Gday...

1853  -             The last ship to carry convicts directly from Ireland to Australia arrives in Fremantle.

Transportation of convicts to Australia began when the first ship departed Portsmouth, England, in May 1787, and ended on 9 January 1868, when the last convict ship left Britain in 1867 and arrived in Australia on 10 January 1868. This ship, the "Hougoumont", brought its final cargo of 269 convicts to Western Australia, as New South Wales had abolished transportation of convicts in 1840. During its transportation era, Australia received 160,000 convicts.

Ireland ceased transportation of convicts to Australia earlier than England. The final convict-carrying ship direct from Ireland arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia, on 30 August 1853. The ship that made the final voyage of transportation was the 'Phoebe Dunbar'. It left Kingstown, near Dublin, Ireland, on 2 June 1853, and carried 93 passengers and 295 convicts, although eight men died at sea, one died in the harbour and one in the Convict Establishment Hospital. The passengers were made up entirely of pensioner guards and their families.

1906  -             The first drivers licence in Australia is issued in South Australia.

The first petrol-driven car in Australia is believed to have been developed by Harry A Tarrant in 1897. Tarrant went on take over the Ford dealer and assembler franchise in Australia in 1909. The automobile industry developed quickly in Australia, as it did in many other countries, with cars edging out horses and carriages on the roads.

With the increased number of automobiles came the need for more rules and controls. In 1888, Karl Benz became the first man, worldwide, to obtain written permission to drive his automobile on public roads after citizens in Mannheim complained about the noise and smell from his vehicle. In 1903, Prussia became the first European state to make a drivers licence compulsory, and it was soon followed by other European nations.

South Australia was the first Australian state to pass a Motor traffic Regulation Act, doing so in 1904. This was followed by the first drivers licence in Australia, issued on 30 August 1906. The proud owner was William Hargreaves, who held the position of government analyst and chief inspector of explosives in South Australia. Trained as a chemist, Hargreaves had an interest in vehicles and fuel sources, and examined the feasibility of alternative fuel sources during World War I and II, even powering his own automobile on a mixture of molasses and petrol as World War I came to a close.

Cheers - John