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Sydney History - History of Sydney
 The
days when the continent of Australia was deemed to have been "born" in
1788 have long since past. With the belated acceptance of Aboriginal
people as the original inhabitants of the land, came a greater
understanding of the history of the Australian continent above and beyond
the 200 odd years that white Europeans have dominated.
Until the arrival of
the Endeavour at Sydey Cove, the continent had been inhabited by somewhere
in the region of three hundred thousand Aboriginal people, who were
sub-divided into a myriad of different groups, with many talking
completely different languages to one another.
A good
place to find out about this complex and fascinating period of Australian
history is at the Australian
Museum, 6 College Street, nr Hyde Park, Sydney 2000, Tel. (02) 9320
6000, Fax (02) 9320 6050, email:
info1@amsg.austmus.gov.au .
 The
museum is home to thousands of Aboriginal artefacts which are explained in
the context of "Spirituality", Cultural Heritage", "Family Land" and
"Social Justice". The displays give an understanding of a rich cultural
heritage, and the difficulties that the Aboriginal people faced with the
arrival of the White man from 1770. Prices are reasonable at $AUD 5, $AUD
2 for children and there is a family ticket for $AUD 12. Seniors go for
free.
The
Dutchman Abel Tasman was the first European to go ashore on the "Great
Southern Land" way back in 1642. He found what we now know today as
Tasmania and named it Van Dieman's Land. His initial charts were a little
sketchy to say the least, and the area to the east, namely what we know
today as New South Wales and Queensland, remained uncharted altogether.
The
world had to wait another forty six years before another European set foot
on the continent. The intrepid pirate William Dampier went ashore in the
north west and recorded that New Holland, as the Dutch had called the
place, had little to offer with poor pasture land and primitive and
godless inhabitants.
Thus
for a century, New Holland stayed the great disappointment of the Southern
Hemisphere, and it was only when Captain James Cook, on a scientific trip
to Tahiti, stumbled across the more hospitable pastures of the east coast
that the picture looked a little rosier. He set men ashore at Botany Bay
on the 28th April 1770 and some time later the Union Flag was raised for
the first time and Cook declared the land for Britain as New South Wales.
These
developments came at a fortuitous time. In the latter part of the 18th
century, Britain was facing the problem of grossly overcrowded prisons,
following the forced abandonment of the transportation of criminals to the
Americas, who had just revolted and rejected British rule through civil
war.
British
justice at the time could at best be charitably described as
"interesting", with people sent to prison for relatively minor offences.
With the Americas off the agenda, a new place for the spiralling convict
population had to be found.
And so
in 1787, Captain Arthur Phillip, the first governor of New South Wales,
set sail with the 1500 British exiles of the First Fleet, landing at Port
Jackson in 1788. The initial few years were a stark contrast to the city
that we know today. The convicts had to adjust to the change in climate,
and work crops in a completely different way to how they had become
accustomed.
As one
might expect, the free settlers held the convicts in very low esteem,
making them live in squalid conditions and build the infrastructure that
was vital to the creation of a successful colony, which was to grow out of
the area known today as The
Rocks.
But if
the convicts thought that they had it bad, the Aboriginal people fared far
worse. Acting with a veracity that would raise more than a few eyebrows at
today's United Nations, the British systematically cleared the area of
indigenous people, either by firepower, or through the inadvertent
introduction of foreign diseases from which the Aboriginal people had been
insulated for up to fifty thousand years.
It is
to Australia's (and Britain's) great shame that official attitudes towards
the indigenous people only began to turn in 1967, when basic human rights
were granted, and white Australians began to learn what had been done to
the Aboriginals. Recently, the country's conscience has been focussed on
"the disappeared" - Aboriginal children who were taken away from their
parents and placed with white families in an effort to assimilate the
Aboriginals into a white, middle class utopian ideal.
Transportation of convicts to New South Wales continued until 1852, a time
which had seen the birth of a fledgling colony, which then went on to see
the few prosper at the expense of the many, a mutiny by the all powerful
New South Wales Corps, the descent into decadence and debauchery, the
development of industries such as wool and crops, and the hotch-potch
development of a city, at odds with the latter planned cities like
Melbourne and Adelaide.
By the
end of the celebrated Governor Macquarie's term of office, the convicts
who were still the driving force of the economy, were granted basic rights
upon completion of their sentences, and were at liberty to lead their
lives as they wished.
It
transpired in February 1851, that Sydney had conveniently been sited near
large gold reserves at Bathurst. It was Californian gold run veteran
Edward Hargreaves who made the discovery, and just as had happened in
other parts of the Empire, thousands of prospectors descended on the area
to claim their fortune. In fact, so great was the rush that the southern
city of Melbourne was almost entirely emptied of able bodied men, and
ships remained fully laden as their was no-one left to take the goods off
them at the port.
It
wasn't just prospectors from New South Wales and Victoria who showed up in
Sydney with their panning equipment, however. People flocked to the Great
Southern Land from as far a field as Britain and China.
Sydney
grew rich on the back of the gold-rush and it was around this time that it
began to grow into the city that we know today. By 1901, Australia was
felt to be mature enough to largely govern its own affairs and the
colonial days were drawn to a close on 1st January when different colonies
were brought together under federation.
Today,
after enthusiastically supporting Britain and the Commonwealth in two
world wars, in which it suffered devastating losses (you will doubtless
see many references to Gallipoli and Tripoli on your visit - see the War
Memorial & Museum just in front of the Amex building in Sydney's Hyde
Park, Elizabeth Street), the country is on the verge of becoming a
republic in its own right. Australians went to the polls in November 1999
to decide whether or nor to drop the British Queen as their head of state.
The issue was hotly contested, and the result was a close call. However,
although the queen won, she may not be so lucky next time.
Sydney
itself plays host to the 2000 Olympics at the purpose built Homebush
complex. The City is taking its position as host city very seriously
indeed and has, for the last couple of years, closely resembled a building
site as hotels, public buildings, roads and pavements get a radical
facelift to present the best possible image abroad. There will doubtless
be a big effort to ensure that troublesome issues such as Aboriginal land
rights and their appalling social problems are kept well and truly off the
agenda.
All in
all, you will find Sydney a modern, cosmopolitan and welcoming place with
all the trappings of a first rate city, in a gorgeous harbour setting.
Whilst you are there, take the time to visit the Australian Museum, and
also the innovative
Museum of Sydney, at 37 Phillip Street, jctn with Bridge Street, Tel:
(02) 9251 5988, Fax: (02) 9251 5966, email: info@mos.nsw.gov.au, which is
built on the original site of Government House, some of the original
foundations of which are still visible. The Museum of Sydney is open daily
from 10am 'til 5pm (except Xmas day and Good Friday) and is $AUD 6, $AUD 3
for children and $AUD 15 for a family.
Nearby,
on Macquarie Street, up near Hyde Park, you will find the main government
buildings, principally
Parliament House, which resembles a cross between a grand colonial
house and a large corporate pub and is home to the Parliament of New South
Wales. Variously built between 1816 and the mid 1980s, you can take a tour
of the Parliament buildings for free between 9.30am and 4pm. You can take
a peek at the chambers at 10am, 11am and 2pm when the House is not in
session, and there is a public gallery available so you to see Aussie
style democracy when business is being conducted.
If the
tour of the Parliament has whetted your appetite for some full scale
delving into Sydney's history, try the
State Library of New
South Wales, also in Macquarie Street, or if you fancy another museum
experience then you could do worse than to visit Sydney's
Hyde Park
Barracks, next to the Parliament. True to the city's convict roots, it
was designed by the celebrated convict architect Francis Greenway and was
originally home to convicts and then, in later years, to a court.
In
short then, if people tell you that Sydney is far too young a city to hold
any interest for the historian, then they should think again.
The
Aboriginal history of the area should be enough to satisfy those with an
interest in all things anthropological, whilst the European, colonial and
federation history is truly fascinating. Come to Sydney and discover it
for yourself !!
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