DOCSLIB.ORG

New Evidence on Arthur Phillip's First Landing Place 26 January 1788

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
New Evidence on Arthur Phillip's First Landing Place 26 January 1788 New evidence on Arthur Phillip’s first landing place 26 January 1788 Michael Flynn and Gary Sturgess The location of Governor Arthur Phillip’s first landing and the flag-raising ceremony in Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788 has been an issue of dispute and uncertainty among historians since the 19th century. The cove was divided into an east and west side by the Tank Stream and it was clear that the ceremony was held very close to the landing place, as described by Judge-Advocate David Collins. None of the generally known eyewitness accounts mentioned on which side of the cove the landing took place. History is full of blind spots where chroniclers failed to record something that seemed obvious or commonplace at the time, or because there was so much else going on. Since 2011 we have been working on a close analysis of sources, which allow the spot to be pinpointed with much greater accuracy. Early maps and paintings of Sydney Cove and manuscript journals collected by various institutions over time are now readily accessible through online digitisation. New evidence has emerged, the most significant item being an obscure letter from a First Fleet sailor John Campbell identifying the site as lying on the west side of the cove, the only surviving primary evidence from a First Fleeter. This is supported by the 1847 obituary of First Fleet convict John Limeburner and an entry in the 1806 NSW Pocket Almanack, published when Philip Gidley King (an eyewitness) was Governor. All three sources accord with the persistent 19th century oral tradition of a landing at a spot near the bottom of Bethel Steps, The Rocks (behind the south end of the present Overseas Passenger Terminal),i and a flag raising ceremony held on or very close to George Street, between Cadman’s Cottage and the former Mariners’ Churchii at the corner of Hickson Road.iii In 1789 John Campbell, a seaman on the Lady Penrhyn transport, sent a letter specifically indicating the west side location. It was completely unknown to historians of the First Fleet until digitised in 2010:iv the Governor went on Shore to take Possession of the Land with a Company of Granadeers & Some Convicts At three A Clock in the Afternoon he sent on board of the Supply Brigantine for the Union Jack then orders was Gave fore the Soldiers to March down to the West Sid of the Cove they Cut one of the Trees Down & fixt as flag Staf & H[o]istd the Jack and Fired four Folleys of Small Arms which was Answered with three Cheers from the Brig then thay Marched up the head of the Cove where they Piched their Tents Jacob Nagle, an American-born sailor who was in Phillip’s boat’s crew when he first visited Sydney Cove wrote:v We landed on the west side of the cove The first mention of activity on the east side is on 28 January 1788 when workmen began assembling Phillip’s canvas house there. Nagle and his fellow crewmen camped on shore ferrying the Governor back and forth from HMS Sirius where he slept each night till moving into his house on 19 February: 1 Eight of us that belonged to the Governors barge pitched our tent by the water side on a rock near the landing place and the boat in view. The convicts ware amediately employed in cutting down timber and clearing to build log houses for the officers and soldiers on the west side By the 1880s four versions of the landing place were in circulation. No-one could agree, but, two gained prominence: (1) Loftus Street near Macquarie Place on the east side and (2) in front of the Mariners’ Church on the west side. The east side view predominated because it seemed to be confirmed by the visual evidence of the only picture of Sydney Cove before 1792, a sketch by John Hunter dated 20 August 1788 depicting a large flagstaff flying a Union Jack on the Loftus Street site.vi From its formation in 1901 the [Royal] Australian Historical Society was divided on the issue. The ‘eastern’ advocates dominated and successfully lobbied state and city authorities to approve a plaque and flagstaff erected in Macquarie Place in 1907 (re-erected in Loftus Street in 1967).vii Arthur George Foster, a fellow of the RAHS, led the west side advocates and published a booklet in 1920 setting out his position, supported by George Arnold Wood, Challis Professor of History at the University of Sydney. Wood emphasised the discovery in 1918 of the item in the 1806 NSW Almanack giving the west side location in a section titled ‘Chronology of Many Local Occurrences Remarkable and Interesting’:viii British colours hoisted on the north point of the present Dock Yard and possession taken by Gov. Phillip, lieuts Ball and King of the Royal Navy, and lieuts. Johnston, Collins and Dawes of Marines. Jan 26 [1788]. In 1806 King, who was present at the ceremony in 1788, authorised the publication of the almanac by Howe, the government printer. The north point of the dockyard in 1806 was exactly where the old Rocks residents had remembered – around Cadman’s Cottage. Foster’s opponents returned fire. They received their own boost when the journal of First Fleet naval lieutenant William Bradley was acquired by the Mitchell Library in 1924 with a plan of Sydney Cove dated 1 March 1788 depicting a flagstaff on the east side. The Mitchell Library recently discovered that Bradley’s journal was written up in 1802 or later. Its illustrations may have been drawn from memory years later and should be treated with caution. There is no documentary evidence for the eastern flagstaff erected in the redoubt prior to 4 June 1788. No-one came forward with any oral history of an east side landing, but between 1882 and 1906 three old men published their strong views in favour of the west side based on what they had heard as boys and young men living at The Rocks in the 1820s and 30s when a tree growing opposite Cadman’s Cottage and cut down in 1832 was believed to mark the site of the landing.ix Several newspapers had expressed outrage in an early form of heritage awareness:x A swamp oak at the lower end of George-street, near the Dock-yard, upon which the British flag was first hoisted in the town, has been lately cut down by the gang employed in repairing the streets. The tree was considered sacred by Governor Macquarie, and the old hands of the Colony. When the First Fleet convict John Limeburner died in 1847 his obituary (recently digitised) stated: 2 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. - John Limeburner, the last of the first fleeters, as they are called in this Colony, died at Longbottom on Thursday week last, at the advanced age of 104 years… Jack remembered the British Flag being first hoisted in Sydney on a swamp oak-tree, which was placed in the spot, at the rear of Cadman's house, now occupied as the Water Police Court. The tree stood until the government of General Darling, when it was ordered to be cut down. A remnant of this tree is now in the possession of one of Australia's sons, who intends to deposit the relic in our Colonial Museum when erected. The casuarina opposite Cadman’s Cottage was probably only a sapling in 1788, but it served as a totemic marker of the site’s historic associations. In 1900 Richard Kemp (born The Rocks 1823) recalled one rock in particular:xi When Governor Phillip landed in 1788 there was, between where the Mariners' Church and the Sailors' Home now stand, a very large flat rock set on its edge, running in a north-easterly direction from the shore for about 25ft., the outer end being 12ft. to 15ft. high, de- creasing towards the shore end, where it was about 4ft. Inside this rock was a snug little cove, the mouth being about 16ft. wide, the depth about 20ft. A white sandy beach went along the shore side - my bathing place when a youngster - and it was in this cove that Governor Phillip landed, and on the higher ground whereon the Mariners' Church now stands erected his flagstaff, and hoisted the flag of all flags - the "Union Jack of Old England." In 1902 Kemp added with acerbic Australian humour that ‘Phillip no more landed or hoisted the flag on the [Macquarie Place] locality than he did on Mount Kosciusko or Bathurst Plains’ and gave as his source an acquaintance to whom a First Fleeter had pointed out the landing site.xii Early plans of Sydney Cove depict several large rocks in the water below the Mariners’ Church site. Part of the flat rock shelf around them was exposed at low tide but the big rocks were always above water. They are evident on the original version of Dawes’s plan of July 1788, Raper’s of 1791 and Bradley’s of 1788xiii and can be seen in a view of the cove by JW Lewin (1808).xiv They are also depicted in a picture by Thomas Watling from the mid- 1790s.xv In May 1788 Phillip explained to Evan Nepean why he chose this spot to land 1,200 people (most of whom were to be housed in tents on the west side of the cove):xvi 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 Surgeon Bowes Smyth described Sydney Cove at several points in his original journal on 23- 27 January 1788:xvii having many rock eminences, quite perpendicular & perfectly flat at top wh[ich] will answer every purpose of load[in]g and unload[in]g the Largest Ships equally the same as if made by the most expert workmen….
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Arthur Phillip Esq Working Version
    We thank the State Library of New South Wales Bricks from Arthur for permission to use the following images Phillip's Lyndhurst used in this leaflet. home are used in a Front Page: Capt. Arthur Phillip RN memorial wall and Francis Wheatley, 1786 ML 124 for the base of his Page 3: Founding of Australia. bronze bust in Algernon Talmage RA 1937. Sydney. ML 1222 His achievements are recorded there Portsmouth as a ‘Feat without parallel in history Canary Islands at that time.’ Cape Verde Islands Rio De Janeiro Cape Town Sydney The Route of the First Fleet May 1787 - January 1788 Capt. Arthur Phillip RN © 2014 Lyndhurst Parish Council Designed and Printed by TLC-Online Southampton: 023 8024 3044 Captains Arthur Phillip and James Cook are both him overcome the many challenges he faced. Captain Arthur Phillip RN celebrated in Australia as national heroes. The grape vines Phillip bought when restocking Australia Day on 26th January marks the at Cape Town began the Australian wine (1738 –1814) anniversary of Captain Phillip’s arrival in Sydney industry. Cove in 1788. Other local connections are with Richard Arthur Phillip, First Governor of New South Johnson, a Boldre curate, who also sailed with Wales and founder of Sydney, lived in Lyndhurst the First Fleet, and George Rose, owner of after his marriage to Margaret Denison, a rich Cuffnells Park in Lyndhurst. Rose Hill (now widow, in 1763. Arthur Phillip was an Overseer Parramatta) was named as a tribute to George of the Poor from 1766 to 1768. Rose, Senior Secretary to the Treasury and later Treasurer of the Navy.
    [Show full text]
  • Parramatta's Archaeological Landscape
    Parramatta’s archaeological landscape Mary Casey Settlement at Parramatta, the third British settlement in Australia after Sydney Cove and Norfolk Island, began with the remaking of the landscape from an Aboriginal place, to a military redoubt and agricultural settlement, and then a township. There has been limited analysis of the development of Parramatta’s landscape from an archaeological perspective and while there have been numerous excavations there has been little exploration of these sites within the context of this evolving landscape. This analysis is important as the beginnings and changes to Parramatta are complex. The layering of the archaeology presents a confusion of possible interpretations which need a firmer historical and landscape framework through which to interpret the findings of individual archaeological sites. It involves a review of the whole range of maps, plans and images, some previously unpublished and unanalysed, within the context of the remaking of Parramatta and its archaeological landscape. The maps and images are explored through the lense of government administration and its intentions and the need to grow crops successfully to sustain the purposes of British Imperialism in the Colony of New South Wales, with its associated needs for successful agriculture, convict accommodation and the eventual development of a free settlement occupied by emancipated convicts and settlers. Parramatta’s river terraces were covered by woodlands dominated by eucalypts, in particular grey box (Eucalyptus moluccana) and forest
    [Show full text]
  • Sydney Water in 1788 Was the Little Stream That Wound Its Way from Near a Day Tour of the Water Supply Hyde Park Through the Centre of the Town Into Sydney Cove
    In the beginning Sydney’s first water supply from the time of its settlement Sydney Water in 1788 was the little stream that wound its way from near A day tour of the water supply Hyde Park through the centre of the town into Sydney Cove. It became known as the Tank Stream. By 1811 it dams south of Sydney was hardly fit for drinking. Water was then drawn from wells or carted from a creek running into Rushcutter’s Bay. The Tank Stream was still the main water supply until 1826. In this whole-day tour by car you will see the major dams, canals and pipelines that provide water to Sydney. Some of these works still in use were built around 1880. The round trip tour from Sydney is around 350 km., all on good roads and motorway. The tour is through attractive countryside south Engines at Botany Pumping Station (demolished) of Sydney, and there are good picnic areas and playgrounds at the dam sites. source of supply. In 1854 work started on the Botany Swamps Scheme, which began to deliver water in 1858. The Scheme included a series of dams feeding a pumping station near the present Sydney Airport. A few fragments of the pumping station building remain and can be seen Tank stream in 1840, from a water-colour by beside General Holmes Drive. Water was pumped to two J. Skinner Prout reservoirs, at Crown Street (still in use) and Paddington (not in use though its remains still exist). The ponds known as Lachlan Swamp (now Centennial Park) only 3 km.
    [Show full text]
  • Groundwater in the Botany Sands Aquifer – Water for the Past, Water for the Future?
    CASE STUDY 1.008 Groundwater in the Botany Sands Aquifer – Water for the past, water for the future? Author: Chris McAuley* The Botany Sands Aquifer is a layer of sand containing a large volume of water surrounding Botany Bay south of Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia. At a local scale, the aquifer runs from Centennial Park south east of Sydney city centre to the Botany Wetlands and into Botany Bay. The Botany Sands Aquifer is layer of sand filled with water beneath the ground. It covers an area of approximately 141 square kilometres. The average groundwater salinity is around 500 milligrams per litre (mg/L) of dissolved solids. Before European settlement, it formed an important source of water for wetlands supporting aboriginal communities. The Botany Sand aquifer was once Sydney’s main water source. It remains an important source of water for parks, municipal and residential gardens, industry and wetlands. It may form an important part of Sydney’s water future by capturing and storing stormwater for later use. The aquifer is recharged by rainwater percolating through sand and sandstone which act as natural filters to remove solid litter, silt and harmful nutrients. The water holding capacity of the sand aquifer is enormous and has been estimated to contain up to 300 litres of water per cubic metre of sand. It is estimated the aquifer can sustainably supply 22,500 megalitres per year (ML/ yr - a megalitre is one million litres) of groundwater. Currently only approximately 6,000ML/yr is allocated for use. Figure 1: Extent of the Botany Sands Aquifer The groundwater helps to support natural and man-made pond systems along its flow path.
    [Show full text]
  • EORA Mapping Aboriginal Sydney 1770–1850 Exhibition Guide
    Sponsored by It is customary for some Indigenous communities not to mention names or reproduce images associated with the recently deceased. Members of these communities are respectfully advised that a number of people mentioned in writing or depicted in images in the following pages have passed away. Users are warned that there may be words and descriptions that might be culturally sensitive and not normally used in certain public or community contexts. In some circumstances, terms and annotations of the period in which a text was written may be considered Many treasures from the State Library’s inappropriate today. Indigenous collections are now online for the first time at <www.atmitchell.com>. A note on the text The spelling of Aboriginal words in historical Made possible through a partnership with documents is inconsistent, depending on how they were heard, interpreted and recorded by Europeans. Original spelling has been retained in quoted texts, while names and placenames have been standardised, based on the most common contemporary usage. State Library of New South Wales Macquarie Street Sydney NSW 2000 Telephone (02) 9273 1414 Facsimile (02) 9273 1255 TTY (02) 9273 1541 Email [email protected] www.sl.nsw.gov.au www.atmitchell.com Exhibition opening hours: 9 am to 5 pm weekdays, 11 am to 5 pm weekends Eora: Mapping Aboriginal Sydney 1770–1850 was presented at the State Library of New South Wales from 5 June to 13 August 2006. Curators: Keith Vincent Smith, Anthony (Ace) Bourke and, in the conceptual stages, by the late Michael
    [Show full text]
  • History and Causes of the Extirpation of the Providence Petrel (Pterodroma Solandri) on Norfolk Island
    246 Notornis, 2002, Vol. 49: 246-258 0029-4470 O The Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Inc. 2002 History and causes of the extirpation of the Providence petrel (Pterodroma solandri) on Norfolk Island DAVID G. MEDWAY 25A Norman Street, New Plymouth, New Zealand [email protected] Abstract The population of Providence petrels (Pterodroma solandri) that nested on Norfolk Island at the time of 1st European settlement of that island in 1788 was probably > 1 million pairs. Available evidence indicates that Europeans harvested many more Providence petrels in the years immediately after settlement than previously believed. About 1,000,000 Providence petrels, adults and young, were harvested in the 4 breeding seasons from 1790 to 1793 alone. Despite these enormous losses, many Providence petrels were apparently still nesting on Norfolk Island in 1795 when they are last mentioned in documents from the island. However, any breeding population that may have survived there until 1814 when Norfolk Island was abandoned temporarily was probably exterminated by the combined activities of introduced cats and pigs which had become very numerous by the time the island was re-occupied in 1825. Medway, D.G. 2002. History and causes of the exhrpation of the Providence petrel (Pterodroma solandri) on Norfolk Island. Notornis 49(4): 246-258. Keywords Norfolk Island; Providence petrel; Pterodroma solandri; human harvesting; mammalian predation; extupation INTRODUCTION in to a hole which was concealed by the birds Norfolk Island (29" 02'S, 167" 57'E; 3455 ha), an making their burrows slant-wise". From the Australian external territory, is a sub-tropical summit, King had a view of the whole island and island in the south-west Pacific.
    [Show full text]
  • Captain Louis De Freycinet
    *Catalogue title pages:Layout 1 13/08/10 2:51 PM Page 1 CAPTAIN LOUIS DE FREYCINET AND HIS VOYAGES TO THE TERRES AUSTRALES *Catalogue title pages:Layout 1 13/08/10 2:51 PM Page 3 HORDERN HOUSE rare books • manuscripts • paintings • prints 77 VICTORIA STREET POTTS POINT NSW 2011 AUSTRALIA TEL (61-2) 9356 4411 FAX (61-2) 9357 3635 [email protected] www.hordern.com CONTENTS Introduction I. The voyage of the Géographe and the Naturaliste under Nicolas Baudin (1800-1804) Brief history of the voyage a. Baudin and Flinders: the official narratives 1-3 b. The voyage, its people and its narrative 4-29 c. Freycinet’s Australian cartography 30-37 d. Images, chiefly by Nicolas Petit 38-50 II. The voyage of the Uranie under Louis de Freycinet (1817-1820) Brief history of the voyage a. Freycinet and King: the official narratives 51-54 b. Preparations and the voyage 55-70 c. Freycinet constructs the narrative 71-78 d. Images of the voyage and the artist Arago’s narrative 79-92 Appendix 1: The main characters Appendix 2: The ships Appendix 3: Publishing details of the Baudin account Appendix 4: Publishing details of the Freycinet account References Index Illustrated above: detail of Freycinet’s sketch for the Baudin atlas (catalogue no. 31) Illustrated overleaf: map of Australia from the Baudin voyage (catalogue no. 1) INTRODUCTION e offer for sale here an important on the contents page). To illuminate with knowledge collection of printed and original was the avowed aim of each of the two expeditions: Wmanuscript and pictorial material knowledge in the widest sense, encompassing relating to two great French expeditions to Australia, geographical, scientific, technical, anthropological, the 1800 voyage under Captain Nicolas Baudin and zoological, social, historical, and philosophical the 1817 voyage of Captain Louis-Claude de Saulces discoveries.
    [Show full text]
  • ESSAY REVIEW Chronicling the Second Great Age of Discovery
    ESSAY REVIEW Chronicling the Second Great Age of Discovery From Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains: Major Stephen Long's Expedition, 1819-1820. Edited by MAXINE BENSON. (Golden: Fulcrum, Inc., 1988. xxvii, 41 Op. Illustrations, color plates, maps, bibliography, index. $20.00.) Voyage to the Southern Ocean: The Letters oj Lieutenant William Reynolds jrom the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842. Edited by ANNE HOFFMAN CLEAVER and E. JEFFREY STANN. (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1988. xxxix, 325p. Illustrations, maps, appendixes, bibliography, index. $24.95.) The Nagle Journal: A Diary oj the Life oj Jacob Nagle, Sailor, From the Year 1775 to 1841. Edited by JOHN C. DANN. (New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988. xxx, 402p. Maps, illustrations, color plates, appen- dixes, glossary, index. $27.50.) These three books chronicle the adventures of men who ventured into the unknown in what is now becoming recognized as a unique second "Great Age of Discovery." Two of the accounts concern the stories of men sent out on U.S. Government exploring expeditions. A third, the journals of Jacob Nagle, chronicle the remarkable global peregrinations of an American sailor impressed into the British navy at the time of the American Revolution. His adventures in some ways call up memories of Sinbad, the Sailor, though his travels are demonstrably real. For a long time the important literature of exploration in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was compartmentalized into "land" and "sea" categories; scholars made few attempts either to link these exploration narratives to any single cultural process or to see them as more than mere adventure stories.
    [Show full text]
  • Building Brighter Futures in Education CAPABILITY STATEMENT 2021 STATEMENT CAPABILITY
    Building brighter futures in Education CAPABILITY STATEMENT 2021 STATEMENT CAPABILITY EDUCATION Building on strong foundations DELIVERING EXCELLENCE IN COMPLEX MULTI-DISCIPLINARY PROJECTS $7.6B 15,000 25 5 Work in hand Employees Countries Continents Global experience delivered locally BESIX Watpac is an Australian multi-disciplinary contractor backed by a century of global expertise and financial strength. A wholly-owned subsidiary of the award-winning BESIX Group, we specialise in complex construction across all sectors. With vast international experience and a robust Whether it's the tallest building in the world, balance sheet we deliver large-scale complex the iconic Burj Khalifa or the Grand Egyptian infrastructure projects across Australia and New Museum - from stadiums to hospitals, schools, Zealand. Combining Watpac’s four decades of bridges, resource and industrial projects, port intimate local knowledge, delivery excellence, infrastructure, water treatment plants, secure and trusted long-standing partnerships, we bring facilities, airports, defence assets and more the best of the world’s capability together. – ours is a reputation built on quality. 2 BESIX WATPAC | 2021 CAPABILITY STATEMENT Advanced Engineering Building Brisbane, Queensland In-house engineering Partner Local content expertise of choice specialists Our in-house team of 150+ engineers Leveraging our rich Australian history, From urban centres to regional operates from three global hubs in we collaborate with our clients and Australia, we actively support local Brisbane, Dubai and Brussels. We partners to deliver excellence on jobs and Indigenous participation set new standards in construction every project. As genuine relationship while building better communities. through expert structural, geotechnical, contractors, we are invested in our This is fundamental to our core beliefs sustainability, digital and façade client’s success.
    [Show full text]
  • Sullivans Cove and Precinct Other Names: Place ID: 105886 File No: 6/01/004/0311 Nomination Date: 09/07/2007 Principal Group: Urban Area
    Australian Heritage Database Class : Historic Item: 1 Identification List: National Heritage List Name of Place: Sullivans Cove and Precinct Other Names: Place ID: 105886 File No: 6/01/004/0311 Nomination Date: 09/07/2007 Principal Group: Urban Area Assessment Recommendation: Place does not meet any NHL criteria Other Assessments: National Trust of Australia (Tas) Tasmanian Heritage Council : Entered in State Heritage List Location Nearest Town: Hobart Distance from town (km): Direction from town: Area (ha): Address: Davey St, Hobart, TAS, 7000 LGA: Hobart City, TAS Location/Boundaries: The area set for assessment was the area entered in the Tasmanian Heritage Register in Davey Street to Franklin Wharf, Hobart. The area assessed comprised an area enclosed by a line commencing at the intersection of the south eastern road reserve boundary of Davey Street with the south western road reserve boundary of Evans Street (approximate MGA point Zone 55 527346mE 5252404mN), then south easterly via the south western road reserve boundary of Evans Street to its intersection with the south eastern boundary of Land Parcel 1/138719 (approximate MGA point 527551mE 5252292mN), then southerly and south westerly via the south eastern boundary of Land Parcel 1/138719 to the most southerly point of the land parcel (approximate MGA point 527519mE 5252232mN), then south easterly directly to the intersection of the southern road reserve boundary of Hunter Street with MGA easting 527546mE (approximate MGA point 527546mE 5252222mN), then southerly directly to
    [Show full text]
  • Musters of NSW & Norfolk Island 1805-1806
    BDA Source Description Pages http://www.bda-online.org.au Musters of New South Wales and Norfolk Island 1805-1806 Edited by Carol J Baxter, Pub. by Australian Biographical and Genealogical Record, Sydney 1989. The following has been copied from the published volume, and whilst some of it is not relevant in terms of viewing the Database, it does give the reader a complete view of the data collected, the original records from which it came and other useful and interesting information. Some Appendix tables have not been reproduced here but can be viewed in a copy of the volume in major libraries. Contents Preface to the Published Volume Historical Background - General Musters - Land and Stock Musters - Marsden’s Female Muster 1806 - Norfolk Island Muster Method of Collection - General Muster and Land & Stock Muster 1806 - Marsden’s Female Muster 1806 - Norfolk Island Muster 1805 Statistics - Norfolk Island Muster 1805 - NSW General Muster 1806 - Land & Stock Muster 1806 - Marsden’s Female Muster 1806 Inconsistencies and Difficulties Research Value Unusual and Interesting Entries Explanatory Note - Editing parameters - Method of checking Abbreviations page 1 http://www.bda-online.org.au/files/MC1805_Muster.pdf BDA Source Description Pages http://www.bda-online.org.au Bibliography General Muster of NSW 1806 Land and Stock Muster NSW 1806 Marsden’s Female Muster 1806 Norfolk Island Muster 1805 Occupations - NSW 1806 - Norfolk Island 1805 One of Five Women by Bob Pauling Colonial Born Preface to the published volume The year 1806 saw the end of an era in New South Wales, with the departure of the third governor, Philip Gidley King, who had governed the colony of New South Wales from 1800 to 1806.
    [Show full text]
  • Media Release
    MEDIA RELEASE FOUNDATION DAY AND INTERESTING ITEMS FROM THE COLLECTION This week we celebrated the 231st anniversary of the landing of Lt Philip Gidley King and his party of 22 brave souls (seven freemen and 15 convicts) on Norfolk Island, establishing the first British settlement on the island in March 1788. Notwithstanding that Norfolk Island had been previously settled by Polynesians several centuries prior, Captain James Cook discovered Norfolk Island for the British in 1774. He was entranced by both the beauty of the island and the pine and flax, which showed promise for a lucrative industry for ship building. His reports to the British High Command provided solutions to the many social and economic problems faced by Britain at the time, which included overcrowding of jails; the inability to send convicts to America after the end of the War of Independence; and trade blocks on ship-building materials, such as masts, sails and ropes, which had been put in place by Russia. The British government was also aware of the strong French presence in the South Pacific, which was of great concern, and required a strong naval presence to support British interests in the region. A fleet of 11 ships left Portsmouth, England on 13 May 1787 with the mission to establish colonies in New Holland (now Australia) and Norfolk Island. They carried convicts, marines, seamen, civil officers and free settlers, and took just over eight months to complete their journey, arriving at Port Jackson on 26 January 1788. Philip Gidley King had been selected by Captain Arthur Phillip, Commander of the First Fleet, as his second-in-command for the voyage, and upon landing in Port Jackson was nominated ‘as an officer of merit … whose perseverance may be depended upon’ to establish a subordinate settlement on Norfolk Island.
    [Show full text]