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1791 in Australia
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January 2012
September 2026
1791
The following lists events that happened during 1791 in Australia.
Leaders
Monarch - George III
Governor of New South Wales – Captain Arthur Phillip, RN
Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley King
Commanding officer of the colony's marine presence – Major Robert Ross
Events
frame|Watercolour painting of the Governor's House at Port Jackson in 1791
22 February – The first land grant in Australia is made to ex-convict James Ruse.
March – Philip Gidley King returns to Norfolk Island from Britain and resumes command from Robert Ross.
3 May – 1st Lt. Ralph Clark records in his diary that he has ordered three female convicts flogged. Catherine White faints after the first 15 lashes, Mary Teut after 22. When Mary Higgins has received 26 lashes, Lieutenant Clark "forgave her the remainder (he has ordered 50) because she was an old woman".
2 June – Rose Hill renamed Parramatta.
1 August – The Third Fleet begins to arrive with convicts and supplies; the first ship, Matilda 1790 ship 2 brings 205 convicts.
18 August – Richard Bowen enters and names Jervis Bay aboard the Atlantic.
28 September – The ships Active 1764 ship 2 and Queen 1773 ship 2 arrive; Queen is coming from Cork, with the first contingent of Irish convicts.
29 September – The West Coast of Australia is claimed by British Commander George Vancouver when he sailed into King George Sound, previously only the east coast had been claimed for the Crown.
16 October – Admiral Barrington 1781 ship 2, the last ship of the Third Fleet arrives, with Captain William Paterson of the New South Wales Corps on board.
24 October – Britannia 1783 whaler 2 and William and Ann 1759 2 set out on Australia's first whaling expedition.
1 November – A party of twenty-one convicts escape from Port Jackson and (with an obviously limited knowledge of Australian geography) attempt to walk to China. Some die in the wilderness, while others are recaptured.
5 December – Ross returns to Port Jackson from Norfolk Island. His marines, having been displaced by the newly arrived New South Wales Corps, are frequently drunk and rowdy. On 17 December, Ross and most of the marines returned to England on Gorgon 1785 6.
Births
January – James Stirling
26 April – John Lee Archer
13 July – Allan Cunningham, botanist and explorer, best known for discovering the Darling Downs is born in Wimbledon, London.
4 August – Henry Savery
13 December – Phillip Parker King
George Gipps
Deaths
28 January – Henry Dodd
References
Barker
Anthony
What Happened When
Allen & Unwin
1996
St Leonards
978-1-86373-986-3
National Library of Australia
The World Upside Down: Australia 1788 – 1830
http://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/upsidedown/index.html 9 February 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070320021016/http://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/upsidedown/index.html 20 March 2007
1791 in yes
Australia
Category:Years of the 18th century in Australia