colony · North America and Oceania
Colony of New South Wales
Origins
After losing the American colonies as a destination for convicts, Britain sent the First Fleet under Arthur Phillip, which landed at Sydney Cove in January 1788. The colony initially claimed the whole eastern half of the continent, from which Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand were later separated.
Rule and society
Early New South Wales was a military-run penal colony, troubled by famine and by the officers' rum trade that ended in the deposition of Governor William Bligh in 1808. Lachlan Macquarie built roads and public buildings and promoted freed convicts. Fine merino wool became the staple export, and the gold rush of 1851 brought free migrants. Expansion dispossessed Aboriginal nations through violence and disease. Transportation ended in 1840, and self-government came in 1856.
Decline and legacy
Under premiers such as Henry Parkes, a leading advocate of federation, New South Wales joined the other colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901, becoming a state.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (6)
- Colony of New South Wales was a colony of Kingdom of Great Britain1788 CE – 1800 CE
- Colony of New South Wales was a colony of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland1801 CE – 1901 CE
- Colony of Tasmania split from Colony of New South Wales1825 CE
- Colony of New Zealand split from Colony of New South Wales1841 CE
- Colony of Victoria split from Colony of New South Wales1851 CE
- Colony of Queensland split from Colony of New South Wales1859 CE
More states of North America and Oceania →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Colony of New South Wales. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-new-south-wales
- MLA
- “Colony of New South Wales.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-new-south-wales. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Colony of New South Wales.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-new-south-wales.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Colony of New South Wales’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-new-south-wales (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻