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Proclamation to the Aborigines

unknown artist
Governor Arthur’s Proclamation to the Aborigines 1 November 1828
oil on wood panel; 36 x 22.8 cm
R7247

1828
February
6
R.L. Murray founds Murray's Austral-Asiatic Review (in Hobart)

Orders are issued against the practice of ‘squatting’ in Tasmania

March
1 Post offices open at Parramatta, Windsor, Liverpool, Campbelltown, Penrith, Bathurst, and Newcastle. Australia's first postman is appointed in Sydney, a twice weekly horse post is established between principal towns, and a regular sea postal service started between Sydney, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, and Hobart

3 Several deaths from whooping cough occur for the first time in Sydney including the death of Governor Darling's son

April
15 Lieutenant-Governor Arthur issues a proclamation excluding all Aboriginal people from settled areas in Tasmania

May
28 Thomas Mitchell becomes Surveyor-General of New South Wales following the death of John Oxley

July
17 The first Masters' and Servants' Act is passed in New South Wales

30 Captain James Stirling, urges the Colonial Office to form a colony on the Swan River

September
14 The Bank of Australia in Sydney is robbed of a large amount by a gang who break into the strongroom by a tunnel from a water drain. The Bank never recovers from the loss

17 ‘Holey dollars’ are withdrawn from circulation

November
1 Martial law is proclaimed by Lieutenant-Governor Arthur in the settled districts of Van Diemen's Land and is seen by the roving parties who now hunt the Aboriginal population as a license to kill

10 Charles Sturt and Hamilton Hume trace the course of the Macquarie River

14 Thomas Peel in Britain puts forward a proposal to the Colonial Office for the colonisation of West Australia

December
30 Stirling is given instructions to occupy the Swan River area and is officially appointed Lieutenant-Governor of West Australia

Other
A female convict factory is opened at the Cascades, near Hobart

The Netherlands claims the south-west coast of New Guinea

Sir Thomas Brisbane is awarded the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for his work at Parramatta

New legislation provides for the forfeiture of wages and six months' imprisonment for any servant or workman leaving a job in breach of their contract