Australian History
Monday, August 4, 1845. : Australia’s worst civil maritime disaster occurs when the barque Cataraqui is wrecked off King Island, Bass Strait.
Bass Strait is the body of water that lies between Victoria, on the south-eastern mainland of the Australian continent, and the island state of Tasmania. It was discovered by Matthew Flinders when he circumnavigated Van Diemen’s Land, now Tasmania, in 1798-99. Named after George Bass, who accompanied Flinders, the strait’s discovery reduced shipping time between west of Van Diemen’s Land and Sydney by one week, and was a catalyst to the settlement of Port Phillip Bay, where Melbourne now stands. However, the waters of Bass Strait are notoriously dangerous, and during the 19th century, many ships were wrecked whilst passing through.
The Cataraqui, also known as the Cataraque, was a British barque, built in Quebec, Canada in 1840. Purchased and registered in England to William Smith & Sons, for the purpose of transporting assisted emigrants to the fledgling city of Melbourne, the Cataraqui departed Liverpool on 20 April 1845. On board were 367 migrants under the care of surgeons Charles and Edward Carpenter, and 41 crew under the command of Captain Christopher William Finlay.
After a relatively uneventful voyage, the ship entered Bass Strait in the early hours of 4 August 1845. A severe storm pushed the barque onto sharp rocks about 130 metres off Fitzmaurice Bay on King Island, off the north-western coast of Tasmania. Although the crew had brought the passengers up from below decks where water was beginning to fill the hold, large waves swept many of the emigrants overboard. By daylight, around 200 survivors still clung to the sinking ship, but as it began to break up, more were cast into the waters where they drowned or were killed after being thrown onto the jagged rocks. By dawn of the next day, just 30 survivors remained. The few survivors who made it to shore on King Island were found by castaway David Howie, who had been wrecked on the island five weeks earlier, and was awaiting rescue. Howie and the survivors dug four mass graves to bury 342 bodies that washed ashore.
A total of 406 lives were lost in the tragedy. A stone cairn marking the site of the wreckage was erected in 1956, replacing the original iron memorial which was placed there in 1846 and eventually rusted away. Cataraqui Point, which lies about 4km south of the wreck site, between Currie Harbour and Stokes Point, was named after the stricken ship. The catastrophe is, to date, counted as Australia’s worst civil maritime disaster.
Australian History
Saturday, August 4, 1860. : The ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ reports that gold has been found at Lambing Flat, later the scene of Australia’s largest anti-Chinese riots.
The region surrounding present-day town of Young in the central southwest of New South Wales was first settled by pioneers seeking good grazing land for their stock. “Burrangong Station”, owned by J.White, was the first station beyond Sydney and the Bathurst area to be included on a colonial map. Burrangong Station included a large area for sheltering ewes during lambing: this became known as Lambing Flat.
Towards the end of June 1870, a stockman camped at Lambing Flat noted how the countryside resembled the gold-bearing geography of established goldfields. Washing a few shovelfuls of dirt in a billy, he was rewarded with numerous gold flecks. The Lambing Flat goldfields were subsequently announced in the Sydney Morning Herald on 4 August 1860.
At the height of its popularity, the rich alluvial gold deposits attracted a population of around 20 000. While most of the diggers were from other parts of Australia, many migrants came from Europe and North America. Around 1000 miners were Chinese, and they soon became the target of violence from the “white” diggers. Due to unfounded suspicion and mistrust of the Chinese miners, within one year, Lambing Flat was to become infamous, not so much for the gold, but for being the scene of violent anti-Chinese riots. (See entry for June 30.)
Australian History
Saturday, August 4, 1906. : Central Railway Station in Sydney is opened.
The Sydney Railway Company, established for the purpose of constructing the first railway line in New South Wales, was incorporated in October 1849. The first railway line in the state opened in September 1855, and ran for a distance of 22km from Sydney to Parramatta. Fifty-one years later, what is now the largest railway station in Australia opened in Sydney.
Sydney’s Central Railway Station, at the southern end of the CBD, was built on land formerly occupied by the Devonshire St Cemetery after cemetery plots were exhumed and the remains relocated to other cemeteries. The land had also been used by a convent, a female refuge, police barracks and the Benevolent Society. The station was opened on 4 August 1906. The following day, the first train arrived at the new station – the Western Mail train, which arrived at 5:50am.
Australian History
Sunday, August 4, 1929. : The first passenger train departs Adelaide on the Ghan railway line to Alice Springs.
Early settlements in central Australia were isolated by more than distance. Tracks were rough and unsuitable for standard coaches. For many years, outback sheep and cattle stations and other remote settlements such as mining outposts relied on camel trains to bring them necessary goods, supplies and news from settled areas. Not being native to Australia, camels were imported from India, and they required handlers to be brought from India, Afghanistan and Persia. They followed the route taken by explorer John McDouall Stuart, the first recorded European to successfully cross central Australia from south to north, and to return alive.
The concept of a railway line to replace the camel trains was proposed largely as a result of Stuart’s exploration, which was instrumental in the building of the Overland Telegraph Line. The first sod marking the beginning of construction of the original Ghan track was turned at Port Augusta in 1878 by the then premier of South Australia, Mr William Jervois. The first section of the railway reached Government Gums in 1881. Government Gums is now known as Farina. The next stage of the line was extended to Marree in 1882, then Oodnadatta in 1891. Premier Jervois envisioned the line eventually reaching Darwin, something that he certainly did not see in his lifetime. It was several decades before the next stage of the railway was begun, in 1926. This was to be the section that would connect Oodnadatta to Alice Springs. It was finally completed in 1929.
The original Ghan train was called the Afghan Express, a name which was soon shortened to just “The Ghan”. It was named The Ghan because it followed the tracks of the Afghan camel teams which used to make the trek across central Australia. The first train trip of the Ghan pulled out of Adelaide station on 4 August 1929, with 120 passengers on board. The train now travels through the centre of Australia, between the cities of Adelaide, in the south, and Darwin, in the north, a total journey of 2979 kilometres, as the section between Alice Springs and Darwin was completed in 2004.
Australian History
Saturday, August 4, 2001. : Adventurer Steve Fossett makes his fifth attempt to circumnavigate the world in a balloon, launching from Northam, Western Australia.
American adventurer Steve Fossett made a total of six attempts to fly around the world non-stop in a balloon, finally succeeding on his sixth attempt. His fifth bid began on 4 August 2001, at 7:06am, Western Australian time. Weather conditions were calm at the launch site in Northam, Western Australia. He had tried to launch from Kalgoorlie in June, but a freak gust of wind ripped the Solo Spirit’s balloon envelope and damaged helium containers while it was being inflated.
His fifth attempt lasted thirteen days: On August 17, he was forced down by bad weather in Brazil. He had travelled 20,430 kilometres.
World History
Tuesday, August 4, 1914. : World War I begins.
Through the centuries, wars have been started for a variety of reasons. The desire for domination, revenge, the push for more territory, differences in religion, ethnic ‘cleansing’ – these are all common causes of war. However, it took a senseless assassination to launch the world’s first global war.
His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este was heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. The Archduke was one of the leading advocates of maintaining the peace within the Austro-Hungarian government during both the Bosnian Crisis of 1908-1909 and the Balkan Wars Crises of 1912-1913. When he accepted the invitation of Bosnia’s governor to inspect army manoeuvres outside Sarajevo, he and his wife were assassinated by “The Black hand”, a secret nationalistic Serb society, on 28 June 1914.
Consequently, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia. The following month, Russia, which had a treaty with Serbia, called for restraint from Germany whilst partially mobilising their own troops; Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary, responded with similar warnings, and began mobilisation themselves. When Austrian warships attacked the Serbian capital of Belgrade on 30 July, Russia began full mobilisation of its defence forces. Germany declared war on Russia, and France, bound by treaty to Russia, mobilised its troops. When Germany invaded Belgium, which was neutral, Britain issued Germany with an ultimatum to withdraw. The ultimatum was ignored, and Britain formally declared war on Germany, on 4 August 1914. British colonies and dominions were bound to ally themselves with the “Mother Country”. As countries allied themselves with either side, war on a global scale broke out, as even Japan, honouring a military agreement with Britain, declared war on Germany. This was the beginning of World War I.
World History
Saturday, August 4, 1984. : The African nation of Upper Volta is renamed Burkina Faso.
Burkina Faso is a landlocked nation in western Africa. During the spread of colonialism, it was incorporated into French West Africa and was originally administered as part of the Côte d’Ivoire colony. It became a separate colony,Upper Volta, in 1919, but thirteen years later was broken up between Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Niger. Fifteen years later again, in 1947, the boundaries were recreated, and the colony of Upper Volta was reborn. Twelve years later it achieved self-government, and became a republic and member of the Franco-African Community, but became fully independent in 1960.
The country suffered a good deal of instability, enduring military coups in 1966, 1980, 1982, 1983 and 1987. Captain Thomas Sankara became President following the 1983 countercoup, and it was he who renamed Upper Volta as Burkina Faso on 4 August 1984. The name “Burkina Faso” means “upright land”, or “the land of upright people” in the main native languages. Sankara himself was killed in the 1987 coup.
World History
Friday, August 4, 2000. : The Queen Mother celebrates her centenary.
The Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (Elizabeth Angela Marguerite) was born on 4 August 1900. Later Queen Elizabeth, she was the Queen Consort of George VI of the United Kingdom from 1936 until his death in 1952. After her husband’s death, she was known as Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, in relation to her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
On 4 August 2000, the Queen Mother became the first member of Britain’s Royal Family ever to reach her 100th birthday. She even received a hand-written telegram from Buckingham Palace congratulating her on reaching her centenary. The day was marked with celebrations throughout the United Kingdom: Scotland celebrated the occasion with the firing of a 21-gun salute from Edinburgh Castle and a special bagpipe rendition at Glamis Castle where the Queen Mother had spent much of her childhood. A 21-gun salute was also fired from Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland and from Cardiff City Hall in Wales.
The Queen Mother died at the age of 101, on 30 March 2002.