What is Robert Ross (Royal Marines officer)?
Major '''Robert Ross''' (c.1740{{spaced ndash}}9 June 1794) was the officer in charge of the [[Marine (military)|marines]] sent with the [[First Fleet]] to start a [[convict]] settlement in Australia. He later became the Lieutenant-Governor of [[Norfolk Island]]. == Early life == Ross was born in [[Scotland]], and joined the marines in June 1756. He fought at the siege of [[Louisbourg, Nova Scotia|Louisburg]] and the capture of [[Quebec]] during the [[Seven Years' War]] (1756–63). Promoted to captain, he saw action at [[Battle of Bunker Hill|Bunker Hill]] in June 1775 during the [[American Revolutionary War|American War of Independence]]. He was on {{HMS|Ardent|1766}} in August 1779 when it was captured and he was taken prisoner by the French. ==Australia== In 1786 he joined the new [[New South Wales Marine Corps]]. He was made its commander with the [[brevet (military)|brevet]] rank of [[major]]. He sailed to [[New South Wales]] on {{HMS|Sirius|1786|6}}, but changed to ''[[Scarborough (1782 ship)|Scarborough]]'' during the voyage. His eight-year-old son went with him to Australia. Ross did not agree with the governor [[Arthur Phillip]] and other officers. [[David Collins (governor)|David Collins]] had an “inexpressible hatred” for him. [[Ralph Clark]] said he was “without exception the most disagreeable [[commanding officer]] I ever knew”. He would not let the marines be used to guard or supervise the convicts. He would not let marine officers to sit as members of the criminal court. His own officers did not agree with his decisions. He believed the marines' task was to protect the settlement, and wanted Phillip to build defensive [[fortification]]s. He tried to embarrass and stop Phillip from carrying out his ideas to build a settlement. His actions made Phillip's task of starting a new colony more difficult. Phillip sent Ross to [[Norfolk Island]] in March 1790, probably to get him away from Sydney. The ship taking him to Norfolk Island, the ''Sirius'', was wrecked, and its crew were stranded on the island