The British exploration and colonisation of what is now Canberra began in the early 19th century, marking the start of a new but disruptive chapter in the region’s long human history. Prior to British arrival, the land had already been home to the Ngunnawal, Ngambri, and Ngunawal peoples for tens of thousands of years, whose deep cultural and spiritual connection to the land would soon be challenged by European expansion.

The first recorded British expedition into the area was led by Charles Throsby in October 1820, followed by several other expeditions between 1820 and 1823. In June 1823, explorer Mark John Currie produced the first accurate map of the region, which was then known as the Limestone Plains due to its distinctive geology.

British settlement began soon after. In late 1823, James Cowan, head stockman for Joshua John Moore, established a sheep station on what is now Acton Peninsula. Moore had received a land grant that same year and formally applied to purchase the property in 1826, naming it “Canberry”—a name inspired by the local Aboriginal people. He was granted official possession of 1,000 acres (405 hectares) in 1827, marking one of the first permanent European settlements in the area.

Following Moore’s example, other settlers soon arrived to claim land across the fertile plains. Around 1825, James Ainslie, working on behalf of merchant Robert Campbell, was guided to the region by a local Aboriginal girl from the Pialligo clan. Campbell subsequently established his property, first called Pialligo and later renamed Duntroon after his ancestral estate in Scotland. The Campbells built a dairy in 1832, now regarded as Canberra’s oldest surviving European structure, followed by the stone homestead that today serves as the officers’ mess of the Royal Military College, Duntroon. Campbell’s family also encouraged settlement by other farming families, including the Southwells of Weetangera.

Other early colonial landowners included Henry Donnison, who founded the Yarralumla estate in 1827—now the site of the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia—and John Palmer, who established the Jerrabomberra property in 1828. In 1829, John MacPherson created the Springbank estate, becoming the region’s first British owner-occupier.

As the small colonial community grew, social and religious institutions began to form. The Anglican Church of St John the Baptist, located in Reid, was consecrated in 1845, making it Canberra’s oldest surviving public building. Its adjoining churchyard holds the earliest European graves in the district, and the nearby St John’s School, also opened in 1845, became the first school in Canberra, educating the children of local settlers, including those from Blundells Cottage—a humble sandstone home built around 1860, which still stands today as a heritage museum.