History of Sydney

The history of Sydney didn’t start with white settlement, even though the original inhabitants were often ignored in official accounts until recent times. Before the Endeavour arrived at Botany Bay in 1770, the continent was inhabited by around 300,000 Aboriginal people, who were divided into countless groups, many speaking completely different languages.

The First Fleet

Eighteen years after Captain James Cook and Joseph Banks arrived at Botany Bay, the First Fleet, led by HMS Sirius, arrived here in 1788. Under the command of Governor Arthur Phillip, 11 ships carrying convicts and officials landed with the intention to establish a colony.

Having decided that Botany Bay was not a good place to establish a settlement, Phillip rowed north to Port Jackson. Having arrived there, he came upon a cove he found suitable and named it ‘Sydney Cove’ after the British Secretary of State, Viscount Sydney. The First Fleet soon followed Phillip, and they established the new colony, where for the next 60 years, the unwanted, persecuted and criminals of British society would make their new home.

Gold and starvation

Having no experience as farmers, and using unreliable European farming techniques, they soon reached the edge of starvation. This combined with rampant disease and low morale, found the new colony in deep trouble. Despite this traumatic experience, the second and third fleets soon followed. In 1808, Governor William Bligh was toppled by the New South Wales (Rum) Corps who had commercial interests in the Rum trade; this became known as the Rum Rebellion.

By 1840, the colony's population consisted of mostly free immigrants and convict shipping stopped in 1842. By 1847, the convict population of Sydney made up merely three per cent of the total population.

Owing to Edward Hargreaves showing his discovery of gold from the west to the colony in 1851, and the rumours that gold had been discovered in Victoria, settlers soon left Sydney for the hope of striking it rich. The following gold rush had miners and prospectors from all over the world coming to Australia. Despite the mass exodus of settlers, Sydney's population grew from 54,000 to 96,000 in 1861, as a result of the increase in immigration.

Modern times

The Australian Federation came about in 1901 and the Commonwealth of Australia was declared in a ceremony in Centennial Park. WWI brought about an economic boom for Sydney, but when the war was over, this artificial injection of money into the city’s financial system imploded and the economy went into free fall. A third of the city’s population became unemployed and the great depression of the early 1930s followed. 

In 1932, the increased value of wool and the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge brought the economy back on track. After WWII, the city’s population grew once again with the arrival of European immigrants and as a result of the immigration policies, Australia’s population was 99.4 per cent European by 1947.

Today, Sydney is one of the most cosmopolitan, multi-cultural and beautiful cities in the world. The harbour is only rivalled by that of Hong Kong and with its 20 or so beautiful swimming beaches and pleasant climate, Sydney has become an extremely popular tourist destination, attracting almost three million visitors annually.