1770 Capt James Cook sails up Qld coast with botanist Joseph Banks, right; names Cape Moreton, Pt Lookout and Glass House Mtns; takes possession of eastern Australia, naming it New South Wales.

1799 Capt Matthew Flinders, below, explores Moreton and Hervey bays; names Red Cliffe Pt, Pumice Stone River (Passage), lands on Coochiemudlo Is.

1823 Ticket-of-leave men (former convicts) John Finnegan, Richard Parsons and Thomas Pamphlett shipwrecked off Moreton Is while looking for timber.

Surveyor-general John Oxley arrives at Bribie Is to examine Moreton Bay as site for penal settlement; finds Finnegan and Pamphlett who guide him to Brisbane River; names Peel Is, Pine River and Deception Bay; rescues Parsons on next trip in 1824.

1824 First commandant Lt Henry Miller arrives at Red Cliffe Pt from Sydney with soldiers, a storekeeper and their families, John Oxley, botanist Allan Cunningham, stock and seeds.

First European born in Moreton Bay colony named Amity Moreton Thompson.

1825 Shipping channel via South Passage found; settlement moves to Brisbane River; first convict buildings built along William St. Left, the old convict barracks.