Australian colonial history

Myall Creek Memorial Ceremony 2020 cancelled, goes virtual

2025-07-03T13:57:16+10:00May 15th, 2020|

HISTORICAL POST PLEASE NOTE THAT The Friends of Myall Creek National Committee has changed since this post. For information about the Friends of Myall. Creek (1 February 2024) see the Contact Us page: https://myallcreek.org/contact-us/ Original Post: Owing to the corona virus pandemic, the 20th anniversary Myall Creek Memorial ceremony [...]

Endeavour Voyage: The Untold Stories of Cook and the First Australians

2020-05-15T17:33:21+10:00May 15th, 2020|

Although the National Museum of Australia is not open to the public due to the corona virus pandemic, anyone interested in the anniversary of the 250th voyage of HMS Endeavour and the untold stories from First Nations' perspectives can view the museum's exhibition about the voyage online. Watch Endeavour [...]

1770 and all that from Inside Story

2020-04-29T17:07:18+10:00April 29th, 2020|

Hamish McDonald reports for Inside Story today, 29 April 2020, on the anniversary festival at Cook's landing place that had to be abandoned because of the coronavirus pandemic. Read the article at: https://insidestory.org.au/1770-and-all-that/ Replica of HMS Endeavour This year, the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook's voyage on HMS [...]

Coronavirus forces Appin Massacre Memorial service 2020 online

2025-07-03T13:57:30+10:00April 20th, 2020|

On 17 April 1816, at least 14 Dharawal men, women and children died in the Appin Massacre in the former colony of New South Wales. The killings, ordered by the then Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie, were perpetrated by the military against Aboriginal people in reprisal for [...]

The cause of Australia’s first pandemic is still a controversial mystery 231 years on

2020-03-29T18:41:05+11:00March 29th, 2020|

The first recorded pandemic in an Australian colony was the smallpox outbreak that decimated the Gadigal people around Sydney in April 1789. Ben Deacon, ABC News online, 29 March 2020 revisits this controversial event that many people today believe was a deliberate act against First Peoples: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-29/coronavirus-and-australias-first-pandemic-caused-by-smallpox/12099430 [...]

Push for frontier wars commemoration at Australian War Memorial

2022-10-05T15:50:45+11:00March 25th, 2020|

On 22 November 2019, when Dr Brendan Nelson was still Director of the Australian War Memorial (AWM), many organisations and members of the public called for Australia's 'frontier wars' to be recognised as part of the $500 million expansion of the AWM. Read more at: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6506929/support-for-frontier-wars-commemoration-in-awm-public-consultation/  It remains to [...]

Aboriginal scars from frontier wars, 18 March 2020

2025-07-03T13:57:02+10:00March 20th, 2020|

A long-running archaeology project, funded by the Australian Research Council, has been looking into what happened to Aboriginal men who were recruited to the Queensland Native Mounted Police, their involvement in 'the frontier wars' and the resultant trauma that impacted their lives. Read more about this story in EurekaAlert! [...]

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