Defining Moments in Australian History: Colonisation begins
Captain Arthur Phillip RN was commander of the First Fleet of 11 ships that sailed into Botany Bay, New South Wales, in January 1788. Work on the site he chose for a convict settlement at nearby Sydney Cove, in Port Jackson, began shortly after, on 26 January. Having been appointed the first NSW governor on 12 October 1786, Phillip was aware before arriving of the potential problems of establishing a colony on the other side of the world. He was responsible for almost 1400 convicts, naval personnel and their dependants and had complete authority over most aspects of their lives.
Phillip tried to both reform and discipline convicts, and is generally regarded as an enlightened leader for his time. He also sought to build good relations with the Eora people, the traditional owners of land in the Sydney area. Eora man Bennelong acted as an intermediary between his people and Phillip, with whom he seems to have enjoyed a genuine friendship.
In April 1788, convict Francis Fowkes produced an annotated sketch map of the colony, showing the settlement developing around the Cove and what became known as the Tank Stream. It identifies: Phillip’s residence; the government farm, east of the Tank Stream; the military
encampment on the western side; and most of the convict tents pitched to the north in the area that became The Rocks.
Phillip sent a sample of Sydney clay to Sir Joseph Banks who passed it to Josiah Wedgwood who made it into commemorative medallions. The medallion design, and a poem it inspired by Erasmus Darwin, express an optimistic belief in the colony’s future. But when the lack of skilled farmers, spoilt seed, poor soils and unfamiliar climate led to the failure of its first crops, the fledgling colony faced starvation. Phillip’s humane insistence that convict and free colonists share the same reduction of their meagre rations was not universally popular, nor were his gifts of land to deserving convicts. But both actions ensured the colony’s survival and initiated an egalitarian spirit still prized in Australia today.
Phillip first went to sea as a boy in 1753 and served with distinction in British and Portuguese forces in the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Despite initial misgivings of some about his appointment as NSW governor, Phillip was ideally suited to the position: he was accustomed to command, experienced in convict transportation and familiar with basic farming. Phillip proved to be an enthusiastic and thorough leader at Sydney Town, where he took a commonsense approach to the challenges faced in the early years of colonisation. When ill-health forced his return to England in 1792, he was accompanied by
Bennelong and fellow Eora man Yemmerrawanne.
Phillip’s hopes to return to Sydney were thwarted by illness and he resigned his commission in 1793. After later recovering his health, Phillip returned to the navy and served in the Napoleonic wars, attaining the rank of admiral. He died, aged 75, on 31 August 1814 and in 2014 a plaque was laid in Westminster Abbey to mark the bicentenary of his death.
The First Fleet’s arrival forever changed the lives of Aboriginal people. British settlement brought violent conflict, displacement, exile and devastating diseases such as smallpox and tuberculosis. Despite Phillip’s attempts to build friendly relations with the Eora, the situation deteriorated and he himself was speared at Manly in 1790. In December that year, the warrior Pemulwuy killed Phillip’s gamekeeper, who had a brutal reputation. Phillip retaliated by ordering punitive expeditions against Pemulwuy and others.
From 1792 Pemulwuy resisted colonisation by leading raids on stations and military camps near the Parramatta, Hawkesbury and Georges rivers. In response, settlers were effectively authorised to shoot Aboriginal people on sight. Pemulwuy had several close escapes, including being shot and severely injured by a party of settlers in 1797, before being killed on about 1 June 1802.
‘Colonisation begins’ forms part of the National Museum of Australia’s Defining Moments in Australian History project.
