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Proclamation

George Johnston (1764—1823)
Proclamation
[issued by Major George Johnston on the day after the deposition of Governor William Bligh, proclaiming the cessation of martial law in the colony]
Sydney: 27 January 1808
broadside; 30.5 x 21 cm
NK5608

1808
January
25
John Macarthur comes before court on a charge of sedition over the Parramatta case. He challenges Judge-Advocate Richard Atkins' impartiality in the case and the court adjourns in confusion
26
Macarthur is arrested sparking the Rum Rebellion. Military officers supporting Macarthur arrest Governor Bligh

February
2
Lieutenant Governor William Paterson sails to Sydney from Port Dalrymple to take over the administration of New South Wales

12 Macarthur is appointed a magistrate and "Secretary to the Colony"—its virtual administrator

6 The US whaler Topaz discovers, the last survivor of the Bounty mutineers, John Adams (alias Alexander Smith), on Pitcairn Island with the mutineers’ descendants

May
15 The brig Harrington is seized by fifty convicts, led by Robert Stewart, in Farm Cove and sails for the Philippines. They are captured three months later and Stewart is hanged in Sydney in August

28 Anthony Fenn Kemp is appointed acting Judge Advocate

July
28 Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Foveaux arrives in the colony to begin administration of Norfolk Island, and takes over from Johnston as acting Governor of New South Wales. He refuses to reinstate Bligh (30 July)

September
1 William Redfern receives the first medical diploma issued in Australia