Australian Explorers
Sunday, December 3, 1797. : Bass departs Sydney to determine whether Van Diemen’s Land is an island or part of the Australian continent.
The island of Tasmania, originally “Van Diemen’s Land”, was discovered by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642. It was thought to be part of the Australian mainland, though some seamen had their suspicions that it might be an island. Among them were George Bass and Matthew Flinders who, in 1796, together explored and charted the coastline south of Sydney.
The following year, Bass sought sponsorship from Governor Hunter to determine whether a navigable strait existed between Van Diemen’s Land and the Australian continent. Bass departed Sydney on 3 December 1797, with six naval volunteers and an 8.5m long whaleboat. It was on this journey that Bass discovered the strait that is now named after him.
Australian Explorers
Wednesday, December 3, 1800. : James Grant discovers and names Mount Gambier in South Australia.
Mount Gambier, around which the city of the same name is built, is the remnant of an extinct volcano, located midway between the major capital cities of Melbourne (Victoria) and Adelaide (South Australia). Ancient volcanic activity is evident in the landscape of volcanic craters, lakes, caves and underground aquifers.
James Grant was a young lieutenant sent out on a survey voyage of the southern coast. Grant was given orders to take possession in the King’s name of any large rivers and good pastureland, if such possession was done with the consent of any native inhabitants who might be present. On 3 December 1800, Grant discovered Cape Northumberland, naming it after the Duke who was British Commander-in-Chief. Beyond Cape Northumberland, he sighted Mount Gambier, naming it after Admiral Lord James Gambier, who had commanded the fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen.
Australian Explorers
Friday, December 3, 1824. : Hume and Hovell discover the Goulburn River, naming it the “Hovell River”.
The Goulburn River is a significant river in the Australian state of Victoria. It begins near the western end of Mount Buller in the Victorian Alps, also known as the “High Country”, and joins the Murray River near the town of Echuca. Discovered by the exploration party of Hume and Hovell on 3 December 1824, the Goulburn River was originally named the “Hovell”, after William Hovell, who accompanied Hamilton Hume on the expedition to find an overland route from Sydney to Port Phillip.
Hume was a grazier who was interested in exploring south of the known Sydney area to open up new areas of land. However, he could not gain Government support for his proposed venture. William Hovell was an English immigrant with little bush experience, a former ship’s captain who was keen to assist Hume’s expedition financially, and accompany him. The expedition was set up, and Hume and Hovell departed Hume’s father’s farm at Appin, southwest of Sydney, in early October 1824.
Although the two men argued for most of their journey, and even for many years after their return, the expedition was successful in many ways. Hume and Hovell discovered many other rivers besides the Goulburn, including the “Hume River”, which was later renamed by Sturt as the Murray River. The “Hovell River” was later renamed the Goulburn River after English statesman Henry Goulburn.
Australian History
Saturday, December 3, 1831. : Controversial reformer Major-General Sir Richard Bourke is appointed as Governor of New South Wales.
Major-General Sir Richard Bourke was born in Dublin on 4 May 1777. He succeeded Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Darling, and was appointed Governor on 3 December 1831, to become the eighth Governor of New South Wales. Bourke was a major reformer in the colony of New South Wales. He had significant influence in ending the transportation of convicts to New South Wales, although that did not happen during his tenure. He was an advocate of emancipation and integration of convicts into civilian life, and his concern for the convicts was not appreciated by the conservative elements in the colony. Raising the ire of local magistrates who abused their powers, he set a punishment limit of fifty lashes where no previous limit had existed, and granted more rights to the emancipists, or freed convicts.
Bourke was a proponent of the doctrine of ‘terra nullius’, or ‘empty land’, which declared that the continent of Australia belonged to no-one, and therefore Britain had the right to claim it if they occupied it. This doctrine had been in effect since James Cook charted the east coast, and was unable to find any indigenous personnel who could read or write, to sign any treaty for land. In 1835, he issued a proclamation stating that the original inhabitants, indigenous Australians, could not sell or assign land. He declared John Batman’s agreement to offer supplies to the indigenous people of Port Phillip in exchange for land to be invalid on this basis. Despite this, the new settlement thrived, and Bourke eventually named it Melbourne, in honour of Lord Melbourne, Prime Minister of Great Britain.
One of Bourke’s major reforms was in the allocation of public funds for religious purposes. Although nominally Anglican himself, he did not agree with the Church of England being the state church of New South Wales. On 29 July 1836, he enacted the Church Act. This Act allowed for public funds to be given to the three major denominations present in the colony, Anglican, Catholic and Presbyterian, based on the number of adherents. It was later extended also to the Jewish, Wesleyan and Baptist churches. The Act diminished the power and dominance of the Anglican Church. A direct result was the great increase in numbers of new churches and clergy throughout the colony, while allowing better access for convicts and emancipists to religious communities.
Australian History
Sunday, December 3, 1854. : The Battle of the Eureka Stockade is held near Ballarat, Victoria.
The Eureka Stockade was the rebellion initiated by the diggers on the Ballarat, Victoria goldfields in 1854. Conditions on the Australian goldfields were particularly harsh. The main source of discontent was the expensive miner’s licence. It cost 30 shillings every month and permitted the holder to work a 3.6 metre square “claim”. Licences had to be paid regardless of whether a digger’s claim resulted in the finding of any gold. Frequent licence hunts, during which the miners were ordered to produce proof of their licences, added to the increasing unrest. Previous delegations for miners’ rights had met with inaction from the Victorian government, so on 29 November 1854, the miners burned their licences in a mass display of resistance against the laws which controlled the miners. Following a massive licence hunt on November 30, Irish immigrant Peter Lalor was elected to lead the rebellion.
On December 1, the miners began to construct a wooden barricade, a stockade from which they planned to defend themselves against further licence arrests or other incursions by the authorities. At 3:00am on Sunday, 3 December 1854, 276 police and military personnel and several civilians stormed the stockade. It remains unclear which side fired first, but in the ensuing battle, 22 diggers and 5 troopers died.
Although the rebellion itself failed in its objective, it gained the attention of the Government. A Commission of Enquiry was conducted and changes were implemented. These included abolition of monthly gold licences, replaced by an affordable annual miner’s licence. The numbers of troopers were reduced significantly, and Legislative Council was expanded to allow representation to the major goldfields. Peter Lalor and another representative, John Basson Humffray, were elected for Ballarat. Later, Lalor was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Victoria. For these reasons, the Eureka Stockade is regarded by many as the birthplace of Australian Democracy.
World History
Friday, December 3, 1971. : Pakistan invades India as a result of the Bangladeshi struggle for freedom.
The British Empire once stretched into almost every continent on Earth. In 1947, Britain dismantled its Indian empire and partitioned the sub-continent, resulting in an eruption of tensions between India and Pakistan. Pakistan itself was divided by civil war after its 1970 election saw the East Pakistani Awami League party win 167 of 169 seats in East Pakistan and 313 in total, claiming the right to form the Government. However, the Pakistan People’s Party, representing West Pakistan, refused to give premiership of Pakistan to the East Pakistan party, and called in the military, which was made up largely of West Pakistanis. Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, openly supported the Bangladeshi (East Pakistan) struggle for freedom, and opened the Bangladesh-India border to allow safe refuge to the Bengalis in India.
On 3 December 1971, the border battles escalated into full scale war as Pakistan launched air raids on India. The raids were not successful, and the Indian Air Force launched a counter-attack, quickly achieving the military upper hand. The Indian Army, together with exiled Bangladeshi fighters, launched a massive, coordinated air, sea, and land attack on Pakistan, gaining ground quickly, and forcing the Pakistani Army to retreat. On December 6, India became the first nation to recognise the new Bangladeshi government. On December 16 the Pakistani forces in East Pakistan surrendered, and agreed to a unilateral ceasefire.