..
.
Australia
Day - A History 1788 to 1888
The 26 January,
through 200 years or more of debate and
controversy, has remained the traditional
Australian celebratory day since that
date in January 1788 when 'formal
possession was taken of the Colony of New
South Wales. On that day, Captain Arthur
Phillip became Governor of the Colony,
having jurisdiction over the area bounded
by latitude 10 37' to latitude 43 49'
south and inland to longitude 135 east'.
The
fledgling colony very soon began to mark
the anniversary of 26 January 1788 with
formal dinners and informal celebrations.
Manning Clark notes that on the 26
January 1808, the 'anniversary of the
foundation of the colony' was observed in
the traditional manner with 'drinking and
merriment'. John Macarthur senior had
ensured his soldiers were amply supplied
with liquor, bonfires were blazing and
private houses illuminated.
By 1820,
Australia was beginning to look
undeniably prosperous and sentiments of
Australian patriotism were being
expressed at gatherings of ex-convicts.
The sense of belonging to a new nation
must surely have been encouraged in 1817
when Governor Macquarie recommended the
adoption of the name 'Australia' for the
entire continent instead of New Holland.
An article
in the Sydney Gazette on February 1, 1817
records a typical anniversary dinner that
was held on the 27 January in the house
of Isaac Nichols, a respected emancipist
and Australia's first Postmaster. Similar
dinners are described involving William
Charles Wentworth and friends on 26
January 1825 and 1828 when the catchcry
and traditional toast had already become
'to the land, boys, we live in'. Many of
these ex-convicts had become the
wealthiest and most successful
businessmen in the colony.
The first
official celebrations were held in 1818,
marking the thirtieth anniversary of
white settlement. Governor Macquarie
ordered a salute of 30 guns to be fired
from the battery at Dawes Point and in
the evening gave a dinner at Government
House for civil and military officers. A
ball followed, hosted by Mrs Macquarie.
During this
time the day was called Foundation Day.
Throughout the early nineteenth century,
the day became one for sporting events,
with horse races in the 1820's and the
regatta from the 1830's.
The growing
sense of patriotism was being expressed
in other ways. Young Charles Tompson,
reputed to be our first Australian-born
poet and the son of a transportee, was
moved to compose eight stanzas of tribute
to his native country for 26 January 1824
titled Wild Notes from the Lyre of a
Native Minstrel.
Charles
Tompson was no doubt one of that section
of the Australian-born whom Edward Smith
Hall, proprietor and publisher of The
Monitor, had in mind when he wrote in
1821 'the circumstances of the parents of
the most of them having come to the
country in bondage, so far from making
them humble, causes them to be the
proudest people in the world......the
circumstance of being free is felt by
them with a strength bordering on fierce
enthusiasm'.
A different
commemorative event was held in the
summer of 1836 when a group of seafaring
Sydney friends decided to celebrate the
founding of their new nation with a
sailing regatta. The Australia Day
Regatta, originally the
Anniversary Regatta, is still held on
Sydney Harbour on the 26 January each
year and has become the oldest continuous
regatta in the world.
Fifty years
after Phillip landed, in 1838, a number
of celebratory events were organised and
the first public holiday ever marked in
Australia was announced for the 26
January in that year. This inaugural
public holiday in New South Wales was to
become an annual event from that year,
held on or around the 26 January.
In distinct
contrast to the mainly private and
somewhat elitist anniversary dinners in
previous years, 26 January 1838 became a
'day for everyone' with the harbour
foreshores crowded and many sailing
vessels participating in races and
competitions. Crackers and rockets ended
the day's exuberant festivities.
By 1888,
Australia's population numbered almost
three million and many changes had taken
place over the previous fifty years. Gold
had been discovered in the 1850's
bringing great wealth and immigration,
and New South Wales had become
self-governing in 1859.
While this
wealth and prosperity was certainly not
equally spread - the incoming NSW
government of 1886 had inherited severe
financial problems and over eleven
thousand 'centennial parcels' of rations
were distributed to Sydney's poor on the
26 January 1888 - the first centenary of
white settlement was celebrated with
great enthusiasm.
With the
exception of Adelaide, all colonial
capitals had declared Anniversary Day
1888 a public holiday and celebrations
took place throughout the colonies.
Ceremonies,
parades, exhibitions, fireworks,
banquets, church services and regattas
were commonplace and 50,000 people
watched the Governor Lord Carrington
unveil a statue in honour of Queen
Victoria. A march of thirteen thousand
trade unionists culminated in the laying
of the foundation stone for a new Trades
Hall and many religious services were
held.
Centennial
Park, Sydney was formally reserved for
public use on the 26 January 1888 and in
Melbourne there was a Centennial
International Exhibition which remained
open from August 1888 to February 1889,
attracting nearly two million visitors.
The centenary was also marked by numerous
historical publications and commemorative
volumes as well as souvenirs and other
centenary ephemera.
Australians
were beginning to talk widely about other
political questions of the day, including
the move towards Federation. However,
despite the pride in achievement
celebrated in January 1888 and the moves
towards a united nation, there were no
doubts about the 'continuing loyalty of
the four million Australians to the
mother country'. A description of the
unveiling of Queen Victoria's statue
included the comment 'the mood was
British, the crowd was Australian'.
.
Resourced from:
http://www.adc.nsw.gov.au/history.htm
  
..
..
|
