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), Monday 27 April 1936

World's News (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 1955), Wednesday 22 April 1936

Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate (Parramatta, NSW : 1888 - 1950), Wednesday 4 October 1899

Tenterfield Intercolonial Courier and Fairfield and Wallangarra Advocate (NSW : 1900 - 1914), Tuesday 7 November 1905

1788: The British and Aboriginals Dance Together

Lieutenant William Bradley, a British naval officer and cartographer, compiled a journal which begins in 1786 with the organisation of the First Fleet from Deptford, England, and records the voyage to Australia.

Botany Bay. Sirius & convoy going in: Supply & Agent's Division in the Bay. 21 Janry 1788', Lieutenant William Bradley

Three days after the First Fleet landed in Port Jackson, Sydney Cove, carrying British sailors and convicts, the sailors met Aboriginal people on the beach and Lieutenant Bradley reported, “these people mixed with ours and all hands danced together”.

'View in Broken Bay New South Wales, March 1788', Lieutenant William Bradley (note the dancing figures)

Below are excepts from Lieutenant William Bradley's journal.

29 January 1788

Tuesday, 29th. Landed on a point forming the NW or middle branch, to which we were followed by several of the natives, along the rocks, having only their sticks which they use in throwing the lance, with them. A man followed at some distance with a bundle of lances. They pointed with their sticks to the best landing place and met us in the most cheerful manner, shouting and dancing. The women kept at a distance near the man with the spears. This mark of attention to the women in showing us that, although they met us unarmed, they had arms ready to protect them, increased my favourable opinion of them very much. Some of these people, having pieces of tape and other things tied about them, we conclude them to be some of those people whom the Governor had met here before. These people mixed with ours and all hands danced together.

Our people and these mixed together and were quite sociable, dancing and otherwise amusing them. One of our people combed their hair, with which they were much pleased. Several women appeared at a distance, but we could not prevail on the men to bring them near us.

We had here an opportunity of examining their canoes and weapons. The canoe is made of the bark taken off a large tree of the length they want to make the canoe, which is gathered up at each end and secured by a lashing of strong vine which runs amongst the underbrush. One was secured by small line. They fix spreaders in the inside. The paddles are about 2 feet long in shape like a pudding stirrer. These they use, one in each hand, and go along very fast, setting with their legs under them and their bodies erect and, although they do not use outriggers, I have seen them paddle through a large surf without oversetting or taking in more water than if rowing in smooth water. From their construction they are apt to leak when any weight is in them.

Read the diary here: William Bradley's Voyage to New South Wales edited by Colin Choat

Read, Dancing with Strangers by Inga Clendinnen, (Cambridge University Press, 2005)

Systemic Corruption in Queensland Uncovered

The Fitzgerald Inquiry from 1987–1989) into Queensland Police corruption was presided over by Tony Fitzgerald QC with testimony from 339 witnesses.

The inquiry was in response to reports by Phil Dickie in The Courier-Mail about high-level police corruption and a Four Corners television program by Chris Masters, entitled  The Moonlight State, shown on 11 May 1987.

The inquiry Investigated whether members of the Queensland Police force were involved in prostitution, illegal gambling, illicit drugs, and other unlawful activities or misconduct.

Results of the inquiry led to the resignation of Queensland's premier, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, two by-elections, and three former ministers and the Police Commissioner Terry Lewis being jailed.

Police Commissioner Terry Lewis was charged in 1989 with 23 counts of perjury, corruption, and forgery. And to have accepted bribes totalling $700,000 to protect brothels, SP (starting price) bookmakers, illegal casinos, and in-line machine operators and to prevent poker machines being legally introduced in Queensland.

Terence Murray Lewis, Queensland Police Commissioner, CC BY 4.0

Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, the Premier of Queensland from 1968 to 1987, was put on trial for perjury relating to evidence he gave to the inquiry, but in 1991, his trial was abandoned with a hung jury.

Bjelke-Petersen resigned as Premier after unsuccessfully trying to have the Governor of Queensland sack all of his ministers after they had deposed him as party leader.

Cabinet Minister Russ Hinze died in 1991, before criminal charges could be levelled against him. However, in December 1989, he had been charged on eight counts of having received a total of $520,000 in corrupt payments (Dunn 1991).

Bjelke-Petersen (left) with minister Russ Hinze, SLQLD. PD

The Fitzgerald Inquiry's recommendations led to the creation of the Criminal Justice Commission, the precursor of the Crime and Corruption Commission.

Colin Dillon, the first Aboriginal policeman in Australia, was the first serving police officer to voluntarily appear before the Fitzgerald Inquiry in 1987 and give first-hand evidence of police corruption.

Voting Rights For Australian Women and Aboriginal People

New Zealand was the first self-governing country to give women the right to vote on 19 September 1893.

On 18 December 1894, South Australia became, the second place in the world, after New Zealand, to give women the vote.

In 1897, Catherine Helen Spence became Australia's first female political candidate when she stood (unsuccessfully) for the Federal Convention held in Adelaide.

Portrait of Catherine Helen Spence in the 1890s

Under the Municipal Corporations Act of 1861, South Australia's female ratepayers, were already enfranchised. Some women had been voting in municipal elections for more than 20 years.

Interestingly, the female descendants of the Bounty mutineers who lived on Pitcairn Islands could vote from 1838.
 

In 1856, 52 years before women's suffrage was achieved in Victoria, Fanny Finch and another unnamed woman, used their status as ratepayers to vote during municipal elections. 

Fanny Finch had been born in London, possibly to free people of African racial heritage, and was raised in a foundling hospital. She arrived in the colony of South Australia in 1837 and later became a businesswoman.

Frances Finch was born Frances Combe in London in 1815.

In the 1850s, the constitutions of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia gave Aboriginal men the same right to vote as other male British subjects aged over 21.

In other states, laws to deny the vote to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were enacted by Queensland (1885), Western Australia (1893) and the Northern Territory (1922).

Tasmania granted Aboriginal men the right to vote in 1896.

The Commonwealth Parliament of Australia, passed the uniform Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902, which enabled women 21 years of age and older to vote at elections for the federal Parliament. Aboriginal women who already had the right to vote, could continue to do so.

A report delivered in 1961 found that many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had been denied the vote due tof discriminatory legislation in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland.

The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1962 granted all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the option to enrol and vote in federal elections.

The Aboriginal Tent Embassy began with a beach umbrella on 26 January 1972, a symbol of Aboriginal protest.

First day of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, outside Parliament House, Canberra, 27 January 1972. Left to right: Billy Craigie, Bert Williams, Michael Anderson and Tony Coorey. PD

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia only granted women the right to vote in 2011.

Dame Mary Gilmore: Scott Morrison's Great Great Aunt

Born on 16 August 1865, near Goulburn, NSW, Dame Mary Gilmore, née Cameron, is represented on the $10 banknote.

Gilmore became a celebrated public figure, popular writer, socialist and poet.

During her childhood, Gilmore's family moved about as her father's job as a station manager and carpenter, required.

In January 1883, Gilmore became a pupil teacher at the Superior Public School, Wagga Wagga.

One of the most severe economic Depressions in Australia's history occurred in the 1890s, bringing mass unemployment, misery and poverty and likely shaped Gilmore's political views and activism.

Gilmore claimed to have a relationship with Henry Lawson (about 1890), that would become one of the greatest influences upon her work, and there was an unofficial engagement.

In 1897, Gilmore married William Alexander Gilmore and, the following year, gave birth to their only child, William Dysar.

From 1908, Gilmore became editor of the women’s section of The Australian Worker until 1931.

Sunday Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1903 - 1910), Sunday 31 July 1910

Mary Gilmore, Advocate (Melbourne, Vic. : 1868 - 1954), Thursday 25 January 1923

In 1928, Gilmore was a founding member of the Fellowship of Australian Writers.

In 1932, Gilmore wrote a haunting poem, The Waradgery Tribe, which, though heartfelt, is contrary to the views of today. During her childhood, Gilmore also lived with Aboriginal people for a time. She wrote later, in 1952:

Tribune (Sydney, NSW : 1939 - 1991), Wednesday 9 July 1952

Tribune (Sydney, NSW : 1939 - 1991), Wednesday 9 July 1952

For her services to literature, Mary Gilmore was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 1 February 1937.

Gilmore, who often romanticised the working class and Aboriginal life, was also an ardent nationalist,  evidenced by her poem, No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest. 

The poem, published in The Australian Women's Weekly on 29 June 1940, is said to have "proved a remarkable morale booster in the tense days of the Japanese threat to Australia in 1942". (The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature, 2nd edition, p581)

Gilmore commenced a regular column, "Arrows", for the Tribune in 1952.

Tribune (Sydney, NSW : 1939 - 1991), Wednesday 7 September 1955

DAME MARY GILMORE by WILLIAM DOBELL William Dobell, outstanding Australian artist, painted this portrait of Dame MaryGilmore, grand old lady of Australian letters, Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), Wednesday 25 September 1957

In 1961, Gilmore was honoured by the Australian Trade Unions as May Queen for the May Day procession.

In 1962, when Gilmore died at age 97, two and a half years before the birth of her great-great nephew, Scott Morrison, who would be a future Australian prime minister, she was given a state funeral. Her likeness also appears on the Australian ten-dollar note.

Borrow, Old days, old ways: a book of recollections by Gilmore, Mary, 1865-1962, free here (Internet Archive)                                                                                                        

The Watson Government: First Labour Government in The World

John Christian Watson (1867-1941), became Australia's third Prime in 1904 and formed the world's first Labor Government.

Watson, born in Chile, of New Zealand parents, moved to Sydney in 1886 and became active in the labour movement.

Watson was one of the founders of the Labor Electoral League of New South Wales (Labor party) and was the party's campaign director at the 1891 general election. 

On 29 Mar 1901, Watson was elected as Member of Parliament for the seat of Bland (NSW), and became a founding member of the ALP caucus.

On 8 May 1901, Watson was elected leader of Australia's Labor Party (1901-7).

John Christian Watson (born Johan Cristian Tanck; 9 April 1867 – 18 November 1941)

Alfred Deakin resigned as prime minister, 27 Apr 1904, and the same day, the Governor-General, Lord Northcote, summoned Watson to form Australia’s first federal Labor government. 

At the age of 37, Watson was Australia’s youngest prime minister.

Watson resigned as prime minister, defeated over the Conciliation and Arbitration Bill and unable to command a majority in the House of Representatives, 15 Aug 1904.

Queensland Country Life (Qld. : 1900 - 1954), Wednesday 1 March 1905

Chris Watson held office for only four months, but he holds a place in history by leading the world's first national Labour government.

1854: The Telegraph Connection Between Melbourne and Williamstown

A telegraph is a device for transmitting and receiving messages over long distances. This technology transformed communication, and information could travel much faster.

Australia's geographic isolation from the rest of the world, came to an end.

Australia's first telegraph line, sponsored by the Victorian Government, was constructed between Melbourne and Williamstown in 1853 and 1854.

By December 1854, the telegraph line to Geelong was complete, and the first message sent news to Melbourne about the Eureka Stockade. 

Connections to Queenscliff and Port Melbourne (January and July 1855) allowed passing information about ships entering the harbour and arriving at port.

In December 1856, telegraph connections to the gold-mining centres of Ballarat and Bendigo were complete.

Victoria had an extensive telegraph network by 1857.

Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), Thursday 15 April 1858

The Adelaide to Melbourne connection begun in April 1857, was completed in July 1858. 

A telegraph line connecting Hobart and Launceston was complete in 1857. And also other lines to George Town in March 1858, and from Hobart to Mt Nelson in July, and Low Head in October 1858. 

 

In early 1859, the Tasmanian and Victorian Governments agreed to share the costs of a a submarine cable linking Tasmania to the mainland. Due to undersea faults, it was abandoned by January 1861.

The Sydney to Liverpool telegraph line in NSW opened on 30 December 1857.

The Liverpool line was extended to Albury in October 1858. 

Electric Telegraph Office, Sydney, NSW, 1860] SLNSW

Soon after Queensland separated from New South Wales on 1 June 1860, a line from Brisbane to Toowoomba commenced. The first stage completed to Ipswich in April 1861.

The first messages from Brisbane to Sydney between Governors Sir John Young (NSW) and Sir George Bowen (Qld) occurred on 9 November 1861.

In Western Australia, the Perth to Fremantle link opened on 21 June 1869. A link to Albany was completed in 1870.

In 1870, Australia was linked directly to the British telegraphic cable system by a cable from Singapore via Java to Port Darwin.

Workers on the Overland Telegraph Line, Southport, Port Darwin, Northern Territory, approximately 1870 / Samuel Sweet, NLAUST

The Overland Telegraph, stretching more than 3,000km from Adelaide to Darwin, was connected August 22, 1872.

Planting the first telegraph pole, near Palmerston (Darwin) on 15 September 1870. Among those present were: Mr Palmer, Mr Burton, Dr Furnell, Dr James Millner, D.D. Daly, Miss Douglas, Mr & Mrs W.T. Dallwood, Willie Douglas, A.T. Childs, Captain & Mrs Douglas, F.W. Dallwood, Miss Douglas, W. McMinn, Miss B. Douglas, Mr James Darwent, J. McKinlay, Mr Grey, Mr E. Holthouse, Mr Davis, Mr Paquelin. Time: 3.00pm. Peter Spillett Collection - Northern Territory Library. Image number PH0238/0383. PD

Port Darwin became the terminus for the Overland Telegraph in 1870

Overland Telegraph Construction party. L-R John A.G. Little, R.C. Patterson, Charles Todd and A.J. Mitchell. 1872, SLSA

The Cape York Telegraph Line was completed in 1887 and stretched from Laura to Thursday Island.

A TELEGRAPH CONSTRUCTION PARTY. LEAVING MOUNT MAGNET FOR LAWLERS. Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954), Saturday 10 March 1900

A telegraph cable across the Pacific between Canada and Australia via Fiji and Norfolk Island was complete in October 1902.

The First Aboriginal Author to Be Published

INVENTOR AND STUDENT ABORIGINE ATTRACTS Mr. David Unalpon, the Australian
aborigine from the Point Macleay Mission Station, South Australia, whose photograph Is here, produced, Is on a visit to Melbourne.Herald. (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Monday 13 July 1914

David Unaipon, the man on our $50 note, was the first Aboriginal author to be published in the 1927, when his book of Aboriginal legends was published

However, according to the South Australian Museum historian, Unaipon ".. signed a book contract with Angus & Robertson, but they baulked at his blend of fairy tale, popular science, Aboriginal legend and Christian morality." (1.)

Angus and Robertson then sold the copyright of the stories to William Ramsay Smith.

In 1929, William Ramsay Smith published Myths & legends of the Australian Aboriginals (1930), as told to Smith by David Unaipon, who was Smith's assistant.

  

Later research showed that Unaipon had sold the text to finance his own work. (Volume 85 Item 2: Angus & Robertson correspondence files from Lilian Irene Turner to Arthur Styles Vallack, 1896–1931)

David Ngunaitponi, known as David Unaipon (1872-1967), was born on 28 September 1872 at the Point McLeay Mission, South Australia, a member of the Ngarrindjeri people, where he was introduced to popular science by his teacher, Walter Hutley.

Kapunda Herald (SA : 1878 - 1951), Tuesday 22 May 1894

Unaipon left school at 13 to work for C.B. Young, patron of the Aborigines’ Friends’ Association, who encouraged Unaipon's interest in literature, philosophy, science and music.

From 1924 onwards, Unaipon wrote many articles for the Sydney Daily Telegraph.

Unaipon defied stereotypes in many ways. Described as urbane and self-possessed, he had a formal manner, was very particular with his use of language and was cultured and dignified.

He was also an inventor, evangelical preacher, political activist, orator and singer. 

Unaipon also assisted various inquiries and commissions into Aboriginal welfare and treatment.

Dungog Chronicle : Durham and Gloucester Advertiser (NSW : 1894 - 1954), Friday 23 November 1923

DAVID UNAIPON, Adelaide's best known native, demonstrates how to throw a boomerang. He spends much time in the parklands teaching schoolchlldren the art. He thinks boomerang throwing should he a national sport. Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 - 1954), Saturday 1 October 1932

News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Friday 21 May 1937

News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Saturday 13 June 1953

Treacherous Bass Strait and One of The Worst Shipwrecks in Australian History

The three-masted barque, Neva, made two voyages transporting convicts to Australia.

On her second voyage, the Neva departed Cork, Ireland, on 8 January 1835 for Sydney, carrying 150 female convicts with 33 children and nine free women (probably wives of convicts).

Three-masted ship

The ship's lookout called out that dreaded warning, “breakers ahead!” and about 5 a.m. on 13 May 1835, Neva hit a reef near King Island in Bass Strait.

As the ship filled with water and began to break up, 200 panic-stricken women and children came up on deck and raided the rum stores.

The women were soon hopelessly drunk, and as the ship became swamped with water and collapsed, many were unable to save themselves. 

The deck then broke away from the rest of the ship and broke into two sections, with the remaining survivors on these raft-like floating structures.

The survivors were carried toward the shore of King Island.

One raft grounded and broke up, and of the about 20 people on board, only three, including Captain Peck, made it ashore.

 

The other raft, with 19 aboard, drifted easily to shore. 

A keg of rum also rolled ashore providing the survivors with small comfort as they huddled together for the night.

The horrors were not yet over. By morning, four women and a boy had died from exposure, and then two more women died, leaving only 15 survivors. 

 Only 95 bodies were found and buried in shallow graves.

Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), Thursday 16 July 1835

The Convict Ship, Chapman, Paranoia and Mutiny

The convict ship Chapman departed Cork, Ireland, with 200 male convicts on board, 15 March 1817.

Commanded by John Drake and surgeon Alexander Dewar, the Chapman was guarded by the the 46th Regiment of Foot.

The Chapman according to historian marjorie Barnard, was "uneasy" from the first, and Captain drake and Surgeon Dewar decided to keep the convicts in double irons. 

On 25th of March, a sentry reported that the convicts were picking the locks, but guards found all quiet.

On April 25, convicts escaped on deck and were rushing the ship. The crew was put under arms and a number of convicts and suspected seamen were punished. 

Four days later, Michel Collins, an informer, claimed that there was a plot for the convicts to seize the ship and sail to America. 

Arms were piled on the deck in readiness, and the convicts confined between decks. 

It was dark when the ship's cook felt the starboard fore shuttle lift under him, and he raised the alarm that the convicts were forcing the hospital bulkhead. 

Opening fire, 3 convicts were killed, and 22 wounded, but the surgeon fearful, did not attend to the injured until morning. 

Punishment was swift and convicts were put on half rations, and 70 to 100 chained overnight to an iron cable in the prison. Four lengths of chain were passed over each hatch, and threats to suffocate the convicts were made.

Punishments were inflicted for coughing, speaking Irish and rattling chains.

On 30th of April, guns were fired down the hatches, and two killed and four injured. 

Paranoia increased, and soldiers and seaman suspected each other, leading to two seamen being killed after shooting broke out again. 

On May 24, thirty more were wounded. The rest were starving. The ship arrived in Sydney on 20 July 1817.

Read More

Free Settler or Felon Convict and Colonial History

A History of Australia (1962), by Marjorie Barnard

 

1622: Australia's First recorded Shipwreck

Australia's first recorded shipwreck occurred in 1622 when the English ship Tryall, under the command of John Brooke, ran into a reef off the north-west coast of Western Australia, now called Tryal Rocks.

The ship had departed Plymouth on its maiden voyage for Batavia (now Jakarta) when tragedy struck.

45 people escaped. Brook, his son, and 9 others escaped in a skiff. While Thomas Bright and 35 others set off for Batavia in a longboat.

Left to perish on the wreck were 93 people, who were never seen again.

Thomas Bright blamed Brooke's poor navigation and failure to post a lookout for the loss of the ship and her crew. Bright also accused Brook of stealing the ship's cargo of silver.

On returning to England, Brooke was given command of the Moone. As this ship left Batavia in February 1625, it was wrecked off the coast of Dover, with the loss of 50,000 pounds in treasure.

The wreck site was located by the Fremantle-based Underwater Explorer's Club in 1969.

In 1971, another examination of the wreck site found the ship divided into two main sections.

At the site, six cannons and up to eight anchors consistent with the period were recorded, but no definitive means to identify it as the Tryall. 

The Western Australian Shipwreck Galleries at Fremantle has displayed recovered items from the wreck, including a large iron cannon

The Western Australian Shipwreck Galleries at Fremantle has displayed recovered items from the Tryall wreck, including a large iron cannon.

WA Shipwrecks Museum: Cliff Street, Fremantle, WA, 6160

What Happened When Captain Cook Landed on the East Australian Coast?

Captain James Cook FRS (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, cartographer and British naval officer, famous for his three voyages of discovery.

1768–1771: Cook's First voyage on HMS Endeavour. In May 1768, Cook was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and given command of the bark Endeavour on a joint Admiralty-Royal Society expedition to the Pacific.

Not only would Cook observe the Transit of Venus across the face of the Sun, he was given secret orders to search for the unknown Great Southern Continent. This was a trip into the unknown.

The second page instructs Cook "with the Consent of the Natives to take possession of Convenient Situations in the Country in the Name of the King of Great Britain". But "if you find the Country uninhabited, you are to take possession of it for His Majesty ... as First Discoverers and Possessors".

Legends of Terra Australis Incognita—an "unknown land of the South"—date back to Roman times.

Cook never found "Terra Australis" – which was thought to cover the entire southern hemisphere but the continent he did find led to the first penal colony in Australia, established in 1788.  

The first known landing in Australia by Europeans was in 1606 by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon on Australia's northern coast, when he charted about 300 km of coastline. 

19th-century artist impression of the ship Duyfken in the Gulf of Carpentaria

Janszoon and his crew travelled along 350 kilometres (220 mi) of coast, from 5° south to 13° 45' south, but his ship logs of the ship Duyfken recorded:

that vast regions were for the greater part uncultivated, and certain parts inhabited by savage, cruel black barbarians who slew some of our sailors, so that no information was obtained touching the exact situation of the country and regarding the commodities obtainable and in demand there.

The Dutch, pragmatic people, saw no benefit in Australia in this age of colonisation by European powers.

Captain Cook on the Endeavour landed fourteen times on the East Australian Coast. 

19 April 1770: The east coast of Australia was sighted.

The Endeavour, 1770

Cook only landed once in what is now New South Wales. This was at Botany Bay. The First Fleet again landed here 18 years later.

Sunday 29th April 1770: Cook and his crew did not make a camp at Botany Bay (Ka-may). They lived on the ship for the 8 days they stayed there. They fished for food, explored, obtained water and collected botanical specimens.

Two men from the Gweagal clan of the Dharawal people appeared on the beach, and Cook and his crew threw gifts and tried to communicate their intention to land. Cook wrote in his journal:

French engraving depicting a family group at Port Jackson, 1824. From FREYCINET (Boisseau, Jacques Messidor, 1794-1848)

“on both points of the bay Several of the natives and a few hutts” and decided to land on “the south shore abreast of the Ship... in hopes of speaking with them”. Accompanied “by Mr Banks Dr Solander and Tupia” the Aboriginal people “all made off except two Men who seem’d resolved to oppose our landing. As soon as I saw this I orderd the boats to lay upon their oars in order to speake to them but this was to little purpose for neither us nor Tupia could understand one word they said... I thou[gh]t that they beckon’d to us to come a shore but in this we were mistaken, for as soon as we put the boat in they again came to oppose us upon which I fired a musket between the two which had no other effect than to make them retire back where bundles of thier darts lay, and one of them took up a stone and threw at us which caused my fireing a second Musquet load with small shott, and altho’ some of the shott struck the man yet it had no other effect than to make him lay hold of a Shield or target to defend himself”.

According to Sir Joseph Banks, “We were conscious from the distance the people had been from us when we fird that the shot could have done them no material harm... We however thought it no improper measure to take away with us all the lances which we could find about the houses, amounting in number to forty or fifty”.

Cook also wrote: "I went myself in the Pinnace to sound & explore the Bay in the doing of which I saw some of the Natives, but they all fled at my approach. I landed in 2 places one of which the People had but just left as there were small fires & fresh Muscles broiling upon them, here likewise lay Vast heaps of the largest Oyster Shells I ever saw". 

He continued: "The Natives do not appear to be numberous neither do they seem to live in large bodies but dispers'd in small parties along by the water side..."

On 6 May 1770, the Endeavour left Botany Bay, sailing north. Cook named an inlet Port Jackson, "wherein there appeared to be safe anchorage". Today this is Sydney Harbour. Read here

18th May 1770: the Endeavour is sailing in the Hervey Bay Region: "The land hereabouts, which is of a moderate height, appears more barren than any we have yet seen on this Coast, and the Soil more sandy, there being several large places where nothing else is to be seen; in other places the woods look to be low and Shrubby, nor did we see many signs of inhabitants". Read here

24 May 1770: Cook came ashore and landed on the beach of Round Hill Creek in the vicinity of the present village of Seventeen Seventy (Bustard bay) in the Gladstone Region, Queensland. They found remains of several small fires and shells but no people.

8 June 1770: A landing was made at Waalumbaal Birri (Endeavour River). They saw no people until 9 July, when Cook “saw Seven or eight of the Natives... and two of them came down upon the sandy point opposite the ship but as soon as I put off in a boat in order to speak with them they run away as hard fast as they could”. 

June 8th 1770. Banks and Hickes went ashore near Magnetic Island, QLD, looking for coconuts but found only cabbage palms.

June 10 1770 (landed at Trinity Bay, named after Trinity Sunday), searching for water. Cook landed with Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. Daniel Carl Solander (a Swedish naturalist from the British Museum). Read here

11 June 1770: Just before midnight on 11 June 1770, the Endeavour ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef off modern-day Queensland. Cook names the area Cape Tribulation and writes in his journal ... "because here begun all our troubles". Read here

Water entered the ship below the waterline faster than the ship’s pumps could clear it. Cannons and other heavy items were thrown overboard,  and a sail was stitched with rope fibres, and coated with tar and straw as a waterproof patch. 

After running aground on the Great Barrier Reef, QLD, the crew of the HMB Endeavour jettisoned 48 tonnes of material over the side (one of six that were aboard the Endeavour)

Cook’s crew and the Endeavour spent seven weeks ashore at Endeavour River. 

The British interacted with the Guugu Yimithirr people who believe the Wahalumbaal birri (Endeavour River) was created by the Mungurru (amethystine python) as he travelled down the river valley to the Walmba muulaarr (Great Barrier Reef) to bathe in the ocean.

Cook offered gifts and food to the Guugu Yimithirr people seeking peaceful relations. 

The first recorded word list of an Australian Aboriginal language was compiled by Cook in the area of the Endeavour River in northern Queensland in 1770. 

On Saturday 4 August, Cook wrote in his journal that a certain animal was, "called by the Natives Kangooroo, or Kanguru". This word, kangaroo, was later brought by members of the First Fleet to Sydney. Read here

Cook left the Endeavour River on 5 August 1770.

Cook and his crew had caught 12 to 15 turtles as food for their voyage home, when they stopped near Cooktown.

On 19th July 1770, according to Cook's diary: "In the AM we were viseted by 10 or 11 of the natives the most of them came from the other side of the harbour River where we saw six or seven more the most of them women and like the men quite naked; those that came on board were very desirous of having some of our turtle and took the liberty to haul two to the gang way to put over the side but being disapointed in it this they grew a little troublesome, and was were for throwing every thing overboard they could lay their hands upon; as we had no victuals dress’d at this time I offer’d them some bread to eat, which they rejected with scorn as I believe they would have done any thing else excepting turtle —" Read here

Sir Joseph bank wrote: "They first by signs askd for One and on being refusd shewd great marks of Resentment; one who had askd me on my refusal stamping with his foot pushd me from him with a countenance full of disdain". Read here

Australia is the only continent where no treaties were made between colonists and the original occupants of the land. 

Negotiating such a treaty would have been impossible, as a separate treaty would have been required with each tribe. 

Aboriginal Australia was never united.

The British did make treaties with other groups. For example, the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand in 1840. Maori people spoke the same language, and their society was united under a chiefdom.

James Matra, a midshipman on the Endeavour, later became a diplomat, and it was he who proposed the idea of a colony in New South Wales in August 1783, supported by Joseph Banks. Cook was dead by this time. he was killed by Native Hawaiians, 14 February 1779.

Read

Log of H.M.S. Endeavour, 1768-1770 [manuscript]

Captain Cook in Google Earth

Description of New Holland

In 1948, John Cade Discovers Lithium for Mania

Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Tuesday 15 February 1938

In March 1948, Australian psychiatrist John Cade discovered the effectiveness of lithium as a treatment for bipolar disorder. Today, lithium is considered the gold standard treatment for bipolar disorder.

Lithium, which was synthesized in the Big Bang, is found in trace amounts in numerous plants, plankton, and invertebrates, and it competes with other ions such as sodium. 

Before this, the soft drink 7Up, formulated in 1929, was called "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda" because it contained lithium citrate. The drink was a patent medicine sold as a hangover cure. Lithium citrate was removed from 7Up in 1948.

After returning from incarceration in Changi Prison during WWII, John Cade became medical superintendent and psychiatrist at the Repatriation Mental Hospital in Bundoora, Victoria, where he theorised that uric acid was a cause of manic behaviour ( "brain gout")

Dr John Cade, Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), Wednesday 6 January 1954

Cade thought that the psychotic mental state was caused by a chemical imbalance and that the poison may be evident in the sufferer’s urine as well as the brain.

Cade began to work on the toxic substance uric acid and to use lithium salts, which were known to dissolve uric acid.

Injecting erratic guinea pigs with lithium carbonate solution, Cade found the animals became relaxed.

After testing lithium on himself, Cade began to experiment on some of his patients diagnosed with mania, dementia præcox or melancholia.

John Cade acute unit at Royal Park Hospital, VIC, circa 2003. PD

One patient was described as "a little wizened man of 51 who had been in a state of chronic manic excitement for five years . . . amiably restless, dirty, destructive, mischievous, and interfering". 

After treatment with lithium for a short time, became "more settled, tidier, less disinhibited, and less distractible." The patient continued to improve and was able to return to work.

At the time, it was not known that lithium has a narrow therapeutic window. Too little and it has no effect. Too much can damage the kidneys. 

Several deaths of patients undergoing lithium treatment occurred. But this first effective medication to treat a mental illness led to thousands of people remaining stable on lithium, preventing relapse, mood instability and much suffering.

Cade's discovery in 1949 led to world-wide acceptance of lithium as an effective treatment of mania and depression.

There are various ways that lithium may stabilise mood, such as by inhibiting glycogen synthase kinase 3, and or, inositol phosphatases and reducing excitatory (dopamine and glutamate) and increasing inhibitory (GABA) neurotransmission. 

Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Tuesday 5 January 1954

In 1976, John Cade was one of the first people to be made an Officer of the Order of Australia.