History of Sydney

[8] Clans known to be of the Sydney region but whose territory wasn't reliably recorded are the Domaragal, Doogagal, Gannalgal, Gomerigal, Gooneeowlgal, Goorunggurregal, Gorualgal, Murrooredial, Noronggerragal, Oryangsoora and Wandeandegal.

[8] The first meeting between Aboriginal people and British explorers occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay (Kamay[11]) and encountered the Gweagal clan.

[13][14] Cook and his crew stayed at Botany Bay for a week, collecting water, timber, fodder and botanical specimens and exploring the surrounding area.

[26] As the colony spread to the more fertile lands of the Cumberland Plain around the Hawkesbury river, north-west of Sydney, conflict between the settlers and the Darug people intensified, reaching a peak from 1794 to 1810.

Bands of Darug people, led by Pemulwuy and later by his son Tedbury, burned crops, killed livestock and raided settler huts and stores in a pattern of resistance that was to be repeated as the colonial frontier expanded.

Following the deaths of several settlers, Governor Macquarie despatched three military detachments into Dharawal lands, culminating in the Appin massacre (April 1816) in which at least 14 Aboriginal people were killed.

[29][30] After the departure of Phillip in December 1792, the colony's military officers began acquiring land and importing consumer goods obtained from visiting ships.

[31] In 1804, Irish convicts led around 300 rebels in the Castle Hill Rebellion, an attempt to march on Sydney, commandeer a ship, and sail to freedom.

Governor William Bligh (1806–08) imposed restrictions on trade and commerce in the town and ordered the demolition of buildings erected on Crown land, including some owned by past and serving military officers.

[35]Macquarie served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social and economic development of Sydney which saw it transition from a penal colony to a budding free society.

[41] Free settlers, free-born residents and former convicts now represented the vast majority of the population of Sydney, leading to increasing public agitation for responsible government and an end to transportation.

[43] The New South Wales government also stimulated growth by investing heavily in railways, trams, roads, ports, telegraph, schools and urban services.

New public buildings of sandstone abounded, including at the University of Sydney (1854–61),[46] the Australian Museum (1858–66),[47] the Town Hall (1868–88),[48] and the General Post Office (1866–92).

The northern wing of Macquarie Street's's Rum Hospital was requisitioned and converted to accommodate the first Parliament House in 1829, as it was the largest building available in Sydney at the time.

[58][59] Australia's first parliamentary elections were conducted for the New South Wales Legislative Council in 1843, again with voting rights (for males only) tied to property ownership or financial capacity.

The end of convict transportation and the rapid growth of population following the Australian gold rushes led to further demands for "British institutions" in New South Wales, which meant an elected parliament and responsible government.

Artists such as Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts of the Heidelberg School worked here at this time and created some of the masterpieces of newly developing and distinctively Australian styles of painting.

[67] The New South Wales Rugby Union (or then, The Southern RU – SRU) was established in 1874, and the tradition of an annual club competition began in Sydney that year.

Initially radical, nationalist, democratic, and racist, it gained wide influence and became a celebrated entry-point to publication for Australian writers and cartoonists such as Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson, Miles Franklin, and the illustrator and novelist Norman Lindsay.

From the mid-nineteenth century, the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company and its forerunners ran commuter and weekend exclusioner services to the beach-side suburb.

[73] Built in 1861, the design was compromised by the desire to haul railway freight wagons along the line to supply city businesses, in addition to passenger traffic.

Hard campaigning by competing omnibus owners – as well as the fatal accident involving the leading Australian musician Isaac Nathan in 1864 – led to closure in 1866.

The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 saw more Sydney males volunteer for the armed forces than the Commonwealth authorities could process, and helped reduce unemployment in the city.

Many families were evicted from their homes and shanty towns grew along coastal Sydney and Botany Bay, the largest being "Happy Valley" at La Perouse.

In March 1932, when populist Labor premier Jack Lang attempted to open the Sydney Harbour Bridge he was upstaged by Francis de Groot of the far-right New Guard, who slashed the ribbon with a sabre.

Sun tanned men and maidens...Red-roofed villas terraced above the blue waters of the harbour...Even Melbourne seems like some grey and stately city of Northern Europe compared with Sydney's sub-tropical splendours."

[93] After launching their Pacific War in December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy infiltrated New South Wales waters and on the night of 31 May–1 June 1942, three midget submarines entered Sydney Harbour to attack shipping located there.

[95] Building restrictions meant that most construction in Sydney was confined to public works deemed essential to the war effort such as the Captain Cook Graving Dock at Garden Island and the Concord Repatriation Hospital.

The Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Olympics featured a theatrical rendering of Australian history through dance and a torch lighting by Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman.

From 1991 to 2007, Sydneysiders governed as Prime Minister of Australia – first Paul Keating (1991–1996) and later John Howard (1996–2007), Tony Abbott (2013–2015), Malcolm Turnbull (2015–2018), Scott Morrison (2018–2022), and Anthony Albanese (2022–present).