Q 01/05

Sydney is the capital of which Australian state?

A) Victoria

B) New South Wales

C) Queensland

D) South Australia

Answer · why

B) New South Wales

New South Wales began in 1788 covering most of eastern Australia, and was later cut down as Queensland and other colonies split away.

Q 02/05

Sydney Cove honours Thomas Townshend, whose department planned the 1788 convict colony; which British office did he hold?

A) Prime Minister

B) First Lord of the Admiralty

C) Chancellor of the Exchequer

D) Home Secretary

Answer · why

D) Home Secretary

Home Secretary Thomas Townshend had been made Baron Sydney in 1783, which is why the cove, and the city, took the name Sydney rather than Townshend.

Q 03/05

Which Aboriginal clan traditionally owned the land where the British settlement was first established?

A) The Dharawal

B) The Gweagal

C) The Gadigal

D) The Gundungurra

Answer · why

C) The Gadigal

The Gadigal were set to name a new city metro station until a minister pushed for Reginald Saunders in 2022, but a new government confirmed Gadigal in...

Q 04/05

Where did James Cook first land on Australia's east coast on 29 April 1770?

A) Sydney Cove

B) Manly

C) Botany Bay

D) Port Jackson

Answer · why

C) Botany Bay

Botany Bay was named for the great quantity of plants Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander found there; Cook had first called it Stingray Harbour.

Q 05/05

Before Sydney's 1788 founding, where did Britain transport most of its convicts?

A) America

B) The West Indies

C) West Africa

D) Bermuda

Answer · why

A) America

America was Britain's main convict destination until the American Revolution ended transportation there, so Britain needed a new penal colony.