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INITIAL
BRITISH PLANS FOR AUSTRALIA, 1786
In
the late 18th century the government of Great Britain
became increasingly concerned about the size of its prison population,
which was growing rapidly. This was due in part to the effects of
“enclosure,” which drove many peasants off the land that they had
traditionally farmed and into the cities, where they could not find
adequate employment. There was also a very harsh criminal code,
which tended to favour the interests of property-owners over the
poor. Even the expedient of jailing some convicts in “hulks” – abandoned
ships moored in the harbour – was not enough to keep up with the
demand for prisons.
Sending
convicts to penal colonies overseas, or “Transportation,” had been
inaugurated earlier in the century, but troubles with the North
American colonies (which led to the independence of the United States)
made this solution less practicable. At about the same time (the
1770s), however, the Pacific explorations of Captain James Cook
led to Britain claiming the little-known island continent of Australia,
and opened the possibility of establishing a new penal colony there.
In 1786 the government formalized a plan for a colony at Botany
Bay, just south of the present city of Sydney.
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Read
the document below and answer the following questions:
1.
What was the principal reason for the British settlement
planned for Botany Bay? What other potential uses for the
settlement did the planners see?
2.
What advantages was Botany Bay believed to have over
alternative sites?
3.
How were the settlers expected to feed themselves,
in the short run and the long run?
4.
What was the attitude – stated or implied – of the
British government toward the native populations of Australia
and the South Sea islands?
Does the whole
project seem to you a sensible one? If not, what might have
been done differently?
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Lord
Sydney to the Lords Commissioner of the Treasury, 18 August 1786:
The
several gaols and places for the confinement of felons in this kingdom
being in so crowded a state that the greatest danger is to be apprehended,
not only from their escape, but from infectious distempers [contagious
diseases], which may hourly be expected to break out amongst them,
his Majesty, desirous of preventing by every possible means the
ill consequences which might happen from either of these causes,
has [commanded] that measures should immediately be pursued for
sending out of this kingdom such of the convicts as are under sentence
or order of transportation.
The
Nautilus sloop, which … had been sent to explore the southern coast
of Africa, in order to find out an eligible situation for the reception
of the said convicts, … having lately returned, and it appearing
by the report of her officers that the several parts of the coast
which they examined … are sandy and barren, and from other causes
unfit for a settlement of that description, his Majesty has thought
it advisable to fix upon Botany Bay, situated on the coast of New
South Wales, … which, according to the accounts given by the late
Captain Cook, … is looked upon as a place likely to answer the above
purposes.
I
am, therefore, commanded to signify to your Lordships his Majesty's
pleasure that you do forthwith take such measures as may be necessary
for providing a proper number of vessels for the conveyance of 750
convicts to Botany Bay, together with such provisions, necessaries,
and implements for agriculture as may be necessary for their use
after their arrival….
According
to the best opinions that can be obtained, it is supposed that a
quantity of provisions equal to two years' consumption should be
provided…
HEADS [main points] OF A PLAN
Heads
of a plan for effectually disposing of convicts, and rendering their
transportation reciprocally beneficial both to themselves and to
the State, by the establishment of a colony in New South Wales,
a country which, by the fertility and salubrity [healthiness] of
the climate, connected with the remoteness of its situation (from
whence it is hardly possible for persons to return without permission),
seems peculiarly adapted to answer the views of Government with
respect to the providing a remedy for the evils likely to result
from the late alarming and numerous increase of felons in this country,
and more particularly in the metropolis [London].
It
is proposed that a ship of war of a proper class … should be got
ready as soon as possible to serve as an escort to the convict ships
….
That,
in addition to their crews, they should take on board two companies
of marines to form a military establishment on shore (not only for
the protection of the settlement, if requisite, against the natives,
but for the preservation of good order), together with an assortment
of stores, utensils, and implements, necessary for erecting habitations
and for agriculture, and such quantities of provisions as may be
proper for the use of the crews.
As
many of the marines as possible should be artificers [craftsmen],
such as carpenters, sawyers, smiths, potters (if possible), and
some husbandmen [farmers]. …
That
these vessels should touch at the Cape of Good Hope, or any other
places that may be convenient, for any seed that may be requisite
to be taken from thence, and for such livestock as they can possibly
contain … for the use of the settlement at large.
That
Government should immediately provide a certain number of ships
to receive on board at least seven or eight hundred convicts, and
that one of them should be properly fitted for the accommodation
of the women, to prevent their intercourse [contact, communication]
with the men.
That
these ships should take on board as much provisions as they can
possibly stow, or at least a sufficient quantity for two years'
consumption; supposing one year to be issued at whole allowance,
and the other year's provisions at half allowance, which will last
two years longer, by which time, it is presumed, the colony, with
the livestock and grain which may be raised by a common industry
on the part of the new settlers, will be fully sufficient for their
maintenance and support.
…..
That
each of the ships should have on board at least two surgeons' mates,
to attend to the wants of the sick, and should be supplied with
a proper assortment of medicines and instruments, and that two of
them should remain with the settlement.
After
the arrival of the ships which are intended to convey the convicts,
the ship of war and tender [attendant vessel] may be employed in
obtaining livestock from the Cape, or from the Molucca Islands [Maluku,
in present-day Indonesia], …; or the tender, if it should be thought
most advisable, may be employed in conveying to the new settlement
a further number of women from the Friendly Islands [Tonga], New
Caledonia, Etc., which are contiguous thereto, and from whence any
number may be procured without difficulty; and without a sufficient
proportion of that sex it is well-known that it would be impossible
to preserve the settlement from gross irregularities and disorders.
The
whole regulation and management of the settlement should be committed
to the care of a discreet officer, ….
.….
…
In favour of this plan [is the fact] that considerable advantage
will arise from the cultivation of the New Zealand hemp or flax-plant
in the new intended settlement …
Most
of the Asiatic productions may also without doubt be cultivated
in the new settlement, and in a few years may render our recourse
to our European neighbours for those productions unnecessary.
[There
is also] the possibility of procuring from New Zealand any quantity
of masts and ship timber for the use of our fleets in India, as
the distance between the two countries is not greater than between
Great Britain and America. It grows close to the water's edge, of
size and quality superior to any hitherto known, and may be obtained
without difficulty.
From C.M.H. [Manning] Clark, Select Documents in
Australian History: 1788-1850 (London: Angus & Robertson,
1950), pp. 33-37.
Introduction
and questions Ó Norman G. Owen
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