AustraliaEdit This Page From FamilySearch Wiki The first
Europeans began exploration of the Australian continent in the
17th century. Dutch explorer Willem Janszoom landed in the Gulf
of Carpentaria in 1606 and mapped some of the coastline. Later
on Abel Tasman in 1642 reached Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania)
and in 1644 with three ships (Limmen, Zeemeeuw & Braek) he
mapped the north coast of Australia. No formal territorial
claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James Cook took
possession in the name of Great Britain. Australia was first
settled by Europeans in January 1788 with the arrival (at Botany
Bay on the south-east coast) of eleven English ships with more
than 1000 convicts and military personnel, known today as the
'First Fleeters. The site was found to be unsuitable so a few
days later the ships moved to Port Jackson at Sydney Cove. The
second fleet arrived in 1790 and saved the colony from
starvation. The third fleet arrived in 1791 and included the
first Irish transportees. The first free settle