1851 in Australia was a watershed year. It saw the start of the Australian gold rushes with significant gold discoveries in both New South Wales (near Bathurst) in February and Victoria in July.[1] As a result of the Gold Rushes, the European population of Victoria increased from 97,489 in 1851 to 538,628 in 1861 and the population of NSW increased from 197,265 in 1851 to 350,860 in 1861.[2] Victoria became a self-governing colony. Sentiment in the eastern Australian colonies moved decisively against penal transportation leading to the end of transportation to Tasmania in 1853. Melbourne's major suburb/satellite city in the Dandenong Ranges, Belgrave was first settled, making it the oldest town in the Dandenong Ranges.
6 February – The Black Thursday bushfires rage from Mount GambiertoMelbourne. Fires covered a quarter of what is now the state of Victoria, approximately 50,000 km2. Areas affected include Portland, the Plenty Ranges to the north of Melbourne, Westernport, the Wimmera and Dandenong districts. Approximately 12 people died, one million sheep and thousands of cattle were lost.
11 February — Tasmania plays Victoria in the first inter-colonial cricket match.
10 April – The NSW Association for Preventing the Renewal of Transportation sends a petition to Queen Victoria.
28 May – The arrival of two convict ships, the Lady Kenneway with 249 male prisoners and Blackfriars with 260 female prisoners, further turns Tasmanian sentiment against transportation.
10 July – A public meeting in Hobart, one of the largest ever held in Tasmania, calls for the end of transportation.
14 July – Sir William Denison, Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania writes to Earl Grey supporting a continuation of transportation.
15 July — Charles La Trobe appointed as first Lieutenant Governor of Victoria.
22 July – Northern NSW landholders write to Earl Grey calling for Northern NSW to become a separate colony with transportation of labour. They complain of a shortage of labour due to men going to the goldfields.
29 July – 1500 people attend a public meeting to oppose transportation organised by the Australasian League
31 October – The New South Wales Legislative Council votes unanimously against transportation 'in any form what-so-ever, to any part of Her Majesty's Australian possessions'.
4 December – Charles LaTrobe forwards a Victorian Legislative Council motion passed unanimously opposing further transportation.
Australian Geographic Encyclopedia of Australia 1996 Volume 1 page 30
Encyclopedia of Australian Events, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, Bryce Fraser and The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd 1997, MacquarieNet 2002 (online edition) retrieved 14 June 2006
^Munday, Rosemary, ed. (1991). "How Australia Began: Significant Dates in Australian History". The Bulletin Australian Almanac & Book of Facts 1992. Sydney: Australian Consolidated Press. p. 3. ISSN1038-054X.
