THE FIRST FLEET

In 1779, nine years after Sir Joseph Banks landed in Botany Bay with Captain Cook, he told the British Government that New South Wales was a good place to send convicts. In 1786 the British government decided to send convicts to Botany Bay because their jails were full.

They gathered together large numbers of convicts, responsible for both petty and serious crimes such as stealing, burglary, highway robbery and possession of firearms . D epending on their crimes, the convicts were sentenc ed to either 7 or 14 years of transportation, or to a life of transportation in Australia. The first convicts came to Australia in ships known as the First Fleet.

There were eleven ships in the First Fleet and they were all commanded by Captain Arthur Phi llip. The HMS Sirius and HMS Supply were naval escorts. These ships carried guns, marines (who were responsible for guarding the convicts), the marine’s families, surgeons and other officials and skilled men. They led the other nine ships. The Alexande r, Charlotte, Friendship, Lady Penrhyn, Prince of Wales and Scarborough all carried convicts. Golden Grove, Fishburn and Borrowdal carried food, transport and other provisions.

It took the eleven ships nearly nine months to reach Australia. They all arr ived within days of one another. The ships of the First Fleet made three stops along the way.

The Route

May 1787 – the ships set sail from Portsmouth in England.

June 1787 – the ships stopped in Tenerife (one of the Canary Islands off the north - western co ast of Africa) to stock up on fresh water, vegetables and meat. One convict tried to escape. They stayed a week. As they sailed on through the tropics, the weather became hot and humid. Rats, bedbugs, lice, cockroaches and fleas harassed the convicts, officers and marines. Disease spread and foul smells were rampant. On the Alexander, a number of convicts became ill and died. Tropical rainstorms kept the convicts inside the ship’s foul cramped quarters and so they were prevented from getting air and exercise on the decks.

August 1787 – the ships stopped in Rio de Janeiro (in South America) for a month. The ships were cleaned and water was taken on board. Repairs to the ships were made and Captain Phillip ordered large amounts of food for the fleet. The female convicts’ lice - infested clothes were burned, and they were given new clothes made from rice sacks. The officers explored the city and were entertained by its inhabitants, while the convicts remained below decks.

October 1787 – the ships stoppe d at the Cape of Good Hope (in South Africa) for a month where they stocked up on plants, seeds and livestock.

January 1788 – 750 convicts, 299 marines and their family members, 269 crewmen and 14 officials arrived in Botany Bay, New South Wales. The Firs t Colony and Expansion

When the First Fleet arrived in Botany Bay, Captain Phillip (designated as Governor of New South Wales) declared that it was not a suitable place to establish the first European colony. He believed that it was too open and unprotect ed and lacked fresh water and fertile soil. On 26 th January 1788, the fleet travelled 12 kilometres north and settled in Sydney Cove in Port Jackson where it was sheltered and fresh water and fertile soil made it more acceptable.

Problems Faced by the Col ony

 The soil was not very good for farming.

 Even though they tried to farm the land, the men and women had no farming experience.

 The cattle that arrived on the First Fleet were lost in the bush.

 They struggled to find their own food by hunting when they r an out.

 For shelter, they built shacks from sticks and mud but they did not have any building experience.

 Many of them were sick from the long sea voyage.

 Tools and equipment were poorly made and not suitable for the work that needed to be done.

 Some marin es drank heavily and did not carefully guard the convicts.

Expansion

In March 1788, Governor Phillip sent a small party to Norfolk Island, 1.268 kilometres east of Australia, to create a second colony.

A second fleet of six ships containing mainly convicts and much needed supplies arrived in 1790. However the journey of the Second Fleet was not as well planned as the First Fleet and many of the convicts arrived too ill to work or help develop the colony. This fleet became known as the ’Death Fleet’ as 278 of the convicts and crew died on board compared to 48 on the First Fleet. A third fleet of eleven ships containing convicts, military personnel and notable people to fill important positions in the colony, arrived in1791. The first ‘free settlers’ arriv ed in 1793.

New Colonies

New colonies were begun in:

 Tasmania in 1803  Queensland in 1824  Western Australia in 1829  Victoria in 1835  South Australia in 1836.

Not all of these colonies had convicts. Sending convicts to Australia ended in 1840 when the popul ation stood at around one million. More than 100,000 convicts had arrived in Australia since colonisation began, on 806 ships. By the mid - 1800s there were enough people in Australia to sustain and develop the colonies. The convicts had served their purp ose.

Convict Love Tokens

Convicts would take a penny, rub it smooth and then engrave a message of affection on it. They would leave this token with a loved or family member when they knew they had been sentenced to transportation to Australia. These toke ns became known as “leaden hearts”. They would often have the name of the convict, the name of the person they were giving the token to, the length of their sentence and a phrase or rhyme of separation. TASK 1

On a new page in your book, answer the follo wing questions using full sentences.

1. Whose idea was it to send convicts to Australia?

2. Why did the government agree?

3. On what date did the First Fleet land at Port Jackson?

4. How many people arrived with the First Fleet?

5. How many of those were convicts?

6. What w ere some of their crimes?

7. How many months did it take the First Fleet to reach Australia?

8. How many ships were in the fleet?

9. Why was the Second Fleet called the ‘Death Fleet’?

10. When did convicts stop being sent to Australia and why?

TASK 2

On the map, mark in the places where the First Fleet stopped on its way to Australia. You should have five places marked. Label them one to five and then create a key so that people know the name of each location. Join the places with a line to show the route taken by t he first fleet to Australia.

TASK 3

Go to the website nma.gov.au/collection/highlights/convict - tokens to find out more about the convict love tokens. Imagine that you are a convict who has just been sentenced to 14 years transportation to Australia. Use a pencil and paper and design a love token that you could leave behind with someone you love. Think about the things that you will need to include onto the token. Your design will need to include the information that has been mentioned. You will need t o have notes on your design explaining what you have included. Show your design to another class member and get written feedback from them about what they like about your design and what could be improved. Based on this feedback, create a second design a gain including notes. Show both of your design s and the written feedback you received to your teacher and w hen your design has been approved, use Makers Empire to create a 3D version of it . Your token cannot be larger than 4cm diameter. A voting process based on what you have been asked to do will be conducted by staff to select the top 3 designs to be printed .

TASK 4

Governor Phillip faced many problems when establishing the first colony. Complete the sheet ‘Early Problems’ to see if you would have bee n able to help him with his problems. Name: ______

EARLY PROBLEMS

Make a list of the major problems that Governor Phillip had with establishing the first colony. Then suggest ways that he may have attempted to solve these problems.

Problems Possible attempts to solve problems

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Which problem do you think caused Governor Phillip the most difficulty? Why?