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THE
'FIRST FLEET' IN SYDNEY HARBOUR, 1788
In 1788 the first fleet of British
convicts, along with the officers and marines assigned to guard
them, arrived on the coast of Australia to establish a penal colony
there. Captain Arthur Phillip, in command of the fleet, quickly
realized that Botany Bay, their intended destination, was unsuitable,
so he decided instead to establish the settlement in Port Jackson
(now Sydney Harbour). He immediately wrote back to his superiors
describing his situation and the conditions that he found there.
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Read
the document below and answer the following questions:
1.
What were the most important considerations in selecting a
site for settlement?
2.
What were the major problems encountered by the first fleet?
Which, in your view, was the most important of these?
3.
What are the implications of the request that the officers
be authorized to make the convicts work for them?
4.
What was the gender balance (ratio of males/females) in the
first fleet? What does Phillip propose to do about it?
5. Does this settlement appear to be
an example of a well-planned strategy of imperialism, extending
British rule throughout the world? Why or why not?
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Phillip to Lord
Sydney, 15 May 1788:
…
Our situation tho[ugh] so very different from what might be expected,
is nevertheless the best that offered. My instructions did not permit
me to detain the transports a sufficient length of time, to examine
the coast to any considerable distance, it was absolutely necessary
to be certain of a sufficient quantity of fresh water, in a situation
that was healthy, and which the ships might approach within a reasonable
distance for the conveniency of landing the stores and provisions,
and I am fully persuaded that we should never have succeeded had
it been attempted to move them only one mile from where they were
landed. There are some parts of this harbour where the trees stand
at a considerable distance from each other, and where there are
small runs of water, which shall be cultivated when our numbers
permit, and when the country inland can be examined. I make no doubt
but some good situations will be found that have water, which I
have never yet been able to find, either in Botany Bay or in this
harbour, but in very small streams.
Some
land that is near, and where the trees stand at a considerable distance
from each other, will, as soon as convicts can be spared, be cultivated
by the officers for raising a little corn [grain] for their stock;
and this I have endeavoured to promote as much as possible, for
I fear the consequence if a ship be lost in her passage out with
provisions.
As
there are only twelve convicts who are carpenters, as many as could
be procured from the ships have been hired to work on the hospital
and store-houses. The people were healthy when landed, but scurvy
has, for some time, appeared amongst them, and now rages in a most
extraordinary manner. Only sixteen carpenters could be hired from
the ships, and several of the convict carpenters were sick. It was
now the middle of February; the rains began to fall very heavy,
and pointed out the necessity of hutting [housing] people; convicts
were therefore appointed to assist the detachment [troops] in this
work….
Your
Lordship will not be surprised that I have been under the necessity
of assembling a Criminal Court. Six men were condemned to death.
One, who was the head of the gang, was executed the same day; the
others I reprieved. They are to be exiled from the settlement …
These men had frequently robbed the stores and the other convicts.
…
The
great labour in clearing the ground will not permit more than eight
acres to be sown this year with wheat and barley. At the same time
the immense number of ants and field-mice will render our crops
very uncertain.
Part
of the livestock brought from the Cape [of Good Hope], small as
it was, has been lost, and our resource in fish is also uncertain.
Some days great quantities are caught, but never sufficient to save
any part of the provisions; and at times fish are scarce.
Your
Lordship will, I presume, see the necessity of a regular supply
of provisions for four or five years, and of clothing, shoes and
frocks in the greatest proportion. The necessary implements for
husbandry [farming] and for clearing the ground brought out will
with difficulty be made to serve the time that is necessary for
sending out a fresh supply.
The
labour of the convicts shall be, as is directed, for the public
[live]stock, but it is necessary to permit a part of the convicts
to work for the officers, who, in our present situation, would otherwise
find it impossible to clear a sufficient quantity of ground to raise
what is absolutely necessary to support the little stock they have;
and I am to request that your Lordship will be pleased to direct
me to what extent that indulgence may be granted the officers of
the garrison.
The
very small proportion of females makes the sending out an additional
number absolutely necessary, for I am certain your Lordship will
think that to send for women from the [South Pacific] Islands, in
our present situation, would answer no other purpose than that of
bringing them to pine away in misery.
From
C.M.H. [Manning] Clark, Select Documents in Australian History:
1788-1850 (London: Angus & Robertson, 1950), pp. 47-48.
Introduction
and questions Ó Norman G. Owen
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