On this day in 1885 a train bound for Sydney crashed over a washed away culvert at Cootamundra, killing eight people. The busy train was on its way to Sydney packed with people planning to attend the horse races at Randwick. A downpour of twenty-five centimetres of rain had washed away the embankment at Salt Clay Creek, five km from Cootamundra and the train could not be notified as the telegram wires were down.
1788 – French ships enter Port Jackson just two days before Captain Arthur Phillip takes formal possession of New South Wales
From the NSW State Archives
On this day in 1788 the French explorer La Perouse arrived at Botany Bay. Jean-Francois de Galaup, comte de Laperouse entered Sydney Harbour only days after the First Fleet had arrived and settled on the northern shore of Botany Bay (now named after him) for his six week visit. La Perouse sailed from Sydney in March and his fleet was wrecked in the Solomon Islands soon after.
On this day in 1820 the Sydney Gazette published a notice about the creation of a new cemetery on Devonshire Street, Sydney. The cemetery was described as a “spacious burial ground” in the sandhills south of the brickfields, which is the site of the present-day Central Railway Station. The cemetery was consecrated in 1820 (the first interment actually took place in 1819) and operated until 1867. The site was then resumed in 1901 to allow for the development of the Central Railway Station and approximately one-third of the monuments and remains were relocated to other cemeteries. NSW Archives
This day in Australian History from NSW Archives
On this day in 1815 the first road over the Blue Mountains was completed by William Cox. Cox, along with a workgang of 30 convicts built the 161 km road in six months and followed the route used by Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth. The Great Western Road, also known as “Cox’s Pass”, allowed Governor Macquarie to travel from Sydney to Bathurst in eleven days and opened up the western plains for settlement.
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