Colony of New South Wales

New South Wales Colony
British Crown Colony
1788–1901 →   →
Flag (1876-1901)
Government		Self-governing colony
Monarch
-	1788–1820	George III first
-	1855–1901	Victoria last
Governor
-	1788–1792	Arthur Phillip first
-	1899–1901	William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp last
Legislature		Parliament of New South Wales
History
-	establishment	1788
-	Independence of Van Diemen's Land	3 December 1825
-	Independence of the South Australia Colony	28 December 1836
-	Independence of the Colony of New Zealand	1 July 1841
-	Independence of the Queensland Colony	6 June 1849
-	Federation of Australia	1901

From 1788 to 1901, New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire. During this period New South Wales was composed of what would become the six colonies of Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and New Zealand before each of them became separate colonies within the British Empire.

History

Formation

On 13 May 1787, the First Fleet led by Captain Arthur Phillip founded the first British settlement in Australian history. Captain Arthur Phillip assumed the role of governor of the settlement on arrival in 1788 until 1792.

Independence of Van Diemen's Land

Main article: Van Diemen's Land

Major-General Ralph Darling was appointed Governor of New South Wales in 1825, and in the same year he visited Hobart Town, and on December 3 proclaimed the establishment of the independent colony, of which he actually became Governor for three days.

Independence of South Australia

In 1834, the British Parliament passed the South Australia Act 1834, which enabled the province of South Australia to be established.

Independence of Victoria

On 1 July 1851, writs were issued for the election of the first Victorian Legislative Council, and the absolute independence of Victoria from New South Wales was established proclaiming a new Colony of Victoria.

Independence of Queensland

A public meeting was held in 1851 to consider Queensland's proposed separation from New South Wales. On 6 June 1859, Queen Victoria signed Letters Patent to form the separate colony of what is now Queensland. Brisbane was appointed as the capital city. On 10 December 1859, a proclamation was read by British author George Bowen, whereby Queensland was formally separated from the state of New South Wales. As a result, Bowen became the first Governor of Queensland. On 22 May 1860 the first Queensland election was held and Robert Herbert, Bowen's private secretary, was appointed as the first Premier of Queensland. Queensland also became the first Australian colony to establish its own parliament rather than spending time as a Crown Colony. In 1865, the first rail lane in the state opened between Ipswich and Grandchester.