INTRODUCTION
Why did I choose this topic? I chose this topic as my dad was born and raised in Australia. I want to know how my family got to Australia and why the Europeans colonised it.
How is this topic historically significant? The colonisation of Australia is historically significant because it completely changed the continent’s population, legal systems, and environment while causing an intense loss for the native Australians.
LIFE OF A NATIVE AUSTRALIAN
Native Australians arrived in Australia thousands of years before European colonisation with many tribes like the Aboriginals, the Murri and the Tiwi. Life for the native Australians was very diverse with over 250 languages spoken pre-colonisation and over 500 distinct clans/nations, each with their own beliefs and laws.
Most native Australians lived on the shores as there was far more food and very reliable access to fresh water allowing for a more sustainable lifestyle. Getting food was easy for the natives as they could fish or hunt.
Native Australians spent around 4-5 hours each day hunting and gathering. What they hunted and gathered depended on what time of year it was. They would also move to different parts of the country depending on the season. This made sure that they had enough food and water for their entire clan.
DISCOVERY
Australia was first discovered around 50-60 thousand years ago by the ancestors of the aboriginal peoples. Europeans came to Australia only around 400 years ago. In 1606 Australia was discovered by Willem Janszoon, who was a Dutch navigator and colonial governor who sailed for the Dutch East India Company on the ship Duyfken. He never actually attempted to colonise the continent as the Dutch were more focused on the highly profitable spice trade and the parts of Australia Janszoon explored offered little to no commercial value.
COLONISATION
As you now know the Dutch didn’t colonise Australia. The British did! The British first set their sights on Australia in 1770. The famous explorer James Cook who was the captain of the HMS Endeavour led the first recorded visit by Europeans to Australia.
The British then sent their first fleet (funnily called The First Fleet) led by captain Arthur Phillip comprising of 11 ships carrying just under 1500 people eighteen years later in 1788. They did this to set up a penal colony (A penal colony is a remote settlement where prisoners are exiled to serve sentences) to relieve their overcrowded prisons. This was because they lost 13 colonies in North America where they sent their prisoners before. They set up the new colony in modern New South Wales (where Sydney is).
Establishment of other colonies
In the early 1800s the British set up more colonies across Australia including Van Diemen’s Land (modern Tasmania). They settled this colony in 1803 to pre-empt French claims. Van Diemen’s Land then became a separate colony in 1825. Then Britain set up a new colony in Moreton Bay (modern Queensland) in 1824 for re-offending convicts.
IMPACTS ON INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
DISEASE
The British introduced diseases like smallpox, measles, and influenza destroying the Indigenous population.
The indigenous Australians had no immunity to these illnesses causing the diseases to spread faster than they would with the Europeans. Some estimates suggest up to a 90% decline in indigenous peoples in certain regions due to these diseases causing death.
The most devastating of these diseases was smallpox. It is estimated that 50-70% of the Eora people (the Eora people were the aboriginal people of the Sydney basin) died after an outbreak started only 15 months after the First Fleet’s arrival!
These diseases still have lasting consequences on the Indigenous Australians, as they experience a burden of disease over 2 times higher than non-Indigenous Australians.
MASSACRES
Hundreds of massacres occurred due to the British killing thousands of native Australians. Many of the British conducting these massacres faced no legal consequences as many were government troops or police officers.
WHY AUSTRALIA?
Britain colonised Australia following the American revolution because they wanted to set up a penal colony as they could no longer send convicts to North America. Britain was also in a global race against France competing for influence across the globe so Australia being situated in the southern hemisphere made it look extremely valuable strategically. The final reason that the British colonised Australia was to the secure resources Australia possessed. Based on earlier reports from James Cook Britain hoped the region could have vital naval supplies like flax and pine timber.
HOW DID THE ‘BARNES’ FAMILY COME TO AUSTRALIA
(interview with my dad)
In 1837 Samuel and Harriet Barnes sailed with their young son Hiram to Australia on the boat ‘Duchess of Northumberland’. They sailed to Australia after being promised a better life, which at the time was a lie and then they lived their lives out peacefully in Sydney. They had 7 more kids in Sydney all of them being girls! (This is my grandma’s side)
My grandpa came to Australia when his grandparents who were German-Jewish left Germany just before World War 2 to escape Germany and find a better life in Australia.
How did my grandparents meet?
My grandparents met after my grandma had just graduated as a pharmacist and my grandfather had gotten a job offer as a lawyer in Townsville where they met and eventually fell in love.
Why my dad came to Ireland
My dad came to Ireland on the 24th of November 2001. He got a job offer in three places, these places were Ireland, Singapore and Abu Dhabi (UAE) he could’ve gone to Abu Dhabi as the pay was better(less tax) but it was more risky or he could’ve gone to Singapore as he had a relative working there already, but he chose Ireland as lots of huge businesses were just being set up in Ireland.
Why did he stay in Ireland
The reason my dad stayed in Ireland was because he enjoyed his work and also loved how close it was to many countries. He loved the many different languages, foods and cultures and eventually he found my mum (who is Irish) and they decided to stay and live in Ireland!
REFLECTION
I really enjoyed making this CBA. It was quite confusing at the start when I was figuring out what everything does on the website but eventually I got the hang of it. I found researching was not too hard because I found it interesting to read about. For some parts I found it difficult to decide which bits of information to include in this project.
A challenge I faced while being a historian was definitely choosing what subtitles to put on my website as there was so many topics to choose from but I sadly couldn’t do them all. I also had the opportunity to play around with this website and learn how to use it which I really enjoyed.
SOURCES
Thank you for taking the time to read my CBA. I really hope you enjoyed it and learnt something new!