Australia's first fleet - The founding of a Nation
Between 1788 and 1850 the English sent over 162,000 convicts to
Australia in 806 ships. The first eleven of these ships are today
known as the First Fleet and contained the convicts and marines that
are now acknowledged as the Founders of Australia.
Before
1788, Australia was populated by about 300,000 aborigines. These
nomadic people had inhabited the world's oldest continent for more
than 10,000 years. They had seen very few Europeans, but two events
were to play an important part in changing their way of life
forever.
Captain James Cook discovered the east coast of New
Holland in 1770 and named it New South Wales. He sailed the whole of
the coast and reported to the British government that he thought it
would make a good place for a settlement. Britain did not recognise
the country as being inhabited as the natives did not cultivate the
land, and were, therefore, "uncivilized".
The agrarian
revolution in Britain, and the population explosion in the cities,
resulted in an increase in crime. As the American Revolution meant
that no more convicts could be sent there, the only way to overcome
the overcrowding in the jails was to establish a penal colony in the
land discovered by Captain James Cook. The convicts would be
transported, never to return to Britain.
With this in mind,
the British Government hired 9 ships and set about provisioning
them, together with 2 Naval vessels, with enough supplies to keep
the 759 convicts, their Marine guards, some with families, and a few
civil officers, until they became self-sufficient.
The
convicts and marines embarked on the ships, which arrived at
Portsmouth on 16th March 1787. They then waited on board until the
arrival of Captain Arthur Philip signaled the time for their
departure. By the time they departed, some convicts had been aboard
these ships for seven months. Very few convicts (23) died during the
voyage compared to the later convict fleets.
The First Fleet
left England on 13th May 1787 for the 'lands beyond the seas' -
Australia, stopping at Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town, where
food supplies were replenished. The fleet arrived at Botany Bay
between 18th and 20th January 1788. However, this area was deemed to
be unsuitable for settlement so they moved north arriving at Port
Jackson on the Australian East coast on 26 January 1788.
Botany Bay was not suited for a settlement due to its lack of fresh
water - even though it had been recommended by Captain James Cook in
1770 as a possible location for a settlement. Botany Bay had other
shortcomings as well, it was open to the sea, making it unsafe for
the ships and Captain Arthur Phillip (the Colony's first Governor)
considered the soil around Botany Bay was poor for crop growing.
From the start the settlement was beset with problems. Very few
convicts knew how to farm and the soil around Sydney Cove was poor.
Instead of Cook's lush pastures, well watered and fertile ground,
suitable for growing all types of foods and providing grazing for
cattle, they found a hot, dry, unfertile country unsuitable for the
small farming necessary to make the settlement self-sufficient.
Everyone, from the convicts to Captain Phillip, was on rationed
food.
The natives were wary and fearful of the settlers, who
referred to them as Indians. Some African-American convicts, hoping
to be accepted by the natives, escaped but were rejected by them.
Other convicts, heeding rumours of other settlements nearby and that
China was just over the horizon, also escaped. Those that managed to
survive the rigors of the country returned to the colony to further
punishment.
While the natives subsisted on local plants and
fish, the settlers found few of the plants to be appetising. As the
settlers appear to have been poor fishermen, most of their food had
to come from the supplies brought with them on the ships. This
resulted in their total dependence on a shipping trade monopolized
by the East India Company and non-existent as far as Sydney was
concerned. Rats, dogs, crows, an occasional kangaroo or emu were to
be used to supplement the food.
Shelter was also a problem.
They had very little building material and the government had
provided only a very limited supply of tools, which were of a bad
quality. With the local trees being huge, and the wood hard, these
tools were soon blunt or broken and building slowed. Extra clothing
had been forgotten and, by the time the Second Fleet arrived,
convicts and marines alike were dressed in patched and threadbare
clothing.
By July 1788, all the ships except the Naval
vessels "Syrius" and "Supply" had left and the settlement was
isolated.
On 2nd October the "Syrius" was despatched to Cape
Town to purchase provisions. Until her return on 2nd May 1789,
rations were cut back with the result that work on farming and
building was reduced. During this time the "Supply" had taken a
small contingent of convicts and marines to Norfolk Island to set up
another penal colony. The land there was pronounced more fertile
than Sydney Cove and the timber of better quality, but the rocky
cliffs surrounding the island meant that it could not be loaded on
the ship for transport to Sydney Cove. Green turtles were found
there and "Supply" brought a few back on its voyages from Norfolk
Island which helped to supplement the food in the colony.
Exploration of the country to the west of Sydney Cove resulted in
the location of better land on the Parramatta River. A settlement
was to develop there, called Rose Hill, and agriculture, although on
a small scale at first, was eventually successful. But lack of
transport meant that crops, when harvested, would not be readily
available for Sydney.
In February 1790 the "Syrius" was
ordered to proceed to China to purchase further supplies. This was
delayed as, with the "Supply", she was needed to take more convicts
to Norfolk Island, in an endeavour to reduce the strain on the
dwindling supplies in Sydney. On 19th February the "Syrius" was
wrecked off Norfolk Island and the colony was left with just one
ship. When the "Supply" returned in April, it was decided that she
should sail to Batavia to get supplies as the situation was becoming
desperate, with only 3 months supply left of some foods. On 17th
April the "Supply" set sail, leaving behind very anxious settlers.
On 3rd June a ship was sighted - the "Lady Juliana", a transport
with 225 female convicts - the first of the ships in the Second
Fleet. This was followed on 20th June by the "Justinian", which was
loaded entirely with provisions for the colony. Rations were
immediately increased and, with the arrival of further ships
carrying convicts, even though they were in very poor condition, and
many died after arrival, the old labour hours were restored. New
buildings were planned and large areas of land near Rose Hill were
cleared for cultivation.
After more than two years of
isolation and near starvation, the settlement at Sydney Cove could
begin to expand, although food was to remain a major problem until
after the breaking of a year long drought in late 1791, when farming
began to prosper, and shipping became more regular.
The Fleet
consisted of six convict ships, three store ships, two men -o-war
ships with a total of 756 convicts (564 male, 192 female), 550
officers/marines/ship crew and their families.
The six
convict ships were:
The Alexander
- William Douglas on
board
The Charlotte
The
Lady Penrhyn
The Friendship
The Prince of Wales -
Mary Groves on board
The
Scarborough
Other ships of the Fleet were:
H.M.S.
Sirius
H.M.S. Supply
The Fishburn
The Borrowdale
The
Golden Grove
The planning of Britain's colonisation of New
South Wales was not the best. British gaols were overcrowded with
petty criminals and convicts were no longer able to be sent to
America as a result of the American War of Independance. It was
decided to establish a Penal Colony in the lands of New South Wales
which was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1770. The supply of
women's clothing was left behind in Britain, which naturally caused
problems until the colony was up and running.
The voyage
itself also had its own troubles. Some of the convicts on
Scarborough attempted a mutiny which failed. There was also a second
attempt of mutiny later in the voyage which failed. Captain Arthur
Phillip, who was in charge of the Fleet on its 15,000 mile voyage,
reported that there were only 23 deaths on the journey. (Phillip,
the first Governor of NSW from 1788 - 1792).
It was a perilous journey for small sailing vessels and one that
could be expected to result in death for some of the people on
board, particularly given the poor health of many of the convicts.
Two factors, however, helped most of them survive the voyage to
Australia.
First, in the transportation contract awarded to
London merchant William Richards Jnr, payment was based on the
number of convicts delivered to New South Wales, which meant the
contractor had a vested interest in keeping them alive. Second, the
First Fleet preparations took place under the keen and intelligent
eye of the new colony’s first Governor, Arthur Phillip, who insisted
on convicts and marines being supplied with fresh beef and
vegetables in the weeks before they sailed, to build up their
strength for the long ordeal ahead of them.
Once at sea their
diet was also an improvement on their prison fare. They benefited
too from exercise, which was incorporated into their routine during
the voyage, and from Phillip’s insistence on a good standard of
hygiene. He also organized fresh food stops for the fleet at
Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro and the Cape of Good Hope.
These convicts,
guilty of petty crimes that were the result of trying to survive the
conditions of England at the time (eg stealing a loaf of bread),
were the pioneers who - through hard work and perserverance, made
the colony survive and expand to the stage of self sufficiency.
The date of arrival of the First Fleet at Port Jackson (26
January) is today celebrated as Australia Day and is considered in a
similar way as the Americans consider 4 July - the day of the birth
of a nation.
See also:
•
Convicts shipped to
Australia
• List of early
Australian arrivals
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gratefully accepted
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