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William Dampier was the first Englishman to explore and map parts of New Holland (Australia). On 4 January 1688, his ship the 'Cygnet' was beached on the northwest coast of Australia, at King Sound near Buccaneer Archipelago on the north-west coast of Australia.
The next English visitor was Lieutenant James Cook (not yet captain), who charted the eastern coast in 1770. Cook's positive report led to the colonisation of New South Wales by England in 1788.
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FranThe first time the British arrived in Australia was when an English pirate named William Dampier landed on the western coast in 1688. Before William Dampier, all of the visitors to Australia had been Dutch explorers. William Dampier was sent to Australia again to give a bit more detail about the land, this time in 1699. He wasn't really interested in the countryside, and did not recommend that Australia (or New Holland, as it was called back then) should be settled. That only changed when Captain Cook came across the eastern coast in 1770, and recommended that Australia be settled by convicts. Actually, it was the botanist with him, Joseph Banks, who said Australia (or New South Wales, as the eastern side was called) should be settled. Banks was apparently reallt keen on the British settling Australia and sending its many convicts over here instead.
If the question means "when did the British settle in Australia", that happened in 1788 when the First Fleet arrived. There were eleven ships in the First Fleet, and they were full of convicts. The British convicts were the ones who colonised Australia.
Australia as a nation became part of the British Empire when the colonies federated on 1 January 1901 to become the Commonwealth of Australia.
However, the continent that is now Australia actually started to become part of the British Empire much earlier, when Lieutenant James Cook (later "Captain Cook") claimed a section of the eastern coast for Great Britain in August 1770.
The process of Australia becoming part of the British Empire was not a single event, but a series of claims.
- Although Cook was not the first European to discover Australia (as he was preceded by numerous Portuguese and Dutch explorers), he was the first to make an official claim on behalf of England, thus incorporating the east coast into the British Empire.
- When Captain Arthur Phillip arrived with the First Fleet of convicts on 26 January 1788, he extended the claim to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and further west.
- The western half of the continent was only claimed in 1829.
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How was Australia involved and why in world war 1?
As part of the British Empire Australia joined WW1 with the rest of the UK
What country once ruled Australia?
Australia was once a colony of Great Britain.
Where did the british empire control an entire continent?
north America The British Empire controlled an entire continent in Australia. The British Empire was the largest empire in history.
Who were the first white people to arrive in Australia?
The indigenous people of Australia, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, were the first to inhabit Australia. Whilst it is unknown when they first arrived, estimates vary between 6,000 and 40,000 years.
How did Australia hear about World War 1?
They heard about it with a StereoGraphy machine from the British.
