OFFICIAL HISTORY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE COLONY, IN 1788, TO THE CLOSE PARLIAMENT UNDER RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT, IN 1883. COMPILED CHIEFLY FROM THE OFFICIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY RECORDS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THOMAS RICHARDS, GOVERNMENT PRINTER AND REGISTRAR OF COPYRIGHT. SYDNEY THOMAS RICHARDS, GOVERNMENT PRINTER. 1883 PREFACE. THE design of this work is to supply a brief sketch of the official and political history of New South Wales from the earliest date. Without attempting to indicate the successive steps by which the Colony has attained its present high degree of social and commercial advancement, a great deal of matter is necessarily introduced that will be of assistance hereafter in tracing out the rapid progress of the Colony from the condition of a rude settlement to that of an enlightened and prosperous community, in which labour and enterprise, wealth and refinement, find a congenial home. The plan of the book is to give, by way of introduction, a short review of the course of Australian discovery, from the earliest period to the date when the British flag was first hoisted in Port Jackson, and then to give a summary of the principal events during the rule of each Governor. This summary briefly recounts the more important proceedings of the first Nominee Council, and of the partly elective and partly nominee Council that succeeded it, and affords a synopsis of Administrative and Parliamentary history under Responsible Government. In addition to these particulars, the book contains the substance of the Speeches delivered by the various Governors at the opening and closing of the Sessions of Parliament, the pith of the Financial Statements made by the different Treasurers, and a succinct record of the most important subjects dealt with at the Intercolonial Conferences. The principal facts relating to Australian exploration are also briefly chronicled. A short chapter is devoted to the history of Norfolk Island, which is under the jurisdiction of the Governor of this Colony; and another to Lord Howe Island, which is a dependency of New South Wales. The compilation has not been the work of one hand. The laborious task of extracting matter for the epitome from |