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Convict uprising

unknown artist
[Convict Uprising at Castle Hill, 1804] 1804
watercolour; 31.2 x 41.3 cm
T2495 NK10162

1804
January
9 Collins examines the site of Launceston

February
16 Collins becomes Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land and decides on Sullivan Cove as a settlement site

March
4
Irish convicts at Castle Hill launch a full-scale rebellion. Martial law is declared in Parramatta and nearby districts. The rising is put down at Vinegar Hill.

30 Lieutenant Charles Menzies re-establishes the settlement at the Hunter River, Newcastle.

May
3
Those at the Risdon Cove settlement fire upon approaching Aboriginal men. Fifty are killed. They are the first casualties in Tasmania's Black War

7 The ship Coromandel arrives at Port Jackson with 200 convicts and a consignment of smallpox vaccine

June
15 The settlement at Sullivan Cove, Van Diemen’s Land is named Hobart Town by Collins

August
9 The settlement at Risdon Cove is abandoned

September
Most convicts and half the military detachment are withdrawn from Norfolk Island

16 Government brewery at Parramatta begins producing beer

November
26 Guards at Port Dalrymple fire upon a band of Aboriginal people, killing one and wounding another