Who led the British fleet that first landed in Australia?
Australia
With the loss of its American colonies in 1783, the British Government sent a fleet of ships, the "First Fleet", under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, to establish a new penal colony in New South Wales. A camp was set up and the flag raised at Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, on 26 January 1788, a date which became Australia's national day, Australia Day. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the western part of Western Australia (the Swan River Colony) in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales: South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859. The Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia. South Australia was founded as a "free province"—it was never a penal colony. Victoria and Western Australia were also founded "free", but later accepted transported convicts. A campaign by the settlers of New South Wales led to the end of convict transportation to that colony; the last convict ship arrived in 1848.
Christianity in Australia
The permanent presence of Christianity in Australia began with the arrival of the First Fleet of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788. The Reverend Richard Johnson of the Church of England was licensed as chaplain to the Fleet and the settlement. In early Colonial times, Church of England clergy worked closely with the governors. Johnson was charged by the governor, Arthur Phillip, with improving "public morality" in the colony, but he was also heavily involved in health and education.
Penal transportation
In 1787, the "First Fleet" of convict ships departed from England to establish the first British settlement in Australia, as a penal colony. The fleet arrived at Port Jackson (Sydney) on 26 January 1788, a date now celebrated as Australia Day. Norfolk Island was a convict penal settlement from 1788–94, and again from 1824-47. The First Fleet included boats containing food and animals from London. The ships and boats of the fleet would explore the coast of Australia by sailing all around it looking for suitable farming land and resources. In 1803, Van Diemen's Land (modern-day Tasmania) was also settled as a penal colony, followed by the Moreton Bay Settlement (Queensland) in 1824. The other Australian colonies were "free settlements", as non-convict colonies were known. However, the Swan River Colony (Western Australia) accepted transportation from England and Ireland in 1851, to resolve a long-standing labour shortage. Until the massive influx of immigrants during the Australian gold rushes of the 1850s, the free settlers had been outnumbered by English and Irish convicts and their descendants. However, compared to America, Australia received many more English prisoners.
European maritime exploration of Australia
In 1768 British Lieutenant James Cook was sent from England on an expedition to the Pacific Ocean to observe the transit of Venus from Tahiti, sailing westwards in via Cape Horn and arriving there in 1769. On the return voyage he continued his explorations of the South Pacific, in search of the postulated continent of Terra Australis. He first reached New Zealand, and then sailed further westwards to sight the south-eastern corner of the Australian continent on 20 April 1770. In doing so, he was to be the first documented European expedition to reach the eastern coastline. He continued sailing northwards along the east coast, charting and naming many features along the way. He identified Botany Bay as a good harbour and one potentially suitable for a settlement, and where he made his first landfall on 29 April. Continuing up the coastline, the "Endeavour" was to later run aground on shoals of the Great Barrier Reef (near the present-day site of Cooktown), where she had to be laid up for repairs. The voyage then recommenced, eventually reaching the Torres Strait and thence on to Batavia.
HMS Roebuck (1690)
HMS "Roebuck" was a fifth-rate warship in the Royal Navy which, under the command of William Dampier, carried the first English scientific expedition to Australia in 1699. The wreck of the ship has since been located by a team from the Western Australian Maritime Museum at a site on the coast of Ascension Island where it foundered more than 300 years ago.
Journals of the First Fleet
There are 20 known contemporary accounts of the First Fleet made by people sailing in the Fleet, including journals (both manuscript and published) and letters. The eleven ships of the Fleet, carrying over 1,000 convicts, soldiers and seamen, left England on 13 May 1787 and arrived in Botany Bay between 18 and 20 January 1788 before relocating to Port Jackson to establish the first European settlement in Australia, a penal colony which became Sydney. At least 12 people on the Fleet kept a journal of their experiences, some of which were later published, while others wrote letters home during the voyage or soon after their arrival in Australia. These personal accounts of the voyage were made by people including surgeons, officers, soldiers, ordinary seamen, and Captain Arthur Phillip, who commanded the expedition. Only one known account, that of James Martin, was by a transported convict. Their journals document the day to day experiences of those in the Fleet, and record significant events including the first contact between the European settlers and the Aboriginal people of the area. In 2009, the manuscript journals were included in "The Australian Memory of the World Register", a regional register associated with the UNESCO international "Memory of the World" programme.
Australian frontier wars
In 1770 a British expedition under the command of then-Lieutenant James Cook made the first voyage by Europeans along the Australian east coast. On 29 April Cook and a small landing party fired on a group of Dharawal people who sought to prevent the British from landing near their camp at Botany Bay, described by Cook as "a small village". Two Dharawal men made threatening gestures and a stone was thrown to underline that the whites were not welcome to land at that spot. Cook then ordered "a musket to be fired with small-shot" and the elder of the two was hit in a leg. This caused the two Dharawal men to run to their huts and seize their spears and shields. Subsequently, a single spear was thrown at the whites which "happily hurt nobody". This then caused Cook to order "a third musket with small-shots" to be fired, "upon which one of them threw another lance and both immediately ran away." Cook did not make further contact with the Dharawal.
James Shairp
James Maitland Shairp (died 1795) was an officer in the British Marines and a member of the First Fleet which founded European settlement in Australia.
Second Fleet (Australia)
The Second Fleet was a convoy of six ships carrying settlers, convicts and supplies to Sydney Cove, Australia in 1789. It followed the First Fleet which established European settlement in Australia in the previous year.
Australian Air Corps
On 17 June 1920, Cole, accompanied by De La Rue, flew a DH.9A to an altitude of , setting an Australian record that stood for more than ten years. The effects of hypoxia exhibited by Cole and De La Rue intrigued the medical officer, Captain Arthur Lawrence, who subsequently made observations during his own high-altitude flight piloted by Anderson; this activity has been credited as marking the start of aviation medicine in Australia. Later that month, flying an Avro 504L floatplane, De La Rue became the first person to land an aircraft on the Yarra River in Victoria. On 22 July, Williams, accompanied by Warrant Officer Les Carter, used a DH.9A to make the first non-stop flight from Sydney to Melbourne. A few days earlier, Williams and Wackett had flown two DH.9As to the Royal Military College, Duntroon, to investigate the possibility of taking some of the school's graduates into the air corps, a plan that came to fruition after the formation of the RAAF.
Between July and November 1920, trials of the Avro 504L took place on the Navy's flagship, HMAS "Australia", and later aboard the light cruiser HMAS "Melbourne". The trials on "Melbourne", which operated in the waters off New Guinea and northern Australia, demonstrated that the Avro was not suited to tropical conditions as its engine lacked the necessary power and its skin deteriorated rapidly; Williams recommended that activity cease until Australia acquired a purpose-designed seaplane.
History of Australia
The first known landing in Australia by Europeans was by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606. Twenty-nine other Dutch navigators explored the western and southern coasts in the 17th century, and dubbed the continent New Holland. Macassan trepangers visited Australia's northern coasts after 1720, possibly earlier. Other European explorers followed and, in due course, navigator Lieutenant James Cook wrote that he claimed the east coast of Australia for Britain when on Possession Island in 1770, without conducting negotiations with the existing inhabitants, though before his departure, the President of the Royal Society, one of the voyage's sponsors, wrote that the people of any lands he might discover were
'the natural, and in the strictest sense of the word, the legal possessors of the several Regions they inhabit. No European Nation has a right to occupy any part of their country, or settle among them without their voluntary consent. Conquest over such people can give no just title: because they could never be the aggressors.'
Australian cuisine
Following the pre-colonial period, British colonisers began arriving with the First Fleet of ships at Sydney harbour in 1788. The diet consisted of "bread, salted meat, and tea, with lashings of rum (from the West Indies, but which was later made from the waste cane of the sugar industry in Queensland)." The British found familiar game in Australia including swan, goose, pigeon and fish, but the new settlers often had difficulty adjusting to the prospect of native fauna as a staple diet.
History of Australia
The first governor, Arthur Phillip, was instructed explicitly to establish friendship and good relations with the Aborigines, and interactions between the early newcomers and the ancient landowners varied considerably throughout the colonial period—from the curiosity displayed by the early interlocutors Bennelong and Bungaree of Sydney to the outright hostility of Pemulwuy and Windradyne of the Sydney region and Yagan around Perth. Bennelong and a companion became the first Australians to sail to Europe, where they met King George III. Bungaree accompanied the explorer Matthew Flinders on the first circumnavigation of Australia. Pemulwuy was accused of the first killing of a white settler in 1790, and Windradyne resisted early British expansion beyond the Blue Mountains.
Matthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was an English navigator and cartographer who led the first circumnavigation of Australia and identified it as a continent.
Scottish Australians
The links between Scotland and Australia stretch back to the first British expedition of the "Endeavour" under command of Lieutenant James Cook who was himself the son of a Scottish ploughman. Cook navigated and charted the east coast of Australia, making first landfall at Botany Bay on 29 April 1770. His reports in Cook's expedition would lead to British settlement of the continent, and during the voyage Cook also named two groups of Pacific islands in honour of Scotland: New Caledonia and the New Hebrides. The first European to die on Australian soil was a Scot; Forbey Sutherland from Orkney, an able seaman died on 30 April 1770 of consumption and was the first to be buried on the colony by Captain Cook, who named Sutherland Point at Botany Bay in his honour.
Robert Watson (harbourmaster)
Robert Watson (1756–1819) was a British sailor who arrived in Australia with the First Fleet as quartermaster of .
History of Darwin
Lieutenant John Lort Stokes of HMS "Beagle" was the first British person to spot Darwin harbour on 9 September 1839, 69 years after the first European settlement of Australia. The ship's captain, Commander John Clements Wickham, named the port after Charles Darwin, the English naturalist who had sailed with them both on the earlier second expedition of the "Beagle". It was not until 1869 that a permanent European settlement was established by the South Australian Government who had control of the Territory at that time.
Australia–New Zealand relations
The first European landing on the Australian continent occurred in the Janszoon voyage of 1605–06. Abel Tasman in two distinct voyages in the period 1642–1644 is recorded as the first person to have coastally explored regions of the respective landforms including Van Diemen's Land – later named for him as the Australian state of Tasmania. The first voyage of James Cook stands as significant for the circumnavigation of New Zealand in 1769 and as the European discovery and first ever coastal navigation of Eastern Australia from April to August 1770. The European settlement of Australia and New Zealand, then referred to as the colony of New South Wales, dates from the arrival of the First Fleet into Cadi/Port Jackson on Australia Day, 1788.
Journals of the First Fleet
The journal records the voyage to Australia and describes ports, ships passed, the weather, as well as difficulties on board such having insufficient provisions to preserve the cattle on board. Upon arriving in Australia, Bradley recounts his impressions of the colony as well as his interest in Aboriginal people and natural history. In 1789 Bradley describes being one of a party ordered by Governor Arthur Phillip to capture two Aborigines, Colebee and Bennelong by force, calling it "by far the most unpleasant service I ever was order'd to Execute." Bradley's journal contains 29 watercolours inserted between the pages, as well as 22 detailed charts illustrating the voyage to Australia, early survey expeditions in the colony, and further voyages on "HMS Sirius". Two days after reaching Port Jackson, Bradley and John Hunter began to survey and chart Sydney Harbour, naming various landmarks including Bradley's Point (now known as Bradleys Head). The earliest known map of Sydney is Bradley's sketch of the encampment in March 1788.
Western Australia Day
HMS "Challenger", under Captain Charles Fremantle, anchored off Garden Island on 25 April 1829. Fremantle officially claimed the western part of Australia for Britain on 2 May. The merchant vessel "Parmelia" – with the new colony's administrator Lieutenant-Governor James Stirling, other officials, and civilian settlers on board – arrived on the night of 31 May and sighted the coast on 1 June. It finally anchored in Cockburn Sound on 6 June. The warship HMS "Sulphur" arrived on 8 June, carrying the British Army garrison. The Swan River Colony was officially proclaimed by Stirling on 11 June.
Port Phillip
King decided to place a convict settlement at Port Phillip, mainly to stake a claim to southern Australia ahead of the French. On 10 October 1803 a convoy of two ships and "Ocean" led by Captain David Collins carrying 402 people (5 Government officials, 9 officers of marines, 2 drummers, and 39 privates, 5 soldiers' wives and a child, and 307 convicts with 17 convicts' wives and 7 children) entered Port Philip Bay. After some investigation it was decided to establish the settlement at a spot known as Sullivan Bay, very close to where Sorrento now exists. The expedition landed at Sullivan Bay on 17 October 1803, and the first of the "orders" issued by Collins bears that date. On 25 October, the King's birthday, the British flag was hoisted over the tiny settlement and a little salvo of musketry celebrated the royal occasion. On 25 November the first white child was born in Victoria and was baptised on Christmas Day, receiving the name of William James Hobart Thorne. The first marriage took place on 28 November, when a free woman, Hannah Harvey was wedded to convict Richard Garrett. Lack of fresh water and good timber, however, led this, the first attempt at British settlement in Victoria, to be abandoned on 27 January 1804. When Collins left Port Phillip, the 'Calcutta' proceeded to Sydney, and the 'Ocean' to Risdon Cove Tasmania, where they arrived on 15 February 1804. Prior to abandonment, a group of convicts including William Buckley, escaped from the settlement. Buckley later took up residence in a cave near Point Lonsdale on the western side of the bay's entrance, The Rip.
James Matra
James Mario Matra (174629 March 1806), sailor and diplomat, was an American-born midshipman on the voyage by James Cook to Botany Bay in 1770. He was the first person of Corsican heritage to visit the future nation of Australia.
European maritime exploration of Australia
Tobias Furneaux on accompanied James Cook (in ) on Cook's second voyage (1772–1775), which was commissioned by the British government with advice from the Royal Society, to circumnavigate the globe as far south as possible to finally determine whether there was any great southern landmass, or Terra Australis. On this expedition Furneaux was twice separated from his leader. On the first occasion, in 1773, Furneaux explored a great part of the south and east coasts of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), and made the earliest British chart of the same. Most of his names here have survived. On Cook's third voyage (1776–80), in 1777 Cook confirmed Furneaux's account and delineation of it, with certain minor criticisms and emendations, and named after him the Furneaux Group at the eastern entrance to Bass Strait, and the group now known as the Low Archipelago.
List of British Army regiments that served in Australia between 1810 and 1870
After the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the colony of New South Wales was initially defended by a force of three companies of marines. In 1790 this force was relieved by a specially raised corps, known as the New South Wales Corps, which provided colonial defence until 1810 when they were returned to England following the events of the Rum Rebellion. After this, regular British Army regiments were dispatched to the Australian colonies on a rotational basis, to serve as a colonial garrison for the next 60 years. The first regiment to arrive was the 73rd, who were brought to colony to replace the New South Wales Corps by Lachlan Macquarie.
Royal visits to Australia
The Queen, Prince Philip, the Prince of Wales (for part of the tour only) and Princess Anne made an extensive tour of Australia in 1970 in connection with the bi-centenary of Captain James Cook sailing up the east coast of Australia in 1770. This was a very popular tour and large crowds turned out to see the Queen. One large gathering occurred when the royal yacht HMY "Britannia" sailed up the Brisbane River, mooring just below the historic Newstead House in Brisbane. In January 2009, a retired police detective revealed an unsuccessful attempt to derail the Royal Train near Bowenfels, New South Wales on 29 April 1970.
History of Australia (1788–1850)
On 13 May 1787, the First Fleet of 11 ships and about 1,530 people (736 convicts, 17 convicts' children, 211 marines, 27 marines' wives, 14 marines' children and about 300 officers and others) under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip set sail for Botany Bay. A few days after arrival at Botany Bay the fleet moved to the more suitable Port Jackson where a settlement was established at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788. This date later became Australia's national day, Australia Day. The colony was formally proclaimed by Governor Phillip on 7 February 1788 at Sydney. Sydney Cove offered a fresh water supply and a safe harbour, which Philip famously described as:
1919 England to Australia flight
A team with a Blackburn Kangaroo (G-EAOW) had selected as navigator the Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith. Smith withdrew from the contest, and Captain Hubert Wilkins MC and bar took his place. On 21 November 1919, the Kangaroo took off from Hounslow Heath, piloted by Lieutenant V. Rendle with Captain Wilkins, Lieutenant D.R. Williams and Lieutenant Garnsey St. C. Potts as crew. Problems were experienced with the engines, and the plane was forced down over France. Repairs were made and the flight continued, still with engine problems. On 8 December 1919, the aircraft crash-landed at Suda Bay, Crete, ending up against the fence of a mental hospital. The crew escaped without injury.
History of South Australia
In 1801–02 Matthew Flinders led the first circumnavigation of Australia aboard , a Royal Navy survey ship. French Captain Nicolas Baudin was also on a survey mission in 1802, independently charting the southern coast of the Australian continent with the French naval ships the "Géographe" and the "Naturaliste".
HMAS Australia (D84)
On 12 June, the combined task force returned to Seeadler Harbour, and Crutchley left "Australia", having completed his two-year assignment as Rear Admiral Commanding Australian Squadron. A day later, Commodore John Augustine Collins raised his flag on "Australia" as commander of both the Australian Squadron and Task Force 74; the first graduate of the Royal Australian Naval College placed in overall command of the RAN's ships. "Australia" spent most of June in harbour, and sailed on 24 June with Task Forces 74 and 75 to perform a pre-landing shore bombardment for the attack on Noemfoor Island. On the morning of 2 July, "Australia" bombarded Noemfoor Island, then was released before midday to sail for Hollandia, then on to Seeadler Harbour. on 12 July, "Australia" led Task Force 74 to Aitape, where the warships were to provide naval gunfire support for Allied forces ashore, help in the interdiction of Japanese troop movements by barge along the coast, and destroy gun emplacements covering the surrounding waterways. On 14 July, "Australia" bombarded the Yakamal area of Aitape, then shelled the Marubian area on 17 July, before attacking Yakamal again on 20 July. On 22 July, Collins transferred his flag to "Shropshire", and "Australia" departed with for maintenance dockings in Sydney.
The cruiser departed Sydney on 26 August in the company of twelve other ships from Task Forces 74 and 75; the combined force reached Seeadler Harbour on 1 September. Collins reembarked on 3 September, and "Australia" was assigned to the Morotai landings as lead ship of Task Group 75.2, part of the escort and bombardment force. The cruiser shelled the area around the landing site on Cape Gila from 06:50 to 07:40 on 15 September; this was cut short by ten minutes, as shell fragments from "Australia" were reported as falling close to the destroyer , which was positioned to cover the landings from the other side of the cape. The cruiser remained on station to provide fire support until the evening of 16 September, when "Australia" and the other ships normally assigned to Task Force 74 were permitted to withdraw to Mios Woendi. "Australia" remained there until 27 September, when Task Forces 74 and 75 sailed for Manus Island, where they were involved in exercising. During this time, the cruiser was visited by British Admiral of the Fleet Lord Roger Keyes.
Task Force 74 was absorbed on 11 October into Task Unit 77.3.2, assigned to provide close cover for the landing force in the operation to recapture Leyte, and departed that day for Hollandia. At 15:30 on 13 October, Task Group 77.3 (including "Australia" and her companions) began the seven-day voyage to Leyte. At 09:00 on 20 October, "Australia" commenced shelling targets prior to the amphibious landings, then was positioned to provide gunfire support and attack targets of opportunity throughout the day. At around 06:00 on 21 October, Japanese aircraft attacked attempted to bomb the Allied ships in Leyte Bay. An Aichi D3A dive-bomber dove for "Shropshire", but broke away after heavy anti-aircraft fire was directed at it. The Aichi, damaged by Bofors fire, turned and flew at low level up the port side of the nearby "Australia", before striking the cruiser's foremast with its wingroot. Although the bulk of the aircraft fell overboard, the bridge and forward superstructure were showered with debris and burning fuel. Seven officers (including Captain Dechaineux) and twenty-three sailors were killed by the collision, while another nine officers (including Commodore Collins), fifty-two sailors, and an AIF gunner were wounded. Observers aboard "Australia" and nearby Allied ships differed in their opinions of the collision; some thought that it was an accident, while the majority considered it to be a deliberate ramming aimed at the bridge. Although historian George Hermon Gill claims in the official war history of the RAN that "Australia" was the first Allied ship hit by a kamikaze attack, other sources, such as Samuel Eliot Morison in "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II" disagree as it was not a preplanned suicide attack (the first attack where the pilots were ordered to ram their targets occurred four days later), but was most likely performed on the pilot's own initiative, and similar attacks by damaged aircraft had occurred as early as 1942.
History of broadcasting in Australia
The "Great White Fleet" of the US visited Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Albany) in August and September 1908. The depth of fond sentiment towards the United States displayed at the time of the announcement that the Great White Fleet would be visiting can be gauged by the following: The Fleet that is Coming to Sydney; An official despatch from Washington states that Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, in charge of the major portion of the battle fleet of the United States, will leave San Francisco on July 6. The fleet will visit Hawaii, Samoa, Melbourne, and Sydney. It will then proceed to the Philippines for the autumn gunnery practice, and return to the Atlantic, via the Suez Canal. The Right Hon. James Bryce, British Ambassador at Washington, supported the Commonwealth's invitation to the fleet to visit Australia. On Saturday evening, at the Centenary Hall, Sydney, when the Prime Minister concluded his address on national defence, he intimated that he had just received a cable message to the effect that the American fleet would visit Melbourne and Sydney. In an instant the hall rang with tumultuous cheering. Mr. Deakin, waiting with uplifted hand, for a lull in the storm, presently shouted: 'The least we can do is to give three cheers for the United States.' The great audience rose en masse, and cheer after cheer was given to the waving of hats and canes and handkerchiefs. The Prime Minister: I venture to say that a welcome such as that fleet has never known, outside its own country at all events, will be given it in Australia. (Great cheering.)
Botany Bay
The land adjacent to Botany Bay was settled for many thousands of years by the Tharawal and Eora Aboriginal peoples and their associated clans. On 29 April 1770, Botany Bay was the site of James Cook's first landing of HMS "Endeavour" on the land mass of Australia, after his extensive navigation of New Zealand. Later the British planned Botany Bay as the site for a penal colony. Out of these plans came the first European habitation of Australia at Sydney Cove. Although the penal settlement was almost immediately shifted to Sydney Cove, for some time in Britain transportation to "Botany Bay" was a metonym for transportation to any of the Australian penal settlements.
Anglican education in Australia
The permanent presence of Christianity in Australia came with the arrival of the First Fleet of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788. As a British colony, the predominant Christian denomination was the Church of England. In early colonial times, Church of England clergy worked closely with the governors. Richard Johnson, Anglican chaplain to the First Fleet, was charged by the governor, Arthur Phillip, with improving "public morality" in the colony, but he was also heavily involved in health and the organisation of schooling. The first schools in Australia were Christian schools established by the Church of England in the early days of British settlement in the late 1700s. Free "charity schools" run by other denominations gradually came into existence later. Roman Catholic convicts were initially compelled to attend Church of England services and their children and orphans were raised by the authorities as Anglicans.
Convicts in Australia
On 18 August 1786 the decision was made to send a colonisation party of convicts, military, and civilian personnel to Botany Bay under the command of Admiral Arthur Phillip who was to be the Governor of the new colony. There were 775 convicts on board six transport ships. They were accompanied by officials, members of the crew, marines, the families thereof and their own children who together totaled 645. In all, eleven ships were sent in what became known as the First Fleet. Other than the convict transports, there were two naval escorts and three storeships. The fleet assembled in Portsmouth and set sail on 13 May 1787.
History of the Royal Australian Navy
In 1913, responsibility for the reduced Australia Station passed to the new Royal Australian Navy under nominal Australian command, with the Australia Squadron of the Royal Navy's Australia Station coming to an end and its Sydney based depots, dockyards and structures being gifted to the Commonwealth of Australia. The first commanding officer was Admiral George Edwin Patey, Rear Admiral Commanding HM Australian Fleet, on loan from the Royal Navy. On Saturday 4 October 1913 the Australian fleet, consisting of the battle cruiser , the cruisers and , the protected cruiser , and the torpedo-boat destroyers "Parramatta", "Yarra" and , entered Sydney Harbour for the first time. The manpower of the fleet stood at four hundred officers and men and, for the next two years, ships were built for the fledgling navy.
HMS Australia (1886)
"Australia", named for the Australian continent, was laid down on 21 April 1885 by Robert Napier and Sons at their shipyard in Govan, Glasgow. The ship was launched on 25 November 1886, and completed on 11 December 1888. Shortly after commissioning, she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and remained there until 1893 when she participated in the Columbian Review held in New York City that year to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the New World. Upon her return home, "Australia" became the coast guard ship for Southampton Water for the next decade. Captain Charles Henry Adair was briefly in command from November 1899 to January 1900. Captain George Neville was appointed in command on 20 January 1900, and in September the following year she visited Germany and Denmark, when she escorted the royal yacht carrying King Edward VII from Hamburg to Elsinore. She took part in the fleet review held at Spithead on 16 August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII. The ship was placed in reserve at Chatham Dockyard in 1903 before being sold for scrap on 4 April 1905.
Jacob Nagle
He sailed with the famous First Fleet expedition in 1787 as an able seaman on the expedition's naval escort "Sirius". The expedition was charged with the task of founding the first British colony on the continent of Australia, in the territory of New South Wales.
First Fleet Re-enactment Voyage
At 05:30 on Australia Day (26 January), the Reenactment fleet sailed from Botany Bay. Four hours later, the ships entered Sydney Heads. Their arrival to the moorings off Farm Cove coincided with Prince Charles' speech on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. An estimated 3,000 vessels were on Sydney Harbour to welcome the fleet.
Presbyterian Church of Australia
When captain James Cook landed in Australia in 1776 he was sure to have had some Presbyterians in his crew. John Hunter the captain of HMS "Sirius" was a former Church of Scotland minister.
Later Presbyterian Christianity came to Australia with the arrival of members from a number of Presbyterian denominations in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century.
The Presbyterian missionaries played an important role to spread the faith in Australia. Since then Presbyterianism grew to the fourth largest Christian faith in the country.
History of Australia (1901–45)
The First Fleet of British ships had arrived at Sydney Harbour in 1788, founding the first of what would evolve into six self-governed British colonies: New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland. The last British garrisons had left Australia in 1870. At the beginning of the 20th century, nearly two decades of negotiations on Federation concluded with the approval of a federal constitution by all six Australian colonies and its subsequent ratification by the British parliament in 1900. This resulted in the political integration of the six Australian colonies into one federated Australian Commonwealth, formally proclaimed on 1 January 1901.
Australian cricket team in England in 1884
After one final match in Adelaide, which was the last time South Australia needed odds (i.e., extra men) to compete, the tourists left Melbourne on 11 March 1884 aboard the P & O steamer "Sutlej" and arrived at Plymouth on 29 April. With a programme of 32 fixtures arranged, the first game in England began on 12 May at Sheffield Park, Uckfield and the last game against the South of England was completed on 12 September. The team travelled home on the SS "Mirzapore" and reached Melbourne again in early November. Murdoch enjoyed a shipboard romance on the return voyage with an heiress called Jemima Watson whom he married at Fitzroy, Victoria in December, only a few weeks after the "Mirzapore" berthed.
William Bradley (Royal Navy officer)
William Bradley (1758–13 March 1833) was a British naval officer and cartographer who was one of the officers who participated in the First Fleet to Australia. During this expedition, Bradley undertook extensive surveys and became one of the first of the settlers to establish relations with the aborigines, with whom he struck up a dialogue and whose customs and nature he studied extensively. He later however fell out with his aboriginal contacts and instead undertook a mission to gather food which ended with an eleven-month stay on Norfolk Island after a shipwreck.
HMAS Australia (D84)
"Australia" was ordered in 1924 as part of a five-year plan to develop the RAN. She was laid down by John Brown and Company at their shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland, on 26 August 1925. The cruiser was launched on 17 March 1927 by Dame Mary Cook, wife of Sir Joseph Cook, the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and former Australian Prime Minister.
Journals of the First Fleet
During his time on "HMS Sirius" and in the colony, he kept a journal which also included his experiences in the settlement at Sydney. In 1797 he returned to London and the following year with the help of his wife Maria, he published his journal entitled "An Account of the English colony in New South Wales", a detailed first-hand account of early settlement in Australia. The book's introduction describes the long voyage of the Fleet and particularly "HMS Sirius" to Australia. Collins gives an account of the accompanying ships, their weight and the number of convicts, supplies and crew each carried. He describes an incident on Sunday 20 May 1787, where a mutiny being plotted by some convicts on board "Scarborough" was discovered. Captain Phillip ordered the two ringleaders be taken on board "HMS Sirius" where they were punished with two dozen lashes to each offender. In the introduction Collins also mentions the Fleet's passage to Brazil and describes two accidents that took place on that part of the voyage:
History of Australia (1788–1850)
The history of Australia from 1788–1850 covers the early colonial period of Australia's history, from the arrival in 1788 of the First Fleet of British ships at Sydney, New South Wales, who established the penal colony, the scientific exploration of the continent and later, establishment of other Australian colonies.
History of Australia
The first known landing in Australia by Europeans was by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606. Twenty-nine other Dutch navigators explored the western and southern coasts in the 17th century, and dubbed the continent New Holland. Macassan trepangers visited Australia's northern coasts after 1720, possibly earlier. Other European explorers followed until, in 1770, Lieutenant James Cook charted the east coast of Australia for Great Britain and returned with accounts favouring colonisation at Botany Bay (now in Sydney), New South Wales.
John Easty
John Easty (fl. 1786–1793) was a marine in the New South Wales Marine Corps who served in the First Fleet that establish the British colony of New South Wales, Australia in 1788.
Easty joined the marines no later than January 1784, and was appointed to Captain-Lieutenant Meredith's company on 4 November 1787. He arrived with the First Fleet on the "Scarborough",
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, it marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales, and the raising of the Flag of Great Britain at Sydney Cove by Governor Arthur Phillip. In present-day Australia, celebrations reflect the diverse society and landscape of the nation and are marked by community and family events, reflections on Australian history, official community awards and citizenship ceremonies welcoming new members of the Australian community.
Australia (continent)
On 23 April 1770 British explorer James Cook made his first recorded direct observation of indigenous Australians at Brush Island near Bawley Point. On 29 April, Cook and crew made their first landfall on the mainland of the continent at a place now known as the Kurnell Peninsula. It is here that James Cook made first contact with an aboriginal tribe known as the Gweagal. His expedition became the first recorded Europeans to have encountered its eastern coastline of Australia.
Zachary Hickes
Zachary Hicks (1739 – 25 May 1771) was a Royal Navy officer, second-in-command on Lieutenant James Cook's first voyage to the Pacific and the first among Cook's crew to sight mainland Australia. A dependable officer who had risen swiftly through the ranks, Hicks conducted liaison and military duties for Cook including command of shore parties in Rio de Janeiro and the kidnapping of a Tahitian chieftain in order to force indigenous assistance in the recovery of deserters. Hicks' quick thinking while in temporary command of "" also saved the lives of Cook, Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander when they were attacked by Māori in New Zealand in November 1769.
Scottish Australians
The first Scottish settlers arrived in Australia with the First Fleet in 1788, including three of the first six Governors of New South Wales John Hunter, Lachlan Macquarie (often referred to as the father of Australia) and Thomas Brisbane. The majority of Scots arriving in the early colonial period were convicts: 8,207 Scottish convicts, of the total 150,000 transported to Australia, made up about 5% of the convict population. The Scottish courts were unwilling to punish crimes deemed to be lesser offences in Scots Law by deportation to Australia. Scottish law was considered more humane for lesser offences than the English and Irish legal systems. Although Scottish convicts had a poor reputation, most were convicted of minor property offences and represented a broad cross-section of Scotland's working classes. As such, they brought a range of useful skills to the colonies.
Phillip Parker King
King was assigned to survey the parts of the Australian coast not already examined by Capt. Matthew Flinders, RN, (1774-1814), (who had already made three earlier exploratory voyages between 1791 and 1810, including the first circumnavigation of Australia) and made four voyages between December 1817 and April 1822. Amongst the 19-man crew were Allan Cunningham (botanist), John Septimus Roe and the aborigine Bungaree. The first three trips were in the 76 tonne cutter , but the vessel was grounded in 1820.
3rd Brigade (Australia)
The brigade was initially commanded by a British regular officer, Colonel Ewen Sinclair-Maclagan. After being deployed to Egypt where they undertook further training, the brigade was committed to the fighting in the Gallipoli campaign, being the first Australian unit to land at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915. They subsequently remained on the peninsula until the end of the campaign in December 1915, taking part in a number of battles including the landing at Suvla Bay and the fighting at Lone Pine and Sari Bair. Following the conclusion of the campaign the brigade was withdrawn and returned to Egypt where a period of reorganisation was undertaken. During this time the AIF was expanded by raising new infantry battalions from cadre personnel drawn from experienced units and bringing in newly trained recruits from Australia. Personnel from the 3rd Brigade were used to raise the 13th Brigade, 4th Division.
John Hunter (Royal Navy officer)
When the preparation of the First Fleet was in progress, Lord Howe, by then first lord of the admiralty, arranged for Hunter to be promoted to post captain on 15 December 1786, and appointed to command . The fleet was under the overall command of Commodore Arthur Phillip who was going out to found and be governor of the new colony of New South Wales. Hunter carried a dormant commission as successor to Phillip if he should have died or was absent.
The expedition arrived in Port Jackson in January 1788. Hunter led an expedition to explore the Parramatta River early in 1788. This expedition explored and made soundings as far as Iron Cove, Five Dock Bay and Hen and Chicken Bay on the Parramatta River. The Sir William Dixson Research Library at the State Library of New South Wales holds the original copy of the chart of the expedition, entitled "Chart of the coasts and harbours of Botany-Bay, Port-Jackson and Broken-Bay, as survey'd by Capt.n John Hunter of H.M.S. Sirius". The expedition was significant because it may have marked the first contact to take place between the British and the Indigenous owners of the land, the Wangal Clan, in 1788. William Bradley's log says that this contact took place while Hunter was having breakfast and is remembered in the name of the suburb, Breakfast Point.
SS Medic
"Medic" inaugurated White Star's new Australia service with her maiden voyage, which started from Liverpool on 3 August 1899, she was then the largest ship ever to sail to Australia. Although "Afric" was the first ship built for the service, she did not make her first voyage to Australia until the following month. On board the maiden voyage was Charles Lightoller on his first assignment as Fourth Mate, he would later become the only senior officer to survive the sinking of the RMS "Titanic". He would write of "Medic"s reception upon her arrival in Sydney:
Port Phillip
The first British to enter the port were the crews of , commanded by John Murray and, ten weeks later, commanded by Matthew Flinders, in 1802. Subsequent expeditions into the bay took place in 1803 to establish the first settlement in Victoria, near Sorrento, but was abandoned in 1804. Thirty years later, settlers from Tasmania returned to establish Melbourne, now the state's capital city, at the mouth of the Yarra River in 1835 and Geelong at Corio Bay in 1838. Today Port Phillip is the most densely populated catchment in Australia with an estimated 4.5 million people living around the bay; Melbourne's suburbs extend around much of the northern and eastern shorelines, and the city of Geelong sprawls around Corio Bay, in the port's western arm.
New South Wales
The first British settlement was made by what is known in Australian history as the First Fleet; this was led by Captain Arthur Phillip, who assumed the role of governor of the settlement on arrival in 1788 until 1792.
Isaac Smith (Royal Navy officer)
Smith sailed with Cook to Tahiti, then to New Zealand and the east coast of Australia. On 28 April 1770 he became the first European to set foot on eastern Australian soil, Cook telling him "Jump out, Isaac" as the ship's boat touched the shore at Botany Bay. A month later on 23 May 1770, Smith was promoted to midshipman following James Magra's suspension on suspicion of having assaulted Cook's clerk.
Zachary Hickes
"Endeavour" made landfall in Botany Bay in eastern Australia on April 29, 1770. After the initial landing by Cook, Hicks was given command of the shore party with responsibility for collecting water and wood to resupply the ship. In this role Hickes made the expedition's first sustained contact with indigenous Australians when more than a dozen gathered on the beach to watch his men collect water. Cook observed in his journal that "Mister Hicks did all in his power to entice them to him by offering them presents and company but it was to no purpose, all they seem'd to want was for us to be gone." Hickes nonetheless persisted, with sufficient interaction over the following days for him to interpret a few words of the indigenous language.
European maritime exploration of Australia
The British suspected that the reason for Baudin's expedition was to try to establish a French colony on the coast of New Holland. In response, the "Lady Nelson" and the whaler "Albion", both commanded by Lieutenant John Bowen, sailed from Port Jackson on 31 August 1803 to establish a settlement in Van Diemen's Land, and on 10 October 1803 a convoy of two ships and "Ocean" led by Captain David Collins carrying 402 people entered Port Phillip and formed a settlement near Sorrento. The first British to enter the bay were the crews of , commanded by John Murray and, ten weeks later, "Investigator", commanded by Flinders, in 1802.
European Australians
The first records of European mariners sailing into 'Australian' waters occurs around 1606, and includes their observations of the land known as Terra Australis Incognita (unknown southern land). The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutchman, Willem Janszoon.
First Fleet Re-enactment Voyage
The First Fleet Reenactment Voyage (also known as the Second First Fleet) was a project to assemble a fleet of tall ships to sail from England to Australia in a historical reenactment of the First Fleet that colonised Australia in 1788. The reenactment was first conceived in 1977 and organised to commemorate Australia's bicentenary of colonisation. Despite opposition and minimal funding from the Australian government, the project attracted the support of high-profile adventurers Thor Heyerdahl, Alan Villiers, and Sir Edmund Hillary, as well as former Australian political figures and the British Royal Family. Several corporations offered to sponsor the fleet as a whole or individual ships, and additional money was raised by selling "training crew" berths for the various legs of the voyage.
James Squire
In 1787, James was released from Southwark gaol to voyage to the British penal colony in Australia in April 1787. The document was signed by Evan Nepean on 10 March 1787. Though James began his journey on the "Friendship", he transferred himself to the "Charlotte" in a reshuffle of the women passengers. On 18 January 1788, the First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay, Australia. The openness of this bay, and the dampness of the soil, by which the people would probably be rendered unhealthy, had already determined the Governor to seek another situation. He resolved, therefore, to examine Port Jackson, a bay mentioned by Captain James Cook as immediately to the north of this. There he hoped to find, not only a better harbour, but a fitter place for the establishment of his new government. The first fleet then moved to Port Jackson by 26 January.
Parap, Northern Territory
The London-Australia Air Race was actually a means of returning Australian Flying Corps pilots and crews to Australia after the cessation of hostilities – they were required to fly their aircraft home, with a £10,000 prize as the incentive for the first aircraft manned by Australians to reach Australia in less than 30 days before the end of 1919. Having departed Hounslow Heath Aerodrome near London on 12 November, Ross and Keith Smith landed their Vickers FB27 Vimy G-EAOU 40 at Darwin aerodrome at 3.05 pm on Friday 10 December 1919 and were met by the Acting Administrator, Staniforth Smith. They had accomplished the first ever flight from Europe to Australia, a distance of 18,500 kilometres, in 27 days and 20 hours. The following day, the Acting Administrator entertained the heroes at Government House, where they were joined by Lieutenant Hudson Fysh DFC, another veteran of the Light Horse and No.1 Squadron AFC, who had been responsible for clearing the airstrip at Fannie Bay. The aerodrome in Darwin at which they landed was in the suburb of Parap, near the site of the present pool.
Australian Squadron
As a British force, the Australia Squadron ceased on 4 October 1913, when the ships of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) entered Sydney Harbour for the first time. However, the term was subsequently used between 1926 and 1949 to refer to the ships of the RAN: after the decommissioning and scuttling of the battlecruiser and other cutbacks, the term 'Australian Fleet' was thought to be inappropriate to describe the navy's strength. HMAS Melbourne served as squadron flagship between 1922 and 1928.
History of the world
The Pacific islands of Oceania would also be affected by European contact, starting with the circumnavigational voyage of Ferdinand Magellan, who landed on the Marianas and other islands in 1521. Also notable were the voyages (1642–44) of Abel Tasman to present-day Australia, New Zealand and nearby islands, and the voyages (1768–1779) of Captain James Cook, who made the first recorded European contact with Hawaii. Britain would found its first colony on Australia in 1788.
Catholic Church in Australia
The permanent presence of Catholicism in Australia however, came with the arrival of the First Fleet of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788. One-tenth of all the convicts who came to Australia on the First Fleet were Catholic, and at least half of them were born in Ireland. A small proportion of British marines were also Catholic.
Colonial forces of Australia
In 1802, amidst the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, concerns about French interest in Australia drove an expansion of the British colony. French explorers had been encountered in the Pacific and in order to secure any strategic locations within the southern station of the Pacific Ocean which might have been of use to France, King dispatched an expedition to settle Van Diemen's Land. John Bowen, a 23-year-old lieutenant, had arrived in Sydney aboard HMS "Glatton", on 11 March 1803. King considered him the right man for the task, and towards the end of August 1803, Bowen left for Van Diemen's Land aboard the whaler . Accompanying him were three female and 21 male convicts, guarded by a company of the New South Wales Corps, as well as a small number of free settlers. A second ship, the , joined them and in early September 1803 a settlement was established at Risdon Cove.
Charles Fremantle
The appointed lieutenant governor James Stirling arrived in Cockburn Sound on 2 June aboard the hired transport barque "Parmelia" with his family and other intending settlers, numbering 69 in all, to establish a colony at the Swan River in Western Australia. On 8 June they were joined by a military detachment of some 56 officers and men who disembarked from the consort ship HMS "Sulphur". On 17 June, a proxy proclamation was read by Stirling confirming Fremantle's earlier proclamation. The landing of those immigrants marked the beginning of the history of Western Australia as a British colony, and later as a state of federal Australia.
David Blackburn (Royal Navy officer)
David Blackburn (1753–1795) was a Royal Navy officer. He was the Master of in the First Fleet that established the British settlement in New South Wales, Australia in 1788.
Australian art
Despite Banks' suggestions, no professional natural-history artist sailed on the First Fleet in 1788. Until the turn of the century all drawings made in the colony were crafted by soldiers, including British naval officers George Raper and John Hunter, and convict artists, including Thomas Watling. However, many of these drawings are by unknown artists, most notably the Port Jackson Painter. Most are in the style of naval draughtsmanship, and cover natural history topics, specifically birds, and a few depict the infant colony itself.
Several professional natural-history illustrators accompanied expeditions in the early 19th century, including Ferdinand Bauer, who travelled with Matthew Flinders, and Charles-Alexandre Lesueur, who travelled with a French expedition led by Nicolas Baudin. The first resident professional artist was John Lewin, who arrived in 1800 and published two volumes of natural history art. Ornithologist John Gould was renowned for his illustrations of the country's birds. In the late 19th century Harriet and Helena Scott were highly respected natural history illustrators
Lewin's "Platypus" (1808) represents the fine detail and scientific observation displayed by many of these early painters.
Prince of Wales (1786 ship)
The South London shipbroker William Richards contracted "Prince of Wales" in 1787 for the First Fleet voyage. Richards selected her after consultation with Royal Marine officers Watkin Tench and David Collins. Both officers would sail with the Fleet to Australia, Tench as a captain of marines, and Collins as judge-advocate for the new colony. She was the second-smallest of the First Fleet transports after "Friendship", and the last to be contracted to join the voyage.
First Fleet
The First Fleet encountered indigenous Australians when they landed at Botany Bay. The Cadigal people of the Botany Bay area witnessed the Fleet arrive and six days later the two ships of French explorer La Pérouse sailed into the bay. When the Fleet moved to Sydney Cove seeking better conditions for establishing the colony, they encountered the Eora people, including the Bidjigal clan. A number of the First Fleet journals record encounters with Aboriginal people.
Croydon, New South Wales
The arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 and the start of modern Australia had, as one could expect, an influence on the people living in the area. One of their leaders, Bennelong, befriended the first governor of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip, and was taken by him to England.
James Smith (gardener)
James Smith (fl. 1780s) was one of two gardeners trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London and sent by Joseph Banks to care for plants on a voyage to the British colony in New Holland (Australia) in 1789. Together with fellow gardener George Austin, Smith travelled on the fated storeship HMS "Guardian" carrying supplies to the new colony as a follow-up to the ships of the First Fleet which had arrived at Botany Bay in January 1788. The vessel was specially fitted out to carry agricultural crops to the new colony and the two gardeners were to care for the plants during the voyage. Plants were supplied by Brentford nurseryman Hugh Ronalds, at Banks' request.
First Fleet
On 26 January 1788, the Fleet weighed anchor and sailed to Port Jackson. The site selected for the anchorage had deep water close to the shore, was sheltered, and had a small stream flowing into it. Phillip named it Sydney Cove, after Lord Sydney the British Home Secretary. This date is celebrated as Australia Day, marking the beginning of British settlement. The British flag was planted and formal possession taken. This was done by Phillip and some officers and marines from the "Supply", with the remainder of "Supply"s crew and the convicts observing from on board ship. The remaining ships of the Fleet did not arrive at Sydney Cove until later that day.
History of Sydney
The British colony of New South Wales was subsequently established with the arrival of the First Fleet of 11 vessels under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip in January 1788. It consisted of over a thousand settlers, including 778 convicts (192 women and 586 men). A few days after arrival at Botany Bay the fleet moved to the more suitable Port Jackson where a settlement was established at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788. This date later became Australia's national day, Australia Day. The colony was formally proclaimed by Governor Phillip on 7 February 1788 at Sydney.
South Australian Company
In January 1836 four ships sailed from England on behalf of the "Company". They developed a settlement at Kingscote on Kangaroo Island, in July 1836, but when farming proved unviable, they transferred their settlement to the mainland. The "Company" provided basic infrastructure for the new colony, as well as sold or leased land to immigrants who came to settle. All told, nine ships, which may be termed the First Fleet of South Australia, arrived in the new colony:
Under the Acts that established the Colony, the UK government appointed Commissioners to oversee implementation of the Acts; Thirteen based in London with a Resident Commissioner stationed in the colony. Those first appointed were Colonel Robert Torrens (Chairman), Rowland Hill (Secretary), G. Barnes (Treasurer), George Fife Angas, E. Barnard, William Hutt, J. G. Shaw-Lefevre, W. A. Mackinnon M.P., S. Mills, Jacob Barrow Montefiore, G. Palmer, and J. Wright. The first Resident Commissioner was James Hurtle Fisher.
Chinese Market Gardens (La Perouse)
When British colonisation of Australia as a penal colony began in 1788 the First Fleet initially landed at Yarra Bay, 300 meters from the Chinese Market Gardens La Perouse, where its creek empties into Botany Bay. Governor Phillip quickly deemed the area unsuitable for settlement as too exposed and swampy with not enough fresh water. Within days the penal settlement had moved a few kilometres north to Port Jackson and found "a proper situation" at Sydney Cove.
Bass Point Reserve
Bass Point also had a significant, but brief, association with Captain James Cook and the Endeavour. As the Endeavour sailed by the Illawarra coastline in April 1770, journal notes were made about their observations of the landscape and the traditional Aboriginal occupants. There is evidence to suggest that Cook attempted a landing in the region but abandoned the effort due to dangerous conditions. Had this landing attempt succeeded, it would have been the first on Australian soil - predating that at Botany Bay.
Cronulla sand dunes
The Kurnell Peninsula, also the site of the Cronulla Sand Dune System was the first landing place for Captain James Cook in Australia. On 29 April 1770, HM Bark "Endeavour" landed in Botany Bay and Cook stepped ashore. Shortly after, James Cook looked down from the sand hills at what is now known as Cronulla Beach. The sand dunes were completely covered in vegetation, so Cook made no mention of any sand dunes during his visit to the Kurnell peninsula. Cook along with his crew stayed in Botany Bay for eight days. During his visit he collected botanical specimens, mapped the area and tried to make contact (unsuccessfully) with the indigenous population. When Cook reported back to England he said that the land was suitable for agriculture, it had sandy soil and the area was lightly wooded. Captain Arthur Phillip, arriving with the First Fleet, stepped ashore on 18 January 1788, after following Cook's advice. They began to clear land and dig wells, but a week later decided to abandon the site and sail north to Port Jackson.
History of Australian naval aviation
One of the pioneers of naval aviation was Australian-born Royal Navy officer Arthur Longmore, who, on 25 April 1911, was among the first four naval officers to receive pilot qualifications. In the following years, Longmore conducted the first water landing in Britain, and the first deployment of a torpedo from an aircraft.
Bungaree
He was recruited by Flinders on his circumnavigation of Australia between 1801 and 1803 in the . Flinders was the cartographer of the first complete map of Australia, filling in the gaps from previous cartographic expeditions, and was the most prominent advocate for naming the continent "Australia". Flinders noted that Bungaree was "a worthy and brave fellow" who, on multiple occasions, saved the expedition. Bungaree was the only indigenous Australian on the ship - and as such, played a vital diplomatic role as they made their way around the coast, overcoming not inconsiderable language barriers in places. According to historian Keith Vincent, Bungaree chose the role as a go-between, and was often able to mollify indigenous people who were about to attack the sailors, by taking off his clothes and speaking to people, despite being in territory unknown to himself. Flinders later wrote in his memoirs of Bungaree's "good disposition and open and manly conduct" and his kindness to the ship's cat, Trim.
Convicts in Australia
In 1803 two ships arrived in Port Phillip, which Lt. John Murray in the Lady Nelson had discovered and named the previous year. The under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Collins transported 300 convicts, accompanied by the supply ship "Ocean". Collins had previously been Judge Advocate with the First Fleet in 1788. He chose Sullivan Bay near the present-day Sorrento, Victoria for the first settlement - some 90 km south of present-day Melbourne. About two months later the settlement was abandoned due to poor soil and water shortages and Collins moved the convicts to Hobart. Several convicts had escaped into the bush and were left behind to unknown fates with the local aboriginal people. One such convict, the subsequently celebrated William Buckley, lived in the western side of Port Phillip for the next 32 years before approaching the new settlers and assisting as an interpreter for the indigenous peoples.
SS Great Britain
In 1852, "Great Britain" made her first voyage to Melbourne, Australia, carrying 630 emigrants. She excited great interest there, with 4,000 people paying a shilling each to inspect her. She operated on the England–Australia route for almost 30 years, interrupted only by two relatively brief sojourns as a troopship during the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny. Gradually, she earned a reputation as the most reliable of the emigrant ships to Australia and carried the first English cricket team to tour Australia in 1861.
Admiral of the fleet (Australia)
The organisation of the British fleet into coloured squadrons was abandoned in 1864, with the Royal Navy keeping the White Ensign. By this time, the position admiral of the fleet had already become an honorary promotion; when the position of professional head of the Royal Navy was given the name of First Naval Lord in 1828 (renamed First Sea Lord in 1904), admiral of the fleet became an honorary promotion for retiring First Naval Lords. This allowed multiple honorary admirals of the fleet to co-exist throughout the history of the rank. With the establishment of the Royal Australian Navy in 1911, the navy inherited the same ranks as its Royal Navy predecessor. However, the rank of admiral of the fleet has only been once used in its history so far, with the highest ranks remaining the traditional reserve as a wartime rank and did not take on the regular honorary appointments that its British counterpart did until 1996. The current and so far only holder of this rank is HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, prince-consort to the Queen of Australia, Elizabeth II.
European exploration of Australia
Dutch explorers, in 1606, made the first recorded European sightings and first recorded landfalls of the Australian mainland. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the "Duyfken" captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, and made landfall on 26 February at the Pennefather River near the modern town of Weipa on Cape York. The Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent "New Holland" during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688 and again in 1699 on a return trip. In 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain.
Arthur Phillip
The 11 ships of the First Fleet set sail on 13 May 1787. The leading ship, reached Botany Bay setting up camp on the Kurnell Peninsula, on 18 January 1788. Phillip soon decided that this site, chosen on the recommendation of Sir Joseph Banks, who had accompanied James Cook in 1770, was not suitable, since it had poor soil, no secure anchorage and no reliable water source. After some exploration Phillip decided to go on to Port Jackson, and on 26 January the marines and convicts landed at Sydney Cove, which Phillip named after Lord Sydney.
Australia Day
On 13 May 1787 a fleet of 11 ships, which came to be known as the First Fleet, was sent by the British Admiralty from England to New Holland. Under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, the fleet sought to establish a penal colony at Botany Bay on the coast of New South Wales, which had been explored and claimed by Lieutenant James Cook in 1770. The settlement was seen as necessary because of the loss of the Thirteen Colonies in North America. The Fleet arrived between 18 and 20 January 1788, but it was immediately apparent that Botany Bay was unsuitable.
Naval Offices, Brisbane
Captain Creswell was a major advocate for an independent Australian navy. Australia had been a separate British Naval Station since 1859 and a squadron of the Royal Navy was maintained in Australian waters until 1913. After March 1901 the Royal Navy was still paid to provide blue water defence (a force projection capability beyond coastal defence), but Captain Creswell lobbied for an autonomous Australian blue water navy. The 1909 Imperial Conference agreed to form an Australian fleet, and the first ships of this fleet, the destroyers "Yarra" and "Parramatta", reached Australia in 1910. On 10 July 1911 King George V granted the title "Royal Australian Navy" to the ACN and in October 1913 formal control of these units was transferred to the Commonwealth Naval Board. Meanwhile, in 1911 district naval officers were appointed around Australia to replace the naval commandants.
1989 British Lions tour to Australia
In 1989 the British Lions toured Australia for the first time since 1971. Unlike previous tours to Australia, the Lions did not play any matches in New Zealand, this being the first Australia-only tour since 1899. The side was captained by Finlay Calder.
Australia
The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent (in 1606), are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the "Duyfken" captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, and made landfall on 26 February at the Pennefather River near the modern town of Weipa on Cape York. The Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent "New Holland" during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688 and again in 1699 on a return trip. In 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain.
History of Australia
Although a theory of Portuguese discovery in the 1520s exists, it lacks definitive evidence. The Dutch East India Company ship, "Duyfken", led by Willem Janszoon, made the first documented European landing in Australia in 1606. That same year, a Spanish expedition sailing in nearby waters and led by Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós had landed in the New Hebrides and, believing them to be the fabled "southern continent", named the land "Austrialia del Espiritu Santo" ("Southern Land of the Holy Spirit"), in honour of his queen Margaret of Austria, the wife of Philip III of Spain. Later that year, Queirós' deputy Luís Vaz de Torres sailed to the north of Australia through Torres Strait, along New Guinea's southern coast.
HMVS Victoria (1855)
In 1867, "Victoria" was present for the visit of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh—the first member of the British Royal Family to visit Australia.
Francis Ormond
Ormond's father adopted an early interest in Britain's southern colonies, which came from stories he heard of the expedition of Hume and Hovel and of Australia Felix. In command of the merchant vessel "John Bull", Captain Ormond was the first to transport British settlers to the newly founded settlement of Melbourne – in the south-east of the Colony of New South Wales – arriving in the bay of Port Phillip in 1840. Upon his first landing in Melbourne, he was so impressed by the pastoralism opportunities the settlement presented, he began plans to move his family to the colony. He purchased the barque "Tuscan" the following year, and set sail with his family for the fledgling Port Phillip District.
European maritime exploration of Australia
On 1 May 1622, Englishman John Brooke in the "Tryall", a British East India Company owned vessel of approximately 500 tons, on the way to Batavia made the second English voyage to use Brouwer's southern route. He sailed too far east and sighted the coastline of Western Australia at Point Cloates (about 22° latitude south), although he mistook it for an island sighted in 1618 by Janszoon (and in 1816 named Barrow Island by Phillip Parker King). They did not land there, and a few weeks later were shipwrecked on an uncharted reef northwest of the Montebello Islands (about 20° latitude south, now known as Tryal Rocks). The shipwreck caused the deaths of 93 men, but Brooke, his son John and nine men scrambled into a skiff and the ship's factor Thomas Bright and 35 others managed to save a longboat. Brooke sailed separately to Java. Bright and his crew spent seven days ashore on the Montebello Islands, before sailing the longboat to Bantam in Java. This was the first recorded shipwreck in Australian waters and first extended stay in Australia by Europeans.
In 1623, Jan Carstensz was commissioned by VOC to lead an expedition to the southern coast of New Guinea and beyond, to follow up the reports of further land sighted by Janszoon in his 1606 voyages to the south. Settling off from Amboyna in the Dutch East Indies with two ships, the "Pera" and "Arnhem" (captained by Willem Joosten Van Colster), he traveled along the south coast of New Guinea, then headed south to Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf of Carpentaria. On 14 April 1623, he passed Cape Keerweer. Landing in search of fresh water for his stores, Carstensz encountered a party of the local indigenous Australian inhabitants, who he described as "poor and miserable looking people" who had "no knowledge of precious metals or spices". On 8 May 1623, Carstensz and his crew fought a skirmish with 200 Aborigines at the mouth of a small river near Cape Duyfken (named after Janszoon's vessel which had earlier visited the region) and landed at the Pennefather River. Carstensz named the small river Carpentier River, and the Gulf of Carpentaria in honour of Pieter de Carpentier, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Carstensz reached the Staaten River before heading north again. The "Pera" and Carstensz returned to Amboyna while the "Arnhem" crossed the Gulf of Carpentaria, sighting the east coast of Arnhem Land.
Fleet Command (Australia)
Prior to 1913, all naval activities and forces in Australian waters were controlled by the British Royal Navy. In 1859, Australia Station was established as a separate command of the Royal Navy, responsible for all the waters around the Australian continent, in addition to the British and Australian colonial possessions in the South Pacific. It was at this stage that the forerunner of Commander Australian Fleet, Officer Commanding Imperial Squadron Australian Station, was created. Between the Federation of Australia and formation of the Commonwealth Naval Forces in 1901 to the year of 1913, the Royal Navy began a process of transferring all command responsibility in Australian waters over to the Australian Government, as well as replacing equipment and personnel with Australian variants. The Commonwealth Naval Forces were renamed to Royal Australian Navy in 1911. With the transfer complete in 1913, the position of Rear Admiral Commanding HM Australian Fleet was formed, with control over all naval combat operations and forces; the post was renamed Rear Admiral Commanding HM Australian Squadron in 1926. Despite this position being a command of the RAN, the majority of occupants were Royal Navy officers attached to, or on loan to, the RAN.
George Tryon
In 1884 Tryon was promoted to rear admiral and placed in command of the Australian Station. He left England on 4 December 1884 on board the P&O steamer "Indus", arriving on board his new flagship in Sydney 22 January 1885. The growing importance of the Australian colonies (at that time separate colonies under the crown rather than united under one Australian government) meant that the squadron was becoming more important also, so now an admiral was appointed to replace the previous commander, Commodore James Erskine. Tryon's political and social skills were considered important for the role, which involved negotiations with the Australian colonies for financing a fast cruiser squadron in the region.
Botany Bay
Lieutenant James Cook first landed at Kurnell, on the southern banks of Botany Bay, on Sunday 29 April 1770, when navigating his way up the east coast of Australia on his ship, HMS "Endeavour". Cook's landing marked the beginning of Britain's interest in Australia and in the eventual colonisation of this new "southern continent". Initially the name "Stingrays Harbour" was used by Cook and other journal keepers on his expedition, for the stingrays they caught. That name was also recorded on an Admiralty chart. Cook's log for 6 May 1770 records "The great quantity of these sort of fish found in this place occasioned my giving it the name of Stingrays Harbour". However, in the journal prepared later from his log, Cook wrote instead: (sic) "The great quantity of plants Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander found in this place occasioned my giving it the name of Botanist Botany Bay".
American Australians
The first North Americans to make landfall in Australia were British crewmen from the "Endeavour" under Captain Cook, who sojourned at Botany Bay in 1770. Once a permanent colony was established in New South Wales, "trade links were developed almost exclusively with North America."
HMAS Australia (1911)
"Australia" and "Sydney" reached Jervis Bay on 2 October, where they rendezvoused with the rest of the RAN fleet (the cruisers and , and the destroyers , , and ). The seven warships prepared for a formal fleet entry into Sydney Harbour. On 4 October, "Australia" led the fleet into Sydney Harbour, where responsibility for Australian naval defence was passed from the Royal Navy's Australia Squadron, commanded by King-Hall aboard , to the RAN, commanded by Patey aboard "Australia".
MCC tour of Australia in 1962–63
The MCC team were the first not to travel to Australia entirely by ship. Instead they flew to Aden and boarded the luxury liner "Canberra" on its maiden voyage to Australia, which became an 11-day cocktail party, with Tom Graveney in charge of the bar and Graveney, Ted Dexter, Ken Barrington, Colin Cowdrey, Ray Illingworth and Fred Trueman forming the Marylebone Calypso Club, much to the amusement of the other passengers. Dexter found that the British Olympic long distance runner Gordon Pirie was on board (the Commonwealth Games were being held in Perth, Western Australia in November 1962) and got him to arrange keep fit classes for the team and runs around the deck in return for a first class berth. Trueman first avoided these by dodging down a corridor as short-cut and when was discovered threatening to throw Pirie overboard. He complained to the assistant-manager Alec Bedser that he had just bowled a thousand overs for Yorkshire, was the best fast-bowler in the world and did not need extra training, Bedser agreed and Trueman was excused. The team also needed to sign autographs for an hour each day, but Trueman's occasionally fell out of a porthole. The "Canberra" docked at Colombo for a one-day game, where David Sheppard made 73 and Ray Illingworth took 5/59. The Duke of Norfolk joined them here with three of his daughters "You may dance with my daughters. You may take them out and wine them and dine them, but that is all you may do", though Colin Cowdrey later married Lady Anne Elizabeth Fitzalan-Howard. The team arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia on 9 October, where they met Brian Statham, who had flown in the day before. Pirie wrote a press article to the effect that the England team were lazy, unfit and overweight; Dexter wrote an article in response, announcing that he hoped that his team would make 60 runs an hour and bowl 15 overs an hour on the tour, an ambitious target and one that he would fail to meet, though the England run rate of 39 runs per 100 balls was the highest since the war (Australia managed 41 per 100 balls). Dexter donated the fee from his article to a team kitty, to be shared amongst the players. Trueman's inflammatory remarks to "The Sydney Morning Herald" (he wondered if they would be playing under Jockey Club rules - referring to the Duke of Norfolk's interest in horse-racing - or going on a Church Mission - because the Reverend David Sheppard was on the tour) went down badly with the MCC. As the most colourful of the England players Trueman was offered eight times his tour fee of £250 to give after-dinner speeches and endorse products. On being told that if he did he would have to give the money to the kitty, he turned down the offer, annoyed by the fact that Susan Dexter was supposedly earning more from her modelling work than any of the cricketers. Though Trueman struck up a friendship with the Duke, Bedser was a stickler for team discipline and Trueman would be docked his £50 good conduct bonus at the end of the tour.