December 27 On This Day in Australian History

1803 - A convict by the name of William Buckley, escaped from the Sullivan Cove settlement at Sorrento and lived with a group of Wathaurung people for the following 32 years.

1804 - Col. William Paterson moved his settlement to the West Arm of the Tamar River, and named the new settlement York Town.

1824 -Celeste de Chabrillan, novelist, prostitute, theatrical horse rider, dancer and wife of the Australian French Counsel, was delivered by the stork. This lady is a fine point on the old adage "don't judge a book by its cover".

1862 - Mackay River was renamed the "Pioneer River". Commodore Burnett of the HMS "Pioneer" in September 1862 traversed the Queensland coastline and as there was already a "Mackay" River in Rockingham Bay proposed to rename the river "Pioneer" to avoid confusion.

1872 - The Towers Jockey Club (Charters Towers, QLD) conducted its first Christmas meeting on this day.

1873 - First cricket game between English 11 and Victorian 18 began at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.The English team, captained by Dr. W.G. Grace, arrived aboard steamer Nubia.

1874 - Adam McCay, journalist, editor, poet and satirist was born in Castlemaine. Norman Lindsay claimed McCay was one of the 5 worst men in Australia while Kenneth Slessor stated he was one of the greatest Australian newspapermen of his time.

1891 - Extensive bushfires in the Narrandra district of NSW damaged properties.

1907 - The Newnes Railway line (NSW) was opened.

1916 - The Dent Island and Flat Top Island lighthouses in the Whitsunday Passage, Qld, were damaged by a cyclone.

1916 - A cyclone swept the coast along the Whitsunday Passage, bringing heavy rainfall to Clermont, Sapphire and Peak Downs. They forgot to counter for the runoff from nearby catchments and creeks and the debris it carried with it at crushing speeds. The torrent smashed through houses and caused widespread damage. 65 deaths, 10 homes destroyed, 50 buildings damaged and 10,000 livestock killed. The lower part of Clermont was submerged, so the town was rebuilt on higher ground.

1936 - The Pioneer Memorial on the west of Moseley Square, Glenelg was unveiled by the Governor, Major-General Sir Winston Dugan on this day.

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1937 - A letter written by William Cooper on this day was written on behalf of the Australian Aborigines Progressive Association, and was aimed at Aboriginal communities and at churches.The association gathered together a wide circle of Aboriginal leaders including Douglas Nicholls, William Ferguson, Jack Patten and Margaret Tucker. In 1937 they were preparing for what would become the famous Day of Mourning in 1938.

W. Cooper Hon. Sec., AAL,

43 Mackay Street, Yarraville, 27 December 1937. Australia Day 1938 Aborigines’ Day of Mourning The Australian Aborigines’ Progressive Association of New South Wales has called on all aborigines in the advanced stages of civilisation and culture to observe a DAY OF MOURNING concurrently with the white man’s DAY OF REJOICING to celebrate the 150th year of the coming of the white man to Australia. The aborigines, by this means, hope to call the attention to the present deplorable condition of all aborigines, of whatever stage of culture, after 150 years of British rule. It is expected that such action will create such sympathy on the part of the whites that full justice and recompense will follow.

The “DAY OF MOURNING” has been endorsed by the Australian Aborigines’ League, the Victorian body, which also looks after Federal matters, and it is expected that meetings will be held at a number of places and suitable resolutions passed. This League now asks the Christian community to help us in another way.

We know that sympathy with the aborigines is widespread and growing and, because the aboriginal knows that the goodwill of the whiteman is essential to success they seek to justify the continuance of this sympathy. We now ask all Christian denominations to observe Sunday, 3rd January as ABORIGINES’ DAY. We request that sermons be preached on this day dealing with the aboriginal people and their need of the gospel and response to it and we ask that special prayer be invoked for all missionary and other effort for the uplift of the dark people.

We regret the unavoidable delay in submitting our request, which was not avoidable in all the circumstances, but we feel that a suitable notice from you in your church press will give that wide publicity that is so essential.

Very sincerely yours,

W. Cooper ----------------------------------

1938 - Aboriginal people protested against the Australian March to Nationhood rally marking Sydney’s 150th anniversary.

1943 - Australian forces captured Shaggy Ridge, New Guinea after a four-month battle against the Japanese.

1964 - Australia's first offshore oil well was "spudded" in the Gippsland Basin off Bass Strait.

1967 - A third Australian infantry battalion and a tank squadron arrived in Vietnam for active service.

1971 - The Tim Burstall movie STORK, starring Bruce Spence, premiered ; it featured an appearance by The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band.

1974 – The Perth Entertainment Centre opened. It had a capacity of 8200 seats.

1996 - Lone yachtsman Raphael Dinelli was rescued off the Western Australian coast in treacherous conditions.

2002 – The first X'Trapolis train enters service with Connex in Melbourne.