Notable Firsts in Australian History Quiz

Answer: Bathurst

Droughts in 1812 and 1813 made the location and establishment of new farmland an imperative for Sydney. Governor Lachlan Macquarie approved the expedition to find a route over the Blue Mountains. Gregory Blaxland, who desired more land, was the instigator of the expedition and approached William Wentworth and William Blaxland to accompany him. The exploration party included four men who were trackers, hunters or served the party in other ways, four pack horses and five dogs.

The crossing was successful as they travelled along the ridges rather than through the valleys. The journey took 21 days rather than the three hours it would take now in a car. Having made a trail through the mountains, the party took only six days to return to Sydney to report their findings. The three leaders of the group were rewarded with a land grant of 1,000 acres. A road was constructed along their route in 1815 and called the Great Western Road.

Found approximately 200 km (120 miles) west of Sydney, Bathurst is Australia's oldest inland town. Governor Macquarie travelled along the new road and decreed a new town was to be established at the end of the road. Its name was to be Bathurst after the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst. Bathurst became the staging post for several further explorations of Australia's inland regions. Edward Hargraves' discovery of gold near Bathurst enabled growth of the town as miners and traders poured in to try their luck on the goldfields.

Today, education is one of Bathurst's primary contributors to its economy. Charles Sturt University has its headquarters in Bathurst while several of its campuses are in other regional centres such as Wagga Wagga, Dubbo and Albury.

Answer: Yes

The year was 1895, two years after New Zealand gave women the vote. Australia was still an island broken up into several colonies rather than being a single nation. South Australia was the first colony to give enfranchisement to all women. The remaining colonies (and after 1901, states) enfranchised women over the next 13 years, the last state being Victoria in 1908. Voters had to be at least 21 years old until the voting age was lowered to 18 in 1973.

As for being able to stand for election, women in South Australia were able to nominate for election from 1895 (the same year). Once Australia became a commonwealth in 1901, women were able to vote in and stand for federal election from 1902. The states were able to make their own laws in this regard. Victoria was the last to allow women to vote (1908) and the last to allow women to stand for parliament. That didn't occur until 1923. Victoria was the second state to have a female state premier (Joan Kirner from 1990-92). Strangely enough, South Australia was the last state to elect a woman to state parliament. A woman was finally elected in 1959!

Victoria and South Australia had voting laws which gave women who owned property the right to vote from the mid-1800s. Alas, if you didn't have property, you had no right to vote. That right in Victoria was short-lived, though. An act of parliament gave enfranchisement to 'all persons' with property not realising that women might own property. Another act of parliament only one year later 'corrected' that error and ensured women couldn't vote for another few decades in Victoria.

Answer: NASA astronaut

Andrew "Andy" Sydney Withiel Thomas, AO, was born in 1951 in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Fascinated and intrigued by space and space travel from a young age, Andy went from making model rockets in his youth to travelling in space as a NASA astronaut. His early education was in Adelaide before graduating as a mechanical engineer from the University of Adelaide in 1978 with a doctorate. His talent was apparent as Lockheed in Atlanta (USA) offered Andy a job which he accepted. The subsequent years in Atlanta saw him become Lockheed's principal aerodynamic scientist. By now, Andy had become a US citizen with the dream of becoming a NASA astronaut.

NASA selected Andy in 1992 and by August the following year, Andy gained a place in the astronaut corps after substantial training. It wasn't until May of 1996 that Andy went into space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour as a payload commander. This was the first of Andy's four ventures into space which totalled 177 days, 9 hours and 14 minutes of travel time. Andy married a fellow astronaut, Shannon Walker, and is now retired after working for NASA for 22 years.

Andy wasn't the first Australian in space despite all his achievements. Paul Desmond Scully-Power AM is an Australian-born American oceanographer who travelled on the Space Shuttle in 1984. He was a civilian employed by a branch of the US Navy and undertook an eight-day mission on the Space Shuttle Challenger. Not only was the first Australian in space, he was the first person in space to sport a beard while doing so.

Answer: 1960s

Until April, 1962, travelling between Australia's two largest cities of Sydney and Melbourne required changing trains at the border due to the different gauges of track. If that sounds silly, travelling between Perth on the west coast and Brisbane on the east coast in 1917 required six changes of train.

Sydney's railway network extended to the outer suburbs by 1856 and down to the NSW-Victoria border town of Albury in 1881. Melbourne's train line to Albury was completed in 1883. Alas, the lines were of different gauges meaning passengers had to change trains. There was light at the end of the tunnel, however. A royal commission in 1921 decreed that standard gauge (as used in NSW) was preferable for the entire country and plans were made to link the capital cities with train lines.

It seems mildly insane but the history of different railway gauges is due to the colonial governments of the continent wanting different gauges for their new-fangled train lines. The first trains started operating in 1854 and train lines began to spring up around the nation. They were operated privately so the gauge didn't really matter. Even when governments began to take control of the railway system, the desirability of a standard gauge through the country wasn't at the forefront of their thinking. After federation in 1901, state governments continued building train lines of differing sizes to their neighbours. New South Wales used the European standard gauge after initially deciding on Irish gauge, the majority of states used the Irish gauge, while some regional and private operators used a narrow gauge line.

Victoria and NSW were to have the same gauge when the initial plans were made but the chief engineer of NSW resigned when his salary was cut and the new chief engineer wanted to use a gauge he was more familiar with. Negotiations to make the tracks the same size failed to resolve the issue, engines were already being made in the UK, and the neighbouring states ended up with different railway gauges. I have little doubt that a bit of pigheadedness and pride got in the way of common sense too!

It wasn't until 1962 that the Melbourne to Albury line was converted to standard gauge, enabling passengers to enjoy a seamless ride between the cities. As for the Perth-Sydney run, that took until 1970 to complete. The Indian Pacific train departed for its first trip across the continent in February 1970. Darwin in the Northern Territory was linked with the rest of Australia by train in 2004. Passengers can now take The Ghan train from Adelaide to Darwin or vice versa on a 54-hour journey through the heart of Australia. Many regional areas have non-standard gauge railway lines, but at least the capital cities are linked now. It only took 150 years or so...

Answer: The Sydney Gazette

Fifteen years after British settlement of Australia, Governor King allowed the establishment of 'The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser' in 1803, the country's first newspaper. Subject to government censorship until 1824, 'The Sydney Gazette' was an important source of information about ship movements, tickets of leave for convicts, weather events such as floods, upcoming auctions, government proclamations and other matters important to the colony, and even a little bit of gossip.

The first editor was George Howe, a convict who was transported to Sydney in 1800 for shoplifting. He had experience working in print prior to transportation as he'd work with the 'London Times'. His son Robert later took to the editor's desk in 1821 after his father's passing.

Initially published weekly, the paper was being published thrice-weekly when production ceased in 1842. Three employees of 'The Gazette' took it upon themselves to establish another newspaper in 1831. This paper, 'The Sydney Herald', later became 'The Sydney Morning Herald' and is the longest-running newspaper in Australia.

Answer: Ned Kelly

Australia in the early part of the 20th century was still intrigued by the notion of bushrangers and stories of their deeds were popular. Theatrical performances toured the country so it seemed inevitable that a movie would be made about the subject. It had only been 26 years since Ned Kelly's execution in prison, and his mother and one of his younger brothers were still alive when 'The Story of the Kelly Gang' was made in 1906.

Exactly who acted in the movie is still a matter of some conjecture but the consensus is that Charles Tait was the director and various members of his family appeared in the movie. The movie was over an hour long and premiered in Melbourne on Boxing Day, 1906. It comprised only six scenes (all silent, of course) but was watched by audiences from Melbourne to London. It made the backers of the movie quite a pretty penny in the process as it toured for twenty years in various countries.

The UNESCO Memory of the World Register regards 'The Story of the Kelly Gang' as the world's first full-length feature film. The movie consisted of about 1,200 metres of film and it was lost until the latter half of the century. By the early 21st century, 17 minutes of the original film has been restored after film had been located in various places including London, a rubbish dump, and within a film exhibitor's collection. The National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra has worked on this precious work of art, restoring film and even recreating scenes from the movie based on still photographs.

Answer: Ken G. Hall

Ken Hall was a Sydney-born lad (1901) who started his working life as a journalism cadet at the age of 15. A career change while still in his teens saw him working in public relations within the movie industry. His first trip to Hollywood was in 1925. In 1928 he was asked to rework a film about a war battle from WWI. That film performed well in cinemas but Ken returned to working in publicity. His career became movie making in 1931 when his boss created Cinesound Productions and Ken was asked to direct some shorts for the company. Then came the big breakthrough for Ken's directing career. Asked to create movies from the 'On Our Selection' series of books, Hall created several incredibly popular movies starring the very Aussie duo of Dad & Dave.

World War II saw Ken Hall producing newsreels about the war efforts. 'Kokoda Front Line' was a nine-minute documentary about the efforts of Australian soldiers along the treacherous Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea. Scenes shot by the amazing cinematographer Damien Parer were used by Hall to illustrate the horrific conditions endured by the soldiers and the assistance given to them by the PNG natives (affectionately called the 'Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels'). 'Kokoda Front Line' was one of the 25 documentaries vying for an Oscar in 1942 and was one of four winners. The other three winners were also about WWII. Damien Parer's footage was also used in other documentaries including 'The Road to Kokoda'.

The return to peace after the war saw Ken continue in the movie industry until the advent of television in 1956. He became the first general manager of a Sydney TV station and remained in that role for ten years.

The first full-length feature film was "The Story of the Kelly Gang" (1906).

Answer: Yes

International sporting tournaments were still a novelty in any sport. Only three English teams had travelled overseas prior to this tour taking place. Those trips had been to the USA and Canada in 1859, and two tours to Australia in 1861-62 and 1863-64. Meanwhile, in Australia, Aboriginals had been playing cricket on farms in Victoria where they worked as stockmen. The natural athleticism of the players throughout the region led to matches taking place with the aim of finding the best possible Aboriginal team.

The team arrived in England in May 1868, and were greeted with interest and curiosity. 'The Daily Telegraph' suggested 'nothing of interest comes from there except gold nuggets and black cricketers.' The Oval was the venue for the first match and drew 20,000 spectators. Another 46 matches were played, the Australians winning 14, losing 14, and drawing 19 matches in total. Johnny Mullagh was the standout player for the Aussies. He scored 1,698 runs and took 245 wickets, managing to impress George Tarrant (a premier English bowler) who said of him 'I have never bowled to a better batsman.'

After a long sea journey, the team arrived back in Australia in February 1869 and disbanded soon after. Johnny Mullagh went on to play cricket professionally with the Victorian team and displayed his batting prowess during a tour by a visiting English cricket team. He was the top scorer in the second innings.

Answer: William Bragg

William Lawrence Bragg was just 25 years old when he won the Nobel Prize in Physics 'For their services in the analysis ofcrystal structure by means of X-ray.' [The Nobel Foundation]. Bragg's father, William Henry Bragg, was an English scientist working in Australia when his son William was born. William showed a disposition for science from a young age and was the subject of Australia's first medical use of X-rays when he broke his arm aged five after falling off a tricycle. His father had been performing experiments with X-rays at the time.

Schooled in Adelaide, Bragg did his tertiary studies at the University of Adelaide, graduating in 1908. His father's career took him back to England so the younger William Bragg went to England to study at Cambridge while his father taught at the University of Leeds. While researching X-rays as a student, Bragg spoke of his work with his father. This led to the development of the X-ray spectrometer which allowed researchers to analyse varied forms of crystals. Both World Wars saw research efforts swing towards military purposes and Bragg's efforts in producing methods for detecting enemy weaponry by sound ranging in WWI saw him (and others) mentioned in military dispatches, awarded military medals and awarded an OBE.

Bragg returned to Cambridge after WWII after a working at the Victoria University of Manchester between the wars as a physics professor for eighteen years. In charge of the Cavendish Laboratory, his interests turned to the structure of proteins including DNA and haemoglobin. He was delighted to see his work on X-rays play an integral part in unlocking the mysteries of life. Bragg nominated and lobbied for the scientists under his aegis, Watson and Crick, to win a Nobel Prize for the work on DNA.

The incorrect answers were also Australians who won Nobel Prizes: Sir John Cornforth won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1975; Patrick White won a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1973; and Howard Florey won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945.

Answer: New South Wales

There were numerous discoveries of gold in the colonies, but the authorities either dismissed the reports or didn't want to publicise them as they feared the destabilisation of the fledgling economy and the workforce, as it was, leaving their jobs to find riches for themselves. The white population of Australia was a mere 77,000, many of them convicts or their descendants. Once the gold rush of 1851 had commenced, the population soared to 540,000 in just two years. Convict shipments to New South Wales and Victoria was no longer deemed a punishment - it was seen as a reward and an opportunity to find gold, so convict transportation to the east coast ceased.

Edward Hargraves was the man responsible for the New South Wales gold rush of 1851. He had travelled to California in 1850 to acquire the skills necessary to find gold. On returning to Australia, he noted similarities between the gold country of California and the countryside around Bathurst, NSW. Determined to find gold, he headed to an area he thought gold-laden despite the derision to those in authority who thought his idea foolhardy. Full of optimism, he is quoted as saying 'There is as much gold in the country I'm going to as there is in California, and Her Most Gracious Majesty, the Queen, God bless her, will appoint me one of her Gold Commissioners.'

Working with a few locals who helped him greatly, Hargraves did find gold and returned to Sydney with £13 worth of gold from a site near the town of Orange that Hargraves called Ophir. Further exploration by the officials confirmed his findings and Hargraves was appointed Crown Commissioner of the Goldfields. This gained him £10,000, truly realising the ambition as later described in his autobiography. He claimed 'It was never my intention ... to work for gold, my only desire was to make the discovery, and rely on the Government and the country for my reward.'

Once the gold rush was on, the workforce did change. Workers in cities and on farms failed to appear for their duties having left for the gold fields. The Victorian authorities, alarmed at the exodus of workers to New South Wales, created the Victorian Gold Discovery Committee which resulted in numerous finds of gold. Within months of the NSW gold rush starting, Victoria had its own gold rush to deal with. The gold rushes around Australia transformed small, colonial towns into prosperous cities, established new towns throughout the region and brought hundreds of thousands of free settlers to the colonies.