Australia History - How much do you know?

[Danyet]

I wonder where they relocated those people to!

[Shazzam]

I wonder where they relocated those people to!

Good question, I wonder if they went West? Maybe that is how the Western suburbs of Sydney got started. I just can't believe that they weren't compensated for their land

[Shazzam]

That will be so easy!

Do you think you will have something for me before Christmas Danyet

[Danyet]

Background to the battle of Vinegar Hill

On the morning of Monday 5 March 1804 men in drab convict clothes moved through the trees of Castle Hill in an area mostly unsettled, carrying guns, pitchforks and poles.

At the same time, no one could miss the red coated officers and men of the NSW Corp led by Major George Johnston as they and their civilian supporters strode along the Windsor Road after a quick march from Sydney Town during the night. Governor King had been warned that a band of Irish convicts had broken out of the Castle Hill Barracks the night before with the intention of joining other rebel convicts and marching firstly on Parramatta and then on to Sydney to seize ships in the harbour and make their way to Ireland and freedom.

The rebels never made it to Parramatta but turned away towards the north-west. Major Johnston caught up with them and the ensuing battle saw 15 convicts killed and the others punished and returned to imprisonment.

Many convicts in this first organised uprising in the new colony were political prisoners and members of the United Irishmen's Society - a union of Irish Catholics and Protestants seeking a united and independent Ireland. They were concentrated in the Barracks at Castle Hill to work on the Government Farm which had been set up to provide food for the Colony. This gave them the opportunity to discus their beliefs and their dreams and to plan their bid to freedom.

Unfortunately plans were easier to make than to carry out. It was very difficult to get word to the other convict barracks and to sympathisers in the towns. It was impossible to stop an informer from going to the authorities in Parramatta.

Six years previously, in Wexford County Ireland, a similar battle had been fought at a place called Vinegar Hill - the name was transferred to this battle on the outskirts of Sydney. The original battle on 21 June 1798 at Enniscorthy was a victory for the British and many Irishmen were killed or executed and many more were transported to the new colony of Australia.

The soldiers were under the leadership of Major George Johnston. Some of the armed citizens from the Parramatta area joined them. When the opposing sides met, a Catholic Priest, Father Dixon tried to negotiate a truce without bloodshed. The Irish leaders thought that Major Johnston had agreed to talk and stepped up to him. He took them prisoner and ordered his troops to fire on the rebels.

While the government forces were greatly outnumbered and much better armed, they had no problem in claiming immediate victory and the convicts scattered during the confusion.

Official records of the day record fifteen rebel deaths on the field and over three hundred captured. None of the Government forces were killed or wounded.

Phillip Cunningham was badly wounded and was hung immediately for his part in the uprising. William Johnston and two fellow convicts were hung at Castle Hill. There were five other hangings as well as severe sentences of lashings.

The name Vinegar Hill was also used 50 years later as the password for entry to the Eureka Stockade.

Commemorating this particular event in Australian history is not to pay tribute to a Battle, or to revive the sectarian and authoritarian issues that led to the rebellion almost 200 years ago.

The survivors of the battle from both camps, and their children after them, were the pioneers of this nation. Few of them had a choice in whether or not they came to this isolated land so far from all they knew. A great many on both sides stayed and became worthy citizens of a new country where differences could be settled without the bloodshed suffered at Vinegar Hill.

[Shazzam]

Ah The Irish don't you just love them. Another good old boy "Ned Kelly". What a legend. In those days there fights were more for civil liberties than anything else. They were wars that were meant to be waged; however they were looked upon as bush rangers.

[Shazzam]

On the 24th December, 1974 (Christmas Eve) Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia with its full force.

Here is some more information on the events:

On 20th December, 1974 the Bureau of Meteorology monitored the formation of a tropical depression in the Arafura Sea, 700 kilometres north-east of Darwin. Within 24 hours it had intensified with winds over 63 kilometres per hour caused the depression to be upgraded to the status of a cyclone. The Bureau gave it the next name in the register- Tracy.

For the next few days Tracy moved south-west and while closely watched it did not appear to pose a major threat as it would pass well to the north of Darwin. During an evening broadcast on 22 December ABC news radio was able to report: Cylcone Tracy poses no immediate threat to Darwin. However, early on Christmas Eve, Tracy passed the western tip of Bathurst Island, north of Darwin turned around and began to accelerate towards the city. From midnight until 7.00am on Christmas Day, the cyclone passed directy over Darwin, with its 'eye' centred over the airport and northern suburbs (Coconut Grove, Nightcliff, Tiwi, Moil, Wagaman, Nakara). The rainfall was torrential and winds were officially recorded at 217 kilometres per hour (unofficial estimates placed them as high as 300 kilometres per hour). Houses and other buildings disintegrated under the onslaught, accompanied by the sounds of flying debris and breaking glass.

With the cyclone's passing, 49 people had died in the city and another 16 were lost at sea. Many more were injured. In all 70 per cent of Darwin's homes were destroyed or suffered severe structural damage. All services - communications, power, water and sewerage- were severed.

There are different sites available with details of Cyclone Tracy some figures state that more than 70 people died. I have taken this information from a Government web-site so I hope it is actual.

I remember as a child watching these events on television. It was so sad. The people in Darwin were cut off from the rest of Australia; and no one really knew the real impact of the cyclone until Christmas night.

[Danyet]

Yes I remember this quite well. It was all Bob Hawkes's fault.

[Shazzam]

Yes I remember this quite well. It was all Bob Hawkes's fault.

A little bit before Bob's time I think more Gough's period But yes Bob was definately a 'big bag of wind'. But a legend

[Rui]

well, i'm seeing on BBC the documentary about the journey of captain cook, i guess it was more less 200 years ago that he has discovered some parts of australia, a group of people had made all his trip in equal ship like he did on that time... but sorry, my intention it's to learn english, so sometimes i waste some time going to the dictionary see what they have said

[Dixie]

I love the story of the kangaroos being named

When the first settlers arrived in Australia and saw kangaroos, they thought they were such strange animals. They asked some natives what was the name of those creatures, and the natives replied: "Kan ga roo". So the settlers thought that was the name of the animals, while the truth was that the natives were just saying "I don't understand"

And I will always remember this question on my Australian Literature exam: Why is Camberra de capital of Australia? I had absolutely no idea; I was convinced that we had not studied that in class. Later on, after the exam, one of my classmates told me that the professor had explained it one day in class, just like an anecdote... and now she was asking us that in the final exam