Aussie Slang

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Convict & Military Sites

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Convict and Colonial History

Newcastle and Hunter Valley

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  Access information about Convicts, Settlers, Soldiers, Clerics and Townspeople of Newcastle, Hunter Valley and Central Coast from the Search Box above. Search by Surname, First Name or Ship of Arrival
  
  
  

• Convict Search

  Find your Convict - The British Convict Transportation Register dataset contains details of convicts transported to Australia in the 18th and 19th centuries including the name of the convict, place of trial, term of years, name of ship and date of departure, and place of arrival
  
  
  

• Historical Records of Colonial Australia

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  Use this AI Research Notebook to explore documents from the Historical Records of Australia and New South Wales 1787 – 1832. Find out about management of the convict population, emancipists, settlers, military personnel, government officials and early exploration.
  
  
  

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  To find out more about The First Fleet, Convict Ships, Immigrant Ships, Medical Practitioners, Convict Ship Surgeons, Inns and Hotels, Bushrangers, Priests and Pastors, Hunter Valley Place Names, Australian Slang and more.....
  
  

1788

Arrival in Australia of the First Fleet

1790

Arrival in Australia of the Second Fleet

1791

Remarkable escape from the colony of convicts William and Mary Bryant

1797

Lieut. Shortland Discovered the Hunter River while in pursuit of escaped convicts

1801

Expedition to the Hunter River undertaken by Lieut. William Paterson, James Grant, Ensign Barrallier and George Caley

1802

First Settlement and coal mines were established at Newcastle under Corporal Wixstead

1804

A Convict uprising at Castle Hill in March 1804. Some of the convicts involved to be sent to Newcastle

1804

In March 1804 a Settlement was established at Newcastle under Lieut. Charles Menzies

1808

Lime burning had commenced as early as 1808 at Limburner's Bay near Newcastle where there was an immense deposit of oyster shells

1810

Lieut. John Purcell of the 73rd Regiment was appointed commandant at Newcastle penal settlement in February 1810

1811

Convict James Hardy Vaux compiled Australia's first Dictionary - The Vocabulary of the Flash Language while serving a sentence at Newcastle in 1811

1814

Lieut. Thomas Thompson was commandant at Newcastle when four convicts made a daring escape on the sloop Speedwell

1816

A school was established at Newcastle under convict schoolmaster Henry Wrensford

1818

Newcastle gaol was constructed in 1816 - 1818 on a site overlooking the ocean during Lieutenant James Wallis's tenure as Commandant

1819

Arrival in Sydney of Commissioner John Thomas Bigge - appointed to conduct an enquiry relating to Transportation, Disembarkation and Servitude

1823

By 1823 Newcastle had been closed as a penal settlement and most convicts, excepting those working on the breakwall, were removed to Port Macquarie.

1823

A survey of the township had been completed by Henry Dangar by 1823 and the district was thrown open for settlement