Sydney European Settlement

The first evidence of the Sydney European settlement dates back to 26th January 1788, when the 11 ships and about 1,350 people of the First Fleet of Arthur Phillip landed on the Sydney Cove. Initially, the Sydney European settlement was not meant to be made for local people as the First Fleet only brought British convicts. British prisoners and convicts started carving out a settlement for themselves and the eastern side of the present City of Sydney still has the signs of these early settlements.

From 1788 to 1823, the colony of New South Wales remained as a penal colony. In 1823, the British government set up a New South Wales parliament by forming a Legislative Council and Supreme Court under the New South Wales Act of 1823. The English government also established the criminal and civil law courts in New South Wales. Sir Richard Bourke made a proclamation that the lands, which belonged to no one before the European settlement in Sydney, could be occupied.

The Crown Lands Act of 1861 allowed people to select up to 320 acres of land for their use if they paid a deposit and stayed on the land for three years. As a result of this act, there were strong conflicts between selectors and squatters. Despite all these early problems, during the European settlement in the colony of New South Wales and Port Jackson area, this area went on to become the site of the largest city in Australia-Sydney.