The First Fleet When Did the First Fleet Arrive in Australia?

Photo: First Fleet arriving in Australia

Learn about the incredible tale of the First Fleet, a monumental expedition that forever changed the course of history. On May 13th, 1787, a fleet of 11 ships departed from Portsmouth, England, on a daring voyage to the distant shores of Australia, ultimately arriving on January 18th, 1788. The journey covered an astonishing distance of 24,000 kilometres across treacherous seas and took a gruelling eight months. The fleet's mission was to establish the first British colony in Australia. Among the passengers were 736 convicts, 17 children of convicts, 211 marine guards, 27 marines' wives, 14 children of marines, and approximately 300 officers and crew members. Despite the challenges of the voyage, marked by 104 deaths and 20 births, one story stands out - that of John Hudson, an 11-year-old chimney sweep who, at the tender age of 8, was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment. Discover the remarkable tale that defined the inaugural chapter of Australian colonization.

Who Discovered Australia?

Why Convicts were Sent to Australia Why Did the First Fleet Travel to Australia?

Photo: Poor people around Gin Lane in London

Great Britain in the 1770s and 1780s was a grim and nasty place. Poor people, of whom there were many, lived in abject poverty. Their dwellings were overcrowded slums. Their clothes were mostly hand-me-downs and were in tatters. Their lives were short, filthy and riddled with disease. Unemployment and alcoholism were rampant.

There were several reasons for this situation. Key amongst these was the social upheaval caused by the Industrial Revolution, Britain's loss of its American colonies, the displacement of tenant farmers from the grand estates and the resultant huge influx of people into the cities. With little employment and unable to feed and clothe themselves, more and more people turned to crime. They were forced to steal and resort to other criminal acts to survive. This, together with the availability of cheap alcohol – namely gin, inevitably led to a massive increase in crime.

The laws, at the time, were harsh and punishment severe. By the 1780s, there were over 200 offences that carried a mandatory death penalty. Even petty crimes such as burglary, theft or chopping down a tree, were punishable by death. Over the years, judges and juries become more averse to sentencing people to death for what seemed like less severe offences. Juries, in particular, adopted a more lenient attitude towards petty crimes, deliberately undervaluing the worth of stolen goods, for example, in order to avoid defendants getting a mandatory death sentence. As a consequence, many criminals were either being released or put in jail on lesser charges.

Photo: Old ship hulk used as a floating prison

Soon, a huge increase in the prisoner population in Britain resulted in severe overcrowding of its prisons. The situation was so bad that convicts were being housed in derelict old ships, known as 'hulks', that had been converted into floating jails. Conditions on these floating jails were horrid. In some instances, nearly 300 prisoners were crammed into a hulk just 65 meters in length (about 6 bus-lengths). In these overcrowded and filthy conditions, over 30% of the convicts died from diseases.

The government could not stiffen the sentencing regime because there would have been a huge outcry from the public, but it still needed an urgent solution for its overcrowded jails. The solution they came up with was transportation.

What was Transportation? Penal Transportation Explained

Photo: Well wishers farewelling the First Fleet

Unlike The Pilgrims , the first European settlers of America, who arrived there by choice; the first European settlers of Australia were shipped out to this far away land against their will. This was called "transportation".

Transportation meant, a person convicted of a crime, was forcefully taken ("transported") against their will to a penal colony in a distant part of the British Empire to work in servitude for the term of their sentence.

The British government, at the time, had very harsh punishments. The death penalty was imposed for even minor offenses. Transportation was seen as a more humane alternative to the death penalty.

Death sentences for lesser crimes such as larceny which included burglary, robbery, fraud, theft, and similar crimes, were usually commuted to "transportation" for a set period of time, usually 7 or 14 years. Or in the case of more serious crimes, this meant "transportation for the term of their natural life".

Why Australia was Chosen for Convicts To the Colonies of Course

Up until American Independence, Britain relieved some of the pressure on its prisons by transporting over 52,000 convicts to its American colonies. The loss of these colonies meant that prisoners who had previously been earmarked for America were now also being housed in prison hulks.

Canada, a British colony at the time, refused to accept convicts and furthermore, the British thought it would be unwise to transport convicts (that also included political agitators) there as it was too close to the newly independent US. These convicts might then stir up trouble in Canada.

Photo: Slaves in the Caribbean

Another idea was to transport convicts to sugar plantations in the British colonies in the Caribbean. The plantation owner squashed that idea because it was more economical for them to use black slaves than white convicts who would cost them more, demand more rights and possibly cause them trouble.

How Australia was Chosen for Convict Resettlement Transportation to the Land Down Under

Photo: Joseph Banks

In 1784 the British government was in desperate need of a solution to its overcrowded prisons. Joseph Banks, who had been with James Cook when he explored Australia in 1770, suggested just the place – Botany Bay in New South Wales – Australia. After all, James Cook had claimed ownership of the land for Britain. Why not ship the prisoners off to far off Australia to set up a settlement there before some other European nation such as France did so, he suggested. The British government saw merit in this suggestion as it addressed both its long-term strategic interests of colonising Australia and the more immediate social problem of prison overcrowding at home. On 18 August 1786, a decision was reached to establish a penal colony at Botany Bay consisting of convicts, their guards, and government officials to manage this new settlement.

On the 1st September 1786, the British Government placed newspaper advertisement for the supply of ships to transport convicts and supplies to New South Wales (as Australia was known at the time). A ship-broker by the name of William Richards was awarded the contract for the princely sum of £54,000. (About 6 million Australian dollars today). From the outset, the enterprise was badly organised and managed.

When Did the First Fleet Leave England? The First Fleet Ships

The first fleet consisted of 11 sailing ships. These consisted of 6 transport vessels, 3 supply ships, and two Royal Navy escort ships. The little flotilla was under the command of Arthur Phillip, a junior naval officer who had been in enforced retirement on half-pay at the time of his appointment as the future governor of the soon to be established penal colony in Australia.

On 13 May 1787 the 11 ships of the First Fleet departed Portsmouth, England on their epic eight-month journey to a distant continent on the other side of the world.

Convicts of the First Fleet How Many Convicts on the First Fleet?

Photo: Convicts marched onto the First Fleet

The exact number of convicts transported on the First Fleet varies from between 756 to 789. It appears that 789 convicts were shipped out from England. The lower number of 756 seems to be the number of persons who actually arrived in Australia. This number is derived by taking into account the 43 deaths and 22 births amongst the convicts during the voyage to Australia. So 789 convicts left England, and 754 convicts and their newborn children arrived in Australia.

The vast majority of convicts transported to Australia were from England and Wales (70%), Ireland (24%) and Scotland (5%). However, there were also convicts from America (including blacks), India, Canada, Hong Kong, and the Caribbean. Most convicts were from the cities and sentenced for larceny which at the time included burglary, robbery, fraud, theft, and similar crimes. The average age was 29 years, and the median age was 27 years.

The youngest convict was John Hudson, an 11-year-old chimney sweep. John was only 8 years old when he was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. His crime is unrecorded but it was probably for robbery. Given that he was transported at such a young age, he may have been a repeat offender. The oldest convict transported inboard the First Fleet was Elizabeth Beckford, who was 75 years old and died on the voyage. The oldest convict to arrive in Australia was Joseph Owen. He was 68 years old.

First Fleet Arrival in Australia When Did the First Fleet Arrive in Australia?

Photo: Map of the route taken by First Fleet

On the 13th May 1787, a fleet of eleven ships sailed from Portsmouth, Britain with two years supplies and 1420 people on board. These consisted of 736 convicts, 17 children of convicts, 211 marine guards, 27 marines' wives, 14 children of marines and about 300 officers and ships' crew. They were to set up the first British colony in Australia.

The little fleet, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, sailed from Portsmouth to Tenerife, then to Rio de Janeiro and from there they set across the Atlantic through the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Town and on to Australia. The journey took eight months. The distance the ships travelled was 24,000 km. During their voyage, there were 104 deaths and 20 births on board.

The first ships of the fleet, led by H.M.S. Supply, sailed into Botany Bay in New South Wales on the 18th of January 1788.

First European Settlement in Australia Finding a Suitable Location

Photo: First Fleet entering Sydney Cove

The original intention was to establish the new settlement at Botany Bay. However, after just three days, Captain Phillip realised that it wasn't a suitable place for settlement. The reasons for his decision were the lack of a suitable supply of freshwater, the poor quality of the soil and the bay was too exposed to the sea with strong winds which didn't provide a safe harbour for his ships.

While the ships of the fleet, with their human cargo, remained anchored at Botany Bay, a scouting party set out in search of a more suitable location for the new settlement. They visited a site just 12 kilometres to the north that James Cook had named Port Jackson nearly 18 years earlier. They spent three days there before selecting an area Phillip named Sydney Cove in honour Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, the British Home Secretary. This location had an excellent natural harbour and a stream with a reliable water supply. Philip and his team returned to the waiting fleet at Botany Bay.

Photo: Raising the Union Jack flag at Sydney Cove

 

Photo: Convicts coming ashore at Sydney Cove

Philip returned to Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788, officially came ashore, raised the British Flag and took possession of the area in the name of the British government.

We know this location today as the city of Sydney, and we celebrate the 26th of January as "Australia Day".

The first convicts came ashore in Australia on 27 January 1788.

On 7 February 1788, Phillip officially read out his commission from the British government founding the colony of New South Wales and becoming its first governor. He reaffirmed Great Britain's claim of all of the land from the Pacific Ocean westward to the 135th meridian east between latitudes of 10°37'S and 43°39'S.

An inventory taken by Phillip recorded that his little colony consisted of 1030 Europeans, 7 horses, 29 sheep, 74 swine (pigs and hogs), 5 rabbits, 7 cattle, 18 turkeys, 29 geese, 35 ducks, 122 fowls, 87 chickens, 19 goats, provisions to last two years and tools to establish a settlement. One bull and 4 cows strayed from the settlement and were lost only to be found alive 7 years later.

Life in the new settlement was very hard, and most of the people didn't have the skills (like farming, carpentry, etc.) to tame the new land. Starvation was always a major problem.

There Will Be No Slavery in Australia The Rule of Law

When establishing his settlement, Governor Arthur Phillip declared that the European inhabitants of the colony would enjoy all the rights and responsibilities under English Law.

He also declared that 'There will be no slavery in the new colony and hence no slaves'. This edict was godsent for the native Aboriginal people. While they were to suffer terribly as a consequence of white settlement, they were never enslaved as was the case in America, for example.

Australia’s First Police Force were Criminals

Originally, the Royal Marines who accompanied the first fleet were put in charge of law enforcement but crime soon began to increase in the new colony. But due to a scarcity of manpower, Governor Phillip had no choice but to employ the 12 best-behaved convicts to form his first police force known as the Night Watch.

Ownership and Distribution of Land "Terra Nullis"

Terra nullis is a Latin term from ancient Roman law, meaning "nobody's land". Many European colonialists and imperialists conveniently adopted this concept to justify the occupation of foreign lands they settled in. Even though the native Aborigine people had lived on the land for over 50,000 years, because they were hunter-gathers and did not have permanent settlements; the British conveniently declared them to be uncivilised and did not own any land. On this pretext, they declared that all land in the new colony was Crown Land. That is; public land owned by the British government.

In order to expand the colony and make it self-sufficient, the government actively gave away crown land to ex-convicts and marines on the proviso that they demonstrated that it would be used for some productive purpose. Because of this condition of use, only small parcels of land were distributed in the first five years or so of settlement.

Photo: Tilling the land

The first land grant was issued on 3 January 1792 to Isaac Archer and John Colethread in the area of today's City of Ryde. Contrary to folklore it was not James Ruse who had been the first person to successfully grow a crop of wheat in the harsh environment of the new colony. James Ruse was, however, the first registrant in the New South Wales Lands Registry. (James Ruse had been sentenced to 7 years prison for breaking and entering and transported to Australia).

Ex-convicts and free settlers were entitled to 30 acres with an additional 20 acres if they were married and 10 additional acres for every child. Non-commissioned marines were entitled to an additional 100 acres above that given to ex-convicts and free-settlers.

The History of Immigration to Australia