Capitol Cities of Australia
A brief History of Australian Capitol Cities
City of Sydney
Site of the Famous Sydney Harbour and Sydney Harbour Bridge
By the end of the nineteenth century Sydney was one of the largest cities in the Western world, with a population of half a million people. It has not maintained that position in the twentieth century, but Sydneysiders have long known that it is quality, not quantity that counted. The fact that the quality of this harbour city is largely due to the generosity of nature does not stop its inhabitants claiming all this as their due. Ever since the first governor recorded his responses to "the finest harbour in the world", artists and writers have never stopped trying to capture the essence of the city with paint brush, camera and pen. These records contribute to the rich history of the city.
Source-City of Sydney
Australian Anthem
Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free
We've golden soil and wealth for toil, our home is girt by sea
Our land abounds in nature's gifts, of beauty rich and rare
In history's page let every stage, Advance Australia Fair
In joyful strains then let us sing, Advance Australia Fair.
Beneath our radiant Southern Cross, we'll toil with hearts and hands
To make this Commonwealth of ours renowned of all the lands
For those who've come across the sea, we've boundless plains to share
With courage let us all combine, To Advance Australia Fair
In joyful strains then let us sing. Advance... Australia... Fair.....
City of Melbourne
Settlement – foundation and surveying
People of the Kulin nation have lived in the area for at least 40,000 years and possibly longer.
Foundation of the Settlement
Melbourne was founded in 1835, during the reign of King William IV, with the arrival of the schooner 'Enterprize' near the present site of Queen’s Wharf.
Unlike other Australian capital cities, Melbourne did not originate under official auspices. It owes its birth to the enterprise and foresight of settlers from Tasmania, where the land available for pastoral purposes was becoming overstocked. These settlers formed the Port Phillip Association for the purpose of the pastoral exploration of Port Phillip. On 10 May, 1835, John Batman set sail in the 30-tonne schooner ‘Rebecca’ on behalf of the Association to explore Port Phillip for land.
Batman and his party, after entering Port Phillip Bay on 29 May, anchored their ship a short distance from the heads and made several excursions through the countryside. On 6 June, at Merri Creek near what is now Northcote, Batman purchased 600 000 acres of land from eight aboriginal chiefs. This area of land included the sites of both Melbourne and Geelong.
The Government later cancelled this purchase and, as a result, had to compensate the Port Phillip Association..........
Source-http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/
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City of Brisbane
The Jagera and Turrbal Aboriginal clans had lived around the Brisbane river for a considerable time period before European settlers arrived, but the exact length is hard to pin down. Aboriginal occupation of Australia dates back around 40,000 years (according to most scholars at least) and there is no evidence to suggest that the Brisbane river and Moreton Bay region, with it's ample supply of food, would have been left uninhabited once discovered.
Surveyor General John Oxley 'found' the river in 1823 after a tip-off from some ex-convicts who had found their way to the region and had been mixing with the local Aborigines. He named it after the Governor of New South Wales at the time, Thomas Brisbane (in 1823 the state of Queensland didn't exist).
Europeans didn't settle the region until the first convict jail was built in Redclliffe in 1824, but even that was quickly moved to the site of the present-day Brisbane CBD in 1825 after officials realised the natural bend in the river provided a pretty good barrier against escape.
Free settlement didn't begin in the Brisbane region until 1842 because the Government initially wanted the jail kept isolated from the wider community. The usual assortment of entrepreneurs and ex-convicts quickly followed and a town began to grow around the river. By the late 1880's Brisbane was the main centre of commerce and the capital of the colony of Queensland and it was beginning to develop its own distinctive architecture and culture.
The city grew steadily until World War II when it become the main allied headquarters in the South Pacific and an influx of Australian and American servicemen stretched the population to three quarters of a million. Industry flourished and continued to boom post war and Brisbane firmly staked its claim as the third largest city in the country.
The 1982 Commonwealth Games were hosted in Brisbane and the city received a massive infrastructure and sporting facilities boost as a result. In 1988 the world expo was hosted at Southbank (across the river from the CBD), and the event also helped put Brisbane ‘on the map’ so to speak.
Brisbane has always struggled behind Sydney and Melbourne in the cultural stakes, but the city now has a thriving arts scene and is responsible for some of the best live music and bands in the country.
Source-http://www.brisbane-australia.com/
City of Darwin
Darwin was founded in 1869 and was originally called Palmerston before being renamed Port Darwin in 1911. The harbour was discovered in 1839 by the Captain of the Beagle, John Lort Stokes, who named it after a former shipmate, British evolutionist Charles Darwin. The town's growth was accelerated when gold was discovered at Pine Creek, 200 km south, in 1871. Darwin was the scene of the first enemy attack on Australian soil during WW11.
At 0958 hours on 19 February 1942, a strike force of 188 carrier-borne Japanese aircraft dropped the first bombs on Darwin, killing 243 people, including 49 civilians, and wounding 300-400. That first air raid destroyed many public buildings, including the post office where the entire staff perished. Eight allied ships were sunk in Darwin Harbour and 24 allied aircraft were destroyed. A second enemy air raid at noon that day targetted the Darwin RAAF base. Between February 1942 and October 1943, the Japanese launched more than 60 air raids over Darwin.
Darwin was also the scene of the biggest airlift in Australian history after Cyclone Tracy devastated the city in the early hours of Christmas Day 1974. Cyclone Tracy killed 64 people and injured thousands more. Many of those who died or were injured were struck by flying debris. Others perished in ships sunk in the harbour........
Source - http://www.darcity.nt.gov.au/aboutdarwin/history/a_brief_history.htm
City of Perth
The City of Perth is the capital city of Western Australia, the nation’s largest state. Most of Western Australia’s 1.8 million people live in the greater metropolitan area of Perth, of which the City of Perth forms the nucleus.
Captain James Stirling founded the City of Perth as part of the Swan River Colony in 1829. Stirling thought the natural environment around Perth was "as beautiful as anything of this kind I had ever witnessed” and advocated that a colony be established there. The British Government agreed to found the colony as the first free settlement in Australia, and the first settlers arrived in Western Australia in June 1829. On August 12 of that year, the felling of a tree marked the official foundation of the City of Perth.
Having celebrated the 175th anniversary of its foundation, the City of Perth continues its evolution into one of Australia’s most distinctive and welcoming cities.
Source- The City of Perth
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City of Adelaide
Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, was planned in 1836, by surveyor Colonel William Light. The city centre has a grid of wide streets and various squares all within 1 square mile. This centre is surrounded by a green belt of 930 hectares of parkland. The main street, King William Street, runs from north to south through Victoria Square at the heart of the city.
The Torrens River runs through the centre, separating Adelaide and North Adelaide. The city is surrounded by diverse landscapes, including the Mount Lofty Ranges (Adelaide Hills) and coastal beaches.
Source- Australian City Life Sites
Who do we thank for our growing gardens of fruit and vegetables, God or Mother Nature? E. Jason Brennan
City of Hobart
Tasmania is renowned world wide for its pristine wilderness areas, and from the 1960s through to the 80s, Hobart became the organisational headquarters of a wide coalition of community groups determined to prevent the damming of areas of the state considered to be of global heritage and environmental value. The conservation movement organised significant and lengthy protests for the preservation of Lake Pedder and the Franklin and Gordon Rivers. In the 1989 state elections, Tasmania's Green Independents gained 18% of the vote and held the balance of power in parliament.
Source - Lonely Planet
For further information go to the informative sources listed below each city.
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