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The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
. It was made up of two
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, with over 1400 people (
convicts A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former conv ...
,
marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...
,
sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...
s, civil officers and free settlers), left from
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
and took a journey of over and over 250 days to eventually arrive in
Botany Bay Botany Bay ( Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...
,
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, where a penal colony would become the first European settlement in Australia.


History

Lord Sandwich Earl of Sandwich is a noble title in the Peerage of England, held since its creation by the House of Montagu. It is nominally associated with Sandwich, Kent. It was created in 1660 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir Edward Montagu. ...
, together with the President of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
, Sir Joseph Banks, the eminent scientist who had accompanied Lieutenant James Cook on his 1770 voyage, was advocating establishment of a British colony in
Botany Bay Botany Bay ( Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...
,
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
. Banks accepted an offer of assistance from the American Loyalist James Matra in July 1783. Under Banks's guidance, he rapidly produced "A Proposal for Establishing a Settlement in New South Wales" (24 August 1783), with a fully developed set of reasons for a colony composed of American Loyalists, Chinese and South Sea Islanders (but not convicts). The decision to establish a colony in Australia was made by Thomas Townshend, Lord Sydney, Secretary of State for the Home Office. This was taken for two reasons: the ending of transportation of criminals to North America following the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
, as well as the need for a base in the Pacific to counter French expansion. In September 1786, Captain Arthur Phillip was appointed Commodore of the fleet, which came to be known as the First Fleet, which was to transport the convicts and soldiers to establish a colony at Botany Bay. Upon arrival there, Phillip was to assume the powers of Captain General and Governor in Chief of the new
colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...
. A subsidiary colony was to be founded on Norfolk Island, as recommended by Sir
John Call Sir John Call, 1st Baronet (30 June 1731 – 1 March 1801) was an English engineer and baronet. He was born at Fenny Park, Tiverton, Devon, educated at Blundell's School and went to India at the age of 17 with Benjamin Robins, the chief engine ...
and Sir George Young, to take advantage for naval purposes of that island's native flax ( harakeke) and timber. The cost to Britain of outfitting and dispatching the Fleet was £84,000 (about £9.6 million, or $19.6 million as of 2015).


Ships


Royal Naval escort

On 25 October 1786 the 20 gun , lying in the dock at Deptford, was commissioned, and the command given to Phillip. The armed tender under command of Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball was also commissioned to join the expedition. On 15 December, Captain John Hunter was assigned as second captain to ''Sirius'' to command in the absence of Phillip, whose presence, it was to be supposed, would be requisite at all times wherever the seat of government in that country might be fixed.


HMS ''Sirius''

''Sirius'' was Phillip’s flagship for the fleet. She had been converted from the merchantman ''Berwick'', built in 1780 for
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
trade. She was a 520 ton, sixth-rate vessel, originally armed with ten guns, four six-pounders and six carronades, Phillip had ten more guns placed aboard.


HMS ''Supply''

''Supply'' was designed in 1759 by shipwright Thomas Slade, as a yard craft for the ferrying of naval supplies. Measuring 170 tons, she had two masts, and was fitted with four small 3-pounder cannons and six -pounder swivel guns. Her armament was substantially increased in 1786 with the addition of four 12-pounder carronades.


Convict transports


Food and supply transports

Ropes, crockery, agricultural equipment and a miscellany of other stores were needed. Items transported included tools, agricultural implements, seeds, spirits, medical supplies, bandages, surgical instruments, handcuffs, leg irons and a prefabricated wooden frame for the colony's first Government House. The party had to rely on its own provisions to survive until it could make use of local materials, assuming suitable supplies existed, and grow its own food and raise livestock.


''Golden Grove''

The reverend Richard Johnson, chaplain for the colony, travelled on the ''Golden Grove'' with his wife and servants.


Legacy

Scale models of all the ships are on display at the
Museum of Sydney The Museum of Sydney is a historical collection and exhibit, built on the ruins of the house of New South Wales' first Governor, Arthur Phillip, on the present-day corner of Phillip and Bridge Street, Sydney. Description The original house, ...
. The models were built by ship makers Lynne and Laurie Hadley, after researching the original plans, drawings and British archives. The replicas of ''Supply'', ''Charlotte'', ''Scarborough'', ''Friendship'', ''Prince of Wales'', ''Lady Penrhyn'', ''Borrowdale'', ''Alexander'', ''Sirius'', ''Fishburn'' and ''Golden Grove'' are made from Western Red or Syrian Cedar. Nine Sydney harbour ferries built in the mid-1980s are named after First Fleet vessels. The unused names are '' Lady Penrhyn'' and ''Prince of Wales''.


People

The majority of the people travelling with the fleet were convicts, all having been tried and convicted in
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...
, almost all of them in England. Many are known to have come to England from other parts of Great Britain and, especially, from Ireland; at least 14 are known to have come from the British colonies in North America; 12 are identified as black (born in Britain, Africa, the West Indies, North America, India or a European country or its colony). The convicts had committed a variety of crimes, including theft, perjury, fraud, assault, robbery, for which they had variously been sentenced to death, which was then commuted to penal transportation for 7 years, 14 years, or the term of their natural life. Four companies of marines volunteered for service in the colony, these marines made up the New South Wales Marine Corps, under the command of Major Robert Ross, a detachment on board every convict transport. The families of marines also made the voyage. A number of people on the First Fleet kept diaries and journals of their experiences, including the surgeons, sailors, officers, soldiers, and ordinary seamen. There are at least eleven known manuscript Journals of the First Fleet in existence as well as some letters. The exact number of people directly associated with the First Fleet will likely never be established, as accounts of the event vary slightly. A total of 1,420 people have been identified as embarking on the First Fleet in 1787, and 1,373 are believed to have landed at Sydney Cove in January 1788. In her biographical dictionary of the First Fleet, Mollie Gillen gives the following statistics: While the names of all crew members of ''Sirius'' and ''Supply'' are known, the six transports and three store ships may have carried as many as 110 more seamen than have been identified – no complete musters have survived for these ships. The total number of persons embarking on the First Fleet would, therefore, be approximately 1,530 with about 1,483 reaching Sydney Cove. According to the first census of 1788 as reported by Governor Phillip to Lord Sydney, the non-indigenous population of the colony was 1,030 and the colony also consisted of 7 horses, 29 sheep, 74 swine, 6 rabbits, and 7 cattle. The following statistics were provided by Governor Phillip: The chief surgeon for the First Fleet, John White, reported a total of 48 deaths and 28 births during the voyage. The deaths during the voyage included one marine, one marine's wife, one marine's child, 36 male convicts, four female convicts, and five children of convicts.


Notable members of First Fleet


Officials

* Captain Arthur Phillip, R.N, Governor of New South Wales * Major Robert Ross, Lieutenant Governor and commander of the
marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...
* Captain
David Collins David Collins may refer to: Persons * David Collins (Hampshire cricketer), 18th-century cricketer * David Collins (New Zealand cricketer) (1887–1967) * David Collins (Scottish footballer) (1912–?) * David Collins (Australian footballer) ...
, Judge Advocate *
Augustus Alt Augustus Theodore Henry Alt (1731 – 9 January 1815) was a British soldier and Australia's first Surveyor-General. Early life Augustus Theodore Harman Alt was born to father Jost Heinrich (anglicised to Just Henry), a Hessian, and mother Jeanne ...
, Surveyor * John White, Principal Surgeon * William Balmain, assistant Surgeon * Richard Johnson, chaplain


Soldiers

* Lieutenant George Johnston * Captain Watkin Tench * Lieutenant William Dawes * Lieutenant Ralph Clark


Sailors

* Captain John Hunter, commander of HMS ''Sirius'' * Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, commander of HMS ''Supply'' * Lieutenant William Bradley, 1st lieutenant of HMS ''Sirius'' * Lieutenant
Philip Gidley King Captain Philip Gidley King (23 April 1758 – 3 September 1808) was a British politician who was the third Governor of New South Wales. When the First Fleet arrived in January 1788, King was detailed to colonise Norfolk Island for defence ...
, commandant of Norfolk Island * Arthur Bowes Smyth, ship’s surgeon on ''Lady Penrhyn'' * Lieutenant John Shortland, Agent for Transports * John Shortland, son of above, 2nd mate of HMS ''Sirius''


Convicts

* Thomas Barrett, first person executed in colony *
Mary Bryant Mary Bryant (1765 – after 1794) was a Cornish convict sent to Australia. She became one of the first successful escapees from the fledgling Australian penal colony. Early life Bryant was born Mary Broad (referred to as Mary Braund at the ...
, with her husband, children and 6 other convicts escaped the colony and eventually returned to England *
John Caesar John Caesar (1764 – 15 February 1796), nicknamed "Black Caesar", was the first Australian bushranger and one of the first people of African descent to arrive in Australia. Biography It is believed that Caesar was born in Madagascar or the ...
, bushranger * Henry Kable, businessman * James Martin, was part of the escape with Mary Bryant, wrote autobiography * James Ruse, farmer, one of the only ones in the colony at its establishment *
Robert Sidaway Robert Sidaway (14 January 1758 – 13 October 1809), a convict of the First Fleet, was transported to Australia for stealing in 1788. Robert is known for being baker for the British Marines of Sydney and opening the first theatre in Sydney ...
, baker, opened the first theatre in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
*
James Squire James Squire, alternatively known as James Squires, (18 December 1754 – 16 May 1822) was a First Fleet convict transported to Australia. Squire is credited with the first successful cultivation of hops in Australia around the start of the 19t ...
, brewer


Voyage


Preparing the fleet

In September 1786 Captain Arthur Phillip was chosen to lead the expedition to establish a colony in
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
. On 15 December, Captain John Hunter, was appointed Phillip’s second. By now had been nominated as flagship, with Hunter holding command. The armed tender under command of Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball had also joined the fleet. With Phillip in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
awaiting
Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...
for the bill of management of the colony, the loading and provisioning of the transports was carried out by Lieutenant John Shortland, the agent for transports. On 16 March 1787, the fleet began to assemble at its appointed rendezvous, the Mother Bank,
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...
. His Majesty's frigate ''Sirius'' and armed tender ''Supply'', three store-ships, '' Golden Grove'', ''
Fishburn Fishburn is a village and civil parish in County Durham, in England. It is situated about 12 miles west of Hartlepool. It had a population of 2,454, increasing to 2,588 at the 2011 Census. Location The village lies scattered along a dry sw ...
'' and ''
Borrowdale Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Cumberland. It is sometimes referred to as ''Cumberland Borrowdale'' ...
'', for carrying provisions and stores for two years; and lastly, six transports; '' Scarborough'' and '' Lady Penrhyn'', from
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...
; ''
Friendship Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept of ...
'' and ''
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
'', from Plymouth; ''
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rule ...
'', and '' Alexander'', from Woolwich. On 9 May Captain Phillip arrived in Portsmouth, the next day coming aboard the ships and give orders to prepare the fleet for departure.


Leaving Portsmouth

Phillip first tried to get the fleet to sail on 10 May, but a dispute by sailors of the ''Fishburn'' about pay, they refused to leave until resolved. The fleet finally left Portsmouth, England on 13 May 1787. The journey began with fine weather, and thus the convicts were allowed on deck.Frost 2012, pp.165–167 The Fleet was accompanied by the armed frigate until it left English waters.Parker 2009, pp.77–78 On 20 May 1787, one convict on ''Scarborough'' reported a planned mutiny; those allegedly involved were flogged and two were transferred to ''Prince of Wales''. In general, however, most accounts of the voyage agree that the convicts were well behaved. On 3 June 1787, the fleet anchored at Santa Cruz at Tenerife. Here, fresh water, vegetables and meat were brought on board. Phillip and the chief officers were entertained by the local governor, while one convict tried unsuccessfully to escape. On 10 June they set sail to cross the Atlantic to
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, taking advantage of favourable trade winds and ocean currents. The weather became increasingly hot and humid as the Fleet sailed through the tropics. Vermin, such as rats, and parasites such as bedbugs,
lice Louse ( : lice) is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order, infraorder, or a parvorder, as a resul ...
, cockroaches and fleas, tormented the convicts, officers and marines. Bilges became foul and the smell, especially below the closed hatches, was over-powering.Parker 2009, pp.87–89 While Phillip gave orders that the bilge-water was to be pumped out daily and the bilges cleaned, these orders were not followed on ''Alexander'' and a number of convicts fell sick and died. Tropical rainstorms meant that the convicts could not exercise on deck as they had no change of clothes and no method of drying wet clothing. Consequently, they were kept below in the foul, cramped holds. On the female transports, promiscuity between the convicts, the crew and marines was rampant, despite punishments for some of the men involved. In the
doldrums The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ ), known by sailors as the doldrums or the calms because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge. It encircles Earth near the thermal e ...
, Phillip was forced to ration the water to three pints a day. The Fleet reached Rio de Janeiro on 5 August and stayed for a month. The ships were cleaned and water taken on board, repairs were made, and Phillip ordered large quantities of food. The women convicts' clothing had become infested with lice and was burnt. As additional clothing for the female convicts had not arrived before the Fleet left England, the women were issued with new clothes made from rice sacks. While the convicts remained below deck, the officers explored the city and were entertained by its inhabitants. A convict and a marine were punished for passing forged quarter-dollars made from old buckles and pewter spoons. The Fleet left Rio de Janeiro on 4 September to run before the
westerlies The westerlies, anti-trades, or prevailing westerlies, are prevailing winds from the west toward the east in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude. They originate from the high-pressure areas in the horse latitudes and tren ...
to the
Table Bay Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town (founded 1652 by Van Riebeeck) and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named b ...
in southern Africa, which it reached on 13 October. This was the last port of call, so the main task was to stock up on plants, seeds and livestock for their arrival in Australia.Parker 2009, p.100 The livestock taken on board from
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
destined for the new colony included two bulls, seven cows, one stallion, three mares, 44 sheep, 32 pigs, four goats and "a very large quantity of poultry of every kind".Chisholm, Alec H. (ed.), ''The Australian Encyclopaedia'', Vol. 4, p. 72, "First Fleet", Halstead Press, Sydney, 1963 Women convicts on ''Friendship'' were moved to other transports to make room for livestock purchased there. The convicts were provided with fresh beef and mutton, bread and vegetables, to build up their strength for the journey and maintain their health. The Dutch colony of Cape Town was the last outpost of European settlement which the fleet members would see for years, perhaps for the rest of their lives. "Before them stretched the awesome, lonely void of the Indian and Southern Oceans, and beyond that lay nothing they could imagine." Assisted by the gales in the " Roaring Forties" latitudes below the 40th parallel, the heavily laden transports surged through the violent seas. In the last two months of the voyage, the Fleet faced challenging conditions, spending some days becalmed and on others covering significant distances; ''Friendship'' travelled 166 miles one day, while a seaman was blown from ''Prince of Wales'' at night and drowned.Parker 2009, pp.106–108 Water was rationed as supplies ran low, and the supply of other goods including wine ran out altogether on some vessels. Van Diemen's Land was sighted from ''Friendship'' on 4 January 1788. A freak storm struck as they began to head north around the island, damaging the sails and masts of some of the ships. On 25 November, Phillip had transferred to ''Supply''. With ''Alexander'', ''Friendship'' and ''Scarborough'', the fastest ships in the Fleet, which were carrying most of the male convicts, ''Supply'' hastened ahead to prepare for the arrival of the rest. Phillip intended to select a suitable location, find good water, clear the ground, and perhaps even have some huts and other structures built before the others arrived. This was a planned move, discussed by the Home Office and the Admiralty prior to the Fleet's departure. However, this "flying squadron" reached
Botany Bay Botany Bay ( Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...
only hours before the rest of the Fleet, so no preparatory work was possible. ''Supply'' reached Botany Bay on 18 January 1788; the three fastest transports in the advance group arrived on 19 January; slower ships, including ''Sirius'', arrived on 20 January. This was one of the world's greatest sea voyages – eleven vessels carrying about 1,487 people and stores had travelled for 252 days for more than 15,000 miles (24,000 km) without losing a ship. Forty-eight people died on the journey, a death rate of just over three per cent.


Arrival in Australia

It was soon realised that Botany Bay did not live up to the glowing account that the explorer Captain James Cook had provided. The bay was open and unprotected, the water was too shallow to allow the ships to anchor close to the shore, fresh water was scarce, and the soil was poor. First contact was made with the local indigenous people, the Eora, who seemed curious but suspicious of the newcomers. The area was studded with enormously strong trees. When the convicts tried to cut them down, their tools broke and the tree trunks had to be blasted out of the ground with gunpowder. The primitive huts built for the officers and officials quickly collapsed in rainstorms. The marines had a habit of getting drunk and not guarding the convicts properly, whilst their commander, Major Robert Ross, drove Phillip to despair with his arrogant and lazy attitude. Crucially, Phillip worried that his fledgling colony was exposed to attack from those described as "Aborigines" or from foreign powers. Although his initial instructions were to establish the colony at Botany Bay, he was authorised to establish the colony elsewhere if necessary. On 21 January, Phillip and a party which included John Hunter, departed the Bay in three small boats to explore other bays to the north.Parker 2009, pp.115–116 Phillip discovered that
Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman S ...
, about 12 kilometres to the north, was an excellent site for a colony with sheltered anchorages, fresh water and fertile soil. Cook had seen and named the harbour, but had not entered it. Phillip's impressions of the harbour were recorded in a letter he sent to England later: "the finest harbour in the world, in which a thousand sail of the line may ride in the most perfect security ...". The party returned to Botany Bay on 23 January. On the morning of 24 January, the party was startled when two French ships, the ''Astrolabe'' and the ''Boussole'', were seen just outside Botany Bay. This was a scientific expedition led by
Jean-François de La Pérouse Jean-François is a French given name. Notable people bearing the given name include: * Jean-François Carenco (born 1952), French politician * Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832), French Egyptologist * Jean-François Clervoy (born 1958), Fre ...
. The French had expected to find a thriving colony where they could repair ships and restock supplies, not a newly arrived fleet of convicts considerably more poorly provisioned than themselves. There was some cordial contact between the French and British officers, but Phillip and La Pérouse never met. The French ships remained until 10 March before setting sail on their return voyage. They were not seen again and were later discovered to have been shipwrecked off the coast of Vanikoro in the present-day
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...
. On 26 January 1788, the Fleet weighed anchor and sailed to
Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman S ...
. The site selected for the anchorage had deep water close to the shore, was sheltered, and had a small stream flowing into it. Phillip named it Sydney Cove, after Lord Sydney, the British
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all nationa ...
. This date is celebrated as
Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...
, marking the beginning of British settlement. The
British flag The national flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Jack, also known as the Union Flag. The design of the Union Jack dates back to the Act of Union 1801 which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in per ...
was planted and formal possession taken. This was done by Phillip and some officers and marines from ''Supply'', with the remainder of ''Supply''s crew and the convicts observing from on board ship. The remaining ships of the Fleet did not arrive at Sydney Cove until later that day. Writer and art critic Robert Hughes popularized the idea in his 1986 book '' The Fatal Shore'' that an orgy occurred upon the unloading of the convicts, though more modern historians regard this as untrue, since the first reference to any such indiscretions is as recent as 1963.


First contact

The First Fleet encountered
Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
when they landed at
Botany Bay Botany Bay ( Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...
. The
Cadigal The Cadigal, also spelled as Gadigal and Caddiegal, are a group of Indigenous people whose traditional lands are located in Gadi, on Eora country, the location of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Gadigal originally inhabited the area tha ...
people of the
Botany Bay Botany Bay ( Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...
area witnessed the Fleet arrive and six days later the two ships of French explorer La Pérouse, the ''Astrolabe'' and the ''Boussole'', sailed into the bay. When the Fleet moved to Sydney Cove seeking better conditions for establishing the colony, they encountered the Eora people, including the Bidjigal clan. A number of the First Fleet journals record encounters with Aboriginal people. Although the official policy of the British Government was to establish friendly relations with Aboriginal people, and Arthur Phillip ordered that the Aboriginal people should be well treated, it was not long before conflict began. The colonists did not sign treaties with the original inhabitants of the land. Between 1790 and 1810, Pemulwuy of the Bidjigal clan led the local people in a series of attacks against the colonists.


After January 1788

The ships of the First Fleet mostly did not remain in the colony. Some returned to England, while others left for other ports. Some remained at the service of the Governor of the colony for some months: some of these were sent to Norfolk Island where a second penal colony was established. 1788 * 15 February – HMS ''Supply'' sails for Norfolk Island carrying a small party to establish a settlement. * 5/6 May – ''Charlotte'', ''Lady Penrhyn'' and ''Scarborough'' set sail for China. * 14 July – ''Borrowdale'', ''Alexander'', ''Friendship'' and ''Prince of Wales'' set sail to return to England. * 2 October – ''Golden Grove'' sets sail for Norfolk Island with a party of convicts, returning to Port Jackson 10 November, while HMS ''Sirius'' sails for Cape of Good Hope for supplies. * 19 November – ''Fishburn'' and ''Golden Grove'' set sail for England. This means that only HMS ''Supply'' now remains in Sydney cove. 1789 * 23 December – carrying stores for the colony strikes an iceberg and is forced back to the Cape. It never reaches the colony in New South Wales. 1790: * 19 March – HMS ''Sirius'' is wrecked off Norfolk Island. * 17 April – HMS ''Supply'' sent to
Batavia, Dutch East Indies Batavia was the capital of the Dutch East Indies. The area corresponds to present-day Jakarta, Indonesia. Batavia can refer to the city proper or its suburbs and hinterland, the Ommelanden, which included the much-larger area of the Residen ...
, for emergency food supplies. * 3 June – '' Lady Juliana'', the first of six vessels of the Second Fleet, arrives in Sydney cove. The remaining five vessels of the Second Fleet arrive in the ensuing weeks. * 19 September – HMS ''Supply'' returns to Sydney having chartered the Dutch vessel '' Waaksamheyd'' to accompany it carrying stores.


Legacy


Last survivors

On Sat 26 January 1842 The ''Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser'' reported "The Government has ordered a pension of one shilling per diem to be paid to the survivors of those who came by the first vessel into the Colony. The number of these really 'old hands' is now reduced to three, of whom, two are now in the Benevolent Asylum, and the other is a fine hale old fellow, who can do a day's work with more spirit than many of the young fellows lately arrived in the Colony." The names of the three recipients were not given, and is academic as the notice turned out to be false, not having been authorised by the Governor. There were at least 25 persons still living who had arrived with the First Fleet, including several children born on the voyage. A number of these contacted the authorities to arrange their pension and all received a similar reply to the following received by John McCarty on 14 Mar 1842 "I am directed by His Excellency the Governor to inform you, that the paragraph which appeared in the Sydney Gazette relative to an allowance to the persons of the first expedition to New South Wales was not authorised by His Excellency nor has he any knowledge of such an allowance as that alluded to". E. Deas Thomson, Colonial Secretary. Following is a list of persons known to be living at the time the pension notice was published, in order of their date of death. At this time New South Wales included the whole Eastern seaboard of present day Australia except for Van Diemen's Land which was declared a separate colony in 1825 and achieved self governing status in 1855-6. This list does not include marines or convicts who returned to England after completing their term in NSW and who may have lived past January 1842. *Rachel Earley: (or Hirley), convict per ''Friendship'' and ''Prince of Wales'' died 27 April 1842 at Kangaroo Point, VDL (said to be aged 75). *Roger Twyfield: convict per ''Friendship'' died 30 April 1842 at Windsor, aged 98 (NSW reg as Twifield). *Thomas Chipp: marine private per ''Friendship'' died 3 July 1842, buried Parramatta, aged 81 (NSW Reg age 93). *Anthony Rope: convict per ''Alexander'' died 20 April 1843 at Castlereagh NSW, aged 84 (NSW Reg age 89). *William Hubbard: Hubbard was convicted in the Kingston Assizes in Surrey, England, on 24 March 1784 for theft. He was transported to Australia on ''Scarborough'' in the First Fleet. He married Mary Goulding on 19 December 1790 in Rose Hill. In 1803 he received a land grant of 70 acres at Mulgrave Place. He died on 18 May 1843 at the Sydney Benevolent Asylum. His age was given as 76 when he was buried at Christ Church St. Lawrence, Sydney on 22 May 1843. *Thomas Jones: convict per ''Alexander'' died October 1843 in NSW, aged 87. *John Griffiths: marine private per ''Friendship'' who died 5 May 1844 at Hobart, aged 86. *Benjamin Cusely: marine private per ''Friendship'' died 20 June 1845 at Windsor/Wilberforce, aged 86 (said to be 98). * Henry Kable: convict per ''Friendship'' died 16 March 1846 at Windsor, aged 84. *John McCarty: McCarty was a marine private who sailed on ''Friendship''. McCarty claimed to have been born in Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland, ''circa'' Christmas 1745. He first served in the colony of New South Wales, then at Norfolk Island where he took up a land grant of 60 acres (Lot 71). He married first fleet convict Ann Beardsley on Norfolk Island in November 1791 after his marine discharge a month earlier. In 1808, at the impending closure of the Norfolk Island settlement, he resettled in Van Diemen's Land later taking a land grant (80 acres at Herdsman's Cove Melville) in lieu of the one forfeited on Norfolk Island. The last few years of his life were spent at the home of Mr. William H. Budd, at the Kinlochewe Inn near
Donnybrook, Victoria Donnybrook is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Whittlesea local government area. Donnybrook recorded a population of 2,100 at the 2021 census. Bounded to ...
. McCarty was buried on local land 24 July 1846, six months past his 100 birthday, although this is very likely an exaggerated age. *John Alexander Herbert: convict per ''Scarborough'' died 19 November 1846 at Westbury Van Diemen's Land, aged 79. *Robert Nunn: convict per ''Scarborough'' died 20 November 1846 at Richmond, aged 86. *John Howard: convict per ''Scarborough'' died 1 January 1847 at Sydney Benevolent Asylum, aged 94. *John Limeburner: The ''South Australian Register'' reported, in an article dated Wednesday 3 November 1847: "John Limeburner, the oldest colonist in Sydney, died in September last, at the advanced age of 104 years. He helped to pitch the first tent in Sydney, and remembered the first display of the British flag there, which was hoisted on a swamp oak-tree, then growing on a spot now occupied as the Water-Police Court. He was the last of those called the 'first-fleeters' (arrivals by the first convict ships) and, notwithstanding his great age, retained his faculties to the last." John Limeburner was a convict on ''Charlotte''. He was convicted on 9 July 1785 at New Sarum, Wiltshire of theft of a waistcoat, a shirt and stockings. He married Elizabeth Ireland in 1790 at Rosehill and together they establish a 50-acre farm at Prospect. He died at Ashfield 4 September 1847 and is buried at
St John's, Ashfield St John the Baptist Anglican Church is an active Anglican church located between Alt and Bland Streets, Ashfield, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1840, on land donated by Elizabeth Underwood, the church building is ...
, death reg. as Linburner aged 104. *John Jones: Jones was a marine private on the First Fleet and sailed on ''Alexander''. He is listed in the N.S.W. 1828 Census as aged 82 and living at the Sydney Benevolent Asylum. He is said to have died at the Benevolent Asylum in 1848. *Jane/Jenny Rose: (nee Jones), child of convict Elizabeth Evans per ''Lady Penrhyn'' died 29 August 1849 at Wollongong, aged 71. *Samuel King: King was a scribbler (a worker in a scribbling mill) before he became a marine. He was a marine with the First Fleet on board . He shipped to Norfolk Island on ''Golden Grove'' in September 1788, where he lived with Mary Rolt, a convict who arrived with the First Fleet on ''Prince of Wales''. He received a grant of 60 acres (Lot No. 13) at Cascade Stream in 1791. Mary Rolt returned to England on ''Britannia'' in October 1796. King was resettled in Van Diemen's Land, boarding ''City of Edinburgh'' on 3 September 1808, and landed in Hobart on 3 October. He married
Elizabeth Thackery Elizabeth Thackery (1767 – 7 August 1856) is the last known survivor of the First Fleet, male or female, and was generally known throughout her long lifetime as the first female convict to land in Australia. Her husband, Samuel King, is thou ...
on 28 January 1810. He died on 21 October 1849 at 86 years of age and was buried in the Wesleyan cemetery at Lawitta Road, Back River. *Mary Stevens: (nee Phillips), convict per ''Charlotte'' and ''Prince of Wales'' died 22 January 1850 at Longford Van Diemen's Land, aged 81. *John Small: Convicted 14 March 1785 at the Devon Lent Assizes held at Exeter for Robbery King's Highway. Sentenced to hang, reprieved to 7 years' transportation. Arrived on ''Charlotte'' in First Fleet 1788. Certificate of freedom 1792. Land Grant 1794, 30 acre "Small's Farm" at Eastern Farms (Ryde). Married October 1788 Mary Parker also a First Fleet convict who arrived on ''Lady Penrhyn''. John Small died on 2 October 1850 at age of 90 years. *Edward Smith: aka Beckford, convict per ''Scarborough'' died 2 June 1851 at Balmain, aged 92. *Ann Forbes: (m.Huxley), convict per ''Prince of Wales'' died 29 December 1851, Lower Portland NSW, aged 83. *Henry Kable Jnr: aka Holmes, b. 1786 in Norwich Castle prison, son of convict Susannah Holmes per ''Friendship'' and ''Charlotte'', died 13 May 1852 at Picton, New South Wales aged 66. *Lydia Munro: (m.Goodwin) per ''Prince of Wales'' died 29 June 1856 at Hobart, reg as Letitia Goodwin, aged 85. *Elizabeth Thackery: Elizabeth "Betty" King (née Thackery) was tried and convicted of theft on 4 May 1786 at Manchester Quarter Sessions, and sentenced to seven years' transportation. She sailed on ''Friendship'', but was transferred to ''Charlotte'' at the Cape of Good Hope. She was shipped to Norfolk Island on in 1790 and lived there with James Dodding. In August 1800 she bought 10 acres of land from Samuel King at Cascade Stream. Elizabeth and James were relocated to Van Diemen's Land in December 1807 but parted company sometime afterwards. On 28 January 1810 Elizabeth married "First Fleeter" Private Samuel King (above) and lived with him until his death in 1849. Betty King died in New Norfolk, Tasmania on 7 August 1856, aged 89 years. She is buried in the churchyard of the Methodist Chapel, Lawitta Road, Back River, next to her husband, and the marked grave bears a First Fleet plaque. *John Harmsworth: marine's child b.1788 per ''Prince of Wales'' died 21 July 1860 at Clarence Plains Tasmania, aged 73 years.


Smallpox

Historians have disagreed over whether those aboard the First Fleet were responsible for introducing smallpox to Australia's indigenous population, and if so, whether this was the consequence of deliberate action. In 1914, J. H. L. Cumpston, director of the Australian Quarantine Service put forward the hypothesis that smallpox arrived in Australia with First Fleet.Cumpston, JHL "The History of Small-Pox in Australia 1788–1908", Government Printer (1914) Melb. Some researchers have argued that any such release may have been a deliberate attempt to decimate the indigenous population. Hypothetical scenarios for such an action might have included: an act of revenge by an aggrieved individual, a response to attacks by indigenous people,Bennett, MJ, "Smallpox and Cowpox under the Southern Cross: The Smallpox Epidemic of 1789 ...", ''Bulletin of the History of Medicine'', 83(1), Spring 2009, pg 48. or part of an orchestrated assault by the New South Wales Marine Corps, intended to clear the path for colonial expansion. Seth Carus, a former Deputy Director of the National Defense University in the United States wrote in 2015 that there was a "strong circumstantial case supporting the theory that someone deliberately introduced smallpox in the Aboriginal population." Other historians have disputed the idea that there was a deliberate release of smallpox virus and/or suggest that it arrived with visitors to Australia other than the First Fleet. It has been suggested that live smallpox virus may have been introduced accidentally when Aboriginal people came into contact with variolous matter brought by the First Fleet for use in anti-smallpox inoculations. In 2002, historian Judy Campbell offered a further theory, that smallpox had arrived in Australia through contact with fishermen from Makassar in Indonesia, where smallpox was endemic.Judy Campbell, '' Invisible Invaders: Smallpox and Other Diseases in Aboriginal Australia 1780–1880'', Melbourne University Press, 2002, Foreword & pp 55, 61, 73–74, 181 In 2011, Macknight stated: "The overwhelming probability must be that it mallpoxwas introduced, like the later epidemics, by ndonesian trepangers ... and spread across the continent to arrive in Sydney quite independently of the new settlement there." There is a fourth theory, that the 1789 epidemic was not smallpox but chickenpox – to which indigenous Australians also had no inherited resistance – that happened to be affecting, or was carried by, members of the First Fleet. This theory has also been disputed.


Commemoration Garden

After Ray Collins, a stonemason, completed years of research into the First Fleet, he sought approval from about nine councils to construct a commemorative garden in recognition of these immigrants. Liverpool Plains Shire Council was ultimately the only council to accept his offer to supply the materials and construct the garden free of charge. The site chosen was a disused caravan park on the banks of Quirindi Creek at Wallabadah, New South Wales. In September 2002 Collins commenced work on the project. Additional support was later provided by Neil McGarry in the form of some signs and the council contributed $28,000 for pathways and fencing. Collins hand-chiselled the names of all those who came to Australia on the eleven ships in 1788 on stone tablets along the garden pathways. The stories of those who arrived on the ships, their life, and first encounters with the Australian country are presented throughout the garden. On 26 January 2005, the First Fleet Garden was opened as the major memorial to the First Fleet immigrants. Previously the only other specific memorial to the First Fleeters was an obelisk at Brighton-Le-Sands, New South Wales. The surrounding area has a barbecue, tables, and amenities.


First Fleet Park

First Fleet Park is situated in The Rocks, near the site of the First Fleet's landing. The area has remained in public ownership continually since 1788, under the control of various agencies. It was previously used for a hospital, Queen's Wharf, shops and houses, the first Commissariat Store and the first post office. Archaeological remains are extant on the site dating back to the earliest days of settlement.


See also

* Australian frontier wars * Convicts in Australia * Convict women in Australia *
European exploration of Australia The European exploration of Australia first began in February 1606, when Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon landed in Cape York Peninsula and on October that year when Spanish explorer Luís Vaz de Torres sailed through, and navigated, Torres Stra ...
* History of Australia (1788–1850) * History of Indigenous Australians * Journals of the First Fleet * Penal transportation *
Prehistory of Australia The prehistory of Australia is the period between the first human habitation of the Australian continent and the colonisation of Australia in 1788, which marks the start of consistent written documentation of Australia. This period has been var ...
*
Second Fleet (Australia) The Second Fleet was a convoy of six ships carrying settlers, convicts and supplies to Sydney Cove, Australia in 1789. It followed the First Fleet which established European settlement in Australia in the previous year. The Second Fleet has ac ...
* Terra nullius * Third Fleet (Australia) * Banished (TV series) - a short-lived 2015 dramatisation


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* *


Fiction

*James Talbot, ''The Thief Fleet'', 2012, *
Colleen McCullough Colleen Margaretta McCullough (; married name Robinson, previously Ion-Robinson; 1 June 193729 January 2015) was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being ''The Thorn Birds'' and '' The Ladies of Missalonghi''. Life ...
, ''
Morgan's Run ''Morgan's Run'' is a historical novel by Colleen McCullough published in 2000 about the life of an English prisoner driven to the first penal colonies in Australia in the 18th century. Much of the novel is set in the penal colony on Norfolk I ...
'', * Timberlake Wertenbaker, ''
Our Country's Good ''Our Country's Good'' is a 1988 play written by British playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker, adapted from the Thomas Keneally novel ''The Playmaker''. The story concerns a group of Royal Marines and convicts in a penal colony in New South Wales ...
'', * Thomas Keneally, ''
The Playmaker ''The Playmaker'' is a novel based in Australia written by the Australian author Thomas Keneally. In 1789 in Sydney Cove, the remotest penal colony of the British Empire, a group of convicts and one of their captors unite to stage a play. Gove ...
'', *
William Stuart Long Violet Vivian Stuart ( ''née'' Finlay; 2 January 1914 – 18 August 1986) was a British writer from 1953 to 1986. She published under different pen names: her romantic novels as Vivian Stuart, Alex Stuart, Barbara Allen, Fiona Finlay, and Robyn ...
, ''The Exiles'', (hardcover, 1984) (paperback, 1979) (mass market paperback, 1981) *William Stuart Long, ''The Settlers'', (hardcover, 1980) (paperback, 1980) (mass market paperback, 1982) *William Stuart Long, ''The Traitors'', (hardcover, 1984) (mass market paperback, 1981) *D. Manning Richards, ''Destiny in Sydney: An epic novel of convicts, Aborigines, and Chinese embroiled in the birth of Sydney, Australia'', * Marcus Clarke, ''For the Term of his Natural Life.'' Melbourne, 1874


External links


Complete list of the convicts of the First Fleet



The First Fleet – State Library of NSW

State Library of NSW – First Fleet Re-enactment Company records, 1978–1990: Presented by Drs Trish and Wally Franklin

State Library of NSW – First Fleet Re-enactment Voyage 1987-1988

The First Fleet (1788) and The Re-enactment Fleet (1988) Some Untold History – Dr Wally Franklin and Dr Trish Franklin: An address to celebrate the 229th Anniversary of the sailing of the First Fleet from Portsmouth on 13th May 1787
* *


Convict Records

Convict Transportation Registers Database (Online)
University of Queensland. Accessed 9 February 2015.
"St. John's First Fleeters"
in Michaela Ann Cameron (ed.),
The St. John's Cemetery Project
'' (2018): an edited collection of biographies and profiles on the 50+ First Fleeters buried in Australia's oldest surviving European cemetery:
St John's Cemetery, Parramatta St John's Cemetery, Parramatta, also known as St John's Anglican Cemetery, Saint John's Cemetery, and First Fleet Cemetery, is a heritage-listed cemetery at 1 O'Connell Street, Parramatta, City of Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia. The ...
{{Authority control 1788 in Australia History of immigration to Australia Convictism in Australia History of New South Wales Maritime history of Australia