1846 The colony of North Australia
The loss of the American Colonies due to the War of Independence (1775-83) forced the British Government to find another place to send its convicted felons. Its most recent acquisition (1770) New Holland (Australia) was chosen and the first penal settlement established at Port Jackson in 1788 by Captain Arthur Phillip. Other settlements soon followed, Norfolk Island, Van Diemen's Land, Port Macquarie and in 1824 Moreton Bay.
In 1840 the transportation of convicts to New South Wales ceased although Van Diemen's Land continued to receive large numbers of them. When William Ewart Gladstone became Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1845 he was confronted with the problem of the large numbers of pardoned convicts roaming around Van Diemen's Land unable to find work. Rather than revive transportation to New South Wales which he knew would be very unpopular he decided to create a new colony in the northern part of New South Wales. To this new colony he proposed to send the pardoned convicts of Van Diemen's Land and he hoped that in time they could form the backbone of a new vibrant free colony.
In May 1846, Lieutenant Colonel George Barney of the Royal Engineers (pictured left) Courtesy Government Printing Office. State Library of NSW was chosen as the new colony administrative head. He was soon despatched to Sydney and instructed to find a suitable site to the north of Moreton Bay but not that far north that the tropical climate would have an adverse effect on the health of the settlers thus preventing them from hard work and industry. Port Curtis (Gladstone) was chosen. Also in the same month the official Letters Patent were issued by Queen Victoria forming a new colony to be called North Australia. The southern boundary of this new colony was to be 26 degrees of south latitude.
On 8 January 1847, the Lord Auckland sailed from Sydney with the new colonial officials and their families arriving at Port Curtis on the 25 January 1847. On entering the port the Lord Auckland grounded on a shoal. The officials quickly headed for shore and a few days later, the official swearing in of Lieutenant Governor Barney and his officials took place.
In July 1846, back in Britain, the Government had changed and Earl Grey had replaced Gladstone as Secretary of State for the Colonies. The new government had decided to abandon the new colony and advised the Queen to revoke the Letters Patent. This decision took many months to reach the Governor of New South Wales and some more time for Sir Charles Fitzroy to transmit the despatches to Barney ordering the abandonment of the North Australia colony and the return to Sydney.
The officials had endured four months of indecision, rain, heat, and mosquitoes before they returned to the civilisation of Sydney where they arrived in May 1847. No pardoned convict even reached the new colony.
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James Warner's Survey
In October 1846 the Deputy Surveyor General of New South Wales Samuel Augustus Perry was instructed by the Colonial Secretary to explore the Boyne River (Burnett River) from its source to its mouth which at the time was thought to enter the sea at either Hervey Bay, Bustard Bay or Port Curtis. The New South Wales Governor hoped to use this route from Moreton Bay to the new colony of North Australia as an overland route to the new colony. The route Perry and James Burnett explored travelled north along Barambah Creek and on this journey Perry marked a tree at approximate Latitude 26 degrees, the southern limit of the new colony. On his return to Sydney the Acting Surveyor General Perry instructed Assistant Surveyor James Warner at Moreton Bay to trace the Brisbane River northwards to its source in the ranges which were also believed to be the source of the Boyne River flowing north. After examining the range east and west of the source of those rivers, Warner was to trace down the Boyne River until it reached latitude 26 degrees, the latitude assigned as the southern boundary of the new colony of North Australia.
Warner was instructed to place six foot high stone pyramids of rocks on the bank of the river and then proceed to traverse east to the coast line arriving a little to the south of Wide Bay and again marking this spot on the coastline with a pile of rocks at latitude 26 degrees. He was then to continue surveying the coastline southward to Moreton Bay.
In 1847 Warner, like Perry on his 1846 expedition, also experienced high rainfall. Warner carried out his survey northwards and journeyed to Perry’s marked tree but because of the heavy rain and diminishing supplies he returned to Moreton Bay. By then the new colony had been abandoned and there was no need to mark latitude 26 degrees.
Seal for North Australia colony Courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW
North Australia Government Gazette Courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW
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Last updated: 13 July 2009