Summary of the decade

In 1787 Lord Sydney (17331800) of the British Colonial Office in Great

Britain gave instructions to Governor Arthur Phillip (17381814) to
establish a penal colony on the Dutch-named land, New Holland. He
was also ordered to open friendly communications with the local
Indigenous peoples and encourage the convicts and marines to show
them kindness. His instructions required giving protection to Indigenous
people and punishing those who harmed them. There is no evidence of
any acknowledgement of Indigenous peoples' ownership of the land.
At this time, the Indigenous population of Australia is estimated to have
been approximately between 500,000 and 750,000 people. The size and
distribution of populations are always an informed estimate. There were
more than 250 distinct language groups across Australia, each group
with their own land, language and culture.

The First Fleet left England on 13 May 1787, comprising a flotilla of ships
with convicts and marines. There were nine ships and two naval vessels
with enough supplies to keep the 759 convicts, their marine guards,
some with families, and a few civil officers until the colony became self-
sufficient. Since the War of American Independence (177583), Great
Britain had wanted an alternative place to 'transport' its convicts. Captain
James Cook (172879) had reported that the land was lush, well
watered and fertile, suitable for growing all types of foods and providing
grazing land for cattle.

In 1788 the lives of the Eora people, living near the harbour they called
Warrang, were about to change forever with the arrival of the First Fleet.
The Cadigal people of the Eora nation are the original occupants of the
Sydney region. Once they encountered the foreigners they realised that
the intruders had come to stay, so they fought to survive, to retain their
land and their cultural identity.

After arriving at Botany Bay, the First Fleet deemed it to be unsuitable for
settlement, so they moved north, arriving at Port Jackson. Phillip raised
the British flag at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788, taking possession
of the land through the concept of terra nullius, meaning 'land belonging
to no-one'. Indigenous peoples' lores were not considered and they were
left with no rights. Their rich, diverse and complex lifestyles were not
understood or acknowledged. For this reason the date 26 January is
also known as 'Invasion Day' or 'Survival Day'.
From the start, the colony was beset with problems. Very few convicts
knew how to farm and the soil around Sydney Cove was poor. Everyone,
from the convicts to Captain Phillip, was on rationed food. Contrary to
Cook's reports, they found a hot, dry, infertile country unsuitable for the
small farming necessary to make the settlement self-sufficient.

The First Fleet

In May 1787 the First Fleet, commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip

(17381814), left Portsmouth in England with six convict transports,
three store ships and two navy vessels, including the flagship
HMS Sirius. The fleet carried more than 1,300 people, consisting of
convicts and their children, and marines and their families. They arrived
at Botany Bay on 18 January 1788 after a journey of approximately
20,000 kilometres. Sir Joseph Banks (17431820) had recommended
the site after travelling on the ship HM Bark Endeavour with the explorer
Captain James Cook (17281779). However, Phillip perceived Botany
Bay to be unsuitable for a settlement because of his belief that the area
had poor soil, no safe anchorage and no reliable fresh water.

On 21 January, Phillip explored an area to the north of Botany Bay and

found a natural harbour that he described in his reports as one of the
finest harbours in the world. In a cove, he found a freshwater spring and
the harbour water close to the shore deep enough for ships to berth and
unload goods and people without the need to build wharves. He named
this site Sydney Cove in honour of Lord Sydney (17331800), the British
Home Secretary responsible for colonial affairs. This was the first known
non-Indigenous landing in Sydney Harbour.

On 26 January 1788 Captain Arthur Phillip sailed into Port Jackson on

HMS Supply and raised the British flag to proclaim the colony of New
South Wales. With him were the 11 ships that made up the First Fleet.
Two days earlier about 20 Cadigal men, the local people of the area,
waded out to meet Phillip's boat in North Harbour. Phillip noted in his
reports that they had a confident and 'manly behaviour' and decided to
name this place Manly Cove. That night, the same group of Cadigal men
joined Governor Phillip and his men while they dined.

Colonisation
When the War of American Independence (177583) ended, Great
Britain lost its American colonies and was deprived of a place to dispose
of its convicts. During the war, Great Britain could not transport convicts
and their numbers had increased significantly. The convicts were jailed
in the hulks of old dilapidated warships moored in Plymouth and on the
Thames estuary. Pressure to find another site for transportation
mounted.

In July 1783, James Matra (1746?1806), who had visited Botany Bay in
1770 as a junior officer on the Endeavour, produced A Proposal for
Establishing a Settlement in New South Wales. He was supported by Sir
Joseph Banks, and together they set out reasons to establish a colony
composed of American loyalists, Chinese people and South Sea
Islanders (but not convicts). In March 1784, following an interview with
the Home Secretary, Lord Sydney, Matra amended his proposal to
include convicts as settlers, as this would benefit the economy, the
people and the individual. The government also wanted to colonise
Norfolk Island because of its timber and flax resources.

The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries in Britain

changed the fabric of society and work, particularly in agriculture,
manufacturing, mining, transport and technology. Inventions that
assisted farmers to plough and harvest crops meant that thousands of
farm labourers were unemployed and left for the city to find jobs.
Returned soldiers from the War of American Independence also found it
difficult to make a living and some turned to petty crime to survive.
Increased unemployment, overcrowded cities and poverty were
incentives for the poor and destitute to steal food or clothing. Penalties
for theft and burglary were severe, and included transportation.
The British government's fear that other imperial powers such as France,
Holland and Spain might expand their territories and claim the great
southern continent or part of it for their territories also motivated their
desire to establish the colony of New South Wales.

In 1787 Botany Bay on the eastern coast of New Holland was chosen as
the site for a new penal settlement. Sir Joseph Banks (17431820), a
botanist who had travelled with Captain James Cook (17281779) on his
exploration to find the new land, had suggested that Botany Bay could
be both a place for convicts and a British trading port in the Pacific.
Cultural differences
On 26 January 1788, the British government through Governor Arthur
Phillip (17381814) claimed sovereignty over the area that Captain
James Cook had named New South Wales. They also claimed
ownership of the land through the legal concept of terra nullius (land
belonging to no-one), ignoring the already existing land ownership and
lore of the Indigenous peoples there. Land was at the centre of the
conflict between the Sydney clans and the British colonists.

In 1787 Lord Sydney of the Colonial Office had officially recognised the
presence of Indigenous inhabitants by giving instructions to Governor
Phillip to open friendly communications with them and encourage the
convicts and marines to show them kindness. His instructions included
measures of protection for the local Indigenous people, and punishments
for those who harmed them. The British did not, however, acknowledge
Indigenous ownership of the land.

The people of the First Fleet did not understand the ways of the local
Indigenous peoples they encountered, and their diaries and journals
record the lack of respect that many members of the First Fleet had for
local Indigenous people.

The colonists did not understand the diversity of Indigenous Australian

nations, each with a distinct language and culture, or the complexity of
Indigenous systems of lore. For example, an important understanding is
to seek permission to enter another group's country. On seeing the First
Fleet, the Cadigal people ran down to the water's edge and shook their
spears at them. But the Cadigal people were outnumbered and
overpowered by the technology the strangers possessed.

Within a few days of landing at Port Jackson, the new colonists cut down
trees, erected tents to house more than 1,000 people and tethered
animals. They had claimed the land as Crown land and believed they
could take and use anything on the land. The British Government did not
acknowledge that Indigenous people had any rights to the land.

A good supply of fresh food was important for the British and when they
brought back to shore their large catches of fish they could not
understand the expectations of the Cadigal people to receive a portion of
the catch. The Cadigal people had a very different way of working, with
different value systems to the British. When fish were caught or other
food sources gathered it was often customary to share a portion of this
with others. The Cadigal people did not have the same concept of
private property as the British and shared things communally. They
placed less value on possessions that the British highly valued. It was
easy for cultural misunderstandings to take place as their world views
and languages were very different
First attempts at communication

Almost a year after their arrival at Sydney Cove, Governor Arthur Phillip
(17381814) and his officers had acquired very little knowledge about
the Eora people. Phillip had been instructed to open communications
with the local people. Records from the time document that the people
were perceived to be shy and mostly kept away from the new settlement.
This was most likely to avoid the gunshots and the attacks.
On 29 January 1788, Phillip attempted to communicate with the local
people. According to a young officer, William Bradley (1757?1833), the
local people invited the newcomers to join them in dancing together with
much laughter and friendliness. Bradley later captured this scene in a
series of drawings.

Governor Phillip ordered the capture of an Aboriginal man in order to

learn more about the local culture, the country and its resources such as
water and food. At this time of severe food shortage, he hoped to learn
which plants were edible. Arabanoo (c 17591789), a Cadigal man, was
captured at Manly Cove in December and taken to Government House.
He was fearful at first but then amazed at seeing the settlement.
According to the First Fleeter Captain Watkin Tench (1758?1833),
Arabanoo was very angry at finding that the handcuffs, which he
originally thought were an ornament, restrained his movements and
made him a prisoner. He remained restrained and accompanied by a
convict until April 1789 when Governor Phillip decreed he was free to
move around the settlement. Arabanoo learnt some English and taught
those around him some of his own language. Soon after his release,
Arabanoo became ill with smallpox and died in May 1789. An epidemic
had spread through the colony. Governor Phillip, who had been fond of
him, attended his funeral, ordering that he be buried in Phillip's own
garden.

In November 1789 Bennelong (1764?1813), a member of the Wangal

people, and Colebee, a Cadigal man, both Elders within their distinct
language groups, were captured. Watkin Tench described them as fine
young men. Within a week Colebee escaped, but Bennelong remained
and became familiar with British customs and language. His age was
estimated to be about 26 years. Bennelong assisted Governor Phillip to
learn about his culture and language after a friendship developed
between the two men. Bennelong called Phillip 'Beanga' (father).
Barangaroo, Bennelong's second wife, opposed her husband's familiarity
with the colonists and the governor. She refused to fraternise or integrate
with the colonists. It is reported that when Barangaroo was to give birth
she wanted to reconnect with her land, which at this time was where
Governor Phillip's house was erected. Phillip refused her entry and
encouraged Bennelong to take her to the hospital, which she thought of
as a place of death. She died shortly after giving birth.

Survival

By May 1788, the fledgling colony was experiencing severe food

shortages. Many of the cattle that had been brought on the First Fleet
had wandered off into the bush. Some of these animals were still being
found seven years later. The shortage of food in the colony was
exacerbated by the failure of the wheat crop. The soil was poor and
there was no manure to fertilise it. The government garden and the plots
kept by the officers had also been unsuccessful.
Henry Dodd (d 1791), Governor Arthur Phillip's personal servant and a
former farmhand, established a small grain farm at the current site of
Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens. In July 1788, the farm's first grain
harvest failed due to rats, poor soil and being planted out of season.
Dodd then moved to Rose Hill (Parramatta) where there was better land
for farming. He founded another government farm and the following year
his garden produced an 11-kilogram cabbage, which he presented to the
governor for Christmas.

The convicts turned to unfamiliar foods for sustenance in times of need.

Kangaroos, possums and birds, including emus, were used in stews.
The ship HMS Supply was sent to Lord Howe Island, where many turtles
had been sighted earlier in the year, but returned empty. The fish in Port
Jackson that had been plentiful in summer when the First Fleet arrived
were no longer in the same numbers. The change of seasons had
affected the fresh food supply and the convicts' unfamiliarity with the
country meant that they struggled to survive.

In October 1788, the ship Sirius was sent to Cape Town to gather
supplies for the colony. During its absence, Phillip introduced strict
rationing. The women of the settlement received two-thirds of the ration
for a man. Severe penalties were introduced for anyone caught stealing
food. In March 1789, six marines were hanged for consistently robbing
the public stores. In December 1788, Charles Wilson, a convict, was the
first man to die of starvation.
The convicts suffered from a deficiency in vitamin C caused by a lack of
fruits and vegetables in their diet. This eventually led to scurvy, which
was the most feared disease of sailors. A variety of symptoms appeared,
including open wounds that refuse to heal, bleeding gums, loose teeth
and dark purple blotches on the skin. By the end of 1789, the colony was
near starvation and a smallpox epidemic was rampant.

The smallpox epidemic

From April to May 1789 an outbreak of smallpox devastated Aboriginal

clans around the New South Wales colony. It has been estimated that
somewhere between 50 and 70 per cent of the Aboriginal population in
the Sydney area died within two years of the British arrival. The Cadigal
people, who are the recognised owners of Sydney Cove, suffered great
losses from the disease.

Arabanoo (17591789), a Cadigal man who had been captured by

Governor Phillip (17381814) and imprisoned and subsequently
released, died from smallpox after caring for others who had contracted
the disease. He was buried in the governor's garden. Arabanoo reported
that families had fled both to the north and to the interior of the country.
Aboriginal people had never experienced smallpox and had no immunity
against the disease. As a result smallpox spread rapidly though
communities as far away as the Murray and Darling River areas. The
origin of this epidemic remains uncertain, whether it came with the First
Fleet or whether it spread from the north of the country, introduced by
the Macassan traders from the south-west corner of Sulawesi (one of the
islands that makes up Indonesia).

The great number of deaths within the Indigenous population had

devastating effects on the social organisation of their clans. The groups
most affected within a clan were Elders, pregnant women and children
under five. Those least affected were people aged between five and
fourteen. The local Eora people referred to the disease as 'gal-gal-la'
Norfolk Island

Governor Arthur Phillip (17381814) received instructions from Lord

Sydney (17331800), the Colonial Secretary, for the First Fleet's voyage.
He urged Phillip to send men to settle Norfolk Island as soon as possible
after landing at Botany Bay to prevent other European powers occupying
the island. At the time the French were perceived to be a threat, as they
had several ships exploring the continent's coastline. In 1772, two
French expeditions set out to find Terra Australis. The first, led by
Captain Dufresne, explored and named the Crozet Islands, and in
Blackman's Bay claimed Van Diemen's Land for France. In the second
expedition Louis Francois de St Allouarn sighted Cape Leeuwin in
Western Australia and followed the coast to Shark Bay. He landed on
Dirk Hartog Island and claimed the land for the French king.

On 12 February 1788 Governor Phillip sent Lieutenant Philip Gidley King

(17581808) with seven free men, nine convict men and six convict
women aboard HMS Supply to the uninhabited Norfolk Island. Governor
Phillip's instructions to King included the requirement to establish a
penal settlement on Norfolk Island and to study the island's natural
resources. They were to begin the cultivation of flax, cotton and corn. On
6 March 1788 the British colours were raised over Norfolk Island in the
area now known as Kingston. After clearing some land and building huts,
the convicts and soldiers planted crops in the rich brown soil. Although
rats and parrots proved a problem, the crops were successful and there
was fresh food available for the inhabitants.

Food shortages affected Port Jackson and Phillip sent a second

boatload of convicts, who arrived at Norfolk Island in 1788 on the ship
the Golden Grove. From March to September 1789 more boats and
convicts arrived, as it was thought that Norfolk Island would become self-
sufficient more quickly than Sydney Cove. One drawback was that
Norfolk Island's harbour proved very difficult for ships unloading their
cargoes.

In 1774, having been promoted to commander, James Cook had visited

the island on his second voyage in the ship HMS Resolution. He was
impressed by the tall, straight pine trees and the flax plants, and saw
economic possibilities for the island. He thought that the Norfolk Island
pine could be harvested to provide mainmasts for ships and the flax
woven for sails. However, the timber wasn't suitable for masts and no-
one knew how to prepare flax for manufacturing.
William Dawes and Patyegarang

Lieutenant William Dawes (17621836) was the Officer of Engineers and

Artillery on the First Fleet. His daily task on the voyage was to be in
charge of the flagship's chronometers. These clocks were vital to
navigation because the accuracy of their timepieces allowed ships to
measure their longitude. On the recommendation of Reverend Dr Nevil
Maskelyne (17321811), the Board of Longitude provided instruments
and books for an observatory and asked Dawes to watch for a comet
that was expected in the Southern Hemisphere in 1788. Dawes built his
observatory, the first in the Southern Hemisphere, in a hut at Point
Maskelyne, now known as Dawes Point. Dawes made astronomical
observations but the comet did not appear.

Dawes was an engineer and a surveyor and constructed the earliest

batteries on the points at the entrance to Sydney Cove. He designed the
government farm, and laid out the first streets and allotments in Sydney
and Parramatta. Dawes was one of the few marines who wished to
remain in the colony after his term had expired. But, after the governor's
gamekeeper was killed, Dawes came into disfavour when he refused to
join a punitive expedition against the Aboriginal people who were
suspected of the crime. The gamekeeper was known for mistreating
Aboriginal people. After this refusal, Dawes was not allowed to remain in
New South Wales.

Patyegarang, a young Indigenous woman, befriended Lieutenant Dawes

and each taught the other their first languages. Dawes was the first
European to make extensive written records of an Indigenous Australian
language. He captured not just wordlists, but phrases concerned with
personalities, actions and feelings. Records of his conversations with
Patyegarang reveal an increasing level of frustration by local Aboriginal
people that the colonists were not moving out of their land.
William Dawes was one of the first colonists to appreciate that the
languages and cultures of Aboriginal peoples differed in different areas.
He also was one of the few who had genuine relationships with Cadigal
people. He became a European authority on the language of the Eora
people living around Sydney Cove.

naturalists of the First Fleet

Unusual for an exploration by sea at this time, the First Fleet (178788)
did not include any professional naturalists or trained artists. However,
most of the naval officers were trained draftsmen and were required as
part of their duties to draw coastal profiles, nautical charts, views and the
maps of new lands.

Seventeen-year-old midshipman George Raper (17691796) was on the

ship Sirius, the flagship of the First Fleet, and learnt astronomy,
navigation, cartography and topographical drawing from two of the naval
officers, Captain John Hunter (17371821), and Lieutenant William
Bradley (1757?1833). While sailing to Botany Bay, Raper created
maps, drawings and manuscripts that became an important record of the
voyage. Once in the colony, Raper and other naval officers sketched and
painted images of birds, fish and plants around Sydney Cove.
William Bradley kept a journal of his time in the colony, which included
29 watercolour paintings of different landscape views and the native flora
and fauna of the colony, although his main artistic interest was
illustrating Aboriginal people. He illustrated the First Fleet sailing into
Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788. Other of his works depict the
entrance to Port Jackson, several views of Broken Bay, and a
watercolour entitled First Interview with the Native Women at Port
Jackson in New South Wales, which was painted soon after the arrival of
the First Fleet.

Arthur Bowles Smyth (17501790), the First Fleet's surgeon who sailed
in the ship Lady Penrhyn, was responsible for the women convicts. He
was interested in natural history, collecting specimens and making
drawings of animals such as one he titled, The Kangaroo. His drawing of
an emu is thought to be the earliest naturalistic illustration of this bird. He
visited Lord Howe Island and made a drawing of the now-extinct White
Gallinule, a bird species with a solid red beak and yellowish-red legs.

Explorers

Immediately after arriving at Sydney Cove, the convicts were

preoccupied with establishing the settlement by building huts, a hospital,
storehouses and barracks. Gradually, Governor Arthur Phillip (1738
1814) travelled outside the immediate settlement and explored the
surrounding country to find better land for farming and more fresh water.
In early March 1788 Governor Phillip explored the area at the southern
end of Broken Bay, which he called Pittwater. He declared this area to be
the finest piece of water he had ever seen. He named it after the British
Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger (17591806).
In April 1788 Governor Phillip explored the area around Manly Cove,
sighting a black swan. He also explored the caves and found numerous
examples of Aboriginal rock art. In the same month, Governor Phillip and
11 explorers travelled up to the head of the river, exploring the
mountainous area to the west of the settlement and coming upon the
place now known as Parramatta, where they found both fresh water and
good fertile soil.
In June Governor Phillip followed another river leading out from Broken
Bay, stopped by a waterfall and named the hill nearby Richmond Hill.
In 1789 Captain Watkin Tench (1758?1833) and Lieutenant Willliam
Dawes (17621836), who was a keen explorer and mapmaker, named
the Nepean River.

In September 1789 Captain John Hunter (17371821) spent ten days

exploring and making charts of Botany Bay. In the same month, Captain
William Bligh in HMS Bounty spent two weeks in Van Diemen's Land.
The ship was on its way to Tahiti to collect breadfruit. He and his crew
made some contact with local Indigenous people, giving them trinkets,
which they showed no interest in.