Timeline of Sydney

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Pre-Colonial

Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, 1792

• 50,000–45,000 BP – Near Penrith, a far western suburb of Sydney, numerous Aboriginal stone tools were found in Cranebrook Terraces gravel sediments dating to this time period; at first when these results were new they were controversial. More recently in 1987 and 2003, dating of the same strata has revised and corroborated these dates.[1]
• 30,000 BP – Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity occurred in and around the Sydney basin, as evidenced by an archaeological dig in Parramatta, in Western Sydney.[2][3] The finds show that the Aboriginal Australians in that region used charcoal, stone tools and possible ancient campfires.[4][5]
• 21,100–17,800 BP – Stone artifact assemblages dating to this time period discovered in Shaws Creek (near Hawkesbury River) and in Blue Mountains. A rock shelter with flakes dating to this period discovered near Nepean River.[6]
• 5,000–7000 BP – The Sydney rock engravings, a form of Australian Aboriginal rock art consisting of carefully drawn images of people, animals, or symbols, date to this time period.[7]
• 4,000–2,000 BC – The first backed stone artifacts developed, such as blades and spears. The stones would drill, scrape, cut and grind material. They were also associated with woodworking.[8]
• 1,000–500 BC – Bone and shell usage dating to this period discovered. They would've been attached to fishing spear prongs, which would mean that multi-pronged fishing spears occurred at this time. The evidence of spear-throwing is suggested by an excavated shell in Balmoral Beach.[9]

18th–19th centuries

Government House, 1819

• 1770 – Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook, in command of HMS Endeavour, sighted the east coast of Australia and landed at a bay in what is now southern Sydney.
• 1788 – Sydney founded as British penal settlement following arrival of the First Fleet of eleven vessels under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip;[10] French vessels under the command of Lapérouse land in Botany Bay.
• 1792 – Burial Ground established.
• 1796 – Population: 2,953.
• 1797 – Prospect, a western Sydney suburb, became the boundary between colonists and indigenous Australians. Hostility grew where a state of guerrilla warfare existed between indigenous people and the settler communities at Prospect and Parramatta.[11] The aboriginal people were led by their leader, Pemulwuy, a member of the Bidjigal tribe who occupied the land.[12]
• 1803 – Sydney Gazette newspaper begins publication.[13]
• 1804 – Fort Philip construction begins.[14]
• 1808 – Rum Rebellion.
• 1810 – Macquarie Street laid out.
• 1816
  • Royal Botanic Gardens open.
  • Sydney Hospital built.
• 1817 – Bank of New South Wales established.[15]
• 1819 – Hyde Park Barracks built.
• 1820 – Devonshire Street Cemetery established.
• 1823 – Sydney Royal Easter Show begins.
• 1824 – St James' Church consecrated.
• 1825 – New South Wales Legislative Council established in Sydney.
• 1827 – Australian Museum established.[16]
• 1831 – Weekly Sydney Herald newspaper begins publication.[17][18]
• 1833 – Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts founded.[19]
• 1837 – Government House[20] and Botany-Sydney aqueduct[19] built.
• 1838 – David Jones (shop) in business.[21]
• 1839 – Cockatoo Island prison in operation.
• 1840 – Farmers & Co. in business.[22]
• 1841 – Darlinghurst Gaol in operation.
• 1842
  • City incorporated; city council elected.[23]
  • Area of city: 11.65 square kilometres (approximate).[24]
  • Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney established.
• 1850
  • University of Sydney established.
  • Freeman's Journal newspaper begins publication.
• 1854
  • Sydney Cricket Ground opens.
  • St Paul's College founded.[25]
• 1855
  • First New South Wales Government Railways train operates from Redfern to Parramatta
  • Sydney Mint established in General Hospital and Dispensary building.
• 1856
  • First Pyrmont Bridge built.[26]
  • St Philip's Church rebuilt.
• 1857 – St John's College founded.[25]
• 1858 – Sydney Observatory built.
• 1859 – Parliamentary electoral districts of East Sydney and West Sydney created.
• 1861 – Population: 95,000 city and suburbs.[20]
• 1868
  • Belmore Park opens.
  • St Andrew's Cathedral consecrated.
• 1869 – Sydney Free Public Library established.[27]
• 1871 – Sydney Exchange and Academy of Art founded.
• 1877 – Waverley Cemetery established near city.
• 1878 – Robinson-Finlay wedding takes place.
• 1879
  • Sydney Riot of 1879.
  • Sydney International Exhibition held; Garden Palace built.
  • Art Gallery of New South Wales opens.
  • Dymocks Bookseller in business.
  • New South Wales Zoological Society founded.[28]
  • Royal National Park established near city.
• 1881 – Population: 237,300 city and suburbs.[20]
• 1882
  • Sydney Showground opens.
  • St Mary's Cathedral consecrated.
• 1883
  • Melbourne–Sydney railway built.[29]
  • Sydney High School and Sydney Wharf Labourers Union[30] established.
• 1889
  • Sydney Town Hall built.
  • Women's College[25] and Sydney Church of England Grammar School founded.
• 1890
  • Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ installed.[31]
  • Kerry photography studio in business.[32]
• 1891
  • General Post Office built.
  • Population: 399,270 city and suburbs.[20]
  • Australia Hotel in business.
• 1892 – Strand Arcade opens.
• 1893 – Technological Museum opens.
• 1894 – Photographic Society of New South Wales founded.
• 1895 – City Tattersalls Club formed.
• 1898 – Queen Victoria Building constructed.
• 1900 – Sydney Harbour Trust active, White Australia Policy founded.

20th century

1900s–1940s

King Street, circa 1900

• 1901
  • City becomes part of the new Commonwealth of Australia.[29]
  • Royal Australian Historical Society founded.
  • Population: 112,137 city; 369,693 suburbs.[20]
• 1902 – Second Pyrmont Bridge built.
• 1903 – Glebe Island Bridge and Her Majesty's Theatre[33][34] rebuilt.
• 1904 – Electric street lighting installed.[34]
• 1905 – Hordern's Palace Emporium in business.
• 1906
  • Central railway station opens
  • Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club active.[34]
• 1907
  • 20 October: Bathing costume protests.
  • Melbourne–Sydney telephone begins operating.[34]
• 1908
  • Camperdown becomes part of city.[24]
  • New South Wales Rugby League Premiership formed
• 1909 – City of Sydney Library established.
• 1910 – The Sun newspaper begins publication.[35]
• 1912 – Culwulla Chambers built.[34]
• 1913 – Parcel Post Office built at Railway Square.
• 1915 – Sydney Conservatorium of Music established.[25]
• 1916 – 14 February: Liverpool riot of 1916.
• 1917 – J.G. Park photography studio in business (approximate date).[32]
• 1920
  • 18 February: World's "first" swimsuit competition (beauty contest) held in Sydney.[18]
  • Hurlstone Park Choral Society formed.
• 1924
  • Sydney Airport begins operating.
  • Hordern Pavilion built.
• 1926
  • Electric train services begin
• 1927
  • St James railway station opens.
  • Sydney Cenotaph erected.
• 1928
  • Capitol Theatre opens.
  • Government Savings Bank building constructed.[36]
• 1929
  • State Theatre opens.[36]
  • Sun Building constructed.[36]
• 1930
  • Modern Art Centre opens.[37]
  • Grace Building constructed.

Aerial view of Sydney, 1932

• 1932
  • Sydney Harbour Bridge, Town Hall railway station, and Wynyard railway station open.
  • Dymocks building constructed.[36]
• 1935 – Luna Park and Astoria Theatre[38] open.
• 1938 – City hosts 1938 British Empire Games.
• 1939 – AWA Tower built.[36]

Martin Place in 1939, prior to pedestrianisation.

• 1940 – St. James Theatre opens.[38]
• 1941 – Daily Mirror newspaper begins publication.[17]
• 1942 – May–June: Attack on Sydney Harbour by Japanese forces.
• 1946 – Sydney Symphony Orchestra active.
• 1947 – Population: 95,852 city; 1,484,434 metro.[25]
• 1949 – Alexandria, Darlington, Erskineville, Glebe, Newtown, Paddington, Redfern, and Waterloo become part of the city.[24]

1950s–1990s

• 1953 – Sydney Sun-Herald newspaper in publication.[35]
• 1954 – Sydney Film Festival begins.
• 1956 – ATN Channel 7 television begins broadcasting.[35]
• 1958 – Last Trams in Sydney operate
• 1964 – Paddington Society founded.[39]
  • – Gladesville Bridge opened
• 1967 – Australia Square hi-rise built.
• 1968
  • South Sydney Municipal Council created.[24]
  • Sister city relationship established with San Francisco, USA.[40]
• 1971 – City of Sydney Strategic Plan created.[41]
• 1971 – Green Bans begin in Hunters Hill
• 1972 – Construction workers take over the Sydney Opera House
• 1972 – Aboriginal Medical Service established in Redfern.[34]
• 1973 – Sydney Opera House opens.
• 1977
  • Granville train disaster
  • Sydney Festival begins.
  • MLC Centre opens
• 1979
  • 9 June: 1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire.
  • Martin Place pedestrianised.
  • Martin Place railway station opens.
  • Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras begins.
  • Sydney Theatre Company founded.
• 1981 – Sydney Tower opened
• 1983 – Beverly Hills Twin Cinema in business.[38]
• 1985
  • Parliament House rebuilt.
  • Granny Smith Festival begins in Eastwood.
• 1987 – University of Sydney's Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific established.[42]
• 1988
  • Sydney Monorail opens
  • University of Technology, Sydney and University of Sydney's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies[42] established.
  • Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre and Powerhouse Museum open.
  • Australian Bicentenary events staged.
  • Bicentennial Park, Homebush Bay and Mount Annan Botanic Garden open near city.
• 1989
  • South Sydney City Council established.[24]
  • Area of city: 6.19 square kilometres.[24]

Sydney hosts the 2000 Summer Olympics.

• 1990 – Sydney Children's Choir founded
• 1992 – Sydney Harbour Tunnel opened
• 1993 – South Sydney Heritage Society founded.[43]
• 1994 – Sydney International Aquatic Centre opens.
• 1995 – Anzac Bridge opens.
• 1997 – Asian Australian Artists’ Association Gallery 4A opens.[44]
  • The Star, Sydney casino opens
• 1998
  • July: 1998 Sydney water crisis
  • BridgeClimb Sydney commences
• 1999 – Sydney Super Dome, Stadium Australia, and City Recital Hall open.
• 2000
  • September: City hosts 2000 Summer Olympics & 2000 Summer Paralympics
  • City of Sydney Historical Association founded.[45]

21st century

2000s

• 2001
  • Sydney Harbour Federation Trust established.
  • Population: 4,128,272.
• 2003 – Lowy Institute for International Policy headquartered in city.[42]
• 2004
  • 14 February: 2004 Redfern riots.[10]
  • City of South Sydney becomes part of City of Sydney.
• 2005
  • December: 2005 Cronulla riots occur near city.[10]
  • Cross City Tunnel opens.
  • Bankstown Bites Food Festival and Sydney Comedy Festival begin.
• 2007
  • September: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meets in city.
  • Sydney Underground Film Festival begins.
• 2009
  • Institute for Economics and Peace headquartered in city.
  • Festival of Dangerous Ideas begins.
  • First Vivid Sydney festival

2010s

A Sydney Metro train

• 2011
  • Population: 4,028,524.[46]
• 2014
  • 2014 Sydney hostage crisis
• 2017
  • Population reaches 5 million, according to the 2016 Australian census.[47]
• 2019
  • Completion of the Sydney Metro Northwest, the first line of the upcoming Sydney Metro

See also

• History of Sydney
• List of mayors, lord mayors and administrators of Sydney
• List of Governors of New South Wales, headquartered in Sydney

References

1. Attenbrow, Val (2010). Sydney's Aboriginal Past: Investigating the Archaeological and Historical Records. Sydney: UNSW Press. pp. 152–153. ISBN 978-1-74223-116-7. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
2. Geoffrey Blainey; A Very Short History of the World; Penguin Books; 2004; ISBN 978-0-14-300559-9
3. Blainey, Geoffrey (2004). A Very Short History of the World. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-300559-9.
4. Macey, Richard (2007). "Settlers' history rewritten: go back 30,000 years". The Sydney Morning Herald.
5. Mulvaney, D J and White, Peter, 1987, Australians to 1788, Fairfax, Syme & Weldon, Sydney
6. V Attenbrow, G Robertson and P Hiscock, 'The changing abundance of backed artefacts in south-eastern Australia: a response to climate change?', Journal of Archaeological Science, vol 36, no 2009, pp 2765–70
7. McDonald, J. 1999. Bedrock notions and isochrestic choice: evidence for localised stylistic patterning in the engravings of the Sydney region. Archaeology in Oceania 34(3): 145–160.
8. P Hiscock, Archaeology of Ancient Australia, Routledge, New York, 2008
9. J McDonald, Dreamtime Superhighway. An Analysis of Sydney Basin Rock Art and Prehistoric Information Exchange, Terra Australis 27, ANU EPress, Canberra, 2008
10. "Australia Profile: Timeline". BBC News. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
11. Collins, D., An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Vol. 1, Cadell and Davies, London, 1798.
12. Willey, K., When the sky fell down : the destruction of the tribes of the Sydney region, 1788-1850s, Collins, Sydney, 1979
13. Townsend 1867.
14. "Colonial fort that never was". Sydney Morning Herald. 21 October 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
15. Bain 2007.
16. Waugh's Australian Almanac. Sydney: Sherriff and Downing. 1863.
17. "Sydney (N.S.W.) Newspapers". WorldCat. USA: Online Computer Library Center. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
18. Steven Anzovin and Janet Podell, ed. (2000). Famous First Facts. H.W. Wilson Co. ISBN 0824209583.
19. Heaton 1879.
20. Britannica 1910.
21. Old Times 1903.
22. Reekie 1987.
23. Golder 1995.
24. "City Boundaries and Wards, 1842–2004". Historical Atlas of Sydney. City of Sydney Archives. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
25. Leon E. Seltzer, ed. (1952), "Sydney", Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World, New York: Columbia University Press, p. 1856, OL 6112221M
26. Proudfoot 1986.
27. Moore's Australian Almanac. Sydney: J.J. Moore. 1878.
28. Yearbook 1891.
29. Haydn 1910.
30. "Australian Trade Union Archives". Retrieved 14 May 2014.
31. Annual Report 1903.
32. Sydney University Museums. "Commercial Photographers". Collections. University of Sydney. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
33. Annual Report 1904.
34. Board of Studies. "Australian 20th Century Timeline". Teaching Heritage. New South Wales Government. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
35. Rod Kirkpatrick (2012). "Press Timeline". Australian Newspaper Plan. National Library of Australia.
36. Exchange 2011.
37. "Australia, 1900 A.D.–present: Key Events". Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
38. "Movie Theaters in Sydney, New South Wales". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
39. "Our History". Paddington Society. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
40. "San Francisco Sister Cities". USA: City & County of San Francisco. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
41. Punter 2004.
42. "Organizations". International Relations and Security Network. Switzerland: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
43. "Local history groups". City of Sydney. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
44. "Australia". Art Spaces Directory. New York: New Museum. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
45. "City of Sydney Historical Association". Retrieved 14 May 2014.
46. "Population of Capital Cities and Cities of 100,000 or More Inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 2012. United Nations Statistics Division. 2013.
47. "Sydney population hits 5 million". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.

Bibliography

Published in the 19th century

• Description of a view of the town of Sydney. London: Printed by J. and C. Adlard. 1830. Now exhibiting in the Panorama, Leicester-square, painted by R. Burford
• David Brewster, ed. (1832). "Sydney". Edinburgh Encyclopædia. Philadelphia: Joseph and Edward Parker. hdl:2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t82j6q872.
• Picture of Sydney; and Strangers' Guide in New South Wales. Sydney: J. Maclehose. 1838.
• Sydney in 1848. 1848–1850. (1962 facsimile published by Ure Smith)
• John Dunmore Lang (1852), "City of Sydney", Australian Emigrant's Manual, London: Partridge and Oakey
• Sands' Sydney Directory. 1858–1933.
• Stranger's Guide to Sydney. Sydney: James William Waugh. 1861. ISBN 9780908120215.
• Charles Knight, ed. (1866). "Sydney". Geography. English Cyclopaedia. 4. London: Bradbury, Evans, & Co. hdl:2027/nyp.33433000064810.
• Handbook to Sydney and Suburbs. Sydney: S.T. Leigh & Company. 1867.
• George Henry Townsend (1867), "Sydney", A Manual of Dates (2nd ed.), London: Frederick Warne & Co.
• "Australia: Sydney". Street's Indian and Colonial Mercantile Directory. London: G. Street. 1869.
• J.H. Heaton (1879). "Sydney". Australian Dictionary of Dates. Sydney: G. Robertson.
• "New South Wales: Sydney". Wright's Australian and American Commercial Directory and Gazetteer. New York: George Wright. 1881.
• "Towns in New South Wales: Sydney". Australian Handbook (incorporating New Zealand, Fiji, and New Guinea): Shippers' and Importers' Directory & Business Guide. Gordon and Gotch. 1888.
• "New South Wales and its Metropolis". Year-book of Australia for 1891. London.
• George Lacon James (1892), "City of Sydney", Shall I Try Australia?, London: L.U. Gill, OCLC 8559275

Published in the 20th century

• "Sydney". Chambers's Encyclopaedia. London. 1901.
• Illustrated Guide to Sydney. Sydney: Dymock's Book Arcade and Circulating Library. 1901.
• Old Times, Sydney: Commercial Publishing Co., April 1903
• Annual Report for ... 1903, City of Sydney, 1903
• Annual Report for ... 1904, City of Sydney, 1903
• J.D. Fitzgerald (1906). Greater Sydney and Greater Newcastle. Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Company.
• Norddeutscher Lloyd (1906). "Sydney". 'Lloyd' Guide to Australasia. London: Edward Stanford.
• "Sydney", Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.), New York, 1910, OCLC 14782424 – via Internet Archive
• Benjamin Vincent (1910), "Sydney", Haydn's Dictionary of Dates (25th ed.), London: Ward, Lock & Co.
• K. W. Robinson, 'Sydney, 1850–1952, A Comparison of Developments in the Heart of the City', Australian Geographer, Vol. 6, 1952–1956
• Nineteenth Century Sydney: Essays in Urban History, M. Kelly (ed.), Sydney University Press, 1978
• P.R. Proudfoot (1986). "Changing Patterns of Maritime Activity in Central Sydney". The Great Circle. Australian Association for Maritime History. 8 (1): 33–53. JSTOR 41562715.
• Gail Reekie (1987). ""Humanising Industry": Paternalism, Welfarism and Labour Control in Sydney's Big Stores 1890–1930". Labour History (53): 1–19. JSTOR 27508857.
• Sydney Street Directory, Macquarie Park, N.S.W: Gregory's, 1987, OL 24208759M
• P. Webber, ed. (1988), The Design of Sydney. Sydney: Law Book Company.
• Shirley H. Fitzgerald, Sydney 1842–1992 (Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1992)
• Paul Ashton (1993). The accidental city: planning Sydney since 1788. Hale & Iremonger. ISBN 0868064874.
• Hilary Golder (1995), "Electoral History of Sydney 1842–1992", Sydney's History, City of Sydney
• J. Birmingham. (1999), Leviathan: The Unauthorised Biography of Sydney. Knopf.

Published in the 21st century

• Sydney: the Emergence of a World City. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2000.
• P. Spearritt. (2000), Sydney's Century: a History. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press.
• Sydney, Condensed Guides, Lonely Planet, 2000, OL 8647599M
• "Sydney: On Top of the World Down Under", National Geographic Magazine, USA, 198, 2000
• Ken Bernstein (2003), "Sydney", Pocket Guide Australia, Berlitz, OL 9196697M
• "Sydney". Understanding Slums: Case Studies for the Global Report 2003. United Nations Human Settlements Programme and University College London. 2003.
• John Punter (2004). "From the Ill-Mannered to the Iconic: Design Regulation in Central Sydney 1947–2002". Town Planning Review. 75 (4): 405–445. doi:10.3828/tpr.75.4.3. JSTOR 40112621.
• Jim Bain (2007). A Financial Tale of Two Cities: Sydney and Melbourne's Remarkable Contest for Commercial Supremacy. UNSW Press. ISBN 978-0-86840-963-4.
• History Program (2011). "Exchange: Commercial & Retail Sydney". Historical Walking Tours. City of Sydney.

External links

• "Historical Atlas of Sydney". City of Sydney Archives.
• "Dictionary of Sydney".
• Items related to Sydney, various dates (via Europeana).
• Items related to Sydney, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).