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30—THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, www.dailytelegraph.com.au Tuesday, August 19, 2008—30 39—THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, www.dailytelegraph.com.au Tuesday, August 19, 2008—39 EVERY TUESDAY Series 8 Visit our website at www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/classmate Contact Classmate at [email protected] or phone 9288 2542 Tuesday 11.30am on Series 8 In 1788, a fleet of 11 ships arrived in New South Wales to establish a convict colony. They endured a sometimes rough voyage lasting eight months, barely knowing what to expect when they arrived. They found a country populated by an ancient people, with strange plants and animals. An understanding of Australian history is not possible without an understanding of the voyage of the First Fleet. Sending the First Fleet In the 18th century Britain’s prisons were overcrowded. This was partly due to an increase of crime, but also an increase in the number of offences for which people could be convicted – the government’s misguided attempt to put a stop to crime. Since the 17th century, one of the major ways of reducing the number of convicts in prisons had been to exile them to the colonies in America. But when the Americans declared independence in 1775 that became impossible. The British looked for another place to establish a convict colony, debating various options. In 1786, the authorities chose the land, Terra Australis, claimed by explorer Captain James Cook in 1770. A fleet was assembled and it left England on May 13, 1787. 25 The First Fleet Editor: TROY LENNON Graphics: PAUL LEIGH Did you know? ■ Six children were born to convicts during the voyage. Only four survived. ■ Among the supplies taken to establish the colony were one portable canvas house for the future governor, 5448 squares of Crown Grass, one piano, several greyhounds owned by Arthur Phillip and 300 gallons of brandy. ■ The Sirius was originally named the Berwick. ■ Many convicts were subject to severe punishments on the voyage. Women convicts aboard the Lady Penrhyn, for instance, were punished with flogging, being placed in heavy iron fetters or having their hair cut off. ■ Most of the convicts on the First Fleet had never been to sea and many spent the first part of the voyage suffering from seasickness. Find out more Sources and further study: The Commonwealth Of Thieves by Tom Keneally (Random House) Australia: A Concise Political And Social History by F.G. Clarke (Oxford) Convicted! by Anna Clark, illustrated by Kate Cawley (Hardie Grant) Australia’s Convicts: Life At Sea by Wendy McDonald (Macmillan) Bound For Botany Bay by Alan Brooke and David Brandon (The National Archives) State Library of NSW www.sl.nsw.gov.au Portsmouth Tenerife Rio de Janeiro Cape Town Botany Bay Cape of Good Hope Africa South America North America Australia Europe ATLANTIC OCEAN INDIAN OCEAN SOUTHERN OCEAN PACIFIC OCEAN PACIFIC OCEAN Asia Equator Port Jackson (Sydney) 1786 May 13: The First Fleet ships leave Portsmouth June 3: The fleet reaches the Canary Islands and docks at the port of Santa Cruz on Tenerife June 10: The ships leave Tenerife July 14: The fleet crosses the equator August 6: The convoy anchors at the port of Rio de Janeiro where it takes on supplies, including seeds and plants September 4: The fleet leaves Rio October 13: The Cape of Good Hope at the bottom of Africa is sighted October 14: The ships anchor at Table Bay, Cape Town, South Africa, where they take on livestock November 12: The fleet leaves Table Bay November 25: Finding some ships are travelling too slow, commander Arthur Phillip divides the fleet and he later sails on ahead aboard HMS Supply January 3: The coast of Van Diemens Land is sighted 1788 January 18: The Supply arrives in Botany Bay but Phillip soon finds it unsuitable for a settlement January 19: Three more of the fastest ships arrive January 20: The rest of the ships arrive in Botany Bay January 21: Phillip and Captain John Hunter scout for a better location for the colony. They find a harbour to the north, to become known as Port Jackson, which is vastly superior to Botany Bay Janury 23: Phillip and Hunter return from the scouting voyage January 24: Two French ships, L’Astrolabe and La Boussole, commanded by explorer Jean-Francoise Galaup count de La Perouse, are seen off Botany Bay. January 25: A group of officers and convicts go to Port Jackson to begin preparations for setting up camp. January 26: The rest of the Fleet moves to Port Jackson, where Phillip proclaims the founding of the colony. Voyage of the First Fleet Miniature replica of the Sirius at the First Fleet Ships exhibition at the Museum of Sydney Fascinating journals A wealth of primary sources exist on the First Fleet and the first years of the penal colony. In the 18th century it was standard practice for officers, as well as many ordinary private people, to keep a daily account of what they were doing. Accounts like those of Lieutenant Philip Gidley King, one of the senior officers, were very formal and recorded mostly official events and weather. The journal of Ralph Clark, on the other hand, is a very personal account in which he records his opinions. Because of the interest generated by the voyage of the convict fleet to Botany Bay, there were also a number of people who published accounts of the voyage and the early days of the colony. Several First Fleet officers published accounts of the establishment of the colony. To read journals letters and other writings on the First Fleet see www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/ history_nation/terra_australis/index.html Why New South Wales? The reasons why the British government chose New South Wales have been debated for a long time. It seems clear that finding a place to dispose of convicts was the overriding concern and that a country halfway around the globe would discourage escape. But the fact they chose the southern continent shows other concerns were also influential. One major concern was military strategy. There were fears another nation such as France would claim the continent before the British. This would mean France would not only gain whatever economic benefits the land could yield but also that they would be able to interfere with British trade in the region. There were also resources that could be exploited in the area, for instance supplies of flax found in New Zealand and on Norfolk Island gave hopes of a new source of rope and canvas. Conditions on the vessels This was a voyage of punishment, so shipboard conditions for convicts were not pleasant. Convicts lived in cramped, smelly, dark, damp quarters infested with lice, cockroaches and rats. The prisoners remained chained below decks for most of the voyage but were allowed up on decks occasionally for fresh air, to dry their bedding and clothes or to allow the cells to be cleaned and fumigated. Their bunks were about 1.8m square with less than 2m headroom. There was no privacy and convicts shared a bucket as a toilet. Convicts washed in sea water. On some ships female prisoners found themselves as “companions” for soldiers and ships’ officers and many women ended up pregnant. Convicts’ food included salted beef and pease – a sloppy kind of porridge made from peas. There were also more unusual items on the menu such as essence of malt which was carried as a remedy for scurvy. Captain Arthur Phillip took great care to look after the convicts under his command with the result that only about 23 convicts died. By comparison, on the second fleet conditions were so bad that more than 200 convicts died. Ships on the voyage There were 11 ships in the First Fleet. Two were naval vessels, others were mostly private vessels hired for the expedition. After helping to establish the colony, some of the ships later went on to Asia to load cargoes of tea. Alexander: at about 440 tonnes and 35m long, it was the biggest ship in the fleet. The Alexander carried 195 convicts and was commanded by Captain Duncan Sinclair. Disease was rife aboard the ship, with 21 convicts dying on the voyage. Borrowdale: Commanded by Captain Readthorn Hobson, this ship carried no convicts. Instead it carried supplies for the colony. Charlotte: Commanded by Captain Thomas Gilbert. Charlotte carried 88 male and 20 female convicts. Fishburn: Commanded by Captain Robert Brown. Store ship. Friendship: Commanded by Captain Francis Walton. It carried 76 male and 21 female convicts. On its return voyage to England many crew members were lost to scurvy. The ship had to be scuttled and the survivors transferred to the Alexander. Golden Grove: Commanded by Captain William Sharp. This ship carried supplies but also the Reverend Richard Johnson, the colony’s first clergyman. Lady Penrhyn: Commanded by Captain William Sever who was also part-owner. It carried 101 female convicts. Prince of Wales: Commanded by Captain John Mason. This ship carried 49 female convicts and only one male convict. Scarborough: Commanded by Captain John Marshall. The Scarborough carried 208 male convicts. An attempt at a mutiny by convicts Tom Griffiths and Phillip Farrell aboard the ship was thwarted. HMS Sirius: The flagship of the First Fleet, she was commanded by Captain John Hunter, but for the first part of the voyage carried Captain Arthur Phillip, who would become governor of the colony. In 1790, the Sirius was wrecked on a reef off Norfolk Island. HMS Supply: Commanded by Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball. Supply was the smallest and fastest ship in the fleet. First Fleet convicts near Black Friars Bridge on the Thames in London, before sailing for Australia in 1787 An undated page from the diary of First Fleet marine John Easty — The journal of Philip Gidley King People of the First Fleet Figures on the number of people who travelled on the First Fleet vary according to sources. Of the nearly 1500 people aboard the First Fleet, 759 were convicts, 191 female convicts. The number of marines totalled 246, with 32 wives and 15 children. The ships were manned by about 200 officers and men of the Royal Navy and 233 merchant seamen. — Arthur Bowes, surgeon aboard the Lady Penrhyn There was never a more abandoned set of wretches collected in one place at any period than are now to be met with in this ship in particular, and I am credibly informed the comparison holds with regard to all convicts in the fleet ‘ ’ Captain Arthur Phillip, who led First Fleet to Australia 1787, was the first governor of NSW. Picture: MUSEUM OF SYDNEY COLLECTION William Bradley drawings from the First Fleet Journal titled A Voyage to New South Wales December 1786-May 1792. Picture: STATE LIBRARY OF NSW Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, as depicted in a chart by William Bradley, six weeks after the First Fleet landed in Australia in 1788 Hang the expense The expense and the consequences of sending an expedition to establish a penal colony was hotly debated in England. Many people applauded the decision to end the suffering of convicts living in crowded prisons and aboard rotting ships known as hulks moored on the Thames. Some complained the cost and its effects would far outweigh the benefits. One Tory politician said in Parliament: “I beg leave to ask the advocates of colonisation whether the consequences of sending people to America were not eventually ruinous? And whether we have any rational prospect of more gratitude from the posterity of the transports that are about to settle in Botany Bay.” After a short time, it was realised that the new colony would return many benefits to the mother country. In 1791, prime minister William Pitt stated that “no cheaper mode of disposing of convicts could be found”. The government found that not only did the colonies of the southern continent remain loyal, but that many economic benefits were returned to England. The transportation of convicts to Australia would continue until 1868. Places to visit ■ Hyde Park Barracks Museum, Macquarie St, City; 8239 2311, hht.net.au/museums/hyde_park_barracks_ museum ■ Museum of Sydney, Bridge St, City; 9251 5988, hht.net.au/museums/museum_of_sydney ■ Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour; 9298 3777, anmm.gov.au The next day at Day light the English colours were displayed on shore and possession was taken for His Majesty whose health, with the Queens, Prince of Wales & Success to the Colony was drank ‘ ’ Georgia background While the eyes of the world were on the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Beijing, a war broke out between Russia and Georgia. Within Georgia there are two pro-Russian enclaves — South Ossetia and Abkhazia. An enclave is a territory which has geographical boundaries entirely within the boundaries of another territory. South Ossetia and Abkhazia both lie within Georgia. As the Olympics began, Georgia launched a surprise operation to seize control of South Ossetia. This angered Russia, which sent its military into South Ossetia and Abkhazia and bombed Georgia. This prompted Georgian forces to pull out of a number of battlefronts fearing a full-scale invasion. More than 2000 civilians are estimated to have died in the conflict and thousands more fled their homes, many taking shelter in Russia. Russia says its motivation to fight has been to protect its civilians who live in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. A secondary concern is energy, because Georgia is a major conduit for oil flowing from Russia and Central Asia to the West. Question for discussion: Look at newspaper pictures of the fighting. What effect does it have on the people of the area? Activity: Find out more about this territory — lonelyplanet.com/ worldguide/georgia ❏ For more interactive activities go to news.com.au/ttn Sleek Geeks It’s that time of year when young science enthusiasts take part in the Eureka Sleek Geeks science awards. Hundreds of students from across Australia put their storytelling skills to the test. The entrants were required to make a short film which explained a scientific theory. One group of finalists were chosen for their film Fractious Friction. They told the story of a curious student, Tom, who wonders what the world would be like without friction. The use of stop-motion filming seriously impressed the judges. Another group of finalists used their acting skills to create a dramatic representation of how the brain sends messages to the body. They also explored the link between a baby’s first steps, walking in high heels and having a stroke. Question for discussion: What topic would you choose if you could make a short film to explain a scientific fact. Activity: Watch all the finalists at www.science.usyd.edu.au/outreach/ eureka/index.shtml Romanian bear kills A 20-year-old man has been killed by a bear foraging for food in downtown Brasov, central Romania. He was one of several who have been killed or injured by the bears, who often wander the town to find food. Brasov is a 60,000-year-old community, 176km from Romania’s capital Bucharest. Romania is one of the last countries in Europe with a large bear population. Their numbers soared in Communist times because of a hunting ban imposed by the former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. From 1965 to 1989, only he and his friends were allowed to hunt them. Now there’s a population of about 6000 but they’re in trouble. Since the late 1970s, the bears have ventured down from the surrounding hills to eat their way through bags of domestic garbage. Nicknamed binman bears, they’ve become a tourist attraction. The community has attempted to bear-proof the bins, but the animals simply tear the bins apart. The Government has tried exporting the bears, but because they’re binman bears, other countries don’t want them. Now they’re working to relocate the protected species to areas where they’ll find food that is not rubbish. Question for discussion: Is it cruel to urbanise wild animals? Activity: Learn about the Romanian bear sanctuary at wspa.org.au/ campaigns.asp?campaignType=10 What else is on Whale nursery; Pass Australia; Olympic news; what the papers are saying and all the most up-to-date news of the day. Topic on the website and video is synchronised swimming.
