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William Bligh

Alexander Huey (fl.1809—1818)
[Portrait of Rear Admiral William Bligh] 1814
watercolour on ivory; 11.5 x 8.4 cm
R11322

1806
March
15
The Hawkesbury River rises to a level never experienced by colonists. The colony is reduced to near starvation in the face of lost crops

William Paterson begins transferring his settlement on the Tamar (York Town) to Patersonia (Launceston)

April
11 News of the Battle of Trafalgar reaches the colony

June
16 Convicts at Port Dalrymple seize the brig Venus and sail to New Zealand

Sydney's first girls' school is opened

August
6 William Bligh arrives at Port Jackson to replace Philip Gidley King as Governor. King embarks on the Buffalo but collapses (15 August), delaying his departure for six months

21 With provisions at Hobart almost exhausted, prisoners are given guns and permitted to hunt kangaroos

October
4 Bligh issues new and stricter port regulations

December
4 Bligh announces wage conditions for harvesting work and other tasks

Other
Former Governor King and Samuel Marsden entertain visiting Maori Chief Te Pelvi and his four sons

Formal Roman Catholic education begins in Australia with the opening of a Catholic school in Sydney

Australia’s first whaling station is operational on the Derwent River, Van Diemen's Land