1791 in Australia

1 Leaders
2 Events
3 Births
4 Deaths
5 References

Leaders

Governor of New South Wales - Captain Arthur Phillip, RN
Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island - Philip Gidley King
Commanding officer of the colony's marine presence - Major Robert Ross (marine)

Events

Watercolour painting of the Governor's House at Port Jackson in 1791

February 22 - The first land grant in Australia is made to ex-convict James Ruse.
March - Philip Gidley King returns to Norfolk Island from Britain and resumes command from Robert Ross.
May 3 - Lieutenant Ralph Clark records in his diary that he has ordered 3 women convicts flogged. Catherine White faints after the first 15 lashes, Mary Teut after 22. When Mary Higgins has received 26 lashes, Lieutenant Clark "forgave her the remainder (he has ordered 50) because she was an old woman".
June 2 - Rose Hill renamed Paramatta
August 1 - The Third Fleet begins to arrive with convicts and supplies; the first ship, Matilda brings 205 convicts.
August 18 - Richard Bowen enters and names Jervis Bay aboard the Atlantic.
September 28 - The ships Active and Queen arrive beinging the first Irish convicts.
September 29 - The West Coast of Australia is claimed by British Commander George Vancouver when he sailed into King George Sound, previously only the east coast had been claimed for the Crown.
October 16 - The last ship of the Third Fleet arrives, with Captain William Paterson of the New South Wales Corps onboard.
October 24 - HMS Britannia and William Ann set out on Australia's first whaling expedition.
November 1 - A party of twenty-one convicts escape from Port Jackson and (with an obviously limited knowledge of Australian geography) attempt to walk to China. Some die in the wilderness, while others are recaptured.
December 5 - Ross returns to Port Jackson from Norfolk Island. His marines, having been displaced by the newly arrived New South Wales Corps, are frequently drunk and rowdy. On December 17, Ross and most of the marines returned to England on HMS Gorgon.