page_title: Timeline of Sydney
section_title: 18th–19th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of Sydney / 18th–19th centuries
caption_attribution_description: English: Watercolour drawing of Government House, Sydney from the Cove (March 1819) attributed to Joseph Lycett
context_page_description: The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
context_section_description: 1770 – Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook, in command of HMS Endeavour, sighted the east coast of Australia and landed at a bay in what is now southern Sydney.
  1788 – Sydney founded as British penal settlement following arrival of the First Fleet of eleven vessels under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip; French vessels under the command of Lapérouse land in Botany Bay.
  1792 – Burial Ground established.
  1796 – Population: 2,953.
  1797 – Prospect, a western Sydney suburb, became the boundary between colonists and indigenous Australians. Hostility grew where a state of guerrilla warfare existed between indigenous people and the settler communities at Prospect and Parramatta. The aboriginal people were led by their leader, Pemulwuy, a member of the Bidjigal tribe who occupied the land.
  1803 – Sydney Gazette newspaper begins publication.
  1804 – Fort Philip construction begins.
  1808 – Rum Rebellion.
  1810 – Macquarie Street laid out.
  1816
  Royal Botanic Gardens open.
  Sydney Hospital built.
  1817 – Bank of New South Wales established.
  1819 – Hyde Park Barracks built.
  1820 – Devonshire Street Cemetery established.
  1823 – Sydney Royal Easter Show begins.
  1824 – St James' Church consecrated.
  1825 – New South Wales Legislative Council established in Sydney.
  1827 – Australian Museum established.
  1831 – Weekly Sydney Herald newspaper begins publication.
  1833 – Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts founded.
  1837 – Government House and Botany-Sydney aqueduct built.
  1838 – David Jones (shop) in business.
  1839 – Cockatoo Island prison in operation.
  1840 – Farmers & Co. in business.
  1841 – Darlinghurst Gaol in operation.
  1842
  City incorporated; city council elected.
  Area of city: 11.65 square kilometres (approximate).
  Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney established.
  1850
  University of Sydney established.
  Freeman's Journal newspaper begins publication.
  1854
  Sydney Cricket Ground opens.
  St Paul's College founded.
  1855
  First New South Wales Government Railways train operates from Redfern to Parramatta
  Sydney Mint established in General Hospital and Dispensary building.
  1856
  First Pyrmont Bridge built.
  St Philip's Church rebuilt.
  1857 – St John's College founded.
  1858 – Sydney Observatory built.
  1859 – Parliamentary electoral districts of East Sydney and West Sydney created.
  1861 – Population: 95,000 city and suburbs.
  1868
  Belmore Park opens.
  St Andrew's Cathedral consecrated.
  1869 – Sydney Free Public Library established.
  1871 – Sydney Exchange and Academy of Art founded.
  1877 – Waverley Cemetery established near city.
  1878 – Robinson-Finlay wedding takes place.
  1879
  Sydney Riot of 1879.
  Sydney International Exhibition held; Garden Palace built.
  Art Gallery of New South Wales opens.
  Dymocks Bookseller in business.
  New South Wales Zoological Society founded.
  Royal National Park established near city.
  1881 – Population: 237,300 city and suburbs.
  1882
  Sydney Showground opens.
  St Mary's Cathedral consecrated.
  1883
  Melbourne–Sydney railway built.
  Sydney High School and Sydney Wharf Labourers Union established.
  1889
  Sydney Town Hall built.
  Women's College and Sydney Church of England Grammar School founded.
  1890
  Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ installed.
  Kerry photography studio in business.
  1891
  General Post Office built.
  Population: 399,270 city and suburbs.
  Australia Hotel in business.
  1892 – Strand Arcade opens.
  1893 – Technological Museum opens.
  1894 – Photographic Society of New South Wales founded.
  1895 – City Tattersalls Club formed.
  1898 – Queen Victoria Building constructed.
  1900 – Sydney Harbour Trust active, White Australia Policy founded.
caption: Government House, 1819
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