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1829
January
1 Sturt’s party reaches the Bogan River. He examines the Darling River near present day Bourke, and traces the Castlereagh River

February
9 The Launceston Advertiser is founded by J.P. Fawkner

March
1 W.C. Wentworth impeaches Darling in a letter to the Colonial Office

25 George Augustus Robinson is appointed guardian of the Aboriginal population at Bruny Island, Tasmania

31 Fort Dundas, Melville Island, is abandoned. Settlers move to Raffles Bay

April
10 Edward Smith Hall is found guilty of seditious libel of Darling in the Monitor of 22 November 1828. He is sentenced to 12 months' gaol

14 E. Hayes, editor of The Australian, is fined and gaoled for six months for libelling Darling

May
2 Captain Charles Fremantle of HMS Challenger lands at the site of Fremantle and takes formal possession of the western third of Australia, that is, all of the mainland not included in New South Wales

31 Captain James Stirling in HMS Parmelia arrives at Cockburn Sound to form a settlement on the Swan River

The ship Governor Ready is wrecked in Torres Strait. The crew in ship's boats sail 2,400 km to Timor in 14 days

June
18 The colony of Western Australia is proclaimed, with Stirling as Lieutenant-Governor. By 12 August the site of Perth is chosen, and land sales in Perth and Fremantle begin on 5 September

August
15 Foreign coins are no longer accepted by the government in Australia

21 The Legislative Council of New South Wales meets for the first time in the present Parliament House

September
5 Land sales in Perth and Fremantle begin on 5 September

13 Archdeacon William Grant Broughton, later Bishop Broughton, the first Anglican bishop in Australia, arrives in Sydney

October
9 Emancipists become eligible for jury service. Such juries consist of 12 men

14 Governor Darling proclaims the Nineteen Counties of New South Wales, redefining the Limits of Location, beyond which settlement is prohibited

New South Wales' four-year drought breaks

November
3 Sturt leaves to determine the course of the Murrumbidgee River

30 Compositors on The Australian newspaper strike over a reduction in wages owing to the currency depreciation

December
15 Thomas Peel arrives at the Swan River with 300 settlers. They are, however, too late to be eligible for the land grant for his colonisation scheme

Other
The Shipwrights' Society of Sydney is formed. It is believed to be the first trade association in New South Wales

Fifty-two people are hung in New South Wales during the year