Immigration history of Australia
After the loss of the United States, Britain experienced overcrowding of its prisons and sought to ease the problems by transportation of its prisoners. In 1787 the First Fleet of 11 ships and about 1350 people under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip sailed for Australia. On 26 January 1788 a landing was made at Sydney Cove. The new colony was formally proclaimed as the Colony of New South Wales on 7 February. Other transport fleets bringing further convicts as well as freemen to the colony followed. As a result of agitation by the free settlers in Sydney, transportation of convicts to Sydney ended in 1840. It continued to the colonies of Van Diemen's Land (where settlement began in 1803) and Moreton Bay (founded 1824, and later renamed Queensland) for some years longer. The small settlement of Perth, founded in 1829 on the Swan River in Western Australia by free settlers, failed to prosper and asked for convicts. In contrast, South Australia, with its capital Adelaide founded in 1836, and Victoria, with its capital Melbourne founded in 1839, was settled only by free settlers. South Australia not only received British migrants, but also a significant influx of Prussian farmers and tradesmen, initially seeking freedom from religious persecution. By the end of the penal transportation in 1868, approximately 165,000 people had entered Australia as convicts.
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.