History of Sydney
Encyclopedia
The History of Sydney begins in prehistoric times with the occupation of the district by Australian Aborigines
, whose ancestors came to Australia between 45,000 and 50,000 years ago. The modern history of the city began with the arrival of a First Fleet
of British ships in 1788 and the foundation of a penal colony by Great Britain.
Sydney established an elected city council in 1840 and was from 1788-1900 the capital of the British colony of New South Wales
. In 1901, Sydney became a state
capital, when New South Wales
voted to join the Australian Federation. Sydney today is Australia's largest city and a major international capital of culture and finance. The city has played host to many international events, including the 2000 Summer Olympics
.
The first people to occupy the area now known as Sydney were Australian Aborigines
. Their presence in Australia began around 40,000-60,000 years ago with the arrival in Northern Australia of the first of their ancestors by boat from what is now Indonesia
. Their descendants moved south and, though their population was never large, they occupied all areas of Australia, including Sydney.
The area surrounding Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour)
was home to several Aboriginal
tribes. The "Eora
people" are the coastal Aborigines of the Sydney district. The name Eora simply means "here" or "from this place", and was used by Local Aboriginal people to describe to the British where they came from. The Cadigal
band are the traditional owners of the Sydney CBD area, and their territory south of Port Jackson stretches from South Head to Petersham. Consequently, they were first to suffer the effects of dispossession when the British arrived, though the descendants of Eora still have a strong presence in the Sydney area today. Other than the Eora, people of the Dharug, Kuringgai
and Dharawal language groups occupied the lands in and around Sydney. Their occupation pre-dates the arrival of the First Fleet
of British by some thousands of years. Examples of Aboriginal stone tools and Aboriginal art (often recording the stories of the Dreamtime
religion) can be found throughout New South Wales: even within the metropolis of modern Sydney, as in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
.
Sydney is thought to have the finest collection of rock carvings in the world because it is made up predominantly of sandstone, which is a suitable surface for rock carvings. In the late 19th century, excavations for a canal in Alexandria (south-east of the city) uncovered evidence of Aboriginal settlement in that area estimated to date back at least 7000 years; more recent evidence discovered in caves near Glenbrook
in the lower Blue Mountains, west of the city, indicates Aboriginal occupation of that region dating back at least 20,000 years.
, in command of the HMS Endeavour
, sailed along the east coast of Australia
, becoming the first known Europeans to do so. On 19 April 1770, the crew of the Endeavour sighted the east coast of Australia and ten days later landed at a bay in what is now southern Sydney. The ship's naturalist, Sir Joseph Banks
, was so impressed by the volume of flora and fauna hitherto unknown to European science, that Cook named the inlet Botany Bay
. Cook charted the East coast to its northern extent and, on 22 August, at Possession Island in the Torres Strait
, took possession of the coast in the name of King George III of Britain. Cook and Banks, then reported favourably to London on the possibilities of establishing a British colony at Botany Bay.
The British colony of New South Wales was subsequently established with the arrival of the First Fleet
of 11 vessels under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip
in January 1788. It consisted of over a thousand settlers, including 778 convicts (192 women and 586 men). A few days after arrival at Botany Bay
the fleet moved to the more suitable Port Jackson
where a settlement was established at Sydney Cove
on 26 January 1788. This date later became Australia's national day, Australia Day
. The colony was formally proclaimed by Governor Phillip on 7 February 1788 at Sydney.
Sydney Cove offered a fresh water supply and a safe harbour, which Philip described as:
Phillip originally named the colony "New Albion", but for some uncertain reason the colony acquired the name "Sydney", after the (then) British Home Secretary
, Thomas Townshend, Lord Sydney
(Baron Sydney, Viscount Sydney
from 1789). This is possibly because Lord Sydney issued the charter authorising Phillip to establish a colony. Phillip visited the Manly Cove area
, between 21 and 23 January 1788 and was so impressed by the confident and manly behaviour of the local Aboriginal people of the Cannalgal and Kayimai clans who waded out to meet his boat in North Harbour, that he gave the cove the name Manly Cove.
Governor Phillip was vested with complete authority over the inhabitants of the colony. Enlightened for his Age, Phillip's personal intent was to establish harmonious relations with local Aboriginal people and try to reform as well as discipline the convicts of the colony. Phillip and several of his officers - most notably Watkin Tench
- left behind journals and accounts of which tell of immense hardships during the first years of settlement. Often Phillip's officers despaired for the future of Sydney. Early efforts at agriculture were fraught and supplies from overseas were few and far between. Between 1788 and 1792 about 3546 male and 766 female convicts were landed at Sydney - many "professional criminals" with few of the skills required for the establishment of a colony. Many new arrivals were also sick or unfit for work and the conditions of healthy convicts only deteriorated with hard labour and poor sustenance in the settlement. The food situation reached crisis point in 1790 and the Second Fleet which finally arrived in June 1790 had lost a quarter of its 'passengers' through sickness, while the condition of the convicts of the Third Fleet appalled Phillip. from 1791 however, the more regular arrival of ships and the beginnings of trade lessened the feeling of isolation and improved supplies.
Phillip sent exploratory missions in search of better soils and fixed on the Parramatta region as a promising area for expansion and moved many of the convicts from late 1788 to establish a small township, which became the main centre of the colony's economic life, leaving Sydney Cove only as an important port and focus of social life. Poor equipment and unfamiliar soils and climate continued to hamper the expansion of farming from Farm Cove to Parramatta and Toongabbie, but a building programme, assisted by convict labour, advanced steadily.
European settlement had a disastrous impact on the local Aboriginal people. In the early days of the colony this was mainly due to depletion of local food stocks and the advent of introduced diseases such as measles
, chicken pox, venereal disease and smallpox
, to which the Aboriginal population had no genetic immunity. Contrary to later trends, Governor Phillip in fact enforced strict rules of behaviour for interaction between settlers and native people, and his policy was remarkably enlightened by the standards of the time. However in April 1789, twelve months after the departure from Botany Bay by the French expedition led by La Perouse
, a catastrophic epidemic of smallpox (or possibly chicken pox) spread through the Eora people and surrounding groups, with the result that local Aborigines died in their hundreds, and bodies could be seen in the water in Sydney Harbour and lying on beaches and in adjacent caves.
Author and First Fleet officer Watkin Tench
, whose accounts are primary sources about the early years of the colony, never suggested that the epidemic may have been caused by Aborigines disturbing the grave of a French sailor who died shortly after arrival in Australia (supposedly of smallpox) and had been buried at Botany Bay. However, in his memoir "A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson in New South Wales" Tench wrote that he had never heard of the existence of smallpox among the French sailors [ch 4, footnote]. In addition, the very strict Aboriginal customs concerning graves and dead bodies make this unlikely in the extreme. Another intriguing possibility mentioned by Tench was that as the colony's physicians had brought bottles of smallpox-infected material with them from England, that this may have been the cause. Tench rejected this as "unworthy of consideration". Extra smallpox virus was requested in 1792 by Governor King at Norfolk Island [Aboriginal History Volume 31, (2007), pg 160] in case of needing to inoculate colonists, particularly children. So far, no evidence has emerged of any Eighteenth Century inoculation near Sydney and it is unlikely smallpox spread into the Aboriginal population by this vector. However the fact that there was no smallpox in the settlement, and that the settlement had been totally isolated from the rest of the world for two years, makes it likely that the outbreak came from First Fleet sources, possibly Tench's "bottles".
Whatever the actual cause, the results were catastrophic for the Eora people and their kin and by the early 19th century the Aboriginal population of the Sydney basin had been reduced to only 10 percent of the 1788 estimate.
Between 1788-92, convicts and their gaolers made up the majority of the population - but after this, a population of emancipated convicts began to grow who could be granted land and thes people pioneered Sydney's non-government private sector economy and were later joined by soldiers whose military service had expired - and finally, free settlers who began arriving from Britain. Governor Phillip departed the colony for England on 11 December 1792, with the new settlement having survived near starvation and immense isolation for four years.
Early Sydney was molded by the hardship suffered by early settlers. In the early years, droughts and disease caused widespread problems, but the situation soon improved. The military colonial government was reliant on the army, the New South Wales Corps
(also known as the Rum Corps due to their monopoly on the importation of alcohol).
Conditions for convicts in the penal colony were harsh. In 1804, Irish convicts led the Castle Hill Rebellion. Conflicts arose between the governors
and the officers of the Rum Corps, many of which were land owners such as John Macarthur
. In 1808 these conflicts came to open rebellion, with the Rum Rebellion
, in which the Rum Corps ousted Governor William Bligh
(known from the mutiny on the Bounty
). The New South Wales Corps
was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment to relieve the marines who had accompanied the First Fleet
. Officers of the Corps soon became involved in the corrupt and lucrative rum trade in the colony. In the Rum Rebellion
of 1808, the Corps, working closely with the newly established wool trader John Macarthur
, staged the only successful armed takeover of government in Australian history, deposing Governor
William Bligh
and instigating a brief period of military rule in the colony prior to the arrival from Britain of Governor Lachlan Macquarie
in 1810.
Macquarie served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social and economic development of Sydney which saw it transition from a penal colony
to a budding free society. He established public works, a bank
, churches, and charitable institutions and sought good relations with the Aborigines. In 1813 he sent Blaxland
, Wentworth
and Lawson across the Blue Mountains, where they found the great plains of the interior. Central, however to Macquarie's policy was his treatment of the emancipist
s, whom he decreed should be treated as social equals to free-settlers in the colony. Against opposition, he appointed emancipists to key government positions including Francis Greenway
as colonial architect and William Redfern
as a magistrate. London judged his public works to be too expensive and society was scandalised by his treatment of emancipists.
Governor and Mrs Macquarie preferred the clean air of rural Parramatta to the unsanitary and crime ridden streets of Sydney Town and transformed Old Government House, Parramatta
into an elegant Palladian style home in the English manner. Originally constructed under Governor John Hunter in 1799 to reflect the economic importance of the Parramatta district, the building remains today Australia's oldest public building and was given World Heritage Listing by UNESCO
in 2010.
(150 km west of Sydney) in 1851. Large numbers of immigrant miners poured into Sydney and the population grew from 39,000 to 200,000 20 years later. Demand for infrastructure to support the growing population and subsequent economic activity led to massive improvements to the city's railway and port systems throughout the 1850s and 1860s.
After a period of rapid growth, further discoveries of Gold in Victoria
began drawing new residents away from Sydney towards Melbourne and a great rivalry began to grow between the two cities. The rivalry culminated as Australia moved to become a federation and both Melbourne and Sydney lobbied to be officially recognised as the capital city (a dispute settled with the creation of a new city, Canberra
, instead).
Traditional Aboriginal society had been governed by councils of elders and a corporate decision making process, but the first government established in Sydney after 1788 was an autocratic system run by an appointed governor
- although English law was transplanted into the Australian colonies by virtue of the doctrine of reception
, thus notions of the rights and processes established by the Magna Carta
of 1215 and the Bill of Rights
of 1689 were brought from Britain by the colonists. Agitation for representative government began soon after the settlement of the colonies.
The oldest legislative body in Australia, the New South Wales Legislative Council
, was created in Sydney 1825 as an appointed body to advise the Governor of New South Wales. The northern wing of Macquarie Street's Rum Hospital
was requisitioned and converted to accommodate the first Parliament House in 1829, as it was the largest building available in Sydney at the time.
William Wentworth
established the Australian Patriotic Association (Australia's first political party) in 1835 to demand democratic government for New South Wales. The reformist attorney general, John Plunkett
, sought to apply Enlightenment
principles to governance in the colony, pursuing the establishment of equality before the law, by extending jury rights to emancipist
s, then legal protections to convicts, assigned servants and Aborigines
and legal equality between Anglicans
, Catholics, Presbyterians and later Methodists.
In 1838, the celebrated humanitarian Caroline Chisolm arrived at Sydney and soon after began her work to alleviate the conditions for the poor women migrants. She met every immigrant ship at the docks, found positions for immigrant girls and established a Female Immigrants' Home. Later she began campaigning for legal reform to alleviate poverty and assist female immigration and family support in the colonies.
In 1840, the Sydney City Council was established. Men who possessed 1000 pounds worth of property were able to stand for election and wealthy landowners were permitted up to four votes each in elections. Australia's first parliamentary elections were conducted for the New South Wales Legislative Council
in 1843, again with voting rights (for males only) tied to property ownership or financial capacity. The passing of the Sydney Incorporation Act [1842] officially recognised the colonial settlement as a township and imposed a managerial structure to its administration. The first elected aldermen met in public houses, among their constituents, but began campaigning for a civic hall. They chose the run down site of Sydney's first official European cemetery: on George Street, in the commercial heart of the city and organised for Sydney’s first royal visitor, HRH Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, to lay a foundation stone on 4 April 1868, even before colonial authorities on Macquarie Street had approved the plan. That same year, a design for the Sydney Town Hall
by architect J H Willson was chosen which took its inspiration from the French style of the Hotel de Ville de Paris. To this day, the Hall remains the civic office of the Lord Mayor of Sydney and aldermen of the City Council.
The end of convict transportation and the rapid growth of population following the Australian gold rushes
led to further demands for "British institutions" in New South Wales, which meant an elected parliament and responsible government
. In 1851 the franchise for the Legislative Council was expanded and 1857 saw the granting of the right to vote to all male British subjects 21 years or over in New South Wales and from the 1860s onwards government in New South Wales became increasingly stable and assured.
Over the course of the 19th century Sydney established many of its major cultural institutions. Governor Lachlan Macquarie
's vision for Sydney included the construction of grand public buildings and institutions fit for a colonial capital. Macquarie Street began to take shape as a ceremonial thoroughfare of grand buildings. He founded the Royal Botanic Gardens
and dedicated Hyde Park
to the "recreation and amusement of the inhabitants of the town and a field of exercises for the troops".
Macquarie set aside a large portion of land for an Anglican Cathedral and laid the foundation stone for the first St Mary's Catholic Cathedral
in 1821. St Andrew's Anglican Cathedral
, though more modest in size than Macquarie's original vision, later began construction and, after fire and setbacks, the present St Mary's Catholic Cathedral foundation stone was laid in 1868, from which rose a towering gothic-revival landmark.
The first Sydney Royal Easter Show
, an agricultural exhibition, began in 1823. Alexander Macleay
started collecting the exhibits of Australia's oldest museum - Sydney's Australian Museum
- in 1826 and the current building opened to the public in 1857. The University of Sydney
commenced in 1850. The Royal National Park
, south of the city opened in 1879 (second only to Yellowstone National Park
in the USA).
An academy of art formed in 1870 and the present Art Gallery of New South Wales
building began construction in 1896. Inspired by the works of French impressionism
, artists camps formed
around the foreshores of Sydney Harbour in the 1880s and 1890s at idylique locations such as Balmoral Beach and Curlew Camp in Sirius Cove. Artists such as Arthur Streeton
and Tom Roberts
of the Heidelberg School
worked here at this time and created some of the masterpieces of newly developing and distinctively Australian styles of painting.
Australia's first rugby union
club, the Sydney University Football Club
, was founded in Sydney in the year 1863. The New South Wales Rugby Union
(or then, The Southern RU – SRU) was established in 1874, and the tradition of an annual club competition
began in Sydney that year. Initially widely popular, the code would later assume secondary popularity in Sydney, when in 1907, the New South Wales Rugby League
was established and would grow to be the favourite football code of the city. In 1878 the inaugural first class cricket match at the Sydney Cricket Ground
was played between New South Wales and Victoria. The Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (A.A.G.P.S) was established in Sydney 1892 and interschool rugby and athletics competitions began that year, followed by cricket and rowing the following year.
The Sydney International Exhibition of 1879 showcased the colonial capital to the world. Some exhibits from this event were kept to constitute the original collection of the new Technological, Industrial and Sanitary Museum of New South Wales (today's Powerhouse Museum
).
Many grand public buildings were built during the 19th century. The Romanesque
landmark Queen Victoria Building
(or QVB), designed by George McRae
, was completed in 1898 on the site of the old Sydney markets. Built as a monument to the popular and long reigning monarch, Queen Victoria, construction took place while the city was in severe recession and construction of the ornate structure helped employ out of work stonemasons, plasterers, and stained window artists. Restored in the late 20th century, the building remains a boutique shopping and dining hall.
Sydney's first newspaper was the Sydney Gazette
established, edited and distributed by George Howe
. It appeared irregularly between 1803 and 1842, but nonetheless provides a valuable source on the early development of the colony based at Sydney. The Sydney Morning Herald
joined the Sydney Gazette as a daily publication in 1831; it continues to be published to this day. Two Sydney journalists, J.F. Archibald and John Haynes
, founded The Bulletin
magazine: the first edition appeared on 31 January 1880. It was intended to be a journal of political and business commentary, with some literary content. Initially radical, nationalist, democratic and racist, it gained wide influence and became a celebrated entry-point to publication for Australian writers and cartoonists such as Henry Lawson
, Banjo Paterson
, Miles Franklin
, and the illustrator and novelist Norman Lindsay
.
(after London), and one of the largest in the world. It was extremely intensively worked, with about 1,600 cars in service at any one time at its peak during the 1930s (cf. about 500 trams in Melbourne
today).
Sydney's first tram was horse-drawn, running from the old Sydney Railway station to Circular Quay along Pitt Street
. Built in 1861, the design was compromised by the desire to haul railway freight wagons along the line to supply city businesses, in addition to passenger traffic. This resulted in a track that protruded from the road surface and damaged the wheels of wagons trying to cross it. Hard campaigning by competing omnibus
owners - as well as the fatal accident involving the leading Australian musician Isaac Nathan
in 1864 - led to closure in 1866.
In 1879 a steam tramway was established. The System was a great success and the network expanded rapidly through the city and inner suburbs. There were also two cable tram routes, to Ocean Street (Edgecliff
) and in North Sydney
, later extended to Crows Nest
, because of the steep terrain involved.
Electrification started in 1898, and most of the system was converted by 1910 - the privately owned Parramatta to Redbank Wharf (Duck River) steam tram remained until 1943.
By the 1920s, the system had reached its maximum extent. The overcrowded and heaving trams running at a high frequency, in competition with growing private motor car and bus use, created congestion. Competition from the private car, private bus operators and the perception of traffic congestion led to the gradual closure of lines from the 1940s. Overseas transport experts were called upon to advise the city on its post-war transport issues and recommended closure of the system, but generally went against public opinion. Nevertheless, closure became Labor government policy and the system was wound down in stages, with withdrawal of the last service, to La Perouse
, in 1961.
of New South Wales
. With industrialisation Sydney expanded rapidly, and by the early 20th century it had a population well in excess of one million.
With the close of the Victorian Era
, the character of Sydney began to change in various ways. During the 19th century, Sydney's beaches had become popular seaside holiday resorts, but daylight sea bathing
was considered indecent until the early 20th Century. In defiance of these restrictions, in October 1902, William Gocher
, wearing a neck to knee costume entered the water at Manly Beach only to be escorted from the water by the police - but the following year, Manly Council
removed restrictions on all-day bathing - provided a neck to knee swimming costumes were worn - and Sydney's love affair with sun and surf flourished. Arguably the world's first surf lifesaving club was founded at Bondi Beach, Sydney, in 1906. In the summer of 1915, Duke Kahanamoku
of Hawaii
introduced surf board riding to Sydney's Freshwater Beach
, amazing locals and starting a long term love affair with the sport in Australia.
Australia entered the First World War in 1914 on the side of Great Britain
and 60,000 Australian troops lost their lives. The small Australian nation was deeply affected. After the war, Martin Place, was selected as the site for the Sydney Cenotaph
which honours the dead and remains a focus for ANZAC Day
commemorations in the city to this day. The city's main war memorial, the ANZAC War Memorial
opened in Hyde Park in 1934.
In the cultural life of the city, the first Archibald Prize
was awarded in 1921. Now regarded as the most important
portrait
ure prize in Australia, it originated from a bequest from J. F. Archibald
, the editor of The Bulletin
who died in 1919. Administered by the Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales
it is awarded for "the best portrait, preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in Art, Letters, Science or Politics." Sydney's opulent Capitol Theatre
opened in 1928 and after restoration in the 1990s remains one of the nation's finest auditoriums.
In a Sheffield Shield cricket match at the Sydney Cricket Ground
in 1930, Don Bradman, a young New South Welshman of just 21 years of age wrote his name into the record books at by smashing the previous highest batting score in first-class cricket with 452 runs not out in just 415 minutes. Although Bradman would later transfer to play for South Australia, his world beating performances provided much needed joy to Sydney-siders through the emerging Great Depression
.
The Great Depression
hit Sydney badly. One of the highlights of the Depression Era however, was the completion of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
in 1932. The landmark which links Sydney's northern and southern shores began construction in 1924 and took 1,400 men eight years to build at a cost of £4.2 million and 53,000 tonnes of steel. it carried six traffic lanes, two rail lines and two tram tracks. 16 workers were killed during construction. A toll was established and it cost a horse and rider three pence and a car six pence to cross the bridge. In its first year, the average annual daily traffic was around 11,000 vehicles (by the beginning of the 21st century the figure stood at around 160,000 vehicles per day).
The Labor
Premier of New South Wales
, Jack Lang
, was to open the bridge by cutting a ribbon at its southern end. However, just as Lang was about to cut the ribbon, a man in military uniform rode in on a horse, slashing the ribbon with his sword and opening the Bridge in the name of the people of New South Wales before the official ceremony began. He was promptly arrested. The ribbon was hurriedly retied and Lang performed the official opening ceremony. The univited ribbon cutter was Francis de Groot
, a member of a right-wing paramilitary group called the New Guard
, opposed to Lang's leftist policies and resentful of the fact that a member of the Royal Family had not been asked to open the bridge.
With large unemployment and growing state debt, the premier Jack Lang
became embroiled in disputes with the federal government and foreign creditors and was dismissed by the Governor
in 1932.
The 1938 British Empire Games
were held in Sydney from 5–12 February, timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 years since the foundation of British settlement in Australia).
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Main articles: Australian home front during World War II
, and Military history of Australia during World War II
On 3 September 1939 Prime Minister Robert Menzies
announced the beginning of Australia's involvement in the Second World War on every national and commercial radio station across Australia. Sydney-siders fighting in the Australian Armed Forces
served in campaigns against Nazi Germany
and Fascist Italy
in Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa, as well as against Imperial Japan in south-east Asia and other parts of the Pacific.
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The Japanese entered the war in December 1941. Singapore fell in February and Japan occupied much of South East Asia and the large parts of the Pacific In response, the Australian government expanded the army
and air force and called for an overhaul of economic, domestic, and industrial policies to mount a total war effort. Sydney saw a surge in industrial development to meet the needs of a war economy, and also the elimination of unemployment. Labour shortages forced the government to accept women in more active roles in war work.
After launching their Pacific War
, the Imperial Japanese Navy
managed to infiltrate New South Wales waters
and in late May and early June 1942, Japanese submarines made a daring series of attacks
on the cities of Sydney and Newcastle. On the night of 31 May–1 June 1942, three midget submarines were launched from their large "mother" submarines east of Sydney to enter Sydney Harbour to attack shipping located there: principally the cruisers USS Chicago and HMAS Canberra. The first of the two-men submarines entered the harbour at 8 pm, while the third became entangled in the harbour's anti-submarine boom net. One sub managed to reach Potts Point where, under fire, it fired two torpedoes at the US heavy cruiser Chicago. Missing the target, one torpedo struck the sea wall against which the converted harbour ferry HMAS Kuttabul
was moored. The blast sank the Kuttabul, killing 19 Australian and 2 British naval personnel who were asleep onboard.
In the aftermath of the attack, the Harbour's defences were increased and the Australian population feared Japanese invasion. Amid great controversy, the bodies of the four Japanese submariners responsible for the raid were cremated with full military honors and returned to Japan. Eight days after the first attack, two large "mother" submarines lying off shore fired shells on Sydney and Newcastle. Causing little real damage, the aim of this second attack was to create a sense of unease among the city's population. Some Sydney-siders moved away from the coast while others dug air raid shelters in their backyards and membership of volunteer defence organisations grew to over 80,000.
The main Japanese naval advance towards Australian territory was however halted with the assistance of the United States Navy
, in May 1942, at the Battle of the Coral Sea
and by the end of 1943, the Japanese had abandoned submarine operations in Australian waters.
Following the Second World War, the Australian government launched a largescale multicultural immigration program. Consequently, Sydney experienced population growth and increased cultural diversification throughout the post-war period. New industries such as information technology, education, financial services and the arts have risen.
During the post war period, Sydney enhanced its position as an education capital of the Western Pacific. Five new universities were developed to service the demands of an increasing population and demand for education: University of New South Wales
, University of Technology, Sydney
, University of Western Sydney
and the Australian Catholic University
.
Since the 1970s Sydney has undergone a rapid economic and social transformation. As aviation has replaced shipping, most new migrants to Australia have arrived in Sydney by air rather than in Melbourne by ship, and Sydney now gets the lion's share of new arrivals from every continent of the globe. As a result the city has become a cosmopolitan melting pot.
A new skyline of concrete and steel skyscrapers swept away much of the old lowrise and often sandstone skyline of early Sydney: Australia Square Tower, constructed in 1967 and designed by modernist architect Harry Seidler
became a city landmark, surpassed in 1981 by Sydney Tower
("Centrepoint") as the tallest building in Sydney at 305m. By the late 1960s, bulldozers were encroaching on The Rocks
- European settlement's oldest Sydney precinct - saved only by public protests aimed at preserving 'working class housing' close to the Central Business District (which resulted also in considerable colonial era architecture being preserved in one precinct next to Circular Quay). In 1973, after a long period of planning and construction, the Sydney Opera House
was officially opened. The building was from a design by Jørn Utzon
. It became a symbol not only of Sydney, but of the Australian nation and was inscribed by UNESCO
in 2007.
Intellectuals such as those of the Sydney Push
(including feminist Germaine Greer
, author and broadcaster Clive James
and art critic Robert Hughes
) rose out of Sydney during the period, as did influential artists like painter Brett Whitely. Paul Hogan
went from painter on the Sydney Harbour Bridge
to local TV star, then global film star with his hugely successful Crocodile Dundee
in 1986 (a film which begins with scenes of Sydney) while theatre institutions like the Sydney Theatre Company
and National Institute of Dramatic Art
nurtured the budding careers of actors Mel Gibson
, Judy Davis
, Geoffrey Rush
and Cate Blanchett
and elsewhere actors Nicole Kidman
and Russel Crowe forged their early careers in the city. In 1998, Fox Studios Australia
opened as a major movie studio, occupying the site of the former Sydney Showground
at Moore Park
- going on to produce such blockbusters as The Matrix
films, Moulin Rouge!
, Mission: Impossible II
(set partly in Sydney), and the revived Star Wars and Superman film franchises. The traditional Sydney Royal Easter Show
was relocated to the New Sydney Showground at Homebush
.
To relieve congestion on the Sydney Harbour Bridge
, the Sydney Harbour Tunnel
opened in August 1992. The 2.3 kilometer underwater tunnel cost A$554 million to construct. Built to withstand earthquakes and sinking ships, in the early 21st century it carries around 75,000 vehicles a day.
Although generally of mild climate, in 1993-4, Sydney suffered a serious bushfire season
, causing destruction even within urban areas.
), a multi-purpose stadium
located in the Sydney Olympic Park
precinct of the redeveloped Homebush Bay
was completed in March 1999 at a cost of A$
690 million to serve as a venue 2000 Summer Olympics
. Sydney captured global attention in the Year 2000 by hosting the Summer Olympic Games
. The Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Olympics
featured a theatrical rendering of Australian history through dance and a torch lighting by Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman
. At the Closing Ceremony, President of the International Olympic Committee
, Juan Antonio Samaranch
, declared:
The Olympic mayor, Frank Sartor
, was the longest serving Lord Mayor of Sydney, serving from 1991 to 2003 and his successor, Lucy Turnbull
, became the first woman to hold that office in 2003. From 1991-2007, Sydney-siders governed as Prime Minister of Australia
- first Paul Keating
(1991–1996) and later John Howard
(1996–2007). Sydney has maintained extensive political, economic and cultural influence over Australia as well as international renown in recent decades. Following the Olympics, the city hosted the 2003 Rugby World Cup
, the APEC Leaders conference of 2007
and Catholic World Youth Day 2008
, led by Pope Benedict XVI
.
Sydney has gained a reputation for diversity and most commentators predict that the population will continue to grow in the coming decades.
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
, whose ancestors came to Australia between 45,000 and 50,000 years ago. The modern history of the city began with the arrival of a First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
of British ships in 1788 and the foundation of a penal colony by Great Britain.
Sydney established an elected city council in 1840 and was from 1788-1900 the capital of the British colony of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. In 1901, Sydney became a state
States and territories of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...
capital, when New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
voted to join the Australian Federation. Sydney today is Australia's largest city and a major international capital of culture and finance. The city has played host to many international events, including the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
.
Ancient history
The first people to occupy the area now known as Sydney were Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
. Their presence in Australia began around 40,000-60,000 years ago with the arrival in Northern Australia of the first of their ancestors by boat from what is now Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. Their descendants moved south and, though their population was never large, they occupied all areas of Australia, including Sydney.
The area surrounding Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour)
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
was home to several Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
tribes. The "Eora
Eora
The Eora are the Aboriginal people of the Sydney area, south to the Georges River, north to the Hawkesbury River, and west to Parramatta. The indigenous people used this word to describe where they came from to the British. "Eora" was then used by the British to refer to those Aboriginal people...
people" are the coastal Aborigines of the Sydney district. The name Eora simply means "here" or "from this place", and was used by Local Aboriginal people to describe to the British where they came from. The Cadigal
Cadigal
The Cadigal, also spelled as Gadigal, are a group of Aboriginal Australians who originally inhabited the area that they called 'Cadi', part of which later became known as the Marrickville Local Government Area of Sydney. Cadigal territory lies south of Port Jackson and stretches from South Head to...
band are the traditional owners of the Sydney CBD area, and their territory south of Port Jackson stretches from South Head to Petersham. Consequently, they were first to suffer the effects of dispossession when the British arrived, though the descendants of Eora still have a strong presence in the Sydney area today. Other than the Eora, people of the Dharug, Kuringgai
Kuringgai
Kuringgai is a name referring to an Indigenous Australian people of New South Wales....
and Dharawal language groups occupied the lands in and around Sydney. Their occupation pre-dates the arrival of the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
of British by some thousands of years. Examples of Aboriginal stone tools and Aboriginal art (often recording the stories of the Dreamtime
Dreamtime
In the animist framework of Australian Aboriginal mythology, The Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings formed The Creation.-The Dreaming of the Aboriginal times:...
religion) can be found throughout New South Wales: even within the metropolis of modern Sydney, as in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Ku-ring-gai Chase is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 25 km north of Sydney located largely within the Ku-ring-gai, Hornsby, Warringah and Pittwater municipal areas. Ku-ring-gai Chase is also officially classed as a suburb by the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales...
.
Sydney is thought to have the finest collection of rock carvings in the world because it is made up predominantly of sandstone, which is a suitable surface for rock carvings. In the late 19th century, excavations for a canal in Alexandria (south-east of the city) uncovered evidence of Aboriginal settlement in that area estimated to date back at least 7000 years; more recent evidence discovered in caves near Glenbrook
Glenbrook, New South Wales
Glenbrook is a suburb of the Lower Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 70 kilometres west of Sydney in the local government area of the City of Blue Mountains. At the 2006 census, Glenbrook had a population of 5,138 people....
in the lower Blue Mountains, west of the city, indicates Aboriginal occupation of that region dating back at least 20,000 years.
James Cook
In 1770 Lieutenant (later Captain) James CookJames Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
, in command of the HMS Endeavour
HMS Endeavour
HMS Endeavour may refer to one of the following ships:In the Royal Navy:, a 36-gun ship purchased in 1652 and sold in 1656, a 4-gun bomb vessel purchased in 1694 and sold in 1696, a fire ship purchased in 1694 and sold in 1696, a storeship hoy purchased in 1694 and sold in 1705, a storeship...
, sailed along the east coast of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, becoming the first known Europeans to do so. On 19 April 1770, the crew of the Endeavour sighted the east coast of Australia and ten days later landed at a bay in what is now southern Sydney. The ship's naturalist, Sir Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...
, was so impressed by the volume of flora and fauna hitherto unknown to European science, that Cook named the inlet Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
. Cook charted the East coast to its northern extent and, on 22 August, at Possession Island in the Torres Strait
Torres Strait
The Torres Strait is a body of water which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is approximately wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost continental extremity of the Australian state of Queensland...
, took possession of the coast in the name of King George III of Britain. Cook and Banks, then reported favourably to London on the possibilities of establishing a British colony at Botany Bay.
1788 and the establishment of Sydney
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
of 11 vessels under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip
Arthur Phillip
Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...
in January 1788. It consisted of over a thousand settlers, including 778 convicts (192 women and 586 men). A few days after arrival at Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
the fleet moved to the more suitable Port Jackson
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
where a settlement was established at Sydney Cove
Sydney Cove
Sydney Cove is a small bay on the southern shore of Port Jackson , on the coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia....
on 26 January 1788. This date later became Australia's national day, Australia Day
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia...
. The colony was formally proclaimed by Governor Phillip on 7 February 1788 at Sydney.
Sydney Cove offered a fresh water supply and a safe harbour, which Philip described as:
Phillip originally named the colony "New Albion", but for some uncertain reason the colony acquired the name "Sydney", after the (then) British Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, Thomas Townshend, Lord Sydney
Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney
Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney PC , was a British politician who held several important Cabinet posts in the second half of the 18th century...
(Baron Sydney, Viscount Sydney
Viscount Sydney
Viscount Sydney is a title that has been created twice. The first creation came in 1689 when Henry Sydney was made Viscount Sydney, of Sheppey, in the Peerage of England. In 1694 he was created Earl of Romney. For more information on this creation, see this title...
from 1789). This is possibly because Lord Sydney issued the charter authorising Phillip to establish a colony. Phillip visited the Manly Cove area
Manly, New South Wales
Manly is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Manly is located 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of Manly Council, in the Northern Beaches region.-History:Manly was named...
, between 21 and 23 January 1788 and was so impressed by the confident and manly behaviour of the local Aboriginal people of the Cannalgal and Kayimai clans who waded out to meet his boat in North Harbour, that he gave the cove the name Manly Cove.
Governor Phillip was vested with complete authority over the inhabitants of the colony. Enlightened for his Age, Phillip's personal intent was to establish harmonious relations with local Aboriginal people and try to reform as well as discipline the convicts of the colony. Phillip and several of his officers - most notably Watkin Tench
Watkin Tench
Lieutenant-General Watkin Tench was a British Marine officer who is best known for publishing two books describing his experiences in the First Fleet, which established the first settlement in Australia in 1788...
- left behind journals and accounts of which tell of immense hardships during the first years of settlement. Often Phillip's officers despaired for the future of Sydney. Early efforts at agriculture were fraught and supplies from overseas were few and far between. Between 1788 and 1792 about 3546 male and 766 female convicts were landed at Sydney - many "professional criminals" with few of the skills required for the establishment of a colony. Many new arrivals were also sick or unfit for work and the conditions of healthy convicts only deteriorated with hard labour and poor sustenance in the settlement. The food situation reached crisis point in 1790 and the Second Fleet which finally arrived in June 1790 had lost a quarter of its 'passengers' through sickness, while the condition of the convicts of the Third Fleet appalled Phillip. from 1791 however, the more regular arrival of ships and the beginnings of trade lessened the feeling of isolation and improved supplies.
Phillip sent exploratory missions in search of better soils and fixed on the Parramatta region as a promising area for expansion and moved many of the convicts from late 1788 to establish a small township, which became the main centre of the colony's economic life, leaving Sydney Cove only as an important port and focus of social life. Poor equipment and unfamiliar soils and climate continued to hamper the expansion of farming from Farm Cove to Parramatta and Toongabbie, but a building programme, assisted by convict labour, advanced steadily.
European settlement had a disastrous impact on the local Aboriginal people. In the early days of the colony this was mainly due to depletion of local food stocks and the advent of introduced diseases such as measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
, chicken pox, venereal disease and smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
, to which the Aboriginal population had no genetic immunity. Contrary to later trends, Governor Phillip in fact enforced strict rules of behaviour for interaction between settlers and native people, and his policy was remarkably enlightened by the standards of the time. However in April 1789, twelve months after the departure from Botany Bay by the French expedition led by La Perouse
La Perouse
La Perouse may refer to* Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, a French naval officer and explorer,and the following places which were named after him:* La Perouse, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney...
, a catastrophic epidemic of smallpox (or possibly chicken pox) spread through the Eora people and surrounding groups, with the result that local Aborigines died in their hundreds, and bodies could be seen in the water in Sydney Harbour and lying on beaches and in adjacent caves.
Author and First Fleet officer Watkin Tench
Watkin Tench
Lieutenant-General Watkin Tench was a British Marine officer who is best known for publishing two books describing his experiences in the First Fleet, which established the first settlement in Australia in 1788...
, whose accounts are primary sources about the early years of the colony, never suggested that the epidemic may have been caused by Aborigines disturbing the grave of a French sailor who died shortly after arrival in Australia (supposedly of smallpox) and had been buried at Botany Bay. However, in his memoir "A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson in New South Wales" Tench wrote that he had never heard of the existence of smallpox among the French sailors [ch 4, footnote]. In addition, the very strict Aboriginal customs concerning graves and dead bodies make this unlikely in the extreme. Another intriguing possibility mentioned by Tench was that as the colony's physicians had brought bottles of smallpox-infected material with them from England, that this may have been the cause. Tench rejected this as "unworthy of consideration". Extra smallpox virus was requested in 1792 by Governor King at Norfolk Island [Aboriginal History Volume 31, (2007), pg 160] in case of needing to inoculate colonists, particularly children. So far, no evidence has emerged of any Eighteenth Century inoculation near Sydney and it is unlikely smallpox spread into the Aboriginal population by this vector. However the fact that there was no smallpox in the settlement, and that the settlement had been totally isolated from the rest of the world for two years, makes it likely that the outbreak came from First Fleet sources, possibly Tench's "bottles".
Whatever the actual cause, the results were catastrophic for the Eora people and their kin and by the early 19th century the Aboriginal population of the Sydney basin had been reduced to only 10 percent of the 1788 estimate.
Between 1788-92, convicts and their gaolers made up the majority of the population - but after this, a population of emancipated convicts began to grow who could be granted land and thes people pioneered Sydney's non-government private sector economy and were later joined by soldiers whose military service had expired - and finally, free settlers who began arriving from Britain. Governor Phillip departed the colony for England on 11 December 1792, with the new settlement having survived near starvation and immense isolation for four years.
Early Sydney
New South Wales Corps
The New South Wales Corps was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment to relieve the marines who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia. The regiment, led by Major Francis Grose, consisted of three companies...
(also known as the Rum Corps due to their monopoly on the importation of alcohol).
Governors of New South Wales
The Governor of New South Wales is the state viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is equally shared with 15 other sovereign nations in a form of personal union, as well as with the eleven other jurisdictions of Australia, and resides predominantly in her...
and the officers of the Rum Corps, many of which were land owners such as John Macarthur
John Macarthur (wool pioneer)
John Macarthur was a British army officer, entrepreneur, politician, architect and pioneer of settlement in Australia. Macarthur is recognised as the pioneer of the wool industry that was to boom in Australia in the early 19th century and become a trademark of the nation...
. In 1808 these conflicts came to open rebellion, with the Rum Rebellion
Rum Rebellion
The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australia's history. The Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh, was deposed by the New South Wales Corps under the command of Major George Johnston, working closely with John Macarthur, on 26 January 1808, 20...
, in which the Rum Corps ousted Governor William Bligh
William Bligh
Vice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers...
(known from the mutiny on the Bounty
Mutiny on the Bounty
The mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny that occurred aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, and has been commemorated by several books, films, and popular songs, many of which take considerable liberties with the facts. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the...
). The New South Wales Corps
New South Wales Corps
The New South Wales Corps was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment to relieve the marines who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia. The regiment, led by Major Francis Grose, consisted of three companies...
was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment to relieve the marines who had accompanied the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
. Officers of the Corps soon became involved in the corrupt and lucrative rum trade in the colony. In the Rum Rebellion
Rum Rebellion
The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australia's history. The Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh, was deposed by the New South Wales Corps under the command of Major George Johnston, working closely with John Macarthur, on 26 January 1808, 20...
of 1808, the Corps, working closely with the newly established wool trader John Macarthur
John Macarthur (wool pioneer)
John Macarthur was a British army officer, entrepreneur, politician, architect and pioneer of settlement in Australia. Macarthur is recognised as the pioneer of the wool industry that was to boom in Australia in the early 19th century and become a trademark of the nation...
, staged the only successful armed takeover of government in Australian history, deposing Governor
Governors of New South Wales
The Governor of New South Wales is the state viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is equally shared with 15 other sovereign nations in a form of personal union, as well as with the eleven other jurisdictions of Australia, and resides predominantly in her...
William Bligh
William Bligh
Vice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers...
and instigating a brief period of military rule in the colony prior to the arrival from Britain of Governor Lachlan Macquarie
Lachlan Macquarie
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB , was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony...
in 1810.
Macquarie served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social and economic development of Sydney which saw it transition from a penal colony
Penal colony
A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
to a budding free society. He established public works, a bank
Westpac
Westpac , is a multinational financial services, one of the Australian "big four" banks and the second-largest bank in New Zealand....
, churches, and charitable institutions and sought good relations with the Aborigines. In 1813 he sent Blaxland
Gregory Blaxland
Gregory Blaxland was a pioneer farmer and explorer in Australia.- Early life :Gregory Blaxland was born 17 June 1778 at Fordwich, Kent, England, the fourth son of John Blaxland, mayor from 1767 to 1774, whose family had owned estates nearby for generations, and Mary, daughter of Captain Parker,...
, Wentworth
William Wentworth
William Charles Wentworth was an Australian poet, explorer, journalist and politician, and one of the leading figures of early colonial New South Wales...
and Lawson across the Blue Mountains, where they found the great plains of the interior. Central, however to Macquarie's policy was his treatment of the emancipist
Emancipist
An emancipist was any of the convicts sentenced and transported under the convict system to Australia, who had been given conditional or absolute pardons...
s, whom he decreed should be treated as social equals to free-settlers in the colony. Against opposition, he appointed emancipists to key government positions including Francis Greenway
Francis Greenway
-References:* *...
as colonial architect and William Redfern
William Redfern
William Redfern was a leading surgeon in early colonial New South Wales.-Early life:Redfern appears to have been born in Canada and raised in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England...
as a magistrate. London judged his public works to be too expensive and society was scandalised by his treatment of emancipists.
Governor and Mrs Macquarie preferred the clean air of rural Parramatta to the unsanitary and crime ridden streets of Sydney Town and transformed Old Government House, Parramatta
Old Government House, Parramatta
Old Government House is a former "country" residence of 10 early governors of New South Wales, located in Parramatta Park in Parramatta, New South Wales, now a suburb of Sydney...
into an elegant Palladian style home in the English manner. Originally constructed under Governor John Hunter in 1799 to reflect the economic importance of the Parramatta district, the building remains today Australia's oldest public building and was given World Heritage Listing by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
in 2010.
1850s Gold Rush
Australia experienced a number of gold rushes in the mid-19th Century, beginning with the discovery of gold in BathurstBathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
(150 km west of Sydney) in 1851. Large numbers of immigrant miners poured into Sydney and the population grew from 39,000 to 200,000 20 years later. Demand for infrastructure to support the growing population and subsequent economic activity led to massive improvements to the city's railway and port systems throughout the 1850s and 1860s.
After a period of rapid growth, further discoveries of Gold in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
began drawing new residents away from Sydney towards Melbourne and a great rivalry began to grow between the two cities. The rivalry culminated as Australia moved to become a federation and both Melbourne and Sydney lobbied to be officially recognised as the capital city (a dispute settled with the creation of a new city, Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, instead).
Political development
Governors of New South Wales
The Governor of New South Wales is the state viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is equally shared with 15 other sovereign nations in a form of personal union, as well as with the eleven other jurisdictions of Australia, and resides predominantly in her...
- although English law was transplanted into the Australian colonies by virtue of the doctrine of reception
Doctrine of reception
In common law, the doctrine of reception refers to the process in which the English law becomes applicable to a British Crown Colony, protectorate, or protected state....
, thus notions of the rights and processes established by the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
of 1215 and the Bill of Rights
Bill of Rights 1689
The Bill of Rights or the Bill of Rights 1688 is an Act of the Parliament of England.The Bill of Rights was passed by Parliament on 16 December 1689. It was a re-statement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689 ,...
of 1689 were brought from Britain by the colonists. Agitation for representative government began soon after the settlement of the colonies.
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
, was created in Sydney 1825 as an appointed body to advise the Governor of New South Wales. The northern wing of Macquarie Street's Rum Hospital
Sydney Hospital
Sydney Hospital is a major hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Macquarie Street in the Sydney central business district. It is the oldest hospital in Australia, dating back to 1788, and has been at its current location since 1811. It first received the name Sydney Hospital in 1881.Currently...
was requisitioned and converted to accommodate the first Parliament House in 1829, as it was the largest building available in Sydney at the time.
William Wentworth
William Wentworth
William Charles Wentworth was an Australian poet, explorer, journalist and politician, and one of the leading figures of early colonial New South Wales...
established the Australian Patriotic Association (Australia's first political party) in 1835 to demand democratic government for New South Wales. The reformist attorney general, John Plunkett
John Plunkett
John Hubert Plunkett was Attorney-General of New South Wales and elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly.-Early life:...
, sought to apply Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
principles to governance in the colony, pursuing the establishment of equality before the law, by extending jury rights to emancipist
Emancipist
An emancipist was any of the convicts sentenced and transported under the convict system to Australia, who had been given conditional or absolute pardons...
s, then legal protections to convicts, assigned servants and Aborigines
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
and legal equality between Anglicans
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
, Catholics, Presbyterians and later Methodists.
In 1838, the celebrated humanitarian Caroline Chisolm arrived at Sydney and soon after began her work to alleviate the conditions for the poor women migrants. She met every immigrant ship at the docks, found positions for immigrant girls and established a Female Immigrants' Home. Later she began campaigning for legal reform to alleviate poverty and assist female immigration and family support in the colonies.
In 1840, the Sydney City Council was established. Men who possessed 1000 pounds worth of property were able to stand for election and wealthy landowners were permitted up to four votes each in elections. Australia's first parliamentary elections were conducted for the New South Wales Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
in 1843, again with voting rights (for males only) tied to property ownership or financial capacity. The passing of the Sydney Incorporation Act [1842] officially recognised the colonial settlement as a township and imposed a managerial structure to its administration. The first elected aldermen met in public houses, among their constituents, but began campaigning for a civic hall. They chose the run down site of Sydney's first official European cemetery: on George Street, in the commercial heart of the city and organised for Sydney’s first royal visitor, HRH Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, to lay a foundation stone on 4 April 1868, even before colonial authorities on Macquarie Street had approved the plan. That same year, a design for the Sydney Town Hall
Sydney Town Hall
The Sydney Town Hall is a landmark sandstone building located in the heart of Sydney. It stands opposite the Queen Victoria Building and alongside St Andrew's Cathedral...
by architect J H Willson was chosen which took its inspiration from the French style of the Hotel de Ville de Paris. To this day, the Hall remains the civic office of the Lord Mayor of Sydney and aldermen of the City Council.
The end of convict transportation and the rapid growth of population following the Australian gold rushes
Australian gold rushes
The Australian gold rush started in 1851 when prospector Edward Hammond Hargraves claimed the discovery of payable gold near Bathurst, New South Wales, at a site Edward Hargraves called Ophir.Eight months later, gold was found in Victoria...
led to further demands for "British institutions" in New South Wales, which meant an elected parliament and responsible government
Responsible government
Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy...
. In 1851 the franchise for the Legislative Council was expanded and 1857 saw the granting of the right to vote to all male British subjects 21 years or over in New South Wales and from the 1860s onwards government in New South Wales became increasingly stable and assured.
Cultural development
Lachlan Macquarie
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB , was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony...
's vision for Sydney included the construction of grand public buildings and institutions fit for a colonial capital. Macquarie Street began to take shape as a ceremonial thoroughfare of grand buildings. He founded the Royal Botanic Gardens
Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia, are the most central of the three major botanical gardens open to the public in Sydney....
and dedicated Hyde Park
Hyde Park, Sydney
Hyde Park is a large park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Hyde Park is on the eastern side of the Sydney central business district. It is the southernmost of a chain of parkland that extends north to the shore of Port Jackson . It is approximately rectangular in shape, being squared at the...
to the "recreation and amusement of the inhabitants of the town and a field of exercises for the troops".
Macquarie set aside a large portion of land for an Anglican Cathedral and laid the foundation stone for the first St Mary's Catholic Cathedral
St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
The Metropolitan Cathedral of St Mary is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the seat of the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell. The cathedral is dedicated to "Mary, Help of Christians", Patron of Australia...
in 1821. St Andrew's Anglican Cathedral
St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney
St Andrew's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The cathedral is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan of New South Wales, the Most Reverend Peter Jensen...
, though more modest in size than Macquarie's original vision, later began construction and, after fire and setbacks, the present St Mary's Catholic Cathedral foundation stone was laid in 1868, from which rose a towering gothic-revival landmark.
The first Sydney Royal Easter Show
Sydney Royal Easter Show
The Sydney Royal Easter Show, also known as the Royal Easter Show or simply The Show, is an annual show held in Sydney, Australia over two weeks around Easter.It is run by the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales and was first held in 1823...
, an agricultural exhibition, began in 1823. Alexander Macleay
Alexander Macleay
Hon. Alexander Macleay MLC FLS FRS was a leading member of the Linnean Society and a fellow of the Royal Society.Macleay was born on Ross-shire, Scotland, eldest son of William Macleay, provost of Wick...
started collecting the exhibits of Australia's oldest museum - Sydney's Australian Museum
Australian Museum
The Australian Museum is the oldest museum in Australia, with an international reputation in the fields of natural history and anthropology. It features collections of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as mineralogy, palaeontology, and anthropology...
- in 1826 and the current building opened to the public in 1857. The University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
commenced in 1850. The Royal National Park
Royal National Park
Royal National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 29 km south of Sydney CBD.Founded by Sir John Robertson, Acting Premier of New South Wales, and formally proclaimed on 26 April 1879, it is the world's second oldest purposed national park, the first usage of the term...
, south of the city opened in 1879 (second only to Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
in the USA).
An academy of art formed in 1870 and the present Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Art Gallery of New South Wales , located in The Domain in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, was established in 1897 and is the most important public gallery in Sydney and the fourth largest in Australia...
building began construction in 1896. Inspired by the works of French impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
, artists camps formed
Sydney artists' camps
Artists' camps flourished around Sydney Harbour in the 1880s and 1890s, mainly in the Mosman area making it "Australia's most painted suburb", but died out after the first decade of the twentieth century...
around the foreshores of Sydney Harbour in the 1880s and 1890s at idylique locations such as Balmoral Beach and Curlew Camp in Sirius Cove. Artists such as Arthur Streeton
Arthur Streeton
Sir Arthur Ernest Streeton was an Australian landscape painter.-Early life:Streeton was born in Mount Duneed, near Geelong, and his family moved to Richmond in 1874. In 1882, Streeton commenced art studies with G. F. Folingsby at the National Gallery School.Streeton was influenced by French...
and Tom Roberts
Tom Roberts
Thomas William Roberts , usually known simply as Tom, was a prominent Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School.-Life:...
of the Heidelberg School
Heidelberg School
The Heidelberg School was an Australian art movement of the late 19th century. The movement has latterly been described as Australian Impressionism....
worked here at this time and created some of the masterpieces of newly developing and distinctively Australian styles of painting.
Australia's first rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
club, the Sydney University Football Club
Sydney University Football Club
Sydney University Football Club, founded in 1863 , is the oldest club now playing rugby union in Australia, and as such is nicknamed "The Birthplace of Australian Rugby" or simply "The Birthplace".The club are the current NSWRU Premiers.The club was a member of the inaugural Sydney club competition...
, was founded in Sydney in the year 1863. The New South Wales Rugby Union
New South Wales Rugby Union
The New South Wales Rugby Union is the organisation responsible for the sport of rugby union in most of the state of New South Wales, Australia...
(or then, The Southern RU – SRU) was established in 1874, and the tradition of an annual club competition
Shute Shield
The Shute Shield is a rugby union competition in Sydney, New South Wales. It is the premier grade rugby trophy in NSW rugby. The Shute Shield is awarded at the end of the Sydney Club Rugby season to the team that wins the Grand Final...
began in Sydney that year. Initially widely popular, the code would later assume secondary popularity in Sydney, when in 1907, the New South Wales Rugby League
New South Wales Rugby League
The New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers decided...
was established and would grow to be the favourite football code of the city. In 1878 the inaugural first class cricket match at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
was played between New South Wales and Victoria. The Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (A.A.G.P.S) was established in Sydney 1892 and interschool rugby and athletics competitions began that year, followed by cricket and rowing the following year.
The Sydney International Exhibition of 1879 showcased the colonial capital to the world. Some exhibits from this event were kept to constitute the original collection of the new Technological, Industrial and Sanitary Museum of New South Wales (today's Powerhouse Museum
Powerhouse Museum
The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney, the other being the historic Sydney Observatory...
).
Many grand public buildings were built during the 19th century. The Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
landmark Queen Victoria Building
Queen Victoria Building
The Queen Victoria Building, or QVB, is a late nineteenth century building by the architect George McRae in the central business district of Sydney, Australia. The Romanesque Revival building is 30 metres wide by 190 metres long, and fills a city block, bounded by George, Market, York and Druitt...
(or QVB), designed by George McRae
George McRae
George McRae was a Scottish architect who migrated to Australia and pursued his career in Sydney, where he became Government Architect of New South Wales.-Life and career:...
, was completed in 1898 on the site of the old Sydney markets. Built as a monument to the popular and long reigning monarch, Queen Victoria, construction took place while the city was in severe recession and construction of the ornate structure helped employ out of work stonemasons, plasterers, and stained window artists. Restored in the late 20th century, the building remains a boutique shopping and dining hall.
Sydney's first newspaper was the Sydney Gazette
Sydney Gazette
The Sydney Gazette was the first newspaper in Australia. Governor King authorised the publication of what was initially called 'The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser in 1803. Subsequently the first edition was published 5 March...
established, edited and distributed by George Howe
George Howe
George Howe was the first Australian editor, poet and early printer.Howe was the son of Thomas Howe, a government printer on Basseterre, Saint Christopher Island in the West Indies. When about 21 he went to London and worked as a printer in The Times office...
. It appeared irregularly between 1803 and 1842, but nonetheless provides a valuable source on the early development of the colony based at Sydney. The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
joined the Sydney Gazette as a daily publication in 1831; it continues to be published to this day. Two Sydney journalists, J.F. Archibald and John Haynes
John Haynes (Australian journalist)
John Haynes was a parliamentarian in New South Wales, Australia for five months short of thirty years, and co-founder , with J. F. Archibald, of The Bulletin....
, founded The Bulletin
The Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
magazine: the first edition appeared on 31 January 1880. It was intended to be a journal of political and business commentary, with some literary content. Initially radical, nationalist, democratic and racist, it gained wide influence and became a celebrated entry-point to publication for Australian writers and cartoonists such as Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson was an Australian writer and poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period and is often called Australia's "greatest writer"...
, Banjo Paterson
Banjo Paterson
Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, OBE was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales where he spent much of his childhood...
, Miles Franklin
Miles Franklin
Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin, known as Miles Franklin was an Australian writer and feminist who is best known for her novel My Brilliant Career, published in 1901...
, and the illustrator and novelist Norman Lindsay
Norman Lindsay
Norman Alfred William Lindsay was an Australian artist, sculptor, writer, editorial cartoonist, scale modeler, and boxer. He was born in Creswick, Victoria....
.
Trams
Sydney, once had the largest tram system in Australia, the second largest in the CommonwealthCommonwealth
Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...
(after London), and one of the largest in the world. It was extremely intensively worked, with about 1,600 cars in service at any one time at its peak during the 1930s (cf. about 500 trams in Melbourne
Trams in Melbourne
The Melbourne tramway network is a major form of public transport in Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia. , the network consisted of of track, 487 trams, 28 routes, and 1,773 tram stops. It was therefore the largest urban tramway network in the world, ahead of the...
today).
Sydney's first tram was horse-drawn, running from the old Sydney Railway station to Circular Quay along Pitt Street
Pitt Street, Sydney
Pitt Street is a major street in central Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sections after a substantial stretch of it was removed to make way for Sydney's...
. Built in 1861, the design was compromised by the desire to haul railway freight wagons along the line to supply city businesses, in addition to passenger traffic. This resulted in a track that protruded from the road surface and damaged the wheels of wagons trying to cross it. Hard campaigning by competing omnibus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
owners - as well as the fatal accident involving the leading Australian musician Isaac Nathan
Isaac Nathan
Isaac Nathan was an Anglo-Australian composer, musicologist, journalist and self-publicist, who ended an eventful career by becoming the "father of Australian music".-Early success:...
in 1864 - led to closure in 1866.
In 1879 a steam tramway was established. The System was a great success and the network expanded rapidly through the city and inner suburbs. There were also two cable tram routes, to Ocean Street (Edgecliff
Edgecliff
Edgecliff may refer to:* Edgecliff , historic building* Edgecliff College* Edgecliff Village, Texas* Edgecliff, New South Wales...
) and in North Sydney
North Sydney, New South Wales
North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. North Sydney is located 3 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney...
, later extended to Crows Nest
Crows Nest, New South Wales
Crows Nest is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Crows Nest is located 5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council.-History:...
, because of the steep terrain involved.
Electrification started in 1898, and most of the system was converted by 1910 - the privately owned Parramatta to Redbank Wharf (Duck River) steam tram remained until 1943.
By the 1920s, the system had reached its maximum extent. The overcrowded and heaving trams running at a high frequency, in competition with growing private motor car and bus use, created congestion. Competition from the private car, private bus operators and the perception of traffic congestion led to the gradual closure of lines from the 1940s. Overseas transport experts were called upon to advise the city on its post-war transport issues and recommended closure of the system, but generally went against public opinion. Nevertheless, closure became Labor government policy and the system was wound down in stages, with withdrawal of the last service, to La Perouse
La Perouse, New South Wales
Lapérouse is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The suburb of Lapérouse is located about 14 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the City of Randwick....
, in 1961.
20th century
Federation, Great War and Depression
With the innauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901, Sydney ceased to be a colonial capital and became the capital of the Australian stateStates and territories of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...
of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. With industrialisation Sydney expanded rapidly, and by the early 20th century it had a population well in excess of one million.
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
, the character of Sydney began to change in various ways. During the 19th century, Sydney's beaches had become popular seaside holiday resorts, but daylight sea bathing
Sea bathing
Sea bathing is swimming in the sea or in sea water and a sea bath is a protective enclosure for sea bathing. Unlike bathing in a swimming pool, which is generally done for pleasure or exercise purposes, sea bathing was once thought to have curative or therapeutic value. It arose from the medieval...
was considered indecent until the early 20th Century. In defiance of these restrictions, in October 1902, William Gocher
William Gocher
William Henry Gocher was an Australian artist and bimetallist who campaigned to end the ban on daylight sea bathing in Sydney....
, wearing a neck to knee costume entered the water at Manly Beach only to be escorted from the water by the police - but the following year, Manly Council
Manly Council
Manly Council is a Local Government Area on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.- Demographics :According to the , there:...
removed restrictions on all-day bathing - provided a neck to knee swimming costumes were worn - and Sydney's love affair with sun and surf flourished. Arguably the world's first surf lifesaving club was founded at Bondi Beach, Sydney, in 1906. In the summer of 1915, Duke Kahanamoku
Duke Kahanamoku
Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku was a Hawaiian swimmer, actor, lawman, early beach volleyball player and businessman credited with spreading the sport of surfing. He was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming.-Early years:The name "Duke" is not a title, but a given name...
of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
introduced surf board riding to Sydney's Freshwater Beach
Freshwater Beach
Freshwater Beach is a beach located in Freshwater, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Freshwater Beach is the first beach north of Manly, New South Wales, on the Peninsula. The beach is flanked by a headland at each end and can produce excellent surf. There is a large rock pool at the...
, amazing locals and starting a long term love affair with the sport in Australia.
Australia entered the First World War in 1914 on the side of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and 60,000 Australian troops lost their lives. The small Australian nation was deeply affected. After the war, Martin Place, was selected as the site for the Sydney Cenotaph
Sydney Cenotaph
The Sydney Cenotaph is located in Martin Place and is one of the oldest World War I war monuments in the Central Business District.On the southern side, facing the General Post Office it states "To Our Glorious Dead" and on the Northern side, facing Challis House it states "Lest We Forget." It is...
which honours the dead and remains a focus for ANZAC Day
ANZAC Day
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all...
commemorations in the city to this day. The city's main war memorial, the ANZAC War Memorial
ANZAC War Memorial
The ANZAC War Memorial, completed in 1934, is the main commemorative military monument of Sydney, Australia. It was designed by C. Bruce Dellit, with the exterior adorned with monumental figural reliefs and sculptures by Rayner Hoff....
opened in Hyde Park in 1934.
In the cultural life of the city, the first Archibald Prize
Archibald Prize
The Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor of The Bulletin who died in 1919...
was awarded in 1921. Now regarded as the most important
portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
ure prize in Australia, it originated from a bequest from J. F. Archibald
J. F. Archibald
Jules François Archibald, known as J. F. Archibald, , Australian journalist and publisher, was co-owner and editor of The Bulletin during the days of its greatest influence in Australian politics and literary life...
, the editor of The Bulletin
The Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
who died in 1919. Administered by the Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Art Gallery of New South Wales , located in The Domain in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, was established in 1897 and is the most important public gallery in Sydney and the fourth largest in Australia...
it is awarded for "the best portrait, preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in Art, Letters, Science or Politics." Sydney's opulent Capitol Theatre
Capitol Theatre, Sydney
The Capitol Theatre is a historic theatre building located at 13 Campbell Street, Haymarket, Sydney, Australia.-History:The Capitol Theatre is at the former site of the Belmore Markets. The latter were built in 1891 by George McRae, City Architect, and the structural engineer Norman Selfe, but were...
opened in 1928 and after restoration in the 1990s remains one of the nation's finest auditoriums.
In a Sheffield Shield cricket match at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
in 1930, Don Bradman, a young New South Welshman of just 21 years of age wrote his name into the record books at by smashing the previous highest batting score in first-class cricket with 452 runs not out in just 415 minutes. Although Bradman would later transfer to play for South Australia, his world beating performances provided much needed joy to Sydney-siders through the emerging Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
The Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
hit Sydney badly. One of the highlights of the Depression Era however, was the completion of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...
in 1932. The landmark which links Sydney's northern and southern shores began construction in 1924 and took 1,400 men eight years to build at a cost of £4.2 million and 53,000 tonnes of steel. it carried six traffic lanes, two rail lines and two tram tracks. 16 workers were killed during construction. A toll was established and it cost a horse and rider three pence and a car six pence to cross the bridge. In its first year, the average annual daily traffic was around 11,000 vehicles (by the beginning of the 21st century the figure stood at around 160,000 vehicles per day).
The Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
Premier of New South Wales
Premiers of New South Wales
The Premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature...
, Jack Lang
Jack Lang (Australian politician)
John Thomas Lang , usually referred to as J.T. Lang during his career, and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella" was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales for two terms...
, was to open the bridge by cutting a ribbon at its southern end. However, just as Lang was about to cut the ribbon, a man in military uniform rode in on a horse, slashing the ribbon with his sword and opening the Bridge in the name of the people of New South Wales before the official ceremony began. He was promptly arrested. The ribbon was hurriedly retied and Lang performed the official opening ceremony. The univited ribbon cutter was Francis de Groot
Francis de Groot
Colonel Francis Edward de Groot holds a notorious place in Australian history for his high-profile upstaging of New South Wales Premier Jack Lang at the official opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932.-Life:...
, a member of a right-wing paramilitary group called the New Guard
New Guard
The New Guard was a fascist movement in Australia formed in 1931. It was opposed to communism and democracy, called for class collaboration to replace class conflict, and engaged in street fighting against opponents and in plans for a coup d'etat against the Australian government...
, opposed to Lang's leftist policies and resentful of the fact that a member of the Royal Family had not been asked to open the bridge.
With large unemployment and growing state debt, the premier Jack Lang
Jack Lang (Australian politician)
John Thomas Lang , usually referred to as J.T. Lang during his career, and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella" was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales for two terms...
became embroiled in disputes with the federal government and foreign creditors and was dismissed by the Governor
Lang Dismissal Crisis
The 1932 dismissal of Premier Jack Lang by New South Wales Governor Philip Game was the first real constitutional crisis in Australia. Lang remains the only Australian Premier to be removed from office by his Governor, using the Reserve Powers of the Crown....
in 1932.
The 1938 British Empire Games
1938 British Empire Games
The 1938 British Empire Games was the third British Empire Games, the Commonwealth Games being the modern-day equivalent. Held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia from February 5–12, 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary...
were held in Sydney from 5–12 February, timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 years since the foundation of British settlement in Australia).
World War two
Australian home front during World War II
Although most Australian civilians lived far from the front line of World War II, the Australian home front during World War II played a significant role in the Allied victory and led to permanent changes to Australian society....
, and Military history of Australia during World War II
Military history of Australia during World War II
Australia entered World War II shortly after the invasion of Poland, declaring war on Germany on 3 September 1939. By the end of the war, almost a million Australians had served in the armed forces, whose military units fought primarily in the European theatre, North African campaign, and...
On 3 September 1939 Prime Minister Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
announced the beginning of Australia's involvement in the Second World War on every national and commercial radio station across Australia. Sydney-siders fighting in the Australian Armed Forces
Australian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy , Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and a number of 'tri-service' units...
served in campaigns against Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and Fascist Italy
Fascist Italy
"Fascist Italy" refers to Italy under the rule of Benito Mussolini and Italian Fascism. The Fascists led two polities:*The Kingdom of Italy , under the National Fascist Party, and,...
in Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa, as well as against Imperial Japan in south-east Asia and other parts of the Pacific.
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
and air force and called for an overhaul of economic, domestic, and industrial policies to mount a total war effort. Sydney saw a surge in industrial development to meet the needs of a war economy, and also the elimination of unemployment. Labour shortages forced the government to accept women in more active roles in war work.
After launching their Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
, the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
managed to infiltrate New South Wales waters
Axis naval activity in Australian waters
Although Australia was remote from the main battlefronts, there was considerable Axis naval activity in Australian waters during the Second World War. A total of 54 German and Japanese warships and submarines entered Australian waters between 1940 and 1945 and attacked ships, ports and other targets...
and in late May and early June 1942, Japanese submarines made a daring series of attacks
Attack on Sydney Harbour
In late May and early June 1942, during World War II, submarines belonging to the Imperial Japanese Navy made a series of attacks on the cities of Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia...
on the cities of Sydney and Newcastle. On the night of 31 May–1 June 1942, three midget submarines were launched from their large "mother" submarines east of Sydney to enter Sydney Harbour to attack shipping located there: principally the cruisers USS Chicago and HMAS Canberra. The first of the two-men submarines entered the harbour at 8 pm, while the third became entangled in the harbour's anti-submarine boom net. One sub managed to reach Potts Point where, under fire, it fired two torpedoes at the US heavy cruiser Chicago. Missing the target, one torpedo struck the sea wall against which the converted harbour ferry HMAS Kuttabul
HMAS Kuttabul (ship)
HMAS Kuttabul was a Royal Australian Navy depot ship, and former Sydney harbour ferry. During the Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour on 31 May 1942, Kuttabul was torpedoed and sunk, with 21 Commonwealth naval personnel aboard....
was moored. The blast sank the Kuttabul, killing 19 Australian and 2 British naval personnel who were asleep onboard.
In the aftermath of the attack, the Harbour's defences were increased and the Australian population feared Japanese invasion. Amid great controversy, the bodies of the four Japanese submariners responsible for the raid were cremated with full military honors and returned to Japan. Eight days after the first attack, two large "mother" submarines lying off shore fired shells on Sydney and Newcastle. Causing little real damage, the aim of this second attack was to create a sense of unease among the city's population. Some Sydney-siders moved away from the coast while others dug air raid shelters in their backyards and membership of volunteer defence organisations grew to over 80,000.
The main Japanese naval advance towards Australian territory was however halted with the assistance of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, in May 1942, at the Battle of the Coral Sea
Battle of the Coral Sea
The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged...
and by the end of 1943, the Japanese had abandoned submarine operations in Australian waters.
Post war
During the post war period, Sydney enhanced its position as an education capital of the Western Pacific. Five new universities were developed to service the demands of an increasing population and demand for education: University of New South Wales
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
, University of Technology, Sydney
University of Technology, Sydney
The University of Technology Sydney is a university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1981, although its origins trace back to the 1870s. UTS is notable for its central location as the only university with its main campuses within the Sydney CBD...
, University of Western Sydney
University of Western Sydney
The University of Western Sydney, also known as UWS, is a multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
and the Australian Catholic University
Australian Catholic University
Australian Catholic University is a national public university. It has six campuses and offers programs in five faculties throughout Australia.-History:...
.
Since the 1970s Sydney has undergone a rapid economic and social transformation. As aviation has replaced shipping, most new migrants to Australia have arrived in Sydney by air rather than in Melbourne by ship, and Sydney now gets the lion's share of new arrivals from every continent of the globe. As a result the city has become a cosmopolitan melting pot.
A new skyline of concrete and steel skyscrapers swept away much of the old lowrise and often sandstone skyline of early Sydney: Australia Square Tower, constructed in 1967 and designed by modernist architect Harry Seidler
Harry Seidler
Harry Seidler, AC OBE was an Austrian-born Australian architect who is considered to be one of the leading exponents of Modernism's methodology in Australia and the first architect to fully express the principles of the Bauhaus in Australia.Harry Seidler designed more than 180 buildings and he...
became a city landmark, surpassed in 1981 by Sydney Tower
Sydney Tower
Sydney Tower Eye is Sydney's tallest free-standing structure, and the second tallest in Australia...
("Centrepoint") as the tallest building in Sydney at 305m. By the late 1960s, bulldozers were encroaching on The Rocks
The Rocks, New South Wales
The Rocks is an urban locality, tourist precinct and historic area of Sydney's city centre, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, immediately north-west of the Sydney central business district...
- European settlement's oldest Sydney precinct - saved only by public protests aimed at preserving 'working class housing' close to the Central Business District (which resulted also in considerable colonial era architecture being preserved in one precinct next to Circular Quay). In 1973, after a long period of planning and construction, the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
was officially opened. The building was from a design by Jørn Utzon
Jørn Utzon
Jørn Oberg Utzon, , AC was a Danish architect, most notable for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia. When it was declared a World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007, Utzon became only the second person to have received such recognition for one of his works during his lifetime...
. It became a symbol not only of Sydney, but of the Australian nation and was inscribed by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
in 2007.
Intellectuals such as those of the Sydney Push
Sydney Push
The Sydney Push was a predominantly left-wing intellectual sub-culture in Sydney from the late 1940s to the early '70s. Well known associates of the Push include Jim Baker, John Flaus, Harry Hooton, Margaret Fink, Sasha Soldatow, Lex Banning, Eva Cox, Richard Appleton, Paddy McGuinness, David...
(including feminist Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....
, author and broadcaster Clive James
Clive James
Clive James, AM is an Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet and memoirist, best known for his autobiographical series Unreliable Memoirs, for his chat shows and documentaries on British television and for his prolific journalism...
and art critic Robert Hughes
Robert Hughes
-Politicians:*Robert Hughes, Baron Hughes of Woodside , British Labour politician, MP for Aberdeen North*Robert Gurth Hughes , British Conservative politician, MP for Harrow West-Sportsmen:*Robert Hughes , of Stamford FC...
) rose out of Sydney during the period, as did influential artists like painter Brett Whitely. Paul Hogan
Paul Hogan
Paul Hogan, AM is an Australian actor best known for his role as Michael "Crocodile" Dundee from the Crocodile Dundee film series, for which he won a Golden Globe award.-Early life and career:...
went from painter on the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...
to local TV star, then global film star with his hugely successful Crocodile Dundee
Crocodile Dundee
"Crocodile" Dundee is a 1986 Australian comedy film set in the Australian Outback and in New York City. It stars Paul Hogan as the weathered Mick Dundee and Linda Kozlowski as Sue Charlton....
in 1986 (a film which begins with scenes of Sydney) while theatre institutions like the Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company
The Sydney Theatre Company is one of Australia's best-known theatre companies operating from The Wharf Theatre near The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Sydney Theatre and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre....
and National Institute of Dramatic Art
National Institute of Dramatic Art
The National Institute of Dramatic Art is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. NIDA is located adjacent...
nurtured the budding careers of actors Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
, Judy Davis
Judy Davis
Judy Davis is an Australian actress best known for her roles in Husbands and Wives, Barton Fink, A Passage to India and in the TV miniseries Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows....
, Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor and film producer. He is one of the few people who has won the "Triple Crown of Acting": an Academy Award, a Tony Award and an Emmy Award. He has won one Academy Award for acting , three British Academy Film Awards , two Golden Globe Awards and four Screen...
and Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
and elsewhere actors Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
and Russel Crowe forged their early careers in the city. In 1998, Fox Studios Australia
Fox Studios Australia
Fox Studios Australia is a major movie studio located in Sydney, Australia, occupying the site of the former Sydney Showground at Moore Park...
opened as a major movie studio, occupying the site of the former Sydney Showground
Sydney Showground (Moore Park)
The former Sydney Showground at Moore Park was the site of the Sydney Royal Easter Show in New South Wales, Australia from 1882 until 1997, when the Show was moved to the new Sydney Showground at Homebush Bay, which was built for the Sydney 2000 Olympics...
at Moore Park
Moore Park
Moore Park could refer to these places:*Moore Park, New South Wales a park and suburb in Sydney, Australia*Moore Park Nature Reserve a remnant of gallery rainforest in northern New South Wales*Moore Park, Queensland, a town in Australia...
- going on to produce such blockbusters as The Matrix
The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
films, Moulin Rouge!
Moulin Rouge!
Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 romantic jukebox musical film directed, produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. Following the Red Curtain Cinema principles, the film is based on the Orphean myth, La Traviata, and La Bohème...
, Mission: Impossible II
Mission: Impossible II
Mission: Impossible II is a 2000 action film directed by John Woo, and starring Tom Cruise, who also served as the film's producer...
(set partly in Sydney), and the revived Star Wars and Superman film franchises. The traditional Sydney Royal Easter Show
Sydney Royal Easter Show
The Sydney Royal Easter Show, also known as the Royal Easter Show or simply The Show, is an annual show held in Sydney, Australia over two weeks around Easter.It is run by the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales and was first held in 1823...
was relocated to the New Sydney Showground at Homebush
Sydney Showground (Homebush Bay)
The Sydney Showground is a purpose built venue used each year for the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Located at Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, it was opened in 1998, as a venue for the 2000 Summer Olympics and to replace the ageing old Sydney Showground at Moore Park...
.
To relieve congestion on the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...
, the Sydney Harbour Tunnel
Sydney Harbour Tunnel
The Sydney Harbour Tunnel is a twin-tube road tunnel in Sydney, Australia. The tunnel was completed and opened to traffic in August 1992 to provide a second vehicular crossing of Sydney Harbour to alleviate congestion on the Sydney Harbour Bridge....
opened in August 1992. The 2.3 kilometer underwater tunnel cost A$554 million to construct. Built to withstand earthquakes and sinking ships, in the early 21st century it carries around 75,000 vehicles a day.
Although generally of mild climate, in 1993-4, Sydney suffered a serious bushfire season
1994 Eastern seaboard fires
The 1994 Eastern seaboard fires were bushfires in New South Wales, Australia between 27 December 1993 and 16 January 1994 were widespread along the NSW coast from Bega to the Queensland border and inland as far as Bathurst. Over 80 separate fires encouraged by extreme hot dry and windy conditions...
, causing destruction even within urban areas.
Olympic City and the new millenium
Stadium Australia (currently also known as ANZ Stadium due to naming rightsNaming rights
In the private sector, naming rights are a financial transaction whereby a corporation or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, typically for a defined period of time. For properties like a multi-purpose arena, performing arts venue or an athletic field, the term ranges from three...
), a multi-purpose stadium
Multi-purpose stadium
Multi-purpose stadiums are a type of stadium designed in such a way as to be easily used by multiple sports. While any stadium could potentially host more than one sport, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy that stresses multi-functionality over specificity...
located in the Sydney Olympic Park
Sydney Olympic Park
Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sydney Olympic Park is located 16 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Auburn Council....
precinct of the redeveloped Homebush Bay
Homebush Bay, New South Wales
Homebush Bay was the former name of a suburb of western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia that took in the suburbs of Sydney Olympic Park, Wentworth Point and part of the neighbouring suburb of Lidcombe. Homebush Bay is located 16 kilometres west of the Sydney central business...
was completed in March 1999 at a cost of A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
690 million to serve as a venue 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
. Sydney captured global attention in the Year 2000 by hosting the Summer Olympic Games
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
. The Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics was described by IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch as the most beautiful ceremony the world has ever seen. Held on the evening of Friday 15 September 2000, the Opening Ceremony represented everything Australian, from sea creatures and flora/fauna...
featured a theatrical rendering of Australian history through dance and a torch lighting by Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman
Cathy Freeman
Catherine Astrid Salome "Cathy" Freeman, OAM is former Australian sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. She became the Olympic champion for the women's 400 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics, at which she lit the Olympic Flame.Freeman was the first ever Aboriginal...
. At the Closing Ceremony, President of the International Olympic Committee
Presidents of the International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is a corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas on 23 June 1894. Its membership consists of the 205 National Olympic Committees...
, Juan Antonio Samaranch
Juan Antonio Samaranch
Don Juan Antonio Samaranch y Torelló, 1st Marquis of Samaranch, Grandee of Spain , known in Catalan as Joan Antoni Samaranch i Torelló , was a Catalan Spanish sports administrator who served as the seventh President of the International Olympic Committee from 1980 to 2001...
, declared:
The Olympic mayor, Frank Sartor
Frank Sartor
Francesco Ernest 'Frank' Sartor JP a former Australian politician, was New South Wales Minister for Climate Change and the Environment and Minister Assisting the Minister for Health between 2009 and 2011. He was a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Rockdale for the...
, was the longest serving Lord Mayor of Sydney, serving from 1991 to 2003 and his successor, Lucy Turnbull
Lucy Turnbull
Lucinda Mary "Lucy" Turnbull, née Hughes AO , a former Australian politician and former Lord Mayor of Sydney, is a prominent Australian business leader and company director. Turnbull was the first female Lord Mayor of Sydney, between 2003 and 2004 and was Deputy Lord Mayor, between 1999 and 2003...
, became the first woman to hold that office in 2003. From 1991-2007, Sydney-siders governed as Prime Minister of Australia
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
- first Paul Keating
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election...
(1991–1996) and later John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
(1996–2007). Sydney has maintained extensive political, economic and cultural influence over Australia as well as international renown in recent decades. Following the Olympics, the city hosted the 2003 Rugby World Cup
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...
, the APEC Leaders conference of 2007
APEC Australia 2007
APEC Australia 2007 was a series of political meetings held around Australia between the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation during 2007...
and Catholic World Youth Day 2008
World Youth Day 2008
The 23rd World Youth Day 2008 was a Catholic youth festival that started on 15 July and continued until 20 July 2008 in Sydney, Australia. It was the first World Youth Day held in Australia and the first World Youth Day in Oceania. This meeting was decided by Pope Benedict XVI, during the Cologne...
, led by Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
.
Sydney has gained a reputation for diversity and most commentators predict that the population will continue to grow in the coming decades.
See also
- Sydney PushSydney PushThe Sydney Push was a predominantly left-wing intellectual sub-culture in Sydney from the late 1940s to the early '70s. Well known associates of the Push include Jim Baker, John Flaus, Harry Hooton, Margaret Fink, Sasha Soldatow, Lex Banning, Eva Cox, Richard Appleton, Paddy McGuinness, David...
- Rocks PushRocks PushThe Rocks Push was a notorious larrikin gang, which dominated the The Rocks area of Sydney from the 1870s to the end of the 1890s. In its day it was referred to as The Push, a title which has since come to be more widely used for cliques in general and the left-wing movement the Sydney Push.The...
- Culture of SydneyCulture of SydneyThe cultural life of Sydney, Australia is extremely dynamic, diverse and multicultural. Many of the individual cultures that make up the Sydney mosaic are centred on the cultural, artistic, ethnic, linguistic and religious communities formed by waves of immigration...
- History of New South WalesHistory of New South WalesThe history of New South Wales refers to the history of the Australian State of New South Wales and its preceding Indigenous and British colonial societies. The Mungo Lake remains indicate occupation of New South Wales by Aboriginal Australians for at least 40,000 years...
- Aboriginal sites of New South WalesAboriginal sites of New South WalesAboriginal sites of New South Wales consist of a large number of places in the Australian state of New South Wales where it is still possible to see visible signs of the activities and culture of the Australian Aborigines—or Indigenous Australians—who occupied these areas before the arrival of...
- History of AustraliaHistory of AustraliaThe History of Australia refers to the history of the area and people of Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Aboriginal Australians are believed to have first arrived on the Australian mainland by boat from the Indonesian archipelago between 40,000 to...