Arrival of the First Fleet: 1788 On 13 May 1787 a fleet of 11 ships, which came to be known as the First Fleet, was sent by the
British Admiralty from England to New Holland. Under the command of Naval Captain Arthur Phillip, the fleet sought to establish a
penal colony at
Botany Bay on the coast of New South Wales, which had been explored and
claimed by Lieutenant
James Cook in 1770. The settlement was seen as necessary because of the loss of the
Thirteen Colonies in North America. The Fleet arrived between 18 and 20 January 1788, but it was immediately apparent that Botany Bay was unsuitable. They made contact with the local Aboriginal people, the
Cadigal. On 21 January, Phillip and a few officers travelled to
Port Jackson, to the north, to see if it would be a better location for a settlement. They stayed there until 23 January; Phillip named the site of their landing Sydney Cove, after the Home Secretary,
Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney. On the morning of 24 January, the party was startled when two French ships, the
Astrolabe and the
Boussole, were seen just outside Botany Bay. This was a scientific expedition led by
Jean-François de La Pérouse. The French had expected to find a thriving colony where they could repair ships and restock supplies, not a newly arrived fleet of convicts considerably more poorly provisioned than themselves. Clearing of the ground for an encampment immediately began. Then, according to Phillip's account: The formal establishment of the Colony of New South Wales did not however occur on 26 January as is commonly assumed. It did not occur until 7 February 1788, when the formal proclamation of the colony and of Arthur Phillip's governorship were read out. The vesting of all land in the reigning monarch
King George III also dates from 7 February 1788.
1788–1838 Although there was no official recognition of the colony's anniversary, with the
New South Wales Almanacks of 1806 and 1808 placing no special significance on 26 January, by 1808 the date was being used by the colony's immigrants, especially the
emancipated convicts, to "celebrate their love of the land they lived in" with "drinking and merriment". The 1808 celebrations followed this pattern, beginning at sunset on 25 January and lasting into the night, the chief toast of the occasion being
Major George Johnston. Johnston had the honour of being the first officer ashore from the First Fleet, having been carried from the landing boat on the back of convict
James Ruse. Despite suffering the ill-effects of a fall from his gig on the way home to
Annandale, Johnston led the officers of the
New South Wales Corps in arresting Governor
William Bligh on the following day, 26 January 1808, in what became known as the "
Rum Rebellion".
Almanacs started mentioning "First Landing Day" or "Foundation Day" and successful immigrants started holding anniversary dinners. In 1817
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser reported on one of these unofficial gatherings at the home of
Isaac Nichols: In 1818, the 30th anniversary of the founding of the colony, Governor
Lachlan Macquarie chose to acknowledge the day with the first official celebration. The governor declared that the day would be a holiday for all government workers, granting each an extra allowance of " of fresh meat", and ordered a 30-gun salute at
Dawes Point – one for each year that the colony had existed. This began a tradition that was retained by the Governors that were to follow. Five races were held for different classes of boats, from first class sailing vessels to
watermen's
skiffs, and people viewed the festivities from both onshore and from the decks of boats on the harbour, including the
steamboat Australian and the
Francis Freelingthe latter running aground during the festivities and having to be refloated the next day. Happy with the success of the regatta, the organisers resolved to make it an annual event. The dinner was a smaller affair than the previous year, with only 40 in attendance compared to the 160 from 1837, South Australia celebrated
Proclamation Day on 28 December. Western Australia had its own Foundation Day (now
Western Australia Day) on 1 June. They dubbed the day "ANA Day". The first Australia Day was established in response to Australia's involvement in
World War I. In 1915, Ellen "Ellie" Wharton Kirke MBE, née Clements, mother of four
servicemen, thought up the idea of a national day, with the specific aim of raising funds for wounded soldiers, and the term was coined to stir up patriotic feelings. on which many fund-raising efforts were run to support the war effort. It was also held in July in subsequent years of World War I: on 28 July 1916, and 26 July 1918. , Queensland, 1937 The idea of a national day to be celebrated on 26 January was slow to catch on, partly because of competition with
Anzac Day. Victoria adopted 26 January as Australia Day in 1931,
1936–1960s The 150th anniversary of British settlement in Australia in 1938 was widely celebrated. Preparations began in 1936 with the formation of a Celebrations Council. In that year, New South Wales was the only state to abandon the traditional long weekend, and the annual Anniversary Day public holiday was held on the anniversary day – Wednesday 26 January. The Commonwealth and state governments agreed to unify the celebrations on 26 January as "Australia Day" in 1946, although the public holiday was instead taken on the Monday closest to the anniversary. The
Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 came into effect on 26 January 1949, creating Australian citizenship for the first time. Previously, Australian
nationals were simply British subjects alongside all other members of
Commonwealth of Nations; now they were both
British subjects and Australian citizens. Historian
Ken Inglis wrote in 1967 that Australia Day was not celebrated publicly in
Canberra at that time.
1988: Bicentenary In 1988, the celebration of 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet was organised on a large scale as the
Australian Bicentenary, with many significant events taking place in all major cities. Over 2.5 million people attended the event in Sydney. These included street parties, concerts, including performances on the steps and forecourt of the
Sydney Opera House and at many other public venues, art and literary competitions, historic re-enactments, and the opening of the
Powerhouse Museum at its new location. A
re-enactment of the arrival of the First Fleet took place in Sydney Harbour, with ships that had sailed from
Portsmouth a year earlier taking part. ==Contemporary celebrations==