1804 in Australia

Incumbents

• Monarch - George III

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:

• Governor of New South Wales – Captain Philip King
• Lieutenant-Governor of Southern Van Diemen's Land – David Collins
• Lieutenant-Governor of Northern Van Diemen's Land – William Paterson

Events

• 4 March – The Castle Hill convict rebellion, also known as the Battle of Vinegar Hill, takes place: 200 convicts, mostly Irish, rebel. Fifty-one convicts are punished, and nine hanged.
• 3 May – An Aboriginal food hunting party is attacked by settlers and soldiers at Risdon Cove. Eyewitness estimates of the death toll from the massacre vary from three or four to fifty.
• 16 September – A government-owned brewery is opened at Parramatta as a means of controlling the consumption of spirits.
• 4 November – In a letter to Sir Joseph Banks, Matthew Flinders recommends that the newly discovered country, New Holland, be renamed "Australia" or "Terra Australis" (from the Latin "australis" meaning "of the south").

Exploration and settlement

• 15 February – Lieutenant-Governor David Collins lands at Risdon Cove in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). Unhappy with the area as a site for a settlement, Collins sends his surveyor, George Prideaux Harris, and harbour master William Collins in search of an alternative site. Harris and Collins recommend Sullivan's Cove.
• 24 March – The settlement at the Hunter River, also known as the Coal River, is officially named Newcastle.
• 8 May – Lieutenant-Governor Collins establishes the settlement at Sullivan's Cove on the Derwent River.
• 15 June – The name "Hobart Town", after the Colonial Secretary Lord Hobart, is adopted as the name for the new colony at Sullivan's Cove.
• 5 November – Lieutenant-Colonel William Paterson arrives at Outer Cove, leading the Buffalo, the Lady Nelson and two schooners, under instructions from London to form a settlement in the north of Van Diemen's Land.

Science and technology

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Arts and literature

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Sport

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Births

• 5 October – Robert Campbell, politician (died 1859)

Deaths

• 21 March – James Bloodsworth (born 1759), convict and bricklayer
• 27 December – George Barrington (born 1755), convict and police officer

References

References

1. Whitaker, Anne-Maree: [http://www.dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/castle_hill_convict_rebellion_1804 Castle Hill convict rebellion 1804], ''Dictionary of Sydney''.
2. Darby, Andrew: [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/03/1083436539543.html Debate exposes 200-year-old massacre], ''The Age'', 4 May 2004.
3. [http://www.australianbeers.com/history/history3.htm Late in the eighteenth century], ''Australian Beers''.
4. [http://www.nla.gov.au/worldtreasures/html/theme-exploration-5-flinders.html Flinders' letter to Sir Joseph Banks 1804], National Library of Australia, 4 November 1804.
5. Newman, Terry: [http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/php/Bowen.htm Bowen Refuses to Bow Out] {{Webarchive. link. (5 March 2011 , Parliamentary History Project (Parliament of Tasmania), December 2003.)
6. [http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/archives/coalriver/pdf/1804sept24.pdf Settlement at Coal Harbour and Hunter’s River to be named Newcastle], ''Limits of Settlement and Governorship, &c.'', University of Newcastle, 24 September 1804.
7. [http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/2f762f95845417aeca25706c00834efa/0D3893BEE905CA98CA256C3200241894?opendocument 1803–1850s, British outpost], ''Tasmanian Year Book 2005'', Australian Bureau of Statistics, 21 November 2006.