Hunter River (New South Wales)
The Hunter River is a major river in New South Wales, Australia. The Hunter River rises in the Liverpool Range and flows south and east, reaching the Tasman Sea at Newcastle, the second largest city in New South Wales and a major harbour port, its lower reaches form an trained mature wave dominated barrier estuary. The Hunter River rises on the western slopes of Mount Royal Range, part of the Liverpool Range, within Barrington Tops National Park, east of Murrurundi, flows northwest and southwest before being imponded by Lake Glenbawn; the river is joined by ten tributaries upstream of Lake Glenbawn. The main tributaries are the Pages, Goulburn and the Paterson rivers and the Moonan and Wollombi brooks. East of Hexham, the river splits into two main channels, separated by the Ramsar-protected Kooragang Wetlands that feeds Milham Ponds, Wader Pond, Swan Pond and a series of smaller wetland pondages; the southern arm of the river creates Hexham Island, while the northern creaters Smiths Island and flows in Fullerton Cove.
The two channels converge at Walsh Point, reaching confluence with Throsby Creek adjacent to the Newcastle central business district, before reaching the river mouth. The Hunter River descends 1,397 m over its 468 km course from the high upper reaches, through the Hunter Valley, out to sea; the Hunter River is subject to substantial flooding, which Glenbawn Dam, near Scone, was constructed to ameliorate. Major floods have occurred on the Hunter including the flood of 1955 that caused devastation to townships along the river Maitland. Severe flooding again occurred in June 2007 and again in 2015. Towns along the Hunter River, from upstream to downstream, include Aberdeen, Denman, Jerrys Plains, Maitland and Raymond Terrace. At Hexham, the river is transversed by the Pacific Highway; the Hunter Valley is one of the best routes to the interior of the state with access unimpeded by mountains and other obstacles. It is the largest area of low-lying land near the coast of New South Wales, owing to the shielding by rugged ranges to its north, is much drier than any other coastal region of the state.
Annual rainfall ranges from 1,100 mm at Newcastle to only 640 mm at Merriwa and Scone in the upper reaches. In the driest years rainfall can be as low as 600 mm at 375 mm in the upper valley. Around the Barrington Tops on the northern side of the valley, annual precipitation can be as high as 2,000 mm, not all of which falls as rain since July temperatures are below 0 °C. In the lower areas, summer maxima are around 27 °C and winter maxima around 16 °C. Except for the driest parts of Tasmania and a small area of the Monaro between Cooma and Nimmitabel, the Hunter Valley is the southern limit of rich "black earths"; these are the only soils in all of Australia with reasonable levels of soluble phosphorus, with the result that upstream from Singleton rich pasture land with many thoroughbred horse studs occurs. Around Merriwa and south of Singleton, the soils are infertile sands more typical of Australia as a whole, the dominant land use is extensive grazing. Parts of the Hunter Valley are important for wine producing.
The Hunter Valley is one of Australia's most important coal mining areas. The Hunter River is threatened by drought, climate change and proposed loss of water due to coal mining; the region is favoured by thoroughbred horse breeders and stud farms. The Hunter River was discovered by European explorers in the 1790s. In June 1796 fishermen sheltering from bad weather discovered coal there, the river was called Coal River. In 1797 it was formally named the Hunter, after Captain John Hunter, Governor of the British colony in New South Wales at that time. Between 1826 and 1836 convicts built the 264 km long Great North Road that links Sydney to the Hunter Region. Dundee, a shipwreck off the mouth of the Hunter River, 1808 Environment of Australia Floods in Australia Hunter Valley cannabis infestation List of rivers in New South Wales List of rivers of Australia Newcastle Port Corporation Rivers of New South Wales "Hunter River catchment". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales.
"Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment". Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority. Government of New South Wales. 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2013. "Hunter River Explorer". Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority. Retrieved 18 October 2013
John Schank
Admiral John Schank was an officer of the British Royal Navy known for his skill in ship construction and mechanical design. He was the son of Alexander Schank of Castlerig, Scotland, he entered the Royal Navy. His remarkable skills at mechanical design earned him the nickname "Old Purchase" following his design and construction of a cot fitted with pulleys that allowed it to be adjusted by the person lying in it; as a lieutenant in 1776, he was placed in charge of assembling ships to battle the American Revolutionaries on Lake Champlain. In less than six weeks, he constructed HMS Inflexible, which he commanded as part of a fleet that defeated General Benedict Arnold's fleet in October 1776, his talents as an engineer were applied in General John Burgoyne's expedition to the building of floating bridges. After being made a captain in 1783, he brought before the Admiralty his design for ships with a sliding keel which allowed navigation of shallow waters, his design was tested and incorporated by the Admiralty into several larger vessels, most notably HMS Lady Nelson, which explored parts of Australia.
HMS Cynthia, a 16-gun ship sloop launched in 1796, had three sliding keels. He designed a system for moving cannons from one side of a vessel to the other, permitting her to carry fewer cannon; the system was not adopted more widely. One problem was, he attained the rank of admiral of the blue in 1821. He married sister of The Rt.. Hon. Sir William Grant, Master of the Rolls; the Schanks lived at Barton House, afterwards left to his brother-in-law, Major John Grant. He died at Barton House, 1823. Mount Schank and Cape Schanck, Australia were named for the Admiral in December 1800 by Lieutenant James Grant during his exploratory mission of the region while commanding the Lady Nelson. Schank appears in Patrick O'Brian's book The Letter of Marque. Schank appears in Richard Woodman's book A King's Cutter. Schank's Bay on Carleton Island now referred to as North Bay. Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online Wilson, J. G.. "Schank, John". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton
Union Jack
The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the national flag of the United Kingdom. The flag has official status in Canada, by parliamentary resolution, where it is known as the Royal Union Flag. Additionally, it is used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas territories; the Union Flag appears in the canton of the flags of several nations and territories that are former British possessions or dominions, as well as the state flag of Hawaii. The claim that the term Union Jack properly refers only to naval usage has been disputed, following historical investigations by the Flag Institute in 2013; the origins of the earlier flag of Great Britain date back to 1606. James VI of Scotland had inherited the English and Irish thrones in 1603 as James I, thereby uniting the crowns of England and Ireland in a personal union, although the three kingdoms remained separate states. On 12 April 1606, a new flag to represent this regal union between England and Scotland was specified in a royal decree, according to which the flag of England, the flag of Scotland, would be joined together, forming the flag of England and Scotland for maritime purposes.
King James began to refer to a "Kingdom of Great Britaine", although the union remained a personal one. The present design of the Union Flag dates from a Royal proclamation following the union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801; the flag combines aspects of three older national flags: the red cross of St George for the Kingdom of England, the white saltire of St Andrew for Scotland, the red saltire of St Patrick to represent Ireland. Notably, the home country of Wales is not represented separately in the Union Flag, as the flag was designed after the invasion of Wales in 1282. Hence Wales as a home country today has no representation on the flag; the terms Union Jack and Union Flag are both used for describing the national flag of the United Kingdom. Whether the term Union Jack applies only when used as a jack flag on a ship is a matter of debate. According to the Parliament of the United Kingdom: "Until the early 17th century England and Scotland were two independent kingdoms; this changed in 1603 on the death of Elizabeth I of England.
Because the Queen died unmarried and childless, the English crown passed to the next available heir, her cousin James VI, King of Scotland. England and Scotland now shared the same monarch under what was known as a union of the crowns." In 1606, James VI gave orders for a British flag to be created which bore the combined crosses of St George and of St Andrew. The result was the Union Jack. According to the Flag Institute, a membership-run vexillological charity, "the national flag of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories is the Union Flag, which may be called the Union Jack." The institute notes: it is stated that the Union Flag should only be described as the Union Jack when flown in the bows of a warship, but this is a recent idea. From early in its life the Admiralty itself referred to the flag as the Union Jack, whatever its use, in 1902 an Admiralty circular announced that Their Lordships had decided that either name could be used officially. In 1908, a government minister stated, in response to a parliamentary question, that "the Union Jack should be regarded as the National flag".
Notwithstanding Their Lordships' circular of 1902, by 1913 the Admiralty described the "Union Flag" and added in a foot note that'A Jack is a Flag to be flown only on the "Jack" Staff'. However, the authoritative A Complete Guide to Heraldry published in 1909 by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies uses the term "Union Jack"; the term "Union Flag" is used in King Charles I's 1634 proclamation:... none of Our Subjects, of any of Our Nations and Kingdoms shall from henceforth presume to carry the Union Flag in the Main top, or other part of any of their Ships St Georges cross and St Andrew's Cross joined together upon pain of Our high displeasure, but that the same Union Flag be still reserved as an ornament proper for Our own Ships and Ships in our immediate Service and Pay, none other." And in King George III's proclamation of 1 January 1801 concerning the arms and flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: And that the Union Flag shall be Azure, the Crosses Saltires of St. Andrew and St. Patrick Quarterly per Saltire, counterchanged Argent and Gules.
When the first flag representing Britain was introduced on the proclamation of King James I in 1606, it became known as the "British flag" or the "flag of Britain". The royal proclamation gave no distinctive name to the new flag; the word "jack" was in use before 1600 to describe the maritime bow flag. By 1627 a small Union Jack was flown in this position. One theory goes that for some years it would have been called just the "Jack", or "Jack flag", or the "King's Jack", but by 1674, while formally referred to as "His Majesty's Jack", it was called the "Union Jack", this was acknowledged. Amongst the proclamations issued by King George III at the time of the Union of 1801 was a proclamation concerning flags at sea, which referred to "Ensigns, Flags and Pendants" and forbade merchant vessels from wearing "Our Jack called the Union Jack" nor any pendants or colours used by the King's ships. Reinforcing the d
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas. It is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area which includes most parts of the local government areas of City of Newcastle, City of Lake Macquarie, City of Cessnock, City of Maitland and Port Stephens Council. Located at the mouth of the Hunter River, it is the predominant city within the Hunter Region. Famous for its coal, Newcastle is the largest coal exporting harbour in the world, exporting 159.9 million tonnes of coal in 2017. Beyond the city, the Hunter Region possesses large coal deposits. Geologically, the area is located in the central-eastern part of the Sydney basin. Newcastle and the lower Hunter Region were traditionally occupied by the Awabakal and Worimi Aboriginal People, who called the area Malubimba. Based on Aboriginal language references documented in maps and geological descriptions, eight landmarks have been dual-named by the NSW Geographic Names Board with their traditional Aboriginal names.
They include Nobbys Head known as Whibayganba. In September 1797 Lieutenant John Shortland became the first European settler to explore the area, his discovery of the area was accidental. While returning, Lt. Shortland entered what he described as "a fine river", which he named after New South Wales' Governor John Hunter, he returned with the area's abundant coal. Over the next two years, coal mined from the area was the New South Wales colony's first export. Newcastle gained a reputation as a "hellhole" as it was a place where the most dangerous convicts were sent to dig in the coal mines as harsh punishment for their crimes. By the start of the 19th century the mouth of the Hunter River was being visited by diverse groups of men, including coal diggers, timber-cutters, more escaped convicts. Philip Gidley King, the Governor of New South Wales from 1800, decided on a more positive approach to exploit the now obvious natural resources of the Hunter Valley. In 1801, a convict camp called King's Town was established to mine cut timber.
In the same year, the first shipment of coal was dispatched to Sydney. This settlement closed less than a year later. A settlement was again attempted as a place of secondary punishment for unruly convicts; the settlement was named Coal River Kingstown and renamed Newcastle, after England's famous coal port. The name first appeared by the commission issued by Governor King on 15 March 1804 to Lieutenant Charles Menzies of the marine detachment on HMS Calcutta at Port Jackson, appointing him superintendent of the new settlement; the new settlement, comprising convicts and a military guard, arrived at the Hunter River on 27 March 1804 in three ships: HMS Lady Nelson, the Resource and the James. The convicts were rebels from the 1804 Castle Hill convict rebellion; the link with Newcastle upon Tyne and whence many of the 19th century coal miners came, is still obvious in some of the place-names – such as Jesmond, Wickham and Gateshead. Morpeth, New South Wales is a similar distance north of Newcastle as Morpeth, Northumberland is north of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Under Captain James Wallis, commandant from 1815 to 1818, the convicts' conditions improved, a building boom began. Captain Wallis laid out the streets of the town, built the first church of the site of the present Christ Church Anglican Cathedral, erected the old gaol on the seashore, began work on the breakwater which now joins Nobbys Head to the mainland; the quality of these first buildings was poor, only breakwater survives. During this period, in 1816, the oldest public school in Australia was built in East Newcastle. Newcastle remained a penal settlement until 1822; as a penal colony, the military rule was harsh at Limeburners' Bay, on the inner side of Stockton peninsula. There, convicts were sent to burn oyster shells for making lime. Military rule in Newcastle ended in 1823. Prisoner numbers were reduced to 100, the remaining 900 were sent to Port Macquarie. After removal of the last convicts in 1823, the town was freed from the infamous influence of the penal law, it began to acquire the aspect of a typical Australian pioneer settlement, a steady flow of free settlers poured into the hinterland.
The formation during the nineteenth century of the Newcastle and Hunter River Steamship Company saw the establishment of regular steamship services from Morpeth and Newcastle with Sydney. The company had a fleet of freighters as well as several fast passenger vessels, including the PS Newcastle and the PS Namoi; the Namoi had first-class cabins with the latest facilities. Because of the coal supply, small ships plied between Newcastle and Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, carrying coal to gas works and bunkers for shipping, railways; these were known as "sixty-milers", referring to the nautical journey between Newcastle and Sydney. These ships continued in service until recent times. During World War II, Newcastle was an important industrial centre for the Australian war effort. In the early hours of 8 June 1942, the Japanese
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the Australian people." In 2012–13, the National Library collection comprised 6,496,772 items, an additional 15,506 metres of manuscript material. It is located in Parkes, Canberra, ACT; the National Library of Australia, while formally established by the passage of the National Library Act 1960, had been functioning as a national library rather than a Parliamentary Library since its inception. In 1901, a Commonwealth Parliamentary Library was established to serve the newly formed Federal Parliament of Australia. From its inception the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library was driven to development of a national collection. In 1907 the Joint Parliamentary Library Committee under the Chairmanship of the Speaker, Sir Frederick William Holder defined the objective of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library in the following words: The Library Committee is keeping before it the ideal of building up, for the time when Parliament shall be established in the Federal Capital, a great Public Library on the lines of the world-famed Library of Congress at Washington.
The present library building was opened on 15 August 1968 by Prime Minister John Gorton. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Bunning and Madden in the Late Twentieth Century Stripped Classical style; the foyer is decorated in marble, with stained-glass windows by Leonard French and three tapestries by Mathieu Matégot. The building was listed on the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004. In 2012–13 the Library collection comprised 6,496,772 items, with an estimated additional 2,325,900 items held in the manuscripts collection; the Library's collections of Australiana have developed into the nation's single most important resource of materials recording the Australian cultural heritage. Australian writers and illustrators are sought and well represented—whether published in Australia or overseas; the Library's collection includes all formats of material, from books, journals and manuscripts to pictures, maps, oral history recordings, manuscript papers and ephemera.
92.1% of the Library's collection has been catalogued and is discoverable through the online catalogue. The Library has digitized over 174,000 items from its collection and, where possible, delivers these directly across the Internet; the Library is a world leader in digital preservation techniques, maintains an Internet-accessible archive of selected Australian websites called the Pandora Archive. The Library collects material produced by Australians, for Australians or about the Australian experience in all formats—not just printed works—books, newspapers, posters and printed ephemera—but online publications and unpublished material such as manuscripts and oral histories. A core Australiana collection is that of John A. Ferguson; the Library has particular collection strengths in the performing arts, including dance. The Library's considerable collections of general overseas and rare book materials, as well as world-class Asian and Pacific collections which augment the Australiana collections.
The print collections are further supported by extensive microform holdings. The Library maintains the National Reserve Braille Collection; the Library houses the largest and most developing research resource on Asia in Australia, the largest Asian language collections in the Southern hemisphere, with over half a million volumes in the collection, as well as extensive online and electronic resources. The Library collects resources about all Asian countries in Western languages extensively, resources in the following Asian languages: Burmese, Persian, Japanese, Korean, Manchu, Thai and Vietnamese; the Library has acquired a number of important Western and Asian language scholarly collections from researchers and bibliophiles. These collections include: Australian Buddhist Library Collection Braga Collection Claasz Collection Coedes Collection London Missionary Society Collection Luce Collection McLaren-Human Collection Otley Beyer Collection Sakakibara Collection Sang Ye Collection Simon Collection Harold S. Williams Collection The Asian Collections are searchable via the National Library's catalogue.
The National Library holds an extensive collection of manuscripts. The manuscript collection contains about 26 million separate items, covering in excess of 10,492 meters of shelf space; the collection relates predominantly to Australia, but there are important holdings relating to Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and the Pacific. The collection holds a number of European and Asian manuscript collections or single items have been received as part of formed book collections; the Australian manuscript collections date from the period of maritime exploration and settlement in the 18th century until the present, with the greatest area of strength dating from the 1890s onwards. The collection includes a large number of outstanding single items, such as the 14th century Chertsey Cartulary, the journal of James Cook on the HM Bark Endeavour, inscribed on t
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death in 1820. He was concurrently Duke and prince-elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire before becoming King of Hanover on 12 October 1814, he was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover, but unlike his two predecessors, he was born in Great Britain, spoke English as his first language, never visited Hanover. His life and with it his reign, which were longer than those of any of his predecessors, were marked by a series of military conflicts involving his kingdoms, much of the rest of Europe, places farther afield in Africa, the Americas and Asia. Early in his reign, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War, becoming the dominant European power in North America and India. However, many of Britain's American colonies were soon lost in the American War of Independence.
Further wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France from 1793 concluded in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. In the part of his life, George III had recurrent, permanent, mental illness. Although it has since been suggested that he had bipolar disorder or the blood disease porphyria, the cause of his illness remains unknown. After a final relapse in 1810, a regency was established. George III's eldest son, Prince of Wales, ruled as Prince Regent until his father's death, when he succeeded as George IV. Historical analysis of George III's life has gone through a "kaleidoscope of changing views" that have depended on the prejudices of his biographers and the sources available to them; until it was reassessed in the second half of the 20th century, his reputation in the United States was one of a tyrant. George was born in London at Norfolk House in St James's Square, he was the grandson of King George II, the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.
As he was born two months prematurely and thought unlikely to survive, he was baptised the same day by Thomas Secker, both Rector of St James's and Bishop of Oxford. One month he was publicly baptised at Norfolk House, again by Secker, his godparents were the King of Sweden, his uncle the Duke of Saxe-Gotha and his great-aunt the Queen of Prussia. Prince George grew into a healthy but shy child; the family moved to Leicester Square, where George and his younger brother Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany, were educated together by private tutors. Family letters show that he could read and write in both English and German, as well as comment on political events of the time, by the age of eight, he was the first British monarch to study science systematically. Apart from chemistry and physics, his lessons included astronomy, French, history, geography, commerce and constitutional law, along with sporting and social accomplishments such as dancing and riding, his religious education was wholly Anglican.
At age 10, George took part in a family production of Joseph Addison's play Cato and said in the new prologue: "What, tho' a boy! It may with truth be said, A boy in England born, in England bred." Historian Romney Sedgwick argued that these lines appear "to be the source of the only historical phrase with which he is associated". George's grandfather, King George II, disliked the Prince of Wales, took little interest in his grandchildren. However, in 1751 the Prince of Wales died unexpectedly from a lung injury at the age of 44, George became heir apparent to the throne, he inherited his father's title of Duke of Edinburgh. Now more interested in his grandson, three weeks the King created George Prince of Wales. In the spring of 1756, as George approached his eighteenth birthday, the King offered him a grand establishment at St James's Palace, but George refused the offer, guided by his mother and her confidant, Lord Bute, who would serve as Prime Minister. George's mother, now the Dowager Princess of Wales, preferred to keep George at home where she could imbue him with her strict moral values.
In 1759, George was smitten with Lady Sarah Lennox, sister of the Duke of Richmond, but Lord Bute advised against the match and George abandoned his thoughts of marriage. "I am born for the happiness or misery of a great nation," he wrote, "and must act contrary to my passions." Attempts by the King to marry George to Princess Sophie Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel were resisted by him and his mother. The following year, at the age of 22, George succeeded to the throne when his grandfather, George II, died on 25 October 1760, two weeks before his 77th birthday; the search for a suitable wife intensified. On 8 September 1761 in the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, the King married Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, whom he met on their wedding day. A fortnight on 22 September both were crowned at Westminster Abbey. George remarkably never took a mistress, the couple enjoyed a genuinely happy marriage until his mental illness struck, they had 15 children -- six daughters. In 1762, George purchased Buckingham House for use as a family retreat.
His other residences were Windsor Castle. St James's Palace was retained for
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, South Australia to the west, its coast borders the Tasman Sea to the east. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state. New South Wales' state capital is Sydney, Australia's most populous city. In September 2018, the population of New South Wales was over 8 million, making it Australia's most populous state. Just under two-thirds of the state's population, 5.1 million, live in the Greater Sydney area. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen; the Colony of New South Wales was founded as a penal colony in 1788. It comprised more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825; the colony included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemen's Land, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the colony's area was detached to form separate British colonies that became New Zealand and the various states and territories of Australia.
However, the Swan River Colony has never been administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island has become a federal territory, as have the areas now known as the Australian Capital Territory and the Jervis Bay Territory; the prior inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. Before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region; the Wodi Wodi people are the original custodians of the Illawarra region of South Sydney. Speaking a variant of the Dharawal language, the Wodi Wodi people lived across a large stretch of land, surrounded by what is now known as Campbelltown, Shoalhaven River and Moss Vale; the Bundjalung people are the original custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook during his 1770 survey along the unmapped eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland, now Australia.
In his original journal covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land "New Wales", named after Wales. However, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he "revised the wording" to "New South Wales"; the first British settlement was made by. After years of chaos and anarchy after the overthrow of Governor William Bligh, a new governor, Lieutenant-Colonel Lachlan Macquarie, was sent from Britain to reform the settlement in 1809. During his time as governor, Macquarie commissioned the construction of roads, wharves and public buildings, sent explorers out from Sydney and employed a planner to design the street layout of Sydney. Macquarie's legacy is still evident today. During the 19th century, large areas were successively separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland. Responsible government was granted to the New South Wales colony in 1855. Following the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in 1840.
In 1841 it was separated from the Colony of New South Wales to form the new Colony of New Zealand. Charles Darwin visited Australia in January 1836 and in The Voyage of the Beagle records his hesitations about and fascination with New South Wales, including his speculations about the geological origin and formation of the great valleys, the aboriginal population, the situation of the convicts, the future prospects of the country. At the end of the 19th century, the movement toward federation between the Australian colonies gathered momentum. Conventions and forums involving colony leaders were held on a regular basis. Proponents of New South Wales as a free trade state were in dispute with the other leading colony Victoria, which had a protectionist economy. At this time customs posts were common on borders on the Murray River. Travelling from New South Wales to Victoria in those days was difficult. Supporters of federation included the New South Wales premier Sir Henry Parkes whose 1889 Tenterfield Speech was pivotal in gathering support for New South Wales involvement.
Edmund Barton to become Australia's first Prime Minister, was another strong advocate for federation and a meeting held in Corowa in 1893 drafted an initial constitution. In 1898 popular referenda on the proposed federation were held in New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania. All votes resulted in a majority in favour, but the New South Wales government under Premier George Reid had set a requirement for a higher "yes" vote than just a simple majority, not met. In 1899 further referenda were held in the same states as well as Queensland. All resulted in yes votes with majorities increased from the previous year. New South Wales met the conditions; as a compromise to the question on where the capital was to be located, an agreement was made that the site was to be within New South Wales but not closer than 100 miles from Sydney, while the provisional capital would be Melbourne. The area that now forms the Australian Capital Territory was ceded by New South Wales when Canberra was selected.
In the years after World War I, the high prices enjoyed durin
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