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Convict transportation in global context, c.1700-88

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posted on 2023-05-22, 14:30 authored by Christopher, E, Hamish Maxwell-StewartHamish Maxwell-Stewart
On 18 January 1788 the Royal Navy's armed tender, Supply, sailed into a large estuarine inlet on the eastern seaboard of the continental mass of Australia. This was a place that British vessels had been to before. James Cook had visited in April 1770, naming it Sting Ray Harbour on account of the large number of fish of that species netted by the crew of the Endeavour. He later renamed the expanse of water Botany Bay - a reference to the haul of exotic plants garnered by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, the expedition's scientists. Yet it was the subsequent visit of the Supply that was to make Botany Bay a British household name. Over the following two days a collection of six blunt-nosed and round-bodied transport vessels slipped into the harbour, accompanied by three store ships and HMS Sirius. On board were officers, seamen and marines, plus 736 convicts. This 'First Fleet' was a harbinger of things to come. Over the next So years it would be followed by a further 8oo transports that would deliver a total of 16o,ooo convicts to Britain's Australian colonies.

Funding

University of Tasmania

History

Publication title

The Cambridge History of Australia: Indigenous and Colonial Australia

Editors

Alison Bashford and Stuart Macintyre

Pagination

68-90

ISBN

9781107011533

Department/School

School of Humanities

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Place of publication

New York

Extent

23

Rights statement

Copyright 2013 Cambridge University Press

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Expanding knowledge in human society

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