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HISTORY OF NEW SOUTH WALES 



VOL. II 



PHILLIP AND GROSE 



1789-1794 



TOI<. IL — <* 



Op the ' 

UN;VLf^.SITY 




GOVERNOR HUNTER. 



Boprodaced by Heliotjpe from an original oil painting in the iKMseasion of Qoremor Unnter'a 
descendants at Leith, Scotland. 



HISTORY 



OF 



NEW SOUTH WALES 



FROM THE RECORDS 



Vol. IL— PHILLIP AND GROSE 

1789-1794' 




BY 

ALEXANDER BRITTON 

KDITBD BY 

F. M. BLADEN 

BABftUraa-AT-LAW 




SYDNEY: CHARLES POTTER, GOVERNMENT PRINTER 

1894 
{BegitUred under the Copyright Act, 1879] 



jiiino 



^'- 






seRECKELS 



NOTE. 

Upon the death of the Author — Mr. Alexander Britton — ^his 
manuscripts and rough proofs were placed in the Editor's 
hands to prepare them for the press. 

The publication of Vol. II of the Historical Records 
OF New South Wales, containing the State Papers on 
which, for the most part, the present volume is founded, 
absorbed a large portion of the time which has elapsed 
since the Author's death. The work has not, however, 
suffered from the delay. 

It has been the Editor's aim to carefully keep in view 
the known intentions of the Author, and to present the 
volume to the public as nearly as possible in the form it 
would have taken had Mr. Britton lived to supervise its 
publication. 

The Editor desires to acknowledge the obligations he is 
under to the members of the History Board — ^Messrs. R. C. 
Walker, Chairman ; Alexander Oliver, M.A., President of 
the Land Appeal Court, and formerly Parliamentary 
Draftsman; and Professor G. Arnold Wood, M.A., Challis 
Professor of History in the Sydney University. 

F. M. B. 
Syd/ney, Decemher, 1894. 



Ittf^S; 



CONTENTS. 



Phillip and Robs 1 

The Famine of '1789-90 16 

The "Wreck of the Guardian 38 

The Second Fleet 62 

Despatches from England ... 71 

The New South Wales Corps 89 

The disposal of Crown Lands under Phillip 112 

Progress of the Settlement after the arrival of the Second Fleet 136 

Settlers on the Soil 155 

The Third Fleet 172 

Emancipation ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 189 

The Natives 197 

Phillip and Dawes 203 

State of the Settlement in 1792 209 

PhiUip resigns 229 

lieutenant-Govemor Grose — a change of Government ... ... 236 

Food Supplies under Grose ... ... ... ... ... 244 

Grose and the Land ... ... ... ... 252 

The Progress of Agriculture ... ... ... ... ... 265 

The Traffic in Spirits 270 

Religious Instruction under Grose ... • • 276 



CONTENTS. 



Changes effected by Grose 

Grose's treatment of King 

Appendioes : — 

A. Services of Brevet-Major Robert Ross . . . 

B. Disaster to H.M.S. Guardian 

C. Ground in Cultivation, 16th October, 1792 

D. Enabling Act — Remission of Sentences 

E. Form of Absolute Pardon 

F. Form of Conditional Pardon 

G. Form of Ticket-of -Leave 



Page 

288 

293 



321 
322 
333 
334 
336 
338 
340 



ILL USTRA TIONS. 



Governor Hunter 

Lord Grenville ... 

Facsimile of Grose's Handwriting 

Autographs of Officers of New South Wales Corps 

Captain Macarthur 

Tombstone of the First Settler ... 

Facsimile of Deed of First Land Grant 

Plan of Land Grants near Parramatta ... 
Charts of Jervis Bay 

Viscount Melville (Henry Dundas) 

Major Johnston 

Judge- Advocate Collins ... ... 

Rev. Richard Johnson 

Rev. Samuel Marsden 

Governor King 

The Duke of Portland 



... /Vow^Mptece 


to face page 


71 


» 


93 


>} 


95 


>i 


98 


n 


157 


>j 


168 


)) 


162 


n 


172 


i> 


209 


»> 


230 


)} 


265 


)) 


276 




282 




293 




315 



VOL. 11. — 6 




HISTORY 

OF 

NEW SOUTH WALES. 



PHILLIP AND ROSS. 

Prom Angust, 1 789, to February, 1 790, the Records are silent 1789 
concerning tlie relations which existed between Governor 
Phillip and Major Ross. This very silence may, however, 
be an indication that the terms npon which they were well 
kno'wn to stand with each other had not improved. It is 
evident from the correspondence of August, 1789,* that the 
Governor and Lieutenant-Governor had each taken steps to 
represent his case to the authorities in England. Phillip, pwiup'a 
in tie meantime, displayed the greatest forbearance and 
self-control. He was, apparently, content to let matters 
rest ; and if he did not forget the disagreeable subject, he 
kept it ont of view as much as possible. Ross, on the other Ross's. 
hand, seems to have nursed his wrath to keep it warm. At 
length the resentment that had been smouldering for six 
months showed itself openly in February, 1790, when Phillip 
was given to understand — ^the intimation seems to have 
come from Ross — that he had not paid proper attention 
to certain complaints which the Lieutenant-Governor had ownpuinte 
made regarding the conduct of the Judge- Advocate, Captain Coi"™-' 
Collins. The matter is dealt with at some length in Phillip's 
letter to Nepean, 12th February, 1790.t 

The compkiuts made by Ross were trivial in the extreme ; 
and — snch as they were — had been explained, at the time^ 

* Hutorical SecorcU, vol. i, part 2, pp. 262-265. f ^K P- 301. 
VOL, IL — A 



AbrMch 
of official 



PHILLIP AND BOSS. 

1789 in a manner that would have satisfied anyone whose judg- 
ment was not warped by jealousy and pride. The cir- 
cumstances out of which they arose were as follows : — 
Phillip, on the morning of Saturday, 22nd August, 1789, 
directed Captain Collins, who acted as his secretary as well 
as Judge- Advocate, to communicate certain instructions to 
an officer who was superintending some works at Sydney 
Cove. Collins forgot all about the order until the following 
Monday, when he carried it into effect. In the interval, 
Phillip had gone to Bose Hill, and Boss was in charge at 
Sydney,by virtue of his Commission as Lieutenant-Governor. 
According to official etiquette, instructions intended to be 

etiquette, exocutod during the Governor's absence should have been 
given through the Lieutenant-Governor ; and because this 
rule was not observed, Ross made a formal complaint to the 
Governor, declaring that an insult had been offered to him, 
''in my character of Lieutenant-Governor." The matter 
was fully explained by both Phillip and Collins ; and thfe 
incident, which was not worth a moment's attention, might 
well have been allowed to drop. Boss having revived it, 
Phillip was induced to give an explanation to Nepean, and 
at the same time to take notice of other points which he had 
passed over in his correspondence with Boss. In his letters 
to the Major he kept as nearly as possible to the subject in 
hand, refraining from allusions of a personal nature. Boss, 
on the contrary, was nothing if not personal. He prefaced 
his complaint about the Judge-Advocate with an ill-con- 
cealed sneer : — 

stfttasofthe "It would be presumption in the extreme in me to suppose 

Lieutenant- , , _ 

Oorernor. your Excellency not to know that when either duty, business, or 
pleasure may at any time induce your Excellency to absent your- 
self from this Cove, there cannot then rAnain in it any authority 
superior to that of the Lieutenant-Governor."* 

toinuition. ^^'^ might havo been intended as an insinuation that 
Phillip had gone to Bose Hill on a pleasure excursion, 

• Hiatorical Beoords, yoh i, part 2, p. 262. 



PHILLIP AND B,OSS. 3 

leaving the work and responsibility of the command on the 1^*^ 
shoulders of his lieutenant. Having thus formulated his 
complaint^ Major Eoss aired another grievance, of which Awoond 
Phillip, up to that time, was in complete ignorance. He 
was Lieutenant-Governor of the settlement; he had been 
honoured with a Commission from the King^ appointing 
him to that position ; but the Governor had not respected 
his office — ^instead of confiding in his lieutenant, he had 
ignored him : — 

" Should your Excellency say — and I cannot possibly bring my- 
self to think you will — that you, on going away from here, left 
your orders relative to the employing convicts with the Judge- 
Advocate, in place of leaving them with the Lieutenant-Governor, 
I have in such case to request that you will please to explain to Ron asks 
me the line of conduct which, as Lieutenant-Governor of this ezpianatioii 
settlement, you wish me either to preserve or follow, assuring 
yourself that I shall endeavour to pursue that line, at least till 
such time as a power superior to either of us shall determine the 
bounds of both, and redress our grievances. At present I acknow- 
ledge myself as much in the dark with respect to the line of conduct 
you expect me to pursue as Lieutenant-Governor, or what you 
expect from me, or what I shall do, as I was the first day of our 
meeting in London."* 

Phillip took no notice of these reproaches. In his reply Phmip'a 
to Boss, he contented himself with expressing a wish that 
the peace of the settlement might not be disturbed, and 
requested the Major to be a little more guarded in his 
language when speaking to the convicts.f But when, six 
months after the event, Eoss complained that proper atten- 
tion had not been paid to his representations, he deemed it 
advisable to explain matters to the authorities in England. 
This step he probably considered the more necessary as 
he knew that Boss was in conmiunication with Nepean of 

* Historical Becordb, vol. i, part 2, p. 263. 

t A conyict went to Bobs to toll him that his time had expired, when the 
Lieatenant-GK>Yemor exclaimed, " Would to GK>d my time was expired too ! " 
—lb., p. 265. 



4 PHILLIP AND fiOSS. 

^'•^ the Home Office and Stephens of the Admiralty.* Ho 
SSSJi acjcordingly wrote a letter to Nepean, 12th February, 
NepMB. I790,t in which he dealt at some length with a subject 
that he thought had been buried half a year before. Ross's 
insinuation that the Grovemor left Sydney for Rose BKU on 
pleasure bent was met by Phillip with some warmth, and 
with more than a hint of suggestio falsi on the part of his 
adversary : — 

An « As to parties of pleasure, he [Major Ross] knew likewise that 

denial. I had never been a day, and very seldom an hour, on that account ; 
and he might have known that my absence which gave room for his 
complaint against the Judge-Advocate was at a time when my state 
of health was such that I should have been better pleased to remain 
in my bed than to have gone to Rose Hill to sleep on the boards in 
a hut belonging to the man who has the direction of the convicts. 
A journey I made soon after we landed fixed a complaint in my 
side which has rendered the fatigues of examining the country 
round us, not parties of pleasure, but parties in which nothing 
but a sense of duty and necessity would make me engage." 

The active part taken by Phillip in these exploring expe- 
energetic ditions, and the character of the work he did, may be 
seen from the chapter '^Phillip and Exploration."! It is 
evident that he regarded Ross's innuendo, at the time it 
was made, as quite unworthy of serious notice, and in all 
probability he would have said nothing about it to Nepean^ 
or to any other English official, but for the suspicion he 
appears to have entertained that an incorrect version might 
reach the authorities. 

The assertion that Phillip had withheld from the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor the confidence he should have reposed in 
hiTTi — ^that he had kept him '^ in the dark " — ^invited a further 

* In a letter to Nepean, dated 16th November, 1788« Boas complained that 
Phillip '* communicates nothing to any person here but to his secretaiy 
(Captain Collins)." — Historical llecords, toL i, part 2, p. 212. See also Secie- 
tary Stephens's letter to Major Boss of Ml liardi, 1791. — Historical Beoords, 
v6L. ii, p. 4ft4» 

t Histoiioal Beoords, roL i, part 2, ^yp. 301--M4. 

X Vol. i, pp. 134-169. 



Governor. 



PHILLIP AND BOSS. 5 

rejoinder. Prom Phfllip's own account* it is apparent that ^'■^ 
Boss from the first regarded himself as slighted. He was oflsoiai 
entitled, he considered, to share in the counsels of the 
Governor, but he was not asked for assistance or advice — 
he was passed over. One matter in connection with which 
Boss thought himself '^entitled to more confidence than had 
been placed in him '^ was the selection of the site of the 
settlement. We have not his complaint in his own words ; 
but the purport of it can be gathered from Phillip's account 
of the circumstances. It appears that some months after the 
landing at Sydney Cove, Boss, in conversation with Phillip, 
professed his ignorance, real or pretended, of Phillip's inten- 
tions in regard to continuing at Sydney Cove or abandoning 
it for a more eligible site, remarking at the same time that, ^\^**°* 
before leaving England, he had been given to understand 
by Lord Howe — then first Lord of the Admiralty — that the 
exact part of the coast on which the settlement was to be 
made had not been finally determined upon. 

This, however, was not a special piece of information 
confided to Major Boss alone. It was generally known that 
the commander of the expedition had authority to abandon 
Botany Bay and plant the settlement elsewhere if he con- 
sidered it advisable to do so ; and Lord Howe, doubtless, 
meant no more than this. But after the selection of Sydney sydneyCove 
Cove no one but the Major seems to have had a thought of upon. 
change. Not the faintest idea of such a thing is to be found 
in the writings of Collins, Tench, White, or Hunter, and 
no trace of it can be discovered either in Phillip's official 
despatches or in his private letters to his friend Nepean. 
Ross's grievance, therefore, if put forth in good faith, was 
purely imaginary. It is true that Phillip had reason to think 
afterwards that Parramatta would have been a better site, 
but at the time he was not aware that such a place existed. 
One would think from the nature of Boss's complaint that 
he was under the apprehension that the little colony was 

* Historical Beoords, toI. i, part 2, p. 302. 



PHILLIP AND BOSS. 



1789 



An 
interview. 



Aoompro- 



The peace 
of the 
■ettlement. 



liable to be uprooted and packed off to some other part 
of the coast at a week's notice, to suit the caprice of the 
Governor. 

Finding the Lieutenant-Governor in this frame of mind, 
Phillip did what he could to '' remove so groundless a cause 
of discontent." Boss, at his request, came to him the next 
day, when " I read to him," wrote Phillip, '' every part of 
my Instructions relating to the settlement, and he left me, 
I thought, fully satisfied and contented." But he was 
anything but satisfied, as his subsequent actions show, and 
Phillip could only obtain peace and quietness by sending 
him to Norfolk Island as Lieutenant-Governor. After the 
interview at which the Instructions were read over, Phillip 
discussed at some length with Ross matters affecting the 
welfare and management of the settlement, and it was agreed 
that he should take charge of the convicts on the west side 
of the Cove, while Phillip kept control of those on the east 
side. '^The Lieutenant-Governor," added Phillip, ''then 
very well understood what I expected and wished, and 
on every occasion I readily acknowledged the assistance I 
received ; but a warmth of temper, which has been the 
source of many discontents, has obliged me for some time 
past to avoid, so far as the service permits, calling on the 
Lieutenant-Governor otherwise than as the Commandant 
of the detachment." 

One of Boss's complaints was directed against that part 
of Phillip's letter of 27th August, 1789,* in which he asked 
that the peace of the settlement might not be disturbed, and 
that the Lieutenant-Governor would be a little more guarded 
when speaking to the convicts. In dealing with this matter, 
Phillip is more animated than usual : — 

" The Lieutenant-Governor has complained of that part of my 
letter in which I request that the peace of the settlement may 
not be disturbed, but have I not had sufficient cause to make that 
request ? Has not representation or complaint been too frequent 1 

* Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 265. 



PHILLIP AND BOSS. 7 

Was not the answer given by him to a convict followed by a ^790 
behaviour on the part of that wretch which drew on him a severe ^^^***® 
sentence from the Criminal Court? Did not the Lieutenant- 
Governor, when that convict was under examination, behave in 
such a manner to Captain Hunter and the Judge- Advocate that 
the former wished to be excused attending one day in the week 
as a Justice of the Peace, that he might not subject himself in 
future to such treatment when acting as a Magistrate ; and the 
latter wished to resign his office of Judge-Advocate, in conse- 
quence of the treatment he had received from the Lieutenant- 
Governor and Captain Campbell, in the presence of convicts and 
others ? I quote the words those officers made use of when they 
represented that matter to me. And did not the Lieutenant- 
Governor's conduct, as it appears from the evidence of several a orUb 
of his officers, when Captain Campbell refused the duty of the 
Criminal Court, bring this settlement to touch on the moment of 
a general confusion 1"* 

Boss's incessant complaints had a result which he prob- 
ably did not anticipate. Phillip, who for so long a time had PhiiMp 
been as forbearing as Ross had been irascible, was at length Hemind 
thoroughly aroused, and in his semi-private letter to Nepean, 
quoted above, he spoke his mind in a way which gave the 
Under Secretary a clearer view of Ross's conduct than he 
had been able to gain from the formal despatches, which 
were guardedly written, and confined strictly to matters 
that had been brought officially under the notice of the 
Governor. The conduct attributed to Ross by Phillip might 
have formed the basis of a charge which would have been 
difficult to answer ; but Phillip's object was to keep peace, 
not to assert his authority ; and he had very good grounds 
for telling Nepeanf that, if his forbearance did not lay 
him open to censure, he had no reason to apprehend blame. 
His consideration for Major Ross, who deserved so little. His 

, , , consideni* 

is shown by the manner in which he vindicated himself, ^on for 

Rofls. 

Had he written direct to the Secretary of State, the author- 
ities could scarcely have avoided taking action ; and the 

• Vol. i, pp. 410-420 ; Hutorical Becords, voL i, part 2, pp. 803. f lb. 



PHILLIP AND BOSS. 



1790 



A private 
letter. 



ApoUtio 
move. 



The 

Admiralty 
replies to 
Boas. 



consequences to Ross might have been very serious indeed. 
Instead of doing that^ he sent a semi-private letter to the 
Under Secretary, who was a personal friend, and added this 
sentence as a postscript : — 

" After reading this letter, which I have written in haste, and 
with a desire of explaining how little reason there has been for 
complaint, I think it appears so like a letter to justify my own 
conduct that I wish you only to lay the enclosed letters^ before 
L'd Sydney, and explain to his L'dship that the preamble in the 
Lieut. -Gov's letters was not noticed in my answer,! as I did not 
think it merited any attention." 

This was a judicious step on the part of Phillip. He knew 
that the letter was not one thatNepean could keep to himself, 
but that it must, in the regular order of things, be laid before 
the Secretary of State, and be brought nnder the notice of 
the Lords of the Admiralty, to whom Ross was immediately 
responsible ; and he also knew that coming in the way it 
did it would not necessarily lead to action on the part of 
either the Home Office or the naval authorities. In this way 
he justified his own conduct without making a case against 
the officer who had thwarted and embarrassed him so sorely. 

So far as can be ascertained, Nepean did not reply to 
Phillip's letter — ^no answer, in fact, was required. To Rosa's 
complaints, which were addressed to the Secretary of the 
Admiralty, a short reply was sent that " their Lordships 
are much concerned that any disagreement should have 
arisen between the Grovernor and yourself "; % and as Ross was 
to return to England by the vessel which carried this letter, 
he was informed that it was not deemed necessary to answer 
his communications minutely. It does not appear that any- 
thing was done in the matter after Ross arrived in England. 

• Boss's letter to Phillip, Collins's letter to Phillip, and Phillip's wply to 
Boss, referred to ante, pp. aS and 3. The letters are given in full in toL i, 
part 2, of the Historical Records, pp. 262-265. 

t Phillip refers here to Boss's allusion to " parties of pleasnre," of which 
he took no notice in his reply of 27th August. 

X Historical Becords, vol. ii| p. 445. 



PHILLIP AND BOS& 9 

In a letter of 19tli February, 1791 * Lord Grenrille, reply- ^^ 
ing to Phillip'a despatches of the 1st and 12th February, Grenri^|j^ 
1790,t expressed disapprobation of Boss's conduct, but he 
qualified his remarks by intimating that his judgment was 
formed solely on Phillip's account of the transaction } — 

**Tlie proceedings of Major Boss and Captain Campbell, accord- 
ing to your representation, appear to have been in many instances 
but ill-calculated to promote that good understanding so essentially 
necessary for securing the prosperity of the colony.'' 

But, assuming Phillip's account to be correct, he had no 
hesitation in expressing his opinion : — 

" On all services, but particularly of this nature, it is of great Neceesity 
importance that persons of all descriptions should accommodate discipline. 
themselves vo the circumstances and situation, and that they 
should most carefuUy avoid any nice distinctions in point of duty 
which might tend to occasion embarrassment in the execution of the 
public service. His Majesty has always in view the proceedings 
of his officers when placed in those situations, and will judge of 
their meriis by the conduct they observe on such occasions." 

The reservation in the first sentence was an iniustice to An unjust 

J raaervfttion. 

Phillip. He had been scrupulously accurate in his " repre- 
sentations," as Grenville might have ascertained ; and the 
accounts he gave of Boss's proceedings were substantiated 
by trustworthy evidence. If he made any error, it was in 
understating his case. The point was taken up by Phillip 
with a warmth that is not often seen in his communications 
to the Secretary of State. In his reply of the 1 5th December, 
1 791, he wrote — 

" I beg that your Lordship will permit me to say that the repre- Phillip's 
eentaticms I have made of the conduct of those officers [Ross and 
Campbell] are just and impartial, and which do not admit of 
a doubt. I believe Major Boss's or Captain Campbell's friends 
could not have represented their conduct in a more favourable 
point of view without having deviated from truth; and the repre- 
sentations I made appeared to me to be necessary for the good of 
his Majesty's service."! 

• Historical Records, toL i, part 2, p. 4B7. t lb., pp. 288 and 293. J lb., p. 670. 



career; 



10 PHILLIP AND BOSS. 

1791 Phillip wrote respectfully, but his words were neverthe- 

A protest j^gg ^ protest against Grenville's reluctance to accept his 
statements. If the Minister, when he wrote his despatch, 
entertained the slightest doubt as to the accuracy or just- 
ness of Phillip's version of the conduct of Ross and Camp- 
bell, it must have been dissipated by the light that was 
thrown on the subject when the detachment returned to 
Phmip^i England. If anyone was distrusted after this, it was not 
Phillip. He continued to enjoy the entire confidence of the 
British Grovemment, and when at last he was compelled 
to retire from his post his resignation was accepted with 
unfeigned regret.* 

^o«'«- Ross's career in New South Wales closed in a very different 

manner. The reports which reached England early in 1789 
of ''discontents" among the marine officers led to the recall 
of the detachment, which was replaced by the New South 
Wales Corps, raised in England by Major Grose. Ross, after 
eighteen months' service in Norfolk Island as Lieutenant- 
Governor, left for England with the greater part of the 
force in the Gorgon, on the 18th December, 1791. It does 
not appear that he obtained, on his return, promotion or 
any other mark of confidence on the part of the Govern- 
ment. On the other hand, there is evidence that his conduct 
towards Captain Meredith was highly disapproved of. 

One of the earliest troubles connected with the military 
Arrert of aroso out of the extraordinary step taken by Ross in 
ofco^*" March, 1788, in placing under arrest the members of a 
Court-martialf for refusing to alter a sentence which it had 
passed on Joseph Hunt, a private of marines, accused of 
striking a comrade. The Court found that the charge was 
proved, and sentenced the prisoner ''either to ask public 
pardon before the battalion of William Dempsey, the soldier 
whom he struck and injured, or to receive one hundred lashes 

* HiBtorical Becords, toI. i, part 2, p. 625. 

t Captain Tench (President), Lieutenant Kellow, Lieutenant Barej, Lieu- 
tenant Foulden, LiiButenant Timins. — See Vol. i, p. 294. 



PHILLIP AND BOSS. 11 

on his bare back, by the drummers of the detachment, and ^'^ 
where the commanding officer shall appoint." Ross re- SnoeBof 
garded this sentence as contrary to martial law, because it **^**^ 
gave the prisoner an alternative; and he called upon the 
Court to review its decision. The Court declined to alter the 
sentence, whereupon the Major sent the President (Captain 
Tench) a written order, by the Adjutant, to convene the 
Court a third time. The reply, signed by all the members 
of the Court, was that according to the 10th Article of the 
Act of Parliament for the regulation of the marine forces 
while on shore, no sentence passed by any Court-martial and 
signed by the President could be revised more than once. 
Boss was not satisfied with this reply. The Court-martial, 
he declared in a letter to Phillip, *' seemed determined to 
wrest all power from the commanding officer," and he 
accordingly put the President and members under arrest for 
" disobedience of orders." When Phillip was informed of 
what had occurred, he endeavoured to reconcile the parties, ^^^^ 
but failed. The officers considered themselves injured by the ^^ 
arrest, and demanded to be tried by General Court-martial, 
but as there was not a sufficient number of officers in 
the colony to form a Court, the inquiry could not be held, oaoen 
They were ordered by Phillip to return to their duty until toduty. 
a Greneral Court-martial could be assembled, and did so. 
Technically, they were under arrest, but they were under 
no actual restraint whatever. They complained bitterly, 
however, of the indignity they suffered, and of losing their 
chances of promotion; for, so long as they were under arrest, 
although the '^arrest" was a mere form, they might, if 
changes were made in the service, "have been passed over as 
prisoners who had forfeited the common claim of service." 

On 25th March, 1791, three years after the arrest, they Apoeai 
appealed to Phillip.* According to the Act of Parliamentt ^ 

" for the regulation of his Majesty*s Marine Forces while on 

* Historical Becords, toL i, part 2, p. 482. 

1 26 Geo. iii, c. 7> known as the Marine Mutinj Act. 



12 



PHILLIP AND BOSS. 



1791 



statement 
of officers. 



Their 

wounded 

feelings. 



shore/' no person coold be tried for any offence^ desertion 
excepted^ committed more than three years before the issne 
of the warrant. That time having expired^ Captain Tench 
and the other officers who had constituted the Court asked 
that the arroEt might be remoyed. They made the ap^)iUoa* 
tion : — 

" Not as culprits, conscious of having committed a crime which 
we shrink to have investigated, or hesitate to meet, but as soldiers 
indignant at the novelty and disgrace of a situation unexampled 
in the British military annals — ^the members of a Court-martial 
under arrest on a charge which, if proved against them, extends 
not only to the deprivation of their most gracious Sovereign's 
favour and dismission from the service, but to the forfeiture ol 
their lives and honours, doing duty as prisoners, from the necessity, 

of service, for three years While a hope of relief 

from our situation by the decision of a General Court-martial 
existed we were silent — we were patient. That hope is now at an 
end, and, therefore, to remain without representation longer in 
our present degraded situation would argue that we are become 
insensible of ignominy and familiar with humiliation." 

The situation was, no doubt, galling to the officers con- 
cerned, but the language employed in describing it was 
unnecessarily strong. Captain Tench and his companions 
in misfortune were not in a '^degraded situation,'^ nor were 
they exposed to '^ignominy/' Their status in the community 
was no lower than it was before they were placed under 
arrest. They were not regarded as men in disgrace, but 
rather as the victims of an extraordinary and unwarranted 
assertion of authority on the part of their commanding 
officer. If they suffered at all, it was in the loss of promotion; 
beyond that they could not complain of any material injury. 
But they had been brooding over their wrongs for three 
years in a place where there was little to divert their atten- 
tion from their personal grievances, and the circumstances 
may, perhaps, excuse the extravagance of language which 
led them to ask for release from the " confinement under 
which we have so long laboured." 



PHILLIP AND BOSS. 11 

HowBver, tliis over-statement of the case does not excaee ^"^ 
Major Boss. He was entirely in tlie wrong. The refusal of Sbianie. 
a Conrt-martial to alter its finding was not a valid gromid 
for placing its members under arrest. If the Coort had 
sabmitied to the Commandant's dictation^ trial by Court- 
martial would have been reduced to a farce. 

Boss certainly was not responsible for the delay which 
kept these officers in suspense for three years, and in the end 
prevented any inquiry from being made into either his con- 
duct or their own ; but the step he toot was an unwarrant- He 
able exercise of authority ; and if an investigation had been authority. 
held he would probably have been severely censured. 

After their return to England the officers concerned moved 
the Admiralty with the object of having their own conduct 
cleared up and that of Major Boss reviewed, bat they were 
mnsmccessfuL On the 22nd September, 1792, Captain Tench 
sent to the Lords of the Admiralty, through General Collins, An appeal 
the officer in command of the division of marines at Ply- Admiralty 
mouth, a memorial requesting that a General Court-martial 
might be held to investigate his conduct, '^ not only with 
respect to a transaction mentioned in a letter from Major 
Boss, publicly read at the Court-martial lately held on 
Captain Meredith, but also as President of a Detachment 
Court-martial, notwithstanding the lapse of three years 
specified in the Marine Act of Parliament.'^ But if he was 
denied a General Court-martial on himself, '^ he steps forward 
to charge Major Boss, as Commandant of the battalion of 
marines in New South Wales, with tyranny and oppression," 
requesting at the same time that the Major might be tried 
by General Conrt-zoartial, with this condition, that the 
charges ahould include among other instances of Boss's 
misconduct that of his putting the Court-martial under 
arrest. If this request had been granted. Major Boss would 
have found it difficult to justify his conduct. But the Lords 
of the Admiralty did not consider it necessary to appoint « diauowed 



14 PHILLIP AND BOSS. 

^'^ G-eneral Court-martial to inquire into the statements con- 
tained in Boss's letter^* and Tencli was informed that 
neither his conduct as the President of the Court-martial at 
Sydney, nor that of Major Boss in putting the members of 
it in arrest, could now, from lapse of time, be inyestigated. 
So that Tench and his fellow-sufferers were unable to obtain 
any satisfaction. 

ggpjjjjij The case of Captain Meredithf had nothing to do with 

the complaint of Tench and his brother-officers, but if a 
General Court-martial had been granted. Boss's treatment 
of Meredith would doubtless have been used by Tench as 
an evidence of the "tyranny and oppression" with which he 
charged the Major. Captain Meredith had been suspended 
by Boss two years before, as stated in a leter from Phillip 
to Stephens, 10th April, 1790 :— 

b"l«2!^ " "^^ officer mentioned in the return as unfit for duty is Captain 
Meredith; he was suspended by Major Boss, who thought his 
conduct such as made a Greneral Court-martial necessary ; and that 
officer has requested that such Court-martial may be ordered, as 
he deems his conduct to have been such as he can justify." 

What Meredith did to incur Boss's displeasure is not 
expressly stated, either in the charge or in the finding of 
^^in^"** the Court-martial ; but the general accusation against him 
Meredith, ^^^^^g c< ^ehaviug highly improper as an officer, and in his 
(Boss's) opinion tendening to the subversion of all sub- 
ordination and injurious to military discipline." A more 
serious charge could scarcely be brought against an officer, 
but it was without foundation. For committing at the 
most a trifling fault this officer was placed in strict arrest, 
which lasted for two years and a half. During the whole 
of that time Captain Meredith was under the stigma which 
attaches to officers in such a position, and lost any chance 
of promotion which might have occurred in the interval. 

* Historical Becords, toI. ii, p 482. 

t HiBtorioal Becords, toI. i, part 2, p. 324 ; vol. ii, pp. 448, 471-473, 477« 
478,481. 



PHILLIP AKD BOSS. 15 

The hearing of the case, which was tried at Plymouth, ^^^^ 
before Adjutant Martin, as Judge- Advocate, lasted from His 
the 3rd to the 18th September, 1792, and resulted in the 
honourable acquittal of the "prisoner." The sentence of 
the Court, which was approved by the Lords of the Admi- 
ralty, was at once a vindication of Captain Meredith, and 
a censure upon his accuser. It read as follows : — 

" The Court is of opinion that the charge is groundless and !?°^^°^ 
malicious — ^groimdless because the charge ia not proved in either 
of its parts, and if it had been was of a venial nature, and for 
which ample atonement was made in the apology offered; and 
malicious from the long duration of the arrest and the unusual 
and unnecessary severity of it ; and the Court doth therefore 
honourably acquit the prisoner." 

This is not all. Taking notice of the fact that the prose- 
cutor had made an unjustifiable assertion against the pris- 
oner, which might injure him in public opinion, the Court 
thought it just and due to Captain Meredith to declare that 
it could see " no circumstance whatever to deprive him of ^J^,'* 
the public good opinion or the respect of his corps." With ▼indi^tod- 
the consent of the Lords of the Admiralty, the sentence and 
declaration were read in open Court. Only an outline of 
the case can be gathered from the materials at hand, but 
the facts set forth in the finding of the Court-martial throw 
a strong light on Major Rosses character. It is hardly too 
much to say that the proceedings in this case exhibit him 
as ill-tempered, tyrannical, and vindictive. No one who 
considers his treatment of Captain Meredith can feel sur- 
prise that he quarrelled with his officers in New South 
Wales and came into collision with the Governor. It does 
not appear that any action was taken with regard to him An impUed 
upon the finding of the Court-martial, but the publication 
of the sentence and declaration was a most severe reflection 
upon his character as a military commander. 



16 



THE FAMINE OF 1789-90. 

1789-90 The summer of 1789-90 was a time of dreary monotony, 
h^eu aggravated by the keenest anxiety. No tidings liad been 
received of the ships that were expected from England as 
early as September, 1788,* with supplies of provisions and 
clothing; and nothing of importance at the settlement 
occurred to divert attention from the miseries of the 
moment and the fears of impending famine. Even the 
discord among the military had subsided. The pressure of 
StttuSe^ the circumstances must have been keenly felt by Phillip, 
but it was characteristic of the man that he never allowed a 
despondent word to creep into his despatches, nor did he sit 
down waiting for something to happen. With unceasing 
activity he devoted the resources at his command to the 
cultivation of the soil. He put the convicts to work at Rose 
Hill, and did his best to obtain good returns from their 
labour. But the results were not encouraging. Foremost 
amongst the obstacles that stood in his way was the scarcity 
of^ooS^ of food, which so reduced the strength of the men that 
they were only able to work a few hours a day. They were 
altogether unequal to the heavy labour involved in clearing 
the land and tilling the virgin soil. 

In 1790 the question of supplies had become urgent. 
The First Fleet sailed from EngUmjd in May, 1787, with 
provisions for two years, but no allowance had been made 
for accidents or oontingenciea. Fortunately, the storeships, 
with the exception of the. Guardian, arrived at Sydney 
Cove in safety, but a portion of the provisions was damaged 
during the voyage, and a large quantity was destroyed by 

* Historical Becords, toL i, part 2, p. 188. 



THE FAHIKE OF 1789-90. 17 

rats after the stores had been landed. Towards the close 1780-90 
of 1789 no further supplies had been received from England^ Failure 
and the stock in hand had fallen so low that it became 
necessary to materially reduce the ration. Foreseeing some 
such difKculty^ Phillip, soon after he had established the 
settlement at Sydney Cove, despatched the Sirius to the 
Cape of Good Hope for provisions, but the quantity she was 
able to bring — she returned in May, 1789 — was less than 
was anticipated^ being but four months' supply of flour for ^^"^ 
the settlement and one yearns supply of provisions for her 
own company.* As the ships which were expected from 
England did not arrive, Phillip assumed that some disaster 
had overtaken one or more of them, and he decided that 
the time had come for economising the food in store. His 
fears as to the safety of the ships were soon afterwards 
justified by the intelligence that reached Sydney of the 
accident to the Guardian, and the loss of the greater part 
of the provisions she was bringing for the settlement. 

A reduction of one-third was accordinerly made, on the The ration 

° "^ reduced. 

1st November, 1789, in the ration which had been served 

every Saturday to soldiers and male convicts, and which 

had originally been as f ollowsf : — 

7 5). of bread or 7 Bb. of flour. 
7 lb. of beef or 4 H>. of pork. 

3 pints of pease. 
6 oz. of butter. 

^ lb. of rice or 1 fi). of flour. 

The reduction of one-third therefore left : — 

4 lb, 10| oz. of bread or flour. 

4 fi). 10| oz. of beef or 2 fi>. lOf oz. of pork. 

2 pints of pease. 

5J oz. of rice or 10§ oz. of flour. 

The butter had been exhausted two months before. 

* Hifliorical Becords, toI. i, part 2, p. 824 ; toI. ii, p. 693 (note). 

t HiBtorical Secordi, toL i, part 2, p. 143. CoUinB states (yoI. i, p. 43) that 
1ft. of floor had been deducted from those receiying full rations, and two- 
thirds of a fl>. from those receiying two-thirds allowance, on the da/ the Sirius 
•aUed, Tiz., 2nd October, 1788. 
YOL. II. — ^B 



1$ THE FAMINE OF 1789-M. 

nohW When reporting this reduction to the Home Secretary in 
^^^- his despatch of the 12th February, 1790,* PhilUp explained 
measure. ^^^ j^ ^^^ doue "to guard agaiust accidents/^ He estimated 
that the provisions by this means would last until the 
following June. The reduction applied to every person in 
the settlement (wom^i excepted), and at the same time the 
companies of the Sirins and Supply were placed on three- 
fourths allowance.t 

In connection with this reduction of the allowance of 
food, Collins reports a fact which aptly illustrates the 
wimcta?^"* improvidence of the convicts. With a larger quantity of 
food at their disposal, men who possessed even the smallest 
particle of prudence would have been careful in its consump- 
tion, but with the majority of the people the contrary was 
the case. ^'It was soon observed," wrote Collins, ^'that 
of the provisions issued at this ration [two-thirds of the 
ordinary allowance] on the Saturday, the major part of the 
convicts had none left on the Tuesday night ; it was there- 
fore ordered that the provisions should be served in future 
on the Saturdays and Wednesdays. By these means the 
days that would otherwise pass in hunger, or in thieving 
from the few who were more provident, would be divided, 
^mi-weekiy and the people themselves be more able to perform the 
raUons. labour which was required from them. Overseers and 
married men were not included in this order."t The plan of 
issuing the provisions weekly had been adopted, no doubt, 
to avoid unnecessary loss of time ; but it is evident that if a 

* Historical Becords, toI. i, part 2, p. 299. 

t Collins is slightly at yariance with Phillip on this point. He sajs the 
ships* companies were placed upon two-thirds allowance. He pays a tribate 
to Phillip's humanity — a quality some critics have denied him — by the 
following allusion to a cizcumatance upon which Phillip, in his despatch, was 
silent : — " The G-overnor, whose humanity was at all times conspicuous, 
directed that no alteration should be made in the ration to be iaeued to the 
women. They were already upon two-thirds of the men's allowance, and 
many of them either had chiildTOn who could Tery well hare eaten their own 
and part of the mothers ration, or they had children at the breast, and 
although they did not labour, yet their appetites were never so delicate as to 
Jiaye found the full ration too much had it been issued to them." 

i Collins, Tol. 1, p. 84). 



THE FAIONE OF 1789-^90. 19 

tibAnge had not been made the state of the settlement would ^^^89^ 
have been deplorable. Phillip makes no reference in his 
despatches to this reckless condnct on the part of the con- 
victs^ which would hare caused a less sanguine man to ^^^ 
despair of ever doing any good work with such wretched ^p*'*' 
material^ nor does Collins say that the Governor exhibited 
the anger and mortification which he might have been ex- 
pected to feel. But Phillip^ no doubt, had the circumstance 
in his mind when he assured Nepean, writing to him soon 
after the reduction of the ration, that although the people 
would not starve, '' seven-eighths of the colony deserves 
Dothing better/'* 

Improvidence even less excusable was displayed not long 
afterwards by the convicts in killing the greater part of the 
live stock with which they had been entrusted.f 

Up to this time (1st November, 1789) the men employed ^SSSJS^ 
in cultivating the land had not suffered from short allowance 
of food, but there were other circumstances which militated 
against the success of Phillip's plans. The convicts were 
not only unused to field labour, they were also incorrigibly 
idle. The possibility of famine was regarded by them as too 
remote a contingency to necessitate a voluntary performance 
of their tasks ; and Phillip, when the military refused to 
" interfere with the convicts," had only one manj he could 
trust with the duty of superintending those employed in Oniy one 
clearing and cultivating the land. Secognising how hope- 
less it was to expect to make much headway against the 
natural indolence of the convicts, unless proper people were 
sent out as superintendents, Phillip repeatedly urged upon 
the authorities in England the necessity of sending out free 
men for this purpose, and warned the Secretary of State 
that unless this was done the convicts " would remain for 

* Historical Records, yoI. i, part 2, p. 880. 
t Port, p. 26. • 

t H. E. Dodd, who came out as Phillip*! leryimt.— Sstorical Becords^ 
▼ol i, part 2j pp. 296 and 470 ; vol. ii, p. 440. 



20 THE FAMINE OF 1789-90. 

1789-00 years a burden to the Government." '' Numbers of them,** 
he added^ '^ had been brought up from their infancy in sucli 
indolence that they would starve if left to themselves.'** 
If a staff of overseers accustomed to agricultural work could 
have been placed in charge, these disadvantages would have 
been reduced to a minimum. Under the circumstances it 

S^nsT'** is not surprising that the "harvest" of 1789, the first 
recorded, was anything but a plentiful one. Phillip makes 
this report of it : — 

" In December the com at Rose Hill was got in ; the com was 
exceeding good. About two hundred bushels of wheat and sixty 
of barley, with a small quantity of flax, Indian com, and oats, 

aU which is preserved for seed The officers 

have not raised sufficient to support the little stock they have. 
Some ground I have had in cultivation will return about forty 

not en- bushels of wheat into store, so that the produce of the labour of 

oouroging. , , ^ 

the convicts employed in cultivation has been very short of what 

might have been expected, "t 

Phillip does not give the area of land in cultivation, nor 
the number of men employed, but information on the latter 
point is supplied by Collins : — 

** Upon a calculation of the diflferent people employed for the 

Affricnitural public in cultivation it appeared that of all the members in the 

colony there were only two hundred and fifty so employed — a very 

small number indeed to procure the means of rendering the colony 

independent of the mother country for the necessaries of life."^ 

It will not escape attention that Phillip did not regard 
the product of the land he had in cultivation as his private 
property. A still more striking instance of disinterestedness 
on his part in sending into the Government store his private 
stock of flour has already been alluded to.§ 

o»2Se Phillip, it will be seen, made a point of the failure by the 

officers to raise even enough com to feed the few head of 

* Historical Beoords, yoL i, part 2, p. 146. 

t lb., p. 299. 

X Collins, Tol. i, p. 51. 

§ VoL i, p. 106. 



THE PAHINE OF 1789-90. 21 

stock which they possessed, notwithstanding the advantage 1780-90 
they enjoyed in having convict labour at their disposal* 
Possibly the officers were too much concerned about matters 
of domestic convenience to turn their attention to the culti- 
vation of the ground, but however that may be, Phillip seems 
to have thought that convicts were wasted in being turned 
over to the military to be employed for private purposes.* 
His policy was to keep as many convicts as he could employed ggj^ 
in the field, so that as large a return as possible might be made 
from the soil. He was desirous of giving convicts to settlers, 
who would see that their labour was not thrown away, but 
he did not care to waste them upon those who were unable 
or unwilling to turn them to good account. " The giving 
convicts to the officers," he wrote on the 12th February, 
1790, '' has been hitherto necessary, but it is attended with 
many inconveniences, for which the advantages arising to 
the officers do not make amends. It will not, therefore, be 
continued after the detachment is relieved, unless particu- 
larly directed."t Iii another despatch of about the same 
date he remarked:^ 

" It may be necessary to grant land to officers and soldiers who, Land g»nto 
becoming settlers, will, of course, be entitled to every indulgence ; 
but few of the officers now here have reaped any great advantage 
from being allowed convicts ; and it is attended with unavoidable 
inconveniences, from the convicts being left so much to them- 
selves, and from their mixing with the soldiers. It may be found 
more to the advantage of the Crown, and the officers likewise, 
if officers on duty in this settlement were allowed a certain quantity 
of grain to support their live stock until they have a market to 
go to."t 

* It must be borne in mind that at this time the military officers had no 
land of tbeir own. Tbej were allowed to caltivate the soil and enjoy the 
produce that was raised, but they bad no property in the land, which 
belonged to the Crown. This was a standing grievance with them. — Post, 
pp. 119, 252. When the officers of the New South Wales Corps, two years 
later, obtained grants of land and the free use of conyict labour, they set to 
work upon their holdings with great rigour. — Post, pp. 256, 289. 

t Historical Becords, yoI. i, part 2, p. 800. 

t lb., p. 806. 



2S 



THE FAKINE OE 1789-90. 



1780-00 But Phillip's views did not commend themselves to the 
British Government, and the practice of allowing convict 
labour to officers for agricultural purposes was continued 
for many years afterwards. 

With the advent of the year 1790 the crisis became 
acute.* The long-expected ships from England were 
stottonii* watched for with feverish anxiety, and with the view of 
South HMd discovering their appearance on the coast at the earliest 
possible moment, a lookout station was established at South 
Head, where a flagstaff was erected from which the arrival 
of vessels might be signalled to Sydney Cove.f The officer 
first placed in charge of the station was Mr. Daniel South- 
well^ one of the mates of H.M.8. Sirius, who had a small 
party of the ship's company under his command. J 

* Some idea of the Btate of feeling in the commuoitj, as the months 
rolled on and no relief came, may be gathered from the remarks of Collins 
when the ration was reduced in Kovembcr, 1789 : — ** Thus opened the month 
of Norember in this settlement, where, though we had not the accompanying 
gloom and vapour of our own climat'e to render it terrific to our minds, yet we 
had that before us, in the midst of all our sunshine, which gayeit the complexion 
of the true Noyember so inimical to our countrymen,"-— Collins, vol. i, p. 84. 

t Vol. i, pp. 182, 510. The native name oif South Head was EuttaL — 
Fraser, Australian Language, p. 51. 

X Since vol. i was published, copies of Southwell's Journal and of a number 
of letters written by him to his mother, who lived in Canon-street, London^ 
and to hiB uncle, the Bev. W. Butler, of Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, have been 
received. These papers have been printed as an Appendix to vol. ii of the 
Historical Records. The transcriptions were made at the British Museum, 
from the original MSS. and copies in the handwriting of Mr. Butler. This 
gentleman, who appears to have taken a lively interest in the fortunes of 
the infant colony, showed the letters to Sir Joseph Banks, with whom He 
frequently conversed about affairs at Sydney Cove. Sir Joseph returned the 
correspondence with a note in which he offered ** many thanks for the perusal 
of it." He added: — *'The letters are written with intelligence, but, as u 
naturally to be expected, contain little of information not to be met with in 
the Governor's despatches. It is indeed surprising that he who lives at an 
outpost and makes few visits to the camp should have gained so much.** 
Banks's comment is accurate enough in one sense. So far as principal events 
are concerned, the letters contain no information that the official despatches 
do not supply ; but Southwell, whose attention was concentrated on a few 
subjects, gives particulars of incidents which were only briefly reported in 
Phulip's letters, and he furnishes information concerning the Lookout Station 
which is not procurable from any other source. The allusion to the " G-over- 
nor*s despatches*' is worthy of attention. It has been stated elsewhere (YoL 
i, pp. lii, 78 et seq.) that Sir Joseph Banks, who, as regards the colony, msy 
almost be said to have stood t» loco parentis^ had access to the officii^ 
despatches from Sydney. We have in this note to Mr. Butler an additional 
proof that this was so. 



THE FAMINE OP 178^-80. . ^3 

The main purpose of the Lftokout was to signal the arrival ^^^^^^ 
of ships^ and a flagstaff was erected near the spot where the 
signal-house now stands. At a later stage it was decided to 
erect a column as a ^' mark for shipping"; and in the South- JJ^S^ip . 
well correspondence there is a sketch in outline showing 
the '^ Projection of a column raised as a mark for shipping 
on the South Head of Port Jackson, by his Excellency 
Governor Phillip, 1790." The sketch* bears the endorse- 
ment, in Southwell's handwriting, " This projection, by the 
hand of his Excellency G.P., done at the Lookout Post, Pt 
Jackson. "t 

The structure served as a lookout, as well as a mark for 
shipping, for Southwell, writing on the 27th July, 1790, 
says : " Here where I reside the stone is now shaping for a 
lookout to be built on the high land by the flagstaff, and 
to command a good view of the offing.'^ j: 

No column such as that shown in the " projection " gyj^^^^'e 
can now be seen at South Head, but on the spot which it 
probably occupied stands the signal-house, erected forty or 
fifty years ago. It is built of stone, and it may possibly 
rest upon the foundations that were laid for Phillip's 
column. 

At the foot of the rocky declivity, near the Watson's Bay wateon's 
pier, on a. level grassy spot, which looked like " a pleasant 
lawn,'* there had been erected a few modest dwellings, which 
Southwell sometimes calls '^ cottages,*' and at other times 
"huts.*' These were occupied by the Lookout party, which 
consisted of less than a dozen men. There was also a little 
garden, at one time in a flourishing condition. In July, 
1790, it exhibited " a pleasing prospect of vegitation," 

* This flkelch will be found reproduced at p. 718 of the Historical Records, 
ToLii. 

t " The Gbyemor, who had uniformly directed every undertaking in person 
sinee the formation of the colony, went down in the morning of the 7th 
[AuguBtJ to the South Head, accompanied by Captain Collins and Lieutenant 
Waterhoose, to give some instructions to the people employed in erecting a 
oolmnn at that ^ace." — Collins, toI. i, p. 188. 

X Historical Records, toL ii, p. 718. 



24 



THE FAMINE OF 178»-90. 



1780-90 



ItB first 
residents. 



Their 

gardou 

plots. 



Ck)nyict8 
sent to 
Norfolk 
Island. 



containing, as it did, seven or eight thousand young plants.* 
Southwell writes 27th July, 1790 :— 

"Our numbers lately were eleven ; my companion,! self, and 
seven men are all upon this little settlement ; one man looks out 
for the expected Gorgon, and is relieved in turn at every four 
hours between the dawn and setting of the day. The Lookout 
is up a craggy eminence, about a mile from this spot, where are the 
houses, or rather white- washed cottages, in a valley adjoining to 
the garden, and near the beach. The ground for a good space 
about here is unusually clear, with here and there a shrub, and at 
a distance in passing looks like a pleasant lawn. We have a rill 
of fresh water at a stone's throw on each hand." 

The "white-washed cottages" and the garden are no 
longer to be seen, but the position they occupied can be 
made out without much difficulty. The means of identifi- 
cation are the two rills of water mentioned by Southwell. 
One of these little streams runs through the recreation- 
ground, and until a few years ago found its way to the 
sea through the late Sir John Robertson's garden, but 
for convenience' sake it has been diverted from its course. 
The other enters the bay on the north side of Bay-street. 
Between these two points there is a stretch of level ground 
occupied by dwelling-houses. The rills or creeks which 
were insignificant a hundred years ago, when the hills from 
which they flowed were clothed with scrub and trees, are now 
almost dry, except in rainy weather, but their course can be 
distinctly traced.^ Of the garden, which exhibited a hundred 
years ago such a " pleasing prospect of vegitation,'' not a 
trace remains. 

In the month of February, 1790, no ships from England 
having arrived, Phillip resolved to send a number of the 
people to Norfolk Island, with the object of relieving the 
principal settlement. That place was no better provisioned 

• Southwell to the Eev. W. Butler. — Historical Eecords, vol. ii, p. 716. 

t One of the non-commissioned officers of the Sirius, Mr. Harris. 

X Only twenty-five years ago the cliffs about the lighthouse and signal- 
station were covered with dense scrub and trees. Host of this vegetation 
was destroyed by a fire in 1868. 



THE PAMINE OP 1789-90, 25 

tlian the parent colony, and tlie people who were sent there ^^^ 
would, of conrse, have to receive from the store at Sydney 
their proportion of the provisions, but the soil at Norfolk 
Island was so productive that the change was expected to be 
of much benefit.* The necessary orders were given, and on 
the 6th March the Sirius and Supply sailed for Norfolk 
Island, having on board 65 officers and men, with 5 women 
and children from the marine detachment and the civil 
department, 116 male and 67 female convicts, with 27 
children, in all 280. Major Ross, who received a Com- Rom 
mission from Phillip as Commandant, and went in that King, 
capacity to relieve Lieutenant King, was in charge of the 
marines ; Captain Hunter commanded the Sirius, and 
Lieutenant Ball the Supply. These vessels took away from 
Sydney nearly one-third of the population. The numbers Population, 
of the people in the respective settlements, after this 
change was made, were as follows : — '^ Norfolk Island, 
418 ; Sydney (including Eose Hill), 691. "t Phillip's reasons 
for taking this decisive step are given in his despatch of 
11th April, 1790 :— 

"The advantages I expected by sending away such a number 
of people was from the little garden-ground they would leave, and Food 
which would assist those who remained, and the fish which might at^o^ik 
be caught in the winter would go the further. At the same time ^■**°^' 
those sent to Norfolk Island would have resources in the great 
abundance of vegetables raised there, and in fish and birds, which 
this settlement could not afford them. "J 

The idea was undoubtedly a good one. The settlement, 
if not in danger of immediate starvation, was yet in a 
precarious condition, and it was important not only to Condiuon 
conserve the salt provisions, but to make the products of south waies 
the soil, moderate enough in quantity, go as far as possible. 

* Sarly in Januaiy the Sapplj had taken a small namber of conricts to 
Norfolk Island (twen^-four), lulng haying intimated that he could easily find 
employment for more people. 

t Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 826. 

Jib. 



26 THE -pjLVnm 07 178d-M. 

1^^ Clearing fresh ground was a laborious and tedious pro- 
cess, while the necessities of the people were immediate and 
Norfolk pressing. At Norfolk Island less clearing had to be done, 
Wand- and the returns from the soil were both larger and quicker 
than at Sydney. Phillip felt no anxiety regarding the 
people he had sent away by the Sirius and Supply, and their 
absence placed at the disposal of those who were left a 
quantity of ground already in cultivation, together with a few 
head of live stock. No sooner had the vessels left than 
conj^' Phillip set about distributing the plots of garden-ground 
amongst those convicts who had been, up to that time, with- 
out gardens, some of them without huts.* The reamlts of 
this considerate and well-judged action will be seen later on. 
In one direction the convicts did their best to neutralise 
Dertraction the good which Phillip w€ks trying to do them. With reck- 
of live stock j^^^ selfishnoss they killed most of the live stock in their 
possession, heedless of the fact that they were destroying 
the means upon which their support in the future largely 
depended. They were, apparently, impelled to this suicidal 
course by the fear that, when the salt meat was exhausted^ 
their stock would be seized by Government, 

In the despatches which he wrot-e in April, 1790, Phillip 
made no reference to the circumstance. Possibly he thought 
that, considering the diflSlculty of finding food for the stock, 

caused 1* would be better, as the evil had been done, to let them go. 

ottwdf^ That there was some cause for the belief that the stock 
would be taken over by Government is evident from the 

* " Immediately after the departure of theBeshipB [theSirius and the Suppl j], 
the Governor directed his attention to the regulation of the people who were 
left at Sydney, and to the preservation of the stock in the colony. For these 
purposes, he himself visited the different huts and gardens whose tenants had 
just quitted them, distributing thera to such convicts as were either in miser- 
able hovels or without any shelter at all. It was true that by this arcaoge- 
ment the idle found themselves provided for by the labour of many who had 
been industrious ; but they were at the same time assured that unless t^ej 
kept in good cultivation the gardens which they were allowed to possess they 
would be turned out from the comforts of a gopd hut, to live under a rook or 
a tree. That they might have time for tills purpose, the afternoon of 
Wednesday and the whole of Saturday in each week were given to them." — 
Collins, vol. i, p. 99. 



THS ITAIQNE OF 1789-90. 27 

f dUowing passage in Phillip's letter to Nepean of 16tli April : ^^"'^ 
— ^' Although the live stock in the settlement is Tery incon- 
siderable, I was desirous of what there is being given up 
for the publick, but the general opinion was that the hogs 
(which are the principal part of our live stock) were^ most 
of them, so poor that those which would be found fit to kill 
would not be an object; the Commissary has purchased 
isome, which have been served to the people."* 

Whatever relief was ultimately gained by sending off so 
large a swarm from the hive, the advantage was not im- 
mediately felt, except by those convicts who exchanged 
*' wretched hovels '* or " no shelter at all '^ for comfortable 
huts in garden-grounds. The gardens, indeed, were of little 
use to anyone for a time, for the convicts, whose food was OonWcte 
reduced stage by stage until it was less than half the usual to work. 
ration, were too weak to do much work. Indeed labour was 
scarcely expected from them.t 

Upon the officers and civilians who were left behind the 
departure of so many people produced a depressing efEect. 
"The military quarters," says Collins, "had a deserted 
aspect, and the whole settlement appeared as if famine had ^gg^ ^g 
already thinned it of half its numbers. The little society 
that was in the place was broken up, and every man seemed 
left to brood in solitary silence over the dreary prospect 
before him.^'J The long-expected ships appeared to be as 
far ofE as ever, and the only thing that could be anticipated 
with anything like confidence was the posting of a General 
Order making a further reduction in the scanty allowance 
of food. 

• Historical Becords, toI. i, part 2, p. 881. With reference to tliis, Colling 
writes (vol. i| pp. 105» 106) :— '* It was proposed to take all the hogs in the 
settlement as public property, but as it was absolutely necessary to keep some 
breeding sows, and the stock being small and rery poor, that idea was 
abaodoned." 

t "The incTitable consequence of this scarcity of proTisions ensued ; labour 
stood nearly suspended for want of eneriry to proceed; and the countenances 
of the people plainly bespoke the hardships they underwent." — lb., 109. 

tlb.,p. lOi. 



28 THE FAMINE OF 178d-90. 

1790 The convicts at Sydney, under tlie pressure of hunger, 
Swm' robbed tlie private gardens. Wlien a thief was caught he 
was severely punished, but the dread of the lash did not have 
much effect. The depredations were continued in spite of 
the rigorous measures adopted by the authorities. Even 
the Governor's garden was frequently robbed. This was 
ingratitude of the basest kind, for Phillip did not keep the 
produce of his ground for himself or his friends, but caused 
a considerable portion of it to be distributed among the 
convicts.* Under the circumstances, however, it is not 
surprising that robberies were common. It was noticed 
at Sydney that the convicts at Eose Hill "conducted themselves with 
much greater propriety, not a theft nor any act of ill- 
behaviour having been for some time past heard of among 
them.^t How it came about that the convicts in one of 
the settlements were behaving so well, while in the other 
they were pillaging the gardens right and left, would pro- 
bably have remained an insoluble mystery to the readers 
of Collins's book, but for the statement made in a footnote 
that the convicts at Rose Hill had ^'vegetables in great 
abundance." Those at Sydney had scarcely any. 
Smfmih Shortly after the departure of convicts and marines for 
reduced. Norfolk Island, Phillip directed a further reduction to be 
made in the ration. On November Ist, 1789, the whole of 
the settlement, as stated on a previous page,t was placed 
on two-thirds allowance. On the 27th March, 1790, the 
Governor directed that on and after the 1st of the following 
month the weekly ration " to be issued to every person in 
the settlement without distinction " was to be : — 
Four pounds of flour, 
Two pounds and a half of pork, and 
One pound and a half of rice. 
Hours It was also directed that the hours of labour for the convicts 
shortened, should cease at 1 p.m., and that provisions should be served 
from the store daily instead of semi-weekly. 

• Collins, ▼ol. i, p. 111. f I^., p. 112. J Ante, p. 17. 



THE FAMINE OF 1789-90. 29 

Five days after this order came into force, the Supply ^^^ 
returned to Sydney with tidings of the wreck of the Sirius ^J^^**' 
on Norfolk Island. No lives had been lost ; but at the time 
when the Supply sailed from the island it was uncertain 
whether the provisions on board the Sirius would be saved. 
So serious was the situation that Phillip called together the 
whole of the oflSlcers, civil and military. The result of their Further 

^ , . reduction 

deliberations was that the ration was still further reduced <>' ^^^^ 

to:— 

Two pounds and a half of flour, 
Two pounds of pork, and 
Two pounds of rice, 

for seven people for one day. 

All were to be treated alike, with the exception of children 
under eighteen months of age, whose ration of pork was to 
be one pound only. 

Both at Sydney and Botany Bay, fishing-boats were em- Efforte 
ployed on the public account ; more stringent efforts were fresh food. 
made to prevent the gardens of the industrious being looted 
at night ;* parties were told off to range the woods for game, 
and every effort was made to save a pound of salt provisions. 
Even with so severe a reduction in the allowance,t the provi- 

* The ordinary rewards for the apprehension of thieyes being inadequate, 
it was announced that upon conTiction of the culprit, the informer would 
receive sixty pounds of flour — " more tempting/' remarked Tench, ** than the 
ore of Peru or Potosi." — Tench, Complete Account, p. 43. 

t As seTeral articles had to be dropped out of the di&^arj scale, the allow- 
ance, according to the view taken by the people, was not more than one- 
third of the oinilnary ration. Collins puts the matter thus : — *' On the 20th 
of the month [Apnl] the following was the ration issued from the public 
store to each man for seTen days, or to seven people for one day — flour, two 
and a half pounds ; rice, two pounds ; pork, two pounds. The pease were all 
expended. Was this a ration for a labouring man ? The two pounds of pork, 
when boiled, shrank away to nothing, and when divided among seven people 
for their day's allowance barely afforded three or four morsels to each.*'^ — 
CoUins, vol. i, p. 109. On this point Tench has the following : — ** When the 
age of this provision is recollected, its inadequacy will more strikingly appear. . 
Qlie pork and rice were brought with us from JEnsland ; the pork had been 
salted between three and four years, and every grain of rice was a moving 
body, from the inhabitants lodged within it. We soon left off boiling the 
pork, as it had become so old and dry, that it shrunk one-half in its dimensions 
when 80 dressed. Our usual method of cooking it was to cut off the daily 



90 TH& FAMIKB Q¥ 1789--90. 

1790 aions in store would not hold out more tlian three or four 
months ; and if relief had not arrived when it did — in June 
— a still farther redaction would haye become necessary. 

Phillip's efEorts to add to the stock of food by fishing 
and shooting were but moderately successful. The seines 

^pp^^ were constantly in use ; but, whether it was that fish were 
unusually scarce, or that the season of the year was un- 
favourable for netting, or that the fishermen were wanting 
in skill, certain it is that the food obtained in this way was 
generally small and always precarious. Occasionally a good 
haul was made, and fish was served out in lieu of beef 
or pork ; but, at best, the food obtained in this way was 
unimportant in quantity.* It scarcely made up for the " loss 
on every cask '^ of salt meat, which, according to Phillip, 
amounted to ^^ some pounds.'' Still it was a help, and 

Game- Phillip was thankful for it. The quest for game was so 
unsuccessful that the parties were disbanded and the men 
sent back to their ordinary employments, f The real 

monel, and toast it on a fork before the fire, catching the drops irliieh ieO. on 
a slice of bread, or in a saucer of rice. Our flour was the remnant of what 
was brought from the Cape, by the Sirius, and was good. Instead of baking 
it, the soldiers and conyicts used to boil it up with greens." — Tenoh, Complete 
Account, p* 40 Cnote). According to the same authority, a woman died 
from eating too freely of a " mess of flour and greens." 

* " The few convicts who had been employed to shoot for individuals were 
given up for the public benefit; and a fishery was establithed at Botany Bay, 
under the inspection of one of the midshipmen of the Sirius. But this plan, 
not being found to answer, was soon relinquished. The quantity of fish that 
was from, time to time taken was very inconsiderable, and tbe labour of 
transporting it by land from thence was greater than the advantage which 
was expect^ to be derived from it. The boats were therefore rectJIed, and 
employed with rather more success at Sydney.'* — Collins, vol. i, p. 106. 

f " Neither was much advanta^pe obtained by employing people to shoot for 
tiie public At the end of the month .only three small kangaroos had been 
brought in." — Collins, voL i, p. 106. Writing a month Uter (May, 1790), 
Collins stated : — " The eipedirat of shooting for the public not being found to 
answer the expectations which had been formed of it, sixty pounds of pork only 
bavins heen saved, the game-kiUers were called in, and the general exertioa 
was directed to the business of fishing. The seine and the hook and lines 
were employed, and with various success, the best of which afforded but a 
very trifling relief." — Ib.» p. 110. ** The greatest quantity of fish caught 
at any one time in this month [May] was two hundred pounds. Once the 
seine was full, but, through either the wilfulness or the ignorance of the 
people employed to land its, the greatest part of its contents escaped. Upwards 



THE FAMINE OE 1789^«0. 31 

dependence of the settlement was upon the storeships from ^^^ 
Exi^^land. 

The official despatches and prirate letters written at this 
time are almost entirely confined to the one topic — the 
scarcity of provisions. The question of how to feed the OonUnued 
people was so ui^ent and so difficult that matters of less 
moment^ though important in themselves^ were lost sight of. 
But if the people were ill-fed, they were equally ill-clad, 
and were in need of many other necessaries, particularly 
tools and implements. Even if the storeships had arrived 
before it became necessary to reduce the ration, great 
inconvenience would have been caused by the insufficient 
supplies of clothing, boots and shoes, and agricultural and 
other implements sent out by the First Fleet. In his earliest foreseen 

* "^ by Phillip. 

despatches, Phillip strongly urged that more should be sent 
without delay. But at the time now referred to (April, 1 790) 
nothing had been received for nearly three years, and most 
of the people were half -naked as well as half-starved. The 
officers brought out private stocks of wearing apparel, but 
those who depended upon the Government stores — ^and they 
constituted well-nigh the entire population — ^were reduced 
to sore straits. The distress of the lower classes was aggra- 
vated by the approach of winter. The convicts — male and SS^^and 
female— with difficulty pieced together rags to cover their ^,Sfc*^ 
nakedness. The soldiers were not much better oS. The 
majority of them were forced to appear on guard barefooted, 
and many both amongst the soldiers and convicts were so 
emaciated that they were physically incapable of performing 
their accustomed tasks. 

At such a time of want the rites of hospitality were 
necessarily curtailed. The man who by a happy chance 
increased his stock of food by aid of fowling-piece or rod 
could offer his gpiests no bread; and invitations to dine, even 

of two tLooMuid poandf were teken in the ooane of the montli, wbick pro- 
duced a saving of five hundred poundB of pork at the etore, the allowance of 
thirty-one men for four weeki." — lb., pp. 113*114. 



32 THE FAMINE OF 1789-90. 

^'^ at Government Honse, contained the stereotyped request, 
"Bring '^ Please brinff your own bread."* As to the want of other 

your own . 

bread." necessaries of the commonest kind, we could not have a more 
telling instance than the naive remark made by Phillip in one 
of his despatchest : — ^^'Two or three hundred iron fryingpans 

Unmans. ^^ ^® * saviug of spadcs.^' When the people were obliged 
to use spades instead of fryingpans, hardly any better proof 
could be furnished of the low condition to which the com- 
missariat had been reduced. In fact, so great was the dearth 
of cooking-utensils, and even of spades, that some of the 
convicts, rather than wait until their turn came for the use 
of a make-shift fryingpan, ate their food raw, and died in 
consequence. 

One of the noteworthy incidents that occurred during this 
BonnUong— trying time was the escape of Bennilong, the native, who 
had been captured in November, 1789, and had been living 
under friendly restraint at Government House. He was a 
great favourite with Phillip, and afterwards became quite 
domesticated. He had been carefully watched, as his deter- 
mination to get away, if he could, was well known; but 
one night he eluded the vigilance of his custodians and 
his escape ; made ofE iuto the bush. Love of liberty alone would doubt- 
less have impelled him to make his escape, but his desire 
for freedom was sharpened by the impoverished state of the 
public larder. The natives are great eaters, and Bennilong 
was no exception to the rule. Southwell, in one of his 
letters, wrotej : — '^ ^Tis certain he can manage the share 
of six men with great ease at one meal." The half -ration 
which he received at this time in common with every other 
hifl appetite; person at the settlement must have seemed to the voracious 
savage nothing better than a hollow mockery. A week's 
allowance. Tench says, was insufficient to have kept him 
for a day. "The deficiency was supplied by fish, whenever 

. * Tench, Complete Aocoont, p. 42. Historical Becords, rol. ii, p. 710. 
t Historical Beoords, toL i, part 2, p. 656. 
X Historical Becords, toI. ii, p. 709. 



THE TAMIKE OF 1789^90. 33 

it could be procured, and a little Indian com whicli had ^^ 
been reserved, was ground and appropriated to his use. In 
spite of all these aids, want of food has been known to make 
him furious, and often melancholy."* Bennilong made his 
escape on the Srd May, and was not seen again for some 
months. Eventually he was induced to return to the settle- hia retain, 
ment voluntarily, and became greatly attached to Phillip, 
with whom he went to England, in December, 1792. 

Notwithstanding the critical position of afEairs, Phillip 
did not lose couraffe. He was confident that relief from pwrnp's 

oonfidenoe. 

England must come very soon, and he never aUowed him- 
self to utter a word of doubt on the subject. But while 
looking with hourly anxiety for a signal at the South Head 
announcing the arrival of a ship from England, he ordered 
the Supply, immediately after her return from Norfolk 
Island with the unwelcome news of the loss of the Sirius, 
to be ffot ready for Batavia. Her commander. Lieutenant The supply 

, sent to 

Ball, was directed to call at Norfolk Island, and take on Bataria, 
board Lieutenant Bradley, of H.M.S. Sirius. On arriving at 
Batavia, he was to ship, at once, eight months' supplies for 
the ship's company ; make immediate arrangements for the. 
purchase of the following provisions : — 

200,000 lb. of flour, 60,000 lb. of pork, Provirions 

80,000 fb. of beef, 70,000 ft), of rice, ^t^ed 

together with small quantities of hospital necessaries ; 

charter a suitable vessel for the conveyance of the same to 
Sydney, and, leaving Lieutenant Bradley to follow and assist 
in the navigation of the storeship, return in the Supply with 
aU possible speed to Sydney Cove. 

The stock of provisions in the public store on the 18th ^J^^^g,^,^ 
April, 1790 (four days before the departure of the Supply), »t Sydney. 
was.as follows . — 

F6rk, 23,851 B>. Pease, 17 bushels. 

Beef, 1,280 „ Flour, 66,884 Jb. 

Rice, 24,455 „ Biscuit, 1,924. „ 

^ Tenoh, Complete Aoconnt, p. 44. 
VOL. H. — C 



34 THE FAMINE OF 1789-90. 

1790 The meat, at the rate then issued, would last until 26th 

August; the rice and pease, until the 13th September; and 
the flour and biscuit^ until the 19th December. 

There was another resource, but of so slight a character 

that Phillip would hardly have deemed it worthy of notice 

The under different circumstances. The ffrain obtained from 

seed-whoat . 

fifivenm) the harvest in December, 1789, had been set apart for seed, 
but as it was found impossible, owing to the debility of the 
workers, to prepare enough ground for all that had been 
gathered, there was a surplus of about one hundred and fifty 
bushels, which was to be served to the people when the rice 
had been expended. A hundred and fifty bushels would 
not have gone far among five hundred people, but Phillip 
attached importance to this little stock of grain, and he was 
encouraged by the possession of it to tell Nepean that he 
should be able to "make the provisions last until the Supply 
returns, although no ship from England should arrive."* 

rSunS^^^ The Supply did not return from Batavia until the 18th 
October, and then she brought only eight months' provisions 
for her own people ; the Waaksamheyd, the Dutch snow 

^^reship. liired at Batavia, and freighted with stores for the settle- 
ment, did not enter Sydney Cove until the 17th December, 
more than five months after the arrival of the Lady Juliana 
had been hailed by the starving people with raptures of joy 
and gratitude. 

Phillip seems to have been aware that his hopeful view of 
the position was not shared by many at Sydney Cove, for he 
remarked at the close of his letter to Nepean : — 

Unfavoar- << J have thought it necessary to be thus particular as to the real 
state of the provisions in the settlement, as I think it probable that 
report may make our situation more unpleasant than it really is." 

The actual situation was certainly '^ unpleasant" enough ; 
and Phillip was right in supposing that report would repre- 
sent it as more serious than it was described in his optimistic 
despatches. 

* Historical Becords, toI. i, part 2, p. 831. 



from 
Batavia. 



THE PAMIKE OP 1789-90. 35 

He could not fail to notice, both in his intercourse with his l^^^^W 
staff and at every step he took abroad, the despondency 
that had settled upon the community ; and he knew full 
well that it would find expression in the letters of both 
soldiers and convicts. Unfavourable accounts did reach {^^^^'JJ^^ 
England, and were published in the London papers. The 
names of the writers, with one exception,* were not given, 
but their identity must have been an open secret — in the 
colony at any rate. The majority of the letters were pub- 
lished as from '^ officers*^ stationed at " Botany Bay."t 

They all tell the one story : The country " will never 
answer the intentions of Government,'* it was " the outcast "The 

' outcast of 

of God's works."t Surgeon White described it as " so for- ^^^„ 
bidding and so hateful, as only to merit execrations and 
curses. . . . The wood is bad, the soil light, poor and 
sandy, nor has it anything to recommend it."§ Another 
letter, in which it is not difficult to trace the hand of Captain Face to face 
Tench, represented the country as "very wretched, and 
totally incapable of yielding to Great Britain a return for 
colonizing it. . . . The dread of perishing by famine 
stares us in the face.''|| The country contained "less 
resources than any in the known world."^ One officer 
remarked that he could not, without " neglect of my duty 
to my country," refrain from declaring, that if a " favour- 
able picture '' had been drawn, it was a " gross falsehood 
and base deception ''*"^ — the country " had no one thing to Nothing to 
recommend it.^^ Foremost in the ranks of the malcontents thTooimSy. 
stood Boss. In July, 1788, he assured Nepean, "in con- 
fidence," that although com might grow, yet the country 
would not support itself for a " hundred years." His own 
solution of the transportation question was — that it would 
be " cheaper to feed the convicts on turtle and venison at 

• That of Mr. White, the Chief Surgeon.— Vol. i, p. 506 ; Historical 
Beoords, toI. i, part 2, p. 8d2. Grose's letter to Nepean, 2nd April, 1792, 
was published anoDjmously in the London papers. — lb., p. 618. 

t Vol. i, p. 508. X Historical Records, vol. ii, p. 745. 

§ Historical Beoords, vol. i, part 2, p. 838. 

II Historical Becords, toI. ii, p. 761. % lb., p. 769. •• lb., p. 763. 



36 THE FAMINE OP 1789-^0. 

1789-90 |j1i0 London Tavern than be at the expence of sending them 
A cortiy here/'* Writing to Nepean some months later, he informed 
him, ^' as this letter is only for your private perusal/' that 
^' in the whole world there is not a worse country than what 
we have yet seen of this. All that is contiguous to us is so 
^^ very barren and forbidding, that it may with truth be said, 
here nature is reversed ; and, if not so, she is nearly worn 
out ; for almost all the seed we have put into the ground 
has rotted, and I have no doubt but will, like the wood of 
this vile country, when burned or rotten, turn to sand."t 

The Public Advertiser of 28th December, 1790, summed 
up the news from '^ Botany Bay " in a few words : — " The 
flourishing state of the colony at Botany Bay has certainly 
been contradicted by all private letters.'' 

Phillip's suspicion — or it would be better, perhaps, to say 
his knowledge — that accounts less favourable than his own 
S*p^*^® would find their way to England was, therefore, justified 
by the event. It would have been wrong for him to write 
as an alarmist ; but it may be questioned whether, under 
the circumstances, he did the best for the little community 
under his care in speaking so confidently of a position which, 
short of absolute starvation, was about as bad as it could be. 

That the condition of the settlement was more critical 
than Philip was willing to admit in his official despatches, is 
SntSn ' ^ ovident from the narratives published by officers after their 
»ri«8. return to England; and, therefore, at a time when they 
could write dispassionately, and without the feeling engen- 
dered by the events of the hour.f 

* Historic&l Becords, toI. i, port 2, p. ] 76. f lb., p. 212. 

X Captain Tencli wrote : — *'Our impatience of news iTom Europe sfcrongly 
marked the commencement of the year [1790]. We had now been two years 
m the country, and thirty-two months horn. England, in which long period no 
supplies, except what had been procured at the Cape of Qood Hope by the 
Sirius, had reached us. From intelligence of our friends and connections we 
had been entirely cut off, no communication whatever having passed with our 
native country since the 18th of May, 1787, the day of our depaa-tnre from 
Portsmouth. Famine besides was approaching with gigantic strides, and 
gloom and dejection overspread eveiy conntenance. Men abandoned ibem- 



THE FAMINE OF 1789-90. 37 

The Home Department was lamentably ignorant of the WW-W 
tme condition of the settlement, which was expected to be 
self-snpporting almost from the first. Accident had some- 
thing to do with the wretched plight in which the people Exgmatdon 
found themselves in 1789-90, but on many occasions during dati-eBB. 
the next ten years the colony was on the brink of starvation, 
because of the eagerness of the Government to send out 
convicts, and its remissness in forwarding the necessary 
supplies.* If Phillip, and those who immediately succeeded 
him, had represented the case more forcibly, the British 
Government might possibly have realised sooner than it did 
its duties and responsibilities in connection with a colony so 
far distant from regular food supplies. 

selreB to the moet desponding reflections, and adopted the most extxaTagant 
conjectures." — Tench, Complete Account, p. 37. That the position -vras one of 
actual famine is shown by Tench in another passage : — "Three or four instances 
of persons who perished from want have been related to me. One only, 
howerer, fell within my own observation — I was passing the provision store, 
when a man, with a wild haggard countenance, who had just received his daily 
pittance to carry home, came out. His faltering gait, and eager devouring 
eye, led me to watch him : and he had not proceeded ten steps before he fell. 
I ordered him to be carried to the hospital, where, when he arrived, he was 
found dead. On opeuing the body^ the cause of death was pronounced to be 
inanition." — lb., p. 43 (note), llie late Dr. Lang wrote : — •* A wealthy and 
respectable inhabitant of Sydney, who arrived in the colony as a iree person 
during the government of Governor Phillip, has told me that his ration for a 
long period was merely a cob or single head of Indian com a day, and that 
for three years he had lived in the colony in the constant belief that he 
should one day perish of hunger." — Historical and Statistical Account of New 
South Wales, 1834 edition, vol. i, p. 5». This statement lacks authority. 
A "ration" consisting of a cob of Indian corn per day was certainly never 
issued during Phillip's Governorship, nor probably at any other time. 

• In March, 1792, Phillip wrote to Nepean, stating that he was anxiously 
awaiting supplies ; that the settlement had been on a reduced ration since 
1789 ; and that the people were suffering from hunger, and were becoming 
alarmed. — Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2, pp. 610>612. In Apri^ 

1794, when the William arrived, all the provisions, according to lieutenant- 
Qovemor G-rose, had been issued from the store six hours before she 
appeared in sight. The flour sent from England had been expended some 
months before. — Historical Records, vol. ii, pp. 207, 208. On 2l6t December, 

1795, Governor Hunter wrote to the Duke of Portland on behalf of "a people 
neariy naked" (lb., p. 346), and, two months later, the Governor received a 
memorial from the free settlers stating that as " the late reduced ration " had 
compelled them to kill the greater part of their live st-ock, they could not sup- 
port their men with animal food, nor find them clothing, and asking to be 
allowed to draw animsl food and clothing from the store. The despatches of 
Governor King in the years 1800, 1801, and 1802 show that the ration was 
frequently reduced because of the shortness of supplies. 



38 



THE WRECK OF THE GUARDIAN. 



1789 

The 
Guardiaii 



strikes 
an iceberg. 



While the settlement was struggling against internal 
troubles which taxed all its own resources and all the 
ingenuity and good guidance of its Governor, the Guardian, 
a 44-gun frigate,* which was on its way to Sydney with a 
large stock of provisions and clothing, met with a disastrous 
accident some 500 leagues from the Cape of Good Hope. On 
the 23rd December, 1789,t in thick and stormy weather, she 
struck an *^ island of ice,^^ and after being deserted by most 
of her officers and crew, was taken to Table Bay in a sinking 
state. She was only saved from foundering by the strenuous 
Lieut Riou. and heroic exertions of her commander. Lieutenant Riou, 
and a handful of men. Their voyage of eight weeks in 
a water-logged vessel is one of the most remarkable on 
record. It exhibits the bravery and devotion of '^ the gallant 
and good Captain Riou '^ J in a conspicuous light. But the 
vessel, though brought safely into port, had been injured so 

* The Guardian, according to the Naval Chronicle^ vol. v, p. 482, had becD 
pierced for forty -four guns, but when sent out under Biou's command to 
"Botany Bay " was armed en flute. 

t The yessel struck late in the afternoon of 23rd December civil time, or 
the 24th ship's time. This may account for some authorities stating that it 
occurred on the 23rd, some on the 24th. Biou himself says the 23rd. 

X Kiou, who was promoted after his return to England, was killed at the 
battle of Copenhagen, on the 2nd April, 1801. He was in command of the 
frigate Amazon, and was entrusted by Nelson with the charge of a division 
of the fleet, consisting of his own vessel and the Blanche, Alcmene, Dart^ 
Zephyr, and Otter, some of them frigates, thers sloops. Owing to tho 
intricate nature of the navigation, the Agamemnon, Beilona, and Bussel^ 
ships of the line, were unable to take the stations that had been assigned to 
them. This derangement of the Admiral's plan, in the words of Nelson's 
despatch, *' unhappily threw the gallant and good Captain Biou .... 
under u totj heavy fire; the consequence has l^n the death of Captain Biou 
and many brave officers and men in the frigates and sloops." 



THE WBECK OP THE GUAKDIAN. 39 

seriously that the cost of repairing her would have exceeded ^'^ 
that of a new ship ; she was accordingly beached at Table The vewei 
Bay, and there abandoned. Some of her stores were saved, at Table 
and a small portion was sent on by the Lady Juliana, which 
arrived at Sydney on the 3rd June, 1790, bringing at the 
same time the first news of the disaster. Before meeting 
with the accident, the Guardian had taken on board at the 
Cape a quantity of live stock for the use of the settlement, 
all of which had to be sacrificed to save the ship. She Her carjiro* 
carried also, at the instance of Sir Joseph Banks, a ^^plant- 
cabin'' or "coach/' in other words, a temporary compart- 
ment constructed on deck "for the purpose of conveying 
to Port Jackson, in pots of earth, such trees and plants as 
will be useful in food or physic, and cannot conveniently 
be propagated by seed, and for bringing from thence any 
useful productions."* The trees and plants never reached 
the colony, but the experiment was renewed with success 
some years afterwards. 

The Guardian was one of the first ships equipped for the 
relief of the settlement. Nepean wrote to Phillip on the 
20th June, 1789, statins that she would "sail in about aHcrdepar- 

. ture from 

fortnight," and, although she did not actually leave England England, 
until September, her sailing qualities were so good that she 
would have arrived at Sydney long before the Lady Juliana, 
which sailed from England two months earlier.f The 
Guardian arrived at the Cape on her passage from England 
in November, and put back to Table Bay after her accident 
on the 21st February, about a week before the Lady Juliana 
reached that port. It will thus be seen that the frigate 

* See letter from Baoks to Nepean, Historical Records, vol. i, part 2 
p. 229; letter from Banks to Q-renviJIe, and letter from Grenville to the Lords 
of the Admiralty.— lb., pp. 247-249. " At the Cape of Good Hope, Lieu- 
tenant Riou took on board a quantity of stock for the settlement, and com- 
pleted a garden which had been prepared under the immediate direction of 
Sir Joseph Banks, and in which there were near one hundred and fifty of the 
finest fruit-trees, several of them bearing fruit." — Collins, vol. i, p. 115. 

t *'The Guardian was a fast sailing ship, and would probably have arrived 
in the latter end of January or the beginning of February [1790]." — Collins, 
vol. i, p. 116, 



4D: THE WBBCK OF 

17^" made the passage from England to tlie Oape in two montlis^ 
while the storeship took at least seven months to cover the 
same distance* 

When on Christmas Day, 1789, the boats left what every- 
one regarded as a sinking ship, Riou went into his cabin 
A pathetic ^^^ WFoto a short but pathetic letter to the Secretary of the 
letter. Admiralty. It ran as follows : — 

"H.M. Guardian, 25 Dec, 1789, 
" Sir, « Lat 44' S., Long. 40° E. 

** If any part of the officers or crew of the Guardian should 
ever survive to get home, I have only to say their conduct after 
the fatal stroke agamst an island of ice was admirable and won- 
derful in everything that related to their duties, considered either 
as private men or on his Majesty's service. 

" As there seems to be no possibility of my remaining many 
hours in this world, I beg leave to recommend to the consideration 
of the Admiralty a sister, who, if my conduct or services should 
be found deserving any memory, their favours might be shown to 
her, together with a widowed mother.* I am, <fec., 

" E. Riou." 

A forlorn Riou was without hope, or, if he entertained any, it was 

°^ of the faintest kind, but he conceived it to be his duty to 

remain by the vessel.t He had only time to write a few 
lines, and he took advantage of the opportunity to praise the 
conduct of the oflSicers and crew, and to commend his mother 
and sister to the consideration of the naval authorities. He 
had no thought for himself but to express the hope that his 
memory might be honoured. This little note, written when 
death seemed to be close at hand, bears testimony to Riou's 
generosity and self-abnegation. But the brave officer was 
not to die then. After an heroic struggle, he brought the 

auhe^Ca Gr^^rdian into Table Bay, from which place, on the 22nd 
February, 1790, he wrote to the Secretary of the Admiralty 

* Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 286. 

t Williams, the boatswain, in a letter to his agents in London^ wrote :— 
" The commander had a strong resolution, for he said he would sooner go 
down in the ship than he would quit her." — Historical Records, vol. ii, p. 757. 



THE aUABDIAK. 41 

annoancing his arriral^ and stating that on the 25th Decern- ^^^ 
ber, " all hope of her safety being banished^ I consented to 
as many of the officers and people to take to the boats as 
thought proper. But it pleased Almighty God to assist my 
endeayours with the remaining part of the crew to arrive 
with his Majesty's ship in this bay yesterday." He was News of 
anxious that this note should reach the Admiralty before the ^ ^ 
loss of his ship could be reported^ but he was disappointed. 
The news of the condition in which the Guardian was when 
the boats put off from her had been carried to England, 
where it created a profound impression. 

No wonder that the report was received with dismay. 
The Guardian had been fitted out at great expense, and she lo« 
carried, besides nearly two years' provisions for the colony, ^°*^"*^ 
Sir Joseph Banks's '^ plant-cabin," upon which much care 
had been bestowed.* It also happened that one of the 
midshipmen who remained with Eiou in the water-logged 
ship was the Hon. Thomas Pitt, the only son of Lord 
Camelford, a near relative of Lord Chatham, First Lord of 
the Admiralty .f 

• " The Goardi&n, ahip-of-war, had puhlic Btor«8 to the amoant of £70,000 
on board, besides the priyftte property. Her deck was a complete garden." — 
Publiis Advertiser, 28th April, 17i)0. Cbllins says that the G-uardiau had on 
board, "with what waa in the Lady Juliana, two years* provisions, viz.: — 
295,344 pounds of flour, 149,856 pounds of beef, and 803,632 poands of pork 
for the settlement ; a supply of clothing for the marii^es serying on shore, and 
for those belongiog to the Sirius and Supply, together with a larg<» quantity 
of sails and cordage for those ships and for the uses of the colony ; sixteen 
chests of medicines ; fifteen casks of wine ; a quantity of blankets and bedding 
for the hospital ; and a large supply of unmade clothing for the convicts ; 
with an ample assortment of tools and implements of agriculture."— Collins, 
Tol. i, p. 115. 

t It is related in contemporary history that this young gentleman had shown 
a taste for the naval profession which had excited the highest disapproval on 
the part of his family. He was sent out with the Guardian in the hope that 
he might be cured of his passion for the sea. So at least asserts the Public 
Advertiser, which published, on the HOth April, 1790, a long account of the 
accident to the Guardian and her safe arrival at the Cape : — " Mr. Pitt had 
adopted the naval profession in positive opposition to the wishes of his noble 
parent, Lord Camelford. The voyage was ordered, by an injunction, to make 
the young gentleman suffer all the hardships of a seaman, to deter and disgust 
him from the pursuit." His impleasant experiences on board the Guardian 
do not appear to have had the desired eflTect^ for he afterwards joined Captain 
Tanoouverin his expedition with the Discovery and Chatham. In April, 1794, 



42 THE WRECK OF 

17B9 Eiou's second lettei** to the Admiralty was scarcely longer 

^^J than the first. He excused himself for its brevity because 
letter. ^ Dutch packet was about to sail for Europe, and because 
"I find it more necessary than ever to exert myself in order 
to prevent the ship from sinking at her anchors." But 
Eiou was not in a condition to write long despatches. He 
had suffered greatly from fatigue, exposure, and anxiety, 
and, according to his own statement, had been unable since 
the accident to hold a pen or keep a joumal.t He had sus- 
tained painful injuries — his hand had been crushed and his 
leg hurt — but he said nothing of these things to Mr. Secre- 
tary Stephens. 
De«cription8 It was part of Riou's duty as captain to furnish a detailed 
wreck. account of the accident to the Admiralty, but no such report 
has been found among the Records. Many accounts, how- 
ever, found their way to London, and were published in the 
newspapers of the time.J 

The The boatswain of the Guardian, John Williams, writing 

bofttflw&in's 

account. from Table Bay, on the 27th March, gave a blunt but 
interesting account of the accident and the perilous passage 
of the water-logged vessel to the Cape. According to his 
version, § the Guardian came into collision with an " island 
of ice," which knocked away the rudder, broke the tiller in 
three pieces, broke one of the after-beams in two, knocked 
the stempost from the keel, and '' damaged the ship in a 
shocking manner." The handful of men left on board had 

he arriyed at Sydney, where he learned that his father was dead. He sailed 
for England in the Indispensable, in July. When the news of the accident to 
the G-uardian reached England, Lord Camelford's heir was supposed to be 
lost with the others -who had remained on board, and the moment the unex- 
pected intelligence of Riou's arrival at the Cape was received at the Admiralty, 
Lord Chatham, we are told, set off in a chaise and four to convey the joyful 
intelligence to " his noble relation." 

• Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 310, 

t lb., p. 317. 

X A full narrative was published in the Annual Register for 1790. It will 
be found in Appendix B. A shorter account was embodied in a memoir of 
Captain Eiou, published in the Naval Chronicle for 1801. 

§ Williams's narrative wiU be found in the Historical Eecords, vol. ii, p. 
757. 



THE GUABDIAN. 43 

little hope of saving their lives, for the vessel was almost ^'®^ 
nnmanageable, and sixteen feet of water in the hold was 
'' the conunon rxm" 

An interesting account of the appearance of the vessel ^JJJ*^^ 
and her crew when she put back into the Cape of Good 
Hope was published in the Dublin Chronicle of 31st July, 
1790. She had nine feet of water in her hold when she 
anchored. The lower gun-deck is described as serving as 
a second bottom. Riou was clad in the '^ rags of the meanest 
saDor.'* The crew ^' looked like men from another world — 
long beards, dirt, and rags covered them." The captain 
declared that his principal care had been to keep up the 
spirits of his crew, and ^^ watch over their health."* 

The shattered condition of the Guardian and the fruitless Riou'8 
efEorts that were made to repair her are described in the the 
commander's letters to the Admiralty.f Riou exerted him- 
self to the utmost, but he had to give up the attempt. He 
wrote on the 7th March that the cost of repairing and 
refitting the ship would probably exceed that of a new one, 
and intimated his intention of having her towed to Saldhana 
Bay, where she could be hove down. 

Finding, however, that he could not get the vessel under 
weigh with any prospect of safety, he ordered a survey to 
be made of the hull, employing for the purpose the officers 
under his command, and asking also assistance from the ^£f^^ 
Governor of the Cape.f The master, boatswain, and car- 
penter of the Guardian reported that it would be impossible 
to put the ship in repair ; and two captains of the Dutch 
East India Company's ships and three carpenters, who 
surveyed the vessel at the request of the Governor of the 
Cape, made a similar report. § Thereupon, Lieutenant Riou, h?^**^ 
to save the useless expense of keeping the vessel afloat in *^**"' 

* Historical Records, vol. ii, p. 764. 

t Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, pp. 311, 317, 836. 

X The Cape of Good Hope was at tms time in the hands of the Dutch. 

§ lb., p. 336. 



a THE WBEOK 07 

1789 Table Bay, gave up the idea of taking her to Saldhana Bay, 
and had her hanled on shore, where she served for a time 
as a habitation for the crew. Her complete destruction by 
wind and weather was only a question of time. In the 
Naval Chronicle it is stated that the Guardian almost imme- 
diately after her return to the Gape was driven on shore in. 



An 



erroneous a hurricano and destroyed, and the statement is repeated by 
"^^ ' writers of Australian history, apparently on this authority. 
But Eiou's report to the Admiralty shows that nothing of 
the sort occurred. The vessel was deliberately laid on 
shore, and had not broken up when her commander left 
the Gape, 
conwcte The behaviour of the convicts on board the Guardian won 

on the 

Guardian. Riou's admiration and gratitude. "Writing from the Gape, 
on the 20th May, 1790,* he spoke of the twenty convicts 
which his duty compelled him to send to Port Jackson, and 
stated that but for their assistance and support the Guardian 
would never have got back to Table Bay. He added : — 
'^ Their conduct prior to the melancholy accident that hap- 
pened on the 23rd of December last was always such as 
may be commended, and from their first entrance into the 
t?na\^giSe ^^P ^* Spithead they ever assisted and did their duty in 
the ship, ij]jQ manner as the crew.^* With the object of encouraging 
the men in the hour of peril, Biou told them that so far as 
depended upon him " not one of them should ever be con- 
victs,'^ and he asked the Lords of the Admiralty, through 
Secretary Stephens, to give effect to his promise. Riou's 
confidence in the justice of the Admiralty was not misplaced. 
awndSionai ^^^ Suggestion was adopted, and on the 16th November, 
pardon. 1790, Grcuville wrote a letter to Gt)vernor Phillip directing 
him to issue his warrant for the pardon of the convicts in 
question, on condition, however, " of their continuing abroad 
in such parts or places as may be hereafter directed by you 
for the terms specified in their several sentences of trans- 
portation."t Phillip carried out his instructions, which he 

• Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 338. f lb., p. 414. 



THE GUAEDIAK. 45 

interpreted to mean that the convicts were to remain in the 1^89 
colony nntil their sentences had expired.* 

It is also satisfactory to know that Riou's conduct all A^Swy?^ 
through met with the approval of the authorities in Eng- 
land. Writing to him, on the 9th October, 1790, on behalf 
of the Lords of the Admiralty, Mr. Secretary Stephens 
wrote : — 

*' I have their Lordships' commands to acquaint you that their 
concern on the receipt of the melancholy contents of the first- 
mentioned letter [the letter of the 25th December, 1789] oou'd 
only be exceeded by the satisfaction they received from the 
account of your miraculous escape, which they attribute to your 
skilful and judicious exertions under the favour of Divine Provi- 
denca And I am further to acquaint you that their Lordships 
entirely approve of your having sent on to the settlement of New 
South Wales, by the transports which touched at the Cape on their 
way thither, such of the convicts and superintendents of convicts 
as had survived, and of all your other proceedings so far as the 
same have come to their knowledge. ''f 

This will hardly be considered extravagant praise under An oiBdai 
the circumstances, but it was not usual in those days for 
official approval to be expressed in anything but the coldest 
and briefest language. Phillip's services in New South 

* Historical Becoids, rol. i, part 2, p. 642. There was another oon- 
ditioD, viz., thafc only those who had behaved well in the colony should 
reoeiTe the pardon. SincCi according to Collins (vol. i, p. 193), only thirteen 
were emaDcipated (the warrants were signed in Deoember, 1791), it follows 
that six out of the nineteen who arrived at Sydney (one having died on the 
Toyage) forfeited the reward they had earned. One of them came to a 
had end ahortly after his arriral in the eolony. Haying stolen a sheep from 
the Commissaiy, Mr. Palmer, he was tried by the Criminal Courts conricted, 
sentenced to death, and executed. Phillip might hare felt disposed, con- 
sidering the sendees that had been rendsred by this man on board the 
Guardian, to show mercy, but the preservation of the live stock was a matter of 
vital importance to the settlement at the time, and the law was allowed to take 
its course. Collins finds it necessary to aoconnt for the GoTcmor's refusal to 
pardon in this case : — " The preservation of our stock was an object of so much 
oonsequenee to the colony, that it became indi^ensably necessary to protect it 
by every means in our power. Had any lenity been extended to this oJSender 
on account of his good conduct in a particular situation, it might have been 
the cause of many depredations being made upon the stogk, which it wm hoped 
his punishment would prevent." — Collins, toL i, p. 182. 

t Historical Becords, vol. i, pot 2, p. 406. 



46 



THE WRECK OP 



1780 



Piovisions 
saved from 
thewnck. 



Their 
disposal 



ofUtUe 
benefit to 
the colony. 



Wales during his five years' tenure of office were of in- 
calculable value, but the words of mild approval which he 
received in the official despatches were very meagre. 

The valuable cargo with which the Guardian was freighted, 
though greatly damaged, was not entirely lost. The salt 
provisions, with the exception of a few casks, were perfectly 
sound. About two hundred casks of flour, which had been 
stowed on the lower deck, were saved ; but all the clothing, 
naval stores, medicines, &c., had either been thrown over- 
board to lighten the vessel, or were more or less damaged. 
There was, unfortunately, no opportunity of sending more 
than a small part of the undamaged cargo to Sydney ; and 
dlEter being kept in store-houses, specially hired for the 
purpose, for a considerable time, the bulk of it was divided 
among the men-of-war which happened to put in at the 
Cape. Captain Blankett, who was in command of two men- 
of-war, the Leopard and the Thames, completed his provi- 
sions from the Guardian (October, 1790), thus avoiding the 
purchase of stores at the Cape, where everything was '^raised 
to an extravagant price.^'* As the Gorgon, from England to 
Port Jackson, was expected to arrive soon at the Cape, a 
portion of the stores was reserved for her use, and the rest 
left in the hands of agents for sale. The Gorgon did not arrive 
until the 22nd June, 1791, and in the interval the Govern- 
ment had been paying at the rate of 30 rix dollars each per 
month for the hire of two store-houses. The Chatham, 
Discovery, and Minerva, at different times, took portions of 
the stores, and the Gorgon having been supplied with what 
she wanted, the remainder, which was of little value, was 
sold by auction. What the Gorgon took on board was of 
some advantage, but on the whole the settlement profited 
very little from the valuable cargo sent by the Guardian ; 
the vessel, so far as the material wants of the colony were 
concerned, might as well have gone down at sea with 
everything on board. 

* Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, pp. 408-409. 



THE GUABJ)IAK. 47 

. The loss of tlie Guardian was not a public misfortune ^^®® 
only, it told severely on individuals in tlie community. 
Friends of the officers in England, knowing that they would ^JJJSi 
be in want of many necessaries, sent out supplies by this ^fli^iiAn 
vessel. Thinking that the gun-room was a safer place 
than the hold, these precious goods were stored in that 
part of the ship, but, as it happened, the choice was the 
very worst that could have been made. When the Guardian, 
after striking the iceberg, got clear off, she was found to be 
making water rapidly, and the first object of her commander 
was to lighten the ship. The live stock and Sir Joseph 
Banks's " plant-cabin" went overboard to begin with, and ov^JJ^ad 
then the gun-room was swept. Some of the officers, Collins 
says, were " great losers.'* All sorts and conditions of people 
at the settlement, therefore, had good reason to remember 
the loss of the Guardian.* 

The moral as well as the material welfare of the colony 
suffered. Among the persons on board the Guardian was the 
Eev. John Crowther, who had been appointed at ^' a salary The 
of eight shillings per diem" to be assistant chaplain of the crowther. 
settlement.f He was one of those who left the vessel in the 
long-boat, and was rescued with the master, Mr. Clements, 
and others by a French vessel, which took them to the Cape. 
Instead of waiting for an opportunity to continue the voyage 
to Port Jackson, Mr. Crowther made the best of his way He retiirn» 
back to England. The circumstances attending his appoint- 
ment and his return to England are told by the Rev. John 
Newton, of Olney (the friend and confidant of the poet 
Cowper), in a series of letters written by him to the Rev. R. 
Johnson, chaplain at Sydney. The correspondence forms part 

* '* Beside the common share which we all bore in this calamity, we had 
to lament that the efforts of our several friends, in amply supplying the wants 
that they concluded must hare been occasioned by an absence of three years, 
were all rendered ineffectual, the private articles having been among the 
first things that were thrown overboard to lighten the ship." — Ck)llin8, vol. i, 

L117. Tench says that " there was scarcely an officer in the colony that 
dnot his share of private property on board of this richly-freighted ship." 
t Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 2W). 



"48 THE WRECK OF 

1789 of a collection recently presented to the Religious Tract 

Society, London, by the daughter of Mr. George Stokes, 

Letters founder of the Parker Society,* Writing to Mr. Johnson in 

to JotUlflOXL _ _ 

November, 1789, Mr. Newton congratulated .his friend on 
being about to receive a valuable co-worker. "I judge,'' he 
said, '^ both from what Mr. Milner told me of him, and from 
what I had an opportunity of knowing of him myself, that he 
will prove a true helpmeet, a counsellor, and a friend.'' After- 
wards, it will be seen, his tone changed materially. Letters 
from Mr. Crowther reporting the accident to the Quardian 
and his arrival at the Cape were received on the afternoon of 
the 23rd April, " and the very next morning," wrote Mr. 
Newton, " he knocked at my door himself, so that he had 
nearly startled us by his arrival before we had the least 
intimation of what had happened." After saying that Mr. 
Crowther, although in good health, had given up the thought 
of going out to New South Wales, Mr. Newton remarked : — 
ScrowSer. "He is an upright good man, but does not seem to possess 
that firmness of spirit which, in my view, is essential to a 
missionary, and without which no man in his senses and with 
his eyes open would venture upon a voyage to Botany Bay." 
Returning to the subject a few months later (March, 1791), 
Mr. Newton lamented the difficulty that was experienced in 
obtaining a second chaplain, and described Mr. Crowther's 
attitude towards missionary work at "Botany Bay " in plain 
if not complimentary words : — 

"The door seems open, but you live in such an awkward, 
impromising comer of the Lord's great house that it is not easy 
to find a competent person willing to go to you. It is not a 
service for mere flesh and blood to undertake. A man without 
Intimidated that apostolic Spirit and peculiar call which the Lord alone can 
ties. ^ ' give would hardly be able to maintain his ground. Mr. Crowther, 
though a sincere, humble, good man, seems not to have had those 
qualifications, and therefore he has been partly intimidated by 
what he met with abroad, and partly influenced by nearer personal 
considerations at home, to stay with us and sleep in a whole skin." 

* Extracts from these papers will be found in the Historioal Becords, toI. ii. 



THE 6UABDIAK. 49 

Mr. Newton is somewhat hard on his brother-worker. 1780 
The sufferings and perils that Mr. Crowther went through 
in the voyage that ended so unfortunately were enough to 
discourage any ordinary man^ even though he possessed P^^f^Jfy. 
something of the missionary spirit; and, as time showed, »»««»«o'- 
the object of Mr. Newton's scorn was not alone in his desire 
to stop at home and ^^ sleep in a whole skin,'' rather than 
brave the dangers and difficulties that were supposed to 
belong to service in the '^ awkward, unpromising corner of 
the Lord's great house" known in England as '^ Botany Bay." 
Writing to Mr. Johnson nearly a year later (21st January, 
1792), Mr. Newton said : — "Nor have we yet been able to 
find a person in the ministry of faith and zeal sufficient to 
go over to your assistance."* The statement was repeated 
in a letter dated the 19th July, 1792.t 

The Rev. Mr, Newton and his associates were not the^ 
only persons in England who were concerning themselves 
with the difficult task of finding another chaplain for New 
South Wales. Writing to Mr. Dundas on the 7th of August, 
1792, Mr, William Wilberforce, the philanthropist, says : — wub«rforee, 

" Ever since I spoke to you in the chaise, as we were coming 
from Wimbledon, I have been looking out for some tit clergyman 
to go out as a chaplain to N. S. Wales, and the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, to whom I mention'd the matter immediately after, 
has been doing the same.^j: 

He went on to say that^ after almost despairing of success, 
he had found a clergyman named Porter, who, tl^ough ^« ^J!^ 
reluctantly, had consented to accept the *' situation,'^ and 
he asked for authority to tell Mr. Porter that he might 
have the appointment. What answer was returned to this 
letter does not appear, but Mr. Porter did not go to New 
South Wales. The reason is not disclosed in the Records, 
but there is no ground for supposing that any obstacle waa 

I * Historical Becords, yol. ii, p. 463. 

t lb., p. 473. 

X Letter from Wilberforce to Dundas. — Historical Records, vol. i, part 
2, p^ 834. 

vol.. II. — D 



50 rSE WfiBCK €^ 

^^V thrown in the w&y by Ihmda». The prolmbilitf is that 

when k; eajne to the poiacii the rehiotaiioe of Mr. WQber- 

f orce's protege had deepened into a reeKdntkm to decline the 

responsibilitj of missionaiy work in New Sooth Wales. 

Buttar In the meantime Mr. Johnson had to labonr on hj him- 

chapiAin. self, undoT Terj great disadrantages. He found anongli 

to do when the conntrj was first occnpied^ but the rapid 

increase in the eonrict papulation^ and the establishment 

of settlements at Pftrramatta and Toongabbie, placed the 

work bejond the power of one man. He was left in this 

^^ predicament until Maich^ 17d4, when the Ber. Samuel 

g^^;^^^®* Marsden, who had accepted the position of assistant chaiilain^ 

arriTed by the ship WiHiam. 

Altogether, the loss of the Guardian was a severe blow 
to the colony. She contained a large quant^ ef stores 
Anemr of which it would havo been more prudent to distribute among 
several Tessek. The mistake was pointed out by Phillip, and 
it was not repeated, but when the (Suardian struck the 
iceberg the mischief had been done. Sike left England before 
the settlement was in actual want, and if no disaster 
had hi^pened she would have arrived before the worst 
7>inch was felt. In January, 1790, when she should have 
.arrived at Port .Jackson, the ration had only been sightly 
reduced, operations in the fields had not been ser io a a ly 
interfered with, the live stock had not been sacri fi ced, and 
the Governor had not even considered the pwip r ietj ' of 
liiecBM- sending a large portion of the people to Norfolk Idand. 
But by the time the Lady Juliana arrived witii news of 
the accident to the Guardian the ration had been brought 
down almost to starvation point, the people were so reduced 
in strength that they were unable to cany on the cultiva- 
tion of the soil except in a desultory and ineffective way, 
and the Sirius had been sent on her disastrous voyage to 
Norfolk Island. 

A single accident is rarely followed by such grievous 
cotisequences. If the Guardian had come into port in 



THE GTTABDTAK. 51 

January or February, as she might reasonably have been ^^'^ 
expected to do, the people would not have been put on Privationg 
starvation allowance, the live stock would not have been 
destroyed, the cultivation of the land would not have been 
checked, and the Siriua would not have been cast away at 
Norfolk Island. The loss of the Guardian is therefore a 
memorable incident in Australian history, not only on account 
- of the heroism displayed by Riou and the huidf ul of men 
who assisted him, but by reason of the untoward iniBueiiee 
which the calamity exerted on the fortunes of the colony. 



52 



THE SECOND FLEET. 



1780 



ThoLody 
Juliana. 



The Second Fleet, that is to say tlie ships which were sent 
Slttitiiti ^^^ from England in the year 1789, consisted of six vessels — 
pieetT*"* the Guardian, man-of-war, converted into a storeship, the 
Justinian, which brought supplies but no convicts, and the 
Lady Juliana, the Surprize, the Neptune, and the Scar- 
borough, which carried altogether nearly 1,300 prisoners. 
The Guardian, as we have seen, was injured by an iceberg, 
and beached at Table Bay; the other vessels arrived safely, 
but under circumstances as discreditable as they were dis- 
tressing. The Lady Juliana, which had sailed from England 
on the 29th July, 1789, entered the Heads on tiie afternoon 
of the 3rd of June, 1790, and on the 6th, after a delay of 
three days, caused by bad weather, she was towed up to 
Sydney Cove. As she brought the first direct news from 
England that had been received since the Sirius and her 
convoy left the Motherbank in May, 1787, more than three 
years before, her arrival excited the liveliest joy among the 
half -starved and almost despairing people. But the feeling 
cooled considerably when it was found that the Lady Juliana 
carried over two hundred female convicts, and had on 
board only a small quantity of provisions, a portion of which 
consisted of stores saved from the wreck of the Guardian. 
It was better than nothing, but it was not sufficient to 
justify any material alteration in the meagre ration which 
had been the rule for many months.* The disappointment 

* CoUinB in bis acoount of New South Wales remarks that : — *' In the 
distressed situation of the colony, it was not a little mortifying to find on 
board the first ship that arriyed, a cargo so unnecessary and unprofitable as 
two hundred and twenty-two females, instead of a cargo of provisions ; the 
supply of provisions on board her was so inconsiderable as to permit only an 
. addition oi one pound and a half of flour being made to the weekly ration." — 
Collins, Tol. i, p. 118. 



A shipload 
o< women. 



THE SECOND FLEET. 53 

of Phillip can be easily imagined. He tad impressed upon ^'^ 
Lord Sydney* and Evan Nepeant the necessity of restrict- ™S|^ 
ing the transportation of convicts for a year or so, to car- ^K^oroi 
penters, masons, bricklayers, and farmers, who could support 
themselves and help to support others. His request was 
answered by a shipload of helpless women, many of them 
'' loaded with the infirmities incident to old age.^J 

But although the Lady Juliana was a sore disappointment. News from 
the intelligence she brought of the illness and recovery of 
King George III, and the outbreak of the French Revolution, 
excited the keenest interest, and caused some of the com- 
munity at all events to forget for a time their hardships and 
their fears. And while the loss of the Guardian, which the 
Lady Juliana reported, was a great calamity, it was some 
consolation to find that an attempt had been made to pro- 
vide for the wants of the colony, and that but for an unfor- 
tunate accident relief would have arrived early in the year.§ 

If want had not ceased to knock at the door, the hungry 
people could yet rejoice at the King's restoration to health. 
The officers drew up an address to his Majesty, which was to^^^Sg, 
handed to Phillip for transmission to England, and a day of 
thanksgiving was appointed, on which occasion the convicts 
were excused from work, and a full ration was issued to 
everyone in the settlement. || 

* Historical Becords, yol. i, part 2, p. 147. f lb., p. 153. 

X CoUins, vol. i, p. 119. 

§ *' We now heard for the first time of our Sovereign's illness, and bis happy 
restoration to health. The French Revolution of 1789, with all the attendant 
circumstances of that wonderful and unexpected event, succeeded to amaze 
us. Kow, too, the disaster which had befallen the G-uardian, and the liberal 
and enlarged plan on which she had been stored and fitted out by Government 
for our use, was promulged. It served aJso, in some measure, to account why 
we had not sooner beard from England. For had not the Guardian struck on 
an island of ice, she would probably have reached us three months before, 
and in this case have prevented the loss of the Sinus, although she had 
Bailed from England three months after the Lady Juliana." — Tench, Complete 
Account^ pp. 46, 47. 

II " A general thanksgiving to Almighty G-od, for his Majesty's recovery, 
and happy restoration to his family and subjects, was ordered to be offered 
up on the following Wednesday, when all public labour was suspended, and 
every person in the settlement attended at church, where a sermon suited to 
an occasion at once so full of gratitude and solemnity, was preached by the 



54 THE SEOOHB IPLEBT. 

*•■• Tie inordinately long passage c£ the Lady Jnliana was* 

nnfoxianate. She brought^ it is true^ only a small quantity 
of provisions^ hat if she had arrived a few months earlier 
it womld have been known in the colony that arrangements 
had been made to send out relief, and the knowledge wonld 
have enconraged and supported the people in the trials they 
were anderg(»ng. Why this ship was ddayed so long is 
Voyage not explained in the official reports^ whidi do little more 
Jnliana than rooord her arrival and departure. Collins and Tench 
both note the extraordinary length of the voyage, bnt 
neither gives any reason for it. Collins certainly tdUb ns 
that the rapid voyage of the Justinian^ which was made in 
half the time, was owing to the fact that she '^touched 
only at St. Jago, avoiding, as she had not any convicts on 
board, the circoitoas passage by the Rio de Janeiro and 
the Cape of Good Hope.'' This latter route had been taken 
by the First Fleet, so that supplies of water, fresh pro- 
visions, and live stock might be obtained on the way. Some 
vdttuh^ of the fleet sailed badly, and time was lost in keeping the 
^^lUifc ships together. Yet the voyage was completed by Phillip 
in less than eight months. The Lady Juliana, unem- 
barrassed by a convoy, and not required to obtain supplies 
for the colony, was ten months on the voyage. How time 
was wasted may be seen from the fact that she remained 
seven weeks at Rio and a month at the Cape. It is hardly 
possible to avoid the conclusion that the voyage was pur- 
posely prolonged. The loss of time at both places is the 
more noticeable from the fact, stated by Collins, that the 
Government had placed a naval officer, lieutenant Thomas 
Edgar, on board, to see that justice was done to the 
oonvicts, ''and to guard against any delays on the voyage."* 

Bererend Biehttrd JoHnaon, dhapUin of the colony. AU tbe oiBoers w«r 
afterwardc entertained at dinner by the Governor, and in the evening SB 
address to his Excellency expressive of gratitude and loyalty irat amed v^ob, 
and in two days after was presented, and very fjraciouBly receiyed." — Tenoh, 
Oom{dete Aocotoii, p. 47. Thernddress is pnbnshed in the Hiatorioal Seooida» 
vol. i, part 2» p. 844. 

• C<^liB8> vol. i, p. 116. lieutenant Edgar had sailed with Captain Cook on 
his last TOTrnge. fle held the post of maatar on the Discovery. 



THE SBOOOD} XIiEaBK. 5fi 

A few liseeks after Ae armal oi the Lady Jaliana the ^^^ 
JoBtiiisaii «Btered the harbaor^ witih a large cargo of pro- ibe^ 
yisioBS, and fora time tbere was plenty in the land.^ She 
left England m Jaiumry^ 1 790, and had been only five months 
on the passage. Tench contrasts the Toyage of the Lady 
Juliana with that of the Justinian, and shows that the latter 
went from England to Jamaica and back, and from England y^^^ 
to Australia, in less time than was occupied by the former 
in performing the single yoyage.f He does not accuse 
the commander of the Lady Juliana, but, inf erentially, his 
praise of the myanagement of one ship is a censure upon 
that of the other. 

In reporting ihe acrivsl of the Eoyal Admiral more than Jf*yjf\^ 
two yeaxB afterwards, Collins makas a pointed allusion to JuUana 
the Tf^age of the Lady Juliana. He mentions in his reo(»*d 
of ev^ents for Oafcoher, 1792, t}tat the superintendent of con- 
victs on boaid ihxk vesari was '^ Mr. Bichard Alley, who 
formerly belonged to the Lady Juliana, transport, in quality 
of surgeon, in the memorable voyage of that ship to this 
colony; a voyage that could never be thought on by any 
inhabitant of it without exciting a most painful sensation.'^it 

* " On liie day following her uriTal, everything seemed geUang iirto its 
fanner tram ; the full ntion wm ordered to be iaaned^ inatsAd of daily, it 
was to he serred weekly as formerly ; and the drum for labour was to beat as 
usmA in the afternoons at one o'clocJk.* — ColliB^ -n^. i, p. fn. 

t^ We wese joyfnOy sarprised on the aotk of thn nanth [Jne, 1706] to 
see another sail enter the harhoor. She proved to be the Justinian^ transport^ 
commanded hy Captam Mainland ■; and aur rapture waa doubled on finding 
that she was laden -entiBely with movimonB for aar use. . . . This ship 
had left falmouth on the preceaing 20th of January, and completed her 
passage esaetly in five montiia. Accident only prevented her,** Tench adds 
in a footnoti^ '* from making it [the passage from England] in eighteen days 
less, for she wss then in sight of the harbour's mouth, when an unpropitious 
gide of wind blew her aff; ctberwise sibe would hsM reached us one day 
sooner than the Lady Juliana. It is a curious circumstance that these two 
sUdb had sailed togedier from ilie awsr Thames, one hound to Port Jaokson, 
ana the etiier bound to Jamaica. The Justiaisn eaisaed her cargo to the 
last-mentioiied place, landed it, and loaded afeeah wath sugars, which Ae 
wiamfld with, and delivered in London. She was thaoa hired as a transport, 
Bladen, wad sailed for New South Waka. list it be Mmemhered that no 
mstniiil aaoident had happened to either vcessel. But what will not sealand 
dJKfwicw aooonplishr' — Tenah« Complete Aoooonit, p, 40L 

I Oollins, vol. i, p. 238. 



56 THE SECOND PLEEU 

1790 Why a remark of this kind should have been made so lon^ 
SiSftiK* ^f *®r til© arrival of the vessel, instead of at the time, may be 
Adi^^rSf^** accounted for on the supposition that the ^' painful" circum- 
stances of the voyage were not at first known.* 

The nature of the facts which created such a profound 
impression upon society at Sydney Cove is left to conjec- 
ture j but a remarkable correspondence between the move- 
ments of the Lady Juliana and those of another transport (thft 
Kitty), which arrived two years later, suggests a possible 

oompa^D. solution of the mystery. The Lady Juliana carried female 
convicts, and so did the Kitty. The former vessel was 
ten months on the passage ; the latter eight. Intentional 
delay in the case of the Lady Juliana may be suspected ; that 
the Kitty, which followed the same route, was purposely 
delayed is officially stated by the naval agent on board. 
Lieutenant Woodriff,t who made a formal complaint on the 
subject to Governor Phillip. The Kitty called at Rio de 
Janeiro, and although the repairs she required might have 
been made in a week or ten days, she remained in that port 

Sfthe Kitty. ^^^ ^^^ wccks. It was neccssary to put into False Bay for 
the purpose of stopping a leak, and after leaving that port, 
Lieutenant Woodriff, who was instructed to '' expedite as 
much as possible her then intended voyage," urged the 
master to make more sail. For doing this he was '^ grossly 
insulted and abused." Lieutenant Woodriff also reported 
that the vessel on the voyage from the Cape to Sydney was 
brought to in a fair wind, when she might have been kept 
on her course. These delays, in his opinion, were '^in- 
tended," and accounted for the length of the voyage. He 
had done all he could to prevent them, but had been set at 

* It is possible that Gollins Tras led to refer to this matter bj the fact that 
the voyage of the Royal Admiral was the quickest then on record from the 
Cape to Sydney, yiz., &ye weeks and three days. 

t Lieutenant Woodriff was promoted to the rank of commander on 18th 
September, 1795. On the 25th April, 1802, he was appoints captain, and 
later in the same year he was placed in command of the Calcutta, which 
sailed with the expedition for Fort Phillip under Collins. — Historical Becords, 
Tol. ii, p. 80 (note). 



THB SECOND TLBBT. 57 

defiance.'*' The naval agent on board tlie Lady Jidiana, ^^^^ 
Lientenant Edgar, does not appear to have made any com- 
plaint against the master of the Lady Juliana. If he did, 
it finds no place in the Records. 

A few days after the arrival of the Justinian, three other The 
transports, the Surprize, the Scarborough, and the Neptune, scar- 
came into port.t The shameful sacrifice of human life that and 
took place on board these ships during the voyage excited 
the greatest indignation both in the colony and in England. 
The treatment of the convicts on board these vessels appears 
to have been marked by the most callous indifference to 
suffering and disregard of human life. The episode forms 
the blackest chapter in the history of Australian transpor- 
tation. The three vessels (the Neptune, Surprize, and 
Scarborough) sailed from England with 1,006 male and 
eighty-nine female convicts.J By the time they had arrived d«^im» 
at Port Jackson, 267 persons, including eleven women, had voyage, 
perished ; a large number of those brought into port were 
in a dying condition, and of the remainder at least one-half 
had to go into the hospitals and tents on shore, where many and after 
of them died, some a few hours, others a few days, after 
their reception. On the 17th July, 1790 (about three weeks 
after the vessels arrived), Phillip reported to the Home 
Secretary that fifty had died since landing. Four hundred 
and fifty more were on the sick-list, and of the remainder 
many had '* barely strength to attend to themselves.^'§ 

The cause of the sickness and death on board these vessels oxot- 
ifl only too apparent. Not only was there overcrowding, 
but those in charge aggravated the evil by keeping the 
convicts below, where they were constantly breathing foul 
air. Only a few were allowed on deck at a time, and even 
when this privilege was extended to them they were so 

* Lieutenant Woodriffs letter to Phillip, 19th Noyember, 1792, ia printed 
in the Hittorical Records, yoL ii, p. 483. 
t 26th and 28th June. 
i Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 355. § lb., p. 362. 



58' TBM SEOOHD SLBET* 

^^M heonrily ironed tluii; they oouM Bcaraelf more. The {atibam 
Slave- with which the limbs of these haiilesB people were eonfiBed 

chains. . 

were alleged to have been prerionaly emfiojed in the Afncm 
..aye trade;* they were veritBible instroBieBte of torinze. 
These terrible shackled were placed upon the conyicts indis- 
criminately, and once having been put on they do not appear 
t^ottaMDt ^ have been removed until the end of the voyage or death 
of oQBviAK relieved the unhappy wearers from their sufferings* The 
irons were kept on even when the prisoners were &inting 
from illness and exhaustion ; many of them, indeed^ died in 
their fetters. This was not all. Although the ships were 
well provisioned, the ration supplied to the convicts was cut 
down, BO that starvation was added to the sufferings which 
these miserable men had to endure* It was stated that 
when one of a gang died in his chains his fellow-prisoners^ 
under the pressure of hunger, concealed the &ct until 
putrefaction made concealment no longer possible, so tiiat 
they might share among them the dead man's allowance. 
sourvj-, Under such circumstances it is not surprising that scurvy, 
andf6ver/ dysentery, and fever raged among the convicts, and that 
the unfortunate people died wholesale. Phillip, who would 
have been justified in writing more strongly on the point, 
advised the Secretary of State, on the 13th July, 1790, to 
the following effect : — 

** I will not, sir, dwell on the scene of misery wHch the hos- 
pitals and sick-tents exhibited when ihose people were landed, 
but it would be a want of duty not to say that it was ooeasioned 
by the contractors having crowded too many on board those 
uaoaad ships, and from their being too much confined during the passage, 
crowdinir ... I believe, sir, while the masters of the transports think 
ment. titeir own safety depends on admitting few cxinvicts on deck at a 

time, and most of ^asm with irons on, which prevent any kind of 
exercise, numbers must always perish on so long a voyage ; and 
many of those now received are in soch a sitaatiMEi from old oon- 
plaints, and so emaciated from what thej have suffered on the 

* This statement rests on the authoritj of Cdptain Hill, one of th« oAoers 
of the N.S.W. Corps, who came out in the Surpriie. — Blstorifldl Xeooxds, 
vol. i, part 2, p. 867. 



TSEB SfeCCSSTD KJ5BT, S0 

yqys^ th»t they nerer 'will be capable ol any labonr. . . • ^'^f^ 
By ibe aorgeon's retnxns of this day tfasre are 4Sd under medioal 
treatment ; when the ahips arrived we had not fifty pec^le sick 
in the colOTiy.''* 

Phillip spoke in general terms from information that had 
been supplied to him, bat it happens that with regard to 
the transactions on board of one of the transports, at least, 
we have a tmstworfchy eye-witness. The ships brought out 
detachments of the New South Wales Corps. That on 
board the Surprize was commanded by Oaptain William onMn 
Hill, wlio has written a graphic and touching account of account. 
the horrors that came under his observation. His narrative 
was sent to the philanthropist, William Wilberf orce.f 

So deep an impression did the horrors of the voyage 
make upon Captain Hill that he declared that he should 
never recover his accustomed vivacity and spirits. What 
made these dreadful scenes the harder to witness was his 
inability to interfere. He was in command of a detachment 
of troops, but he had no control over the management of the 
convicts. They were entirely at the mercy of the masters of his inabuity 

TT3T-I nj *° interfere. 

the transports. ^' Had I been empowered," he wrote, '^ it 
would have been the most grateful task of my life to have 
prevented so many of my fellow-creatures so much misery 
and death.'' 

The Bev. Richard Johnson, chaplain of the settlement, 
visited the Surprize soon after her arrival, and saw for him- 
self the state of affairs on board. His version:^ .of the con- The 
dition of the convicts on this vessel bears out all that Captain account? " 
QSl had written. 

After visiting the Surprize, Mr. Johnson went on board 
the Scarborough, but the condition of the convicts was so 
revolting that the captain dissuaded him from going below. 

* ffittovioftl Beoordft, taL i, part % pp. 86<lr^a6S. 

t CbfitMA HiU'B nanatiTe will be iaimd printed at kngtk in the ffietDiiflri 
Beeoicb, vol. i, part 2, pp. 866-868. 

X Mr. Johnson's j»tat«ment will be found pnnted at lengtkisi ihe fiiftorical 
Becords, toI. i, part 2, pp. 886-389. 



$0 THE SECOKD FLEET. 

1789 The Nepture was so mucli '^ more wretched and intolerable " 
that lie did not require dissuading. After the survivors had 
been landed, Mr. Johnson obtained information from the 
convicts as to the treatment they had received on board the 
different vessels. They allege that " for a considerable time 
together they had been to the middle in water, chained 
together hand and leg, even the sick not excepted — ^nay, 
many died with their chains upon them.''* 

prSwtttoO. When the transports returned to England public attention 
was directed to this shameful sacrifice of human life. In- 
formation was laid on oath by several of the crew and 
marines, charging the master (Donald Trail) and chief mate 
(William Ellington) of the Neptune with causing the death 
of a number of convicts by curtailing their allowance of 
food and water. It was also alleged that when the ship 
arrived at Sydney they opened a warehouse on shore, and 
sold the provisions which the convicts ought to have had. 
The substance of the affidavits was published in the Dublin 
Chronicle of 1st December, 1791.t Trail and Ellington were 
subsequently charged with the wilful murder of two of the 
crew of the Neptune and one convict, J but they both fled 

* Collins (vol. i, pp. 122, 123) thus describes the condition of these people 
when thev arrived at Sydney : — " The appearance of those who did not re- 
quire medical assistance was lean and emaciated. Several of these miserable 
people died in the boats as they were rowing on shore, or on the wharf as 
they were lifting out of the boats ; both the living and the dead exhibiting 
more horrid spectacles than had ever been witnessed in this country. All 
this was to be attributed to confinement, and that of the worst species — con- 
finement in a small space and in irons, not put on singly, but many of them 
chained together. On board the Scarborough a plan had been formed to 

take the ship This necessarily, on board that ship, occasioned 

much future circumspection ; but Captain Marshall's humanity considerably 
lessened the severity which the insurgents might naturally have expected. 
On board the other ships, the masters, who had the entire direction of the 
prisoners, never suffered them to be at large on deck, and but few at a time 
were permitted there. This consequently gave birth to many diseases. It 
was said that on board the Neptune several had died in irons; and what added 
to the horror of such a circumstance was that their deaths were concealed, 
for the purpose of sharing their allowance of provisions, until chance and the 
offensiveness of a corpse directed the surgeon, or someone who had authority 
in the ship, to the spot where it lay." 

t Historical Becords, vol. ii, p. 791. 

jib., p. 462. 



THE SECOND FLEET. 61 

the country before either of the charges came on for trials '^'^ 
and no farther trace of their movements can now be f onnd. 

Apparently no attempt was made to refute the charges '^^Lj-to 
until some months afterwards. In WoodfalVs Register of ^^SSiivea. 
the 4th August, 1792,* the contractors (Messrs. Camden, 
Calvert, and King) published a copy of their instructions 
to the captain of the Neptune, accompanied by a '^ Statement 
of tie proceedings of Donald Trail, master of the Neptune, 
during his passage to Port Jackson.'^t This statement bears 
no signature, but contains internal evidence of having been 
written by an eye-witness. It was stated therein that the mtreat- 

•' •' , mentof 

convicts had been ironed with the cognisance and under «*°]^ 
the inspection of the Government Agent (Lieutenant Shap- 
cote), and that those who were of good character or sick 
were exempt. Abundant opportunities, it was alleged, had 
been afforded for the convicts to get fresh air and exercise. 
In regard to the provisions, the whole responsibility was 
cast upon the Government Agent, who attended in person 
to the serving of provisions. Three pints of fresh water, convicts' 
in addition to that required for cooking their food, were <>' water, 
allowed each convict daily. No neglect in serving out the 
provisions and water, regularly and to the full amount, had 
occurred, except on the passage from the Cape to Sydney, 
when it was admitted that it was occasionally prevented by 
excessively rough weather. The statement that convicts 
concealed the deaths of their comrades to share the dead 
men's rations was denied ; and it was claimed that had this oonoeaiinip 
been the case " convicts in the adjoining cabins, not re- oomradea. 
ceiving any advantage from the dead men's rations, would 
certainly have discovered and complained of dead bodies 
being kept amongst them."J 

This attempt to defend the captain is somewhat weakened 
by the fact that he had not sufficient confidence in it to 
remain in England and make it himself. Nor is this all. The 
The Government Agent, on whose shoulders the entire blame Agentf" 

• Historical Becorde, yol. ii, p. 750. f lb., p. 802. J lb., p. 806L 



:62 THZ BEOQSrXI TXEDT. 

^^"^ was laid^ bad, at tlte time this defence was pnUifiked, been 
dead nearly two jeaxB.* 'So attempt whatever was made to 
aceoimt for the ezK)nnoti& loss of haman life. The statement 
in defence^ it must be remembered^ was purely an ex parie 
one, made by the most int^ested parties — the cantracton. 
It is probable that somie of the asaertions of the snrTiying 
convicts were exaggerated; but> on the whole, there is every 

The weight reason to believe that the statements of independoat parties, 

^^' particularly Captain Hill and the Eev. Richard Joihnson^ are 

true in the main, and that the treatment of the ocmvicts, on 

these vessels— e&pedally the Neptune — was inhuman in tbe 

extreme. 

As soon as the transports had come to anchor, the work 
of disembarkation was hurried forward. Many of the cob- 

of ^^d8. ^^^^ were unfit to be moved at all ; numbers of them expiamd 
when they were brought up on deck, or in the boats whidi 
conveyed them to the shore. No attempt was made to 
strengthen or reectore thenu Gammon humanity required 
that they should be given a chance of Hf e, now that the 
long and painf nl voyage was over ; but, instead dE being 
carefully treated and tenderly handled, they were ^ slung 
aver the ship's side in the same manner as they would dmg 
a cask, a box» or anythiDg of that nature.^' Nor did tixe 
barbarity with which these wretched beings were trested 
during the voyage and at its close end with their miserable 

COTvictB' lives, for, according to Mr. Johnson, the bodies of a uum- 

bodies OMt ° • 

^;g^ ber of men who had died before they could be taken to 
land were thrown into the harbour; they presently drifted 
on shore, wh^e — scandalous spectacle — they were seen lying 
'^ naked upon the iDcks.'' Mr. Johnson ^'took an oceaskm 
to represent this to his Excellency, in consequera^e of which 
immediate orders were sent on board that those who died 
on board should be carried to the opposite north shore and 
be buried." 

•IJffuiamiit Shapeote difld SB ilw panage from tfa»C^ie of €h)od Hoi^ 
Sydney, under circumstances which aroused suspicion of foul plaj. — ^Historical 
'Aec^orofl, voU ii, p. 8QS. 



THE SECOND f UQBT. 6S 

It mw no €887 xBfttter to find acoooantodttfcica for fire I'^BQ 
hmicbed mk people. Tkere was xme hoepital bvilding, Imt Hospital 
it only lud room lor aeventy or eiglit j pec^e ; f orkmately^ datkn. 
IioweTer, a portable liospital had been brougkt oat from 
EngTawd in the Jnatiniaii, and this was erected after a delay 
of more tban a f ortanight. It was said to ba¥e been put 
together in Eogland in a few.boacs,'^ but it was not ready 
for oGcnpstion until the 7tb Jnly. Wben erected^ it was 
''filled in a few minntes/^ Sydney Cove must at that time 
have presented a painful spectacle. Pbillip^s brief allusion 
to the " scene of misery '' in Hie hospitals and sick-tents is a scene 

, of misery. 

aU that we hare officially in the way of descripti<m. The 
omifiskm, however, is well supplied by Mr. Johnson, and 
there are also the published accounts of CoUins and Tench^ 
whoj like the chaplain, were eye-witnesses. From the 
accounts given by these officers, we learn that, when landed^ 
" great numbers were not able to walk, nor to move hand 
or foot.'' The spectacle must have been truly affecting ; 
some of the strongest were to be seen carrying or leading 
their helpless comrades; others '' creeped upon their hands 
and knees.'' 

l^e difficulty of hofUBiDg so large a number of sick and 
helplesB people can be easily imagined : it was inscreased 
by the scarcity of bedding. About one hundred tents^ each ^J^^^ 
capaUe of accommodating four convicts^ were erected ; a 
quantity of grass was collected for them to lie upon^ and 
one blanket was supplied to each tent. It must be remem- 
bered that this was in July, the middle of our winter. It 
was BO uncommon octmrrence to find in the mcnming that 
the strongest of the four convicts had appropriated the 
blanket, and left his unfortunate bedfellows to shift as best 
they could.t An eye-witnessj; tells us : — " The morning a struggle 
generally opened with the attendants of the sick passing existence. 

^ Oolfins, ToL. i, f. 125. 

t Hi^iorioBl Beoordsy toL i, pftrt 2, pp. 866-989. 

i CkiOha, ToL i,^p. 125. 



64: 



THE SECOKB PLEET. 



1789 



Bedding 
for the flick. 



Payment 
pereapitti. 



An 

inlquitons 

system. 



frequently backwards and forwards from the hospital to the 
burying-ground with the miserable victims of the night/* 

The fact that proper bedding was not famished for the sick 
people in the tents may seem to point to want of humanity 
or want of system on the part of the authorities at Sydney, 
but it must be remembered that nearly five hundred sick 
men were landed suddenly. in a settlement that was ill- 
supplied with the necessaries of life^ and that blankets and 
clothing were very scarce articles. These wants had been 
mentioned repeatedly in the letters sent to England^ and a 
large supply had been put on board the Guardian. That 
stock, however, was not available, and it does not appear 
that the other storeship, the Justinian, brought anything for 
the use of the colony beyond provisions. 

Why the convicts on board these ships suffered so severely 
is plainly to be seen. In the first place, the British Govern- 
ment acted upon a wrong principle in making its trans- 
portation arrangements. The contractors were paid so 
much per head for the convicts shipped in England, in- 
cluding maintenance on the voyage. The amount paid over 
was the same, whether all the prisoners arrived safely at 
their destination, or whether half of them had been thrown 
overboard in the English Channel.* The contractors, as 
represented by their agents (the masters of the transports), 
had therefore no interest in preserving life ; on the contrary, 
every death was a gain. The greater the mortality the 
larger the profit. 

The same principle operated with regard to the ration. 
If it was cut down, the saving of provisions thus made was 
so much money in pocket. Captain Hill had this in view 

• ** A contract had been entered into by Government with Messn. Calvert, 
Camden, and King, merchants, of London, for the transporting of one thou- 
sand convicts, and Government engaged to pay £17 7b. 6d. per head for every 
convict they embarked. This sum being as well for their provisions as for 
their transportation, no interest for their preservation was created in the 
owners, and the dead were more profitable (if profit alone was consulted by 
them, and the credit of the house was not at stake) than the living.* *-i-CollinBy 
Tol. i, p. 128* See also Tench, Complete Account, pp. 60, 51« 



THE SECOND PLEET. 65 

when he wrote so indignantly to Mr. Wilberforce about ^'^^ 
"the villany, oppressions and shameful peculation of the 
masters of two of the transports/'* That the enormities 
committed on these vessels were not overlooked is shown 
by a passage in Dundas's despatch, to Phillip, written on 
the 10th January, 1792:— 

" The distresses to which the convicts sent out in the three ships An inquiry 
were exposed during their voyage to New South Wales is a subject 
into which the strictest enquiry will be made, in order to the 
bringing to punishment the persons who have been the cause of 
that shocking calamity." 

On the same date, Mr. John King, who was acting as 
Under Secretary at the Honie Office in the absence of Mr. 
Nepean, wrote : — 

"Several affidavits have been taken since the return of the 
Neptune respecting the inhuman treatment said to have been 
offered to these people, with a view to the prosecution of the 
persons who were the cause of it, and in consequence of which the Flying 
master, it is reported, has absconded." 

In his despatch of the 15th May, 1792, Dundas told 
Phillip that he had " thoroughly investigated" and " taken 
the necessary steps to bring forward the conduct of the 
parties concerned in the treatment of the convicts on board 
the Neptune, Surprize, and Scarborough.'^ Although, as 
stated on a previous page, nothing came of these proceed- 
ings, it is apparent, at any rate, that the British Government ^^^^ 
was aware of the outrage that had been conunitted, and authorities. 
recognised its responsibility in the matter. The responsibility 
was not a light one. It is true that the Government had 
appointed a naval officer. Lieutenant Shapcote, to take 

* Hiitorical Beoords, rol. i, port 2, p. 367. While the masters of the 
traniportfl neglected the convicts committed to their charge, they looked after 
their own interests sharply enough. " Although," wrote Tench. •* the convicts 
had landed from these ships [Neptune, Surprize, and Scarborough] with every 
mark of meagre misery, yet it was soon seen that a want of room, in which 
more conreniences might hare been stowed for their use, had not caused it. 
Several of the masters of the transports immediately opened stores, and ex- 
posed large quantities of goods to sale, which, though at most extortionate 
prices, were eagerly bought up." — Tench, Complete Account, p. 51. 

VOL. II. — K 



S6 .THE SECOND FLEET. 

1790 charge of the fleet and look after the convicts. If the 
instructions given to this oflSoer had been carried out, the 
abuses which disgraced the Second Fleet would have been 
impossible. He was directed : — 

S&o^na. '"^^ ^^®^* *^® ®^^P® ^ frequently on the passage as opportunities 
offer, and see they are wash'd and air'd, and that the convicts are 
kept clean, have their cloaths shifted and washed, and as much air 
given them as possible, consistent with their safety ; and that the 
sick are kept seperate, and the place allotted for them fumigated 
when necessary ; that they are supplied with wine and other neces- 
saries when required by the surgeon ; and that justice is done to 
the whole of them on board, agreeable to contract."* 

These instructions indicate a proper concern for the wel- 
fare of the convicts, but unfortunately they were of no 
An effect. One man could not possibly keep watch over three 

tost * vessels, which were liable, from the accidents of wind and 
weather, to be separated from each other for many days at a 
time. This difficulty, which does riot seem to have occurred 
to the Government, rendered all precautions nugatory. But 
whatever protection the naval agent may have afforded to 
the prisoners, it was given for only a part of the voyage, 
and it was on the passage from the Cape to Sydney, after 
A diBnatrouB the death of Lieutenant Shapcote, that the worst of the 

voyasre* 

atrocities were committed. When the vessels arrived at 
the Cape many deaths had occurred (sixty-nine), and the 
convicts were suffering from scurvy. In his report to the 
Commissioners of the Navy, dated from the Neptune, in 
False Bay, 24th April, 1790, Shapcote says : — 

" The soldiers and convicts, to a very large number, are exceed- 
ing ill with the scurvy, and as our stay here will be short, I have, 
in consequence of representations from the surgeon's mate of the 
troops and the different surgeons of the ships, ordered the masters 
to issue to them fresh meat every day, with a sufficient quantity 
of vegetables."t 

* Historical Heoords, toI. ii, p. 487. 

t Hi£toi*ical Beoords, toL i, part 2, p. SJkk 



THE SECOND PLBET. 67 

If the tpoops> who had the advantage of free access to ^'^ 
the decks, and were not cheated out of their allowance of Health 

' ^ ^ of the 

food, were '^ exceeding ill with the scurvy/' it is easy to aoidien. 
understand how much worse must have been the condition 
of the convicts^ who were kept in close confinement and 
deprived of a part of their ration. It may be presumed that 
the soldiers received the fresh meat that was ordered for 
them at the Cape — ^their officers would have seen to that — 
but it is doubtful whether much of that sort of food, if any, 
found its way into the mouths of the helpless convicts. 

But so loose was the system of transportation in the early powcw 

_- _ T-ii -i-i of the naval 

days that even when a naval agent had the sole charge agmte. 
of a ship he experienced much difficulty in carrying out 
his instructions. The Boddingtons, which was sent from 
Ireland in 1793, had a most successful voyage. Only 
one death occurred from her departure from Cork to her 
arrival at Sydney, and the convicts all landed in good 
health.* This result seems to have been entirely due to 
the exertions of Surgeon Kent, who was in charge in surgeon 

■ Kentk 

the double capacity of superintendent and medical officer. 
He received elaborate instructions. He was ordered to 
^^ enforce a compliance with the several stipulations made 
with the contractor," and to see that medicines and 
necessaries were provided by the contractor, and duly and 
properly administered during the voyage. So far as the 
supplies were concerned there was no room for complaint. 
The provisions were good, and everything contracted for 
was supplied in a very liberal manner ; but the health of the Health 
convicts was not even considered by those in command of the convicts 
vessel. Mr. Kent, who kept this important point steadily 
in view, received no assistance whatever from the master, 
who neglected the orders given, and told Mr. Kent very 

* Her consort, the Sugar-oaae, did not lose a single convict. " In two 
ships, oontaioing three hundred and three people, one person only had died, 
and amongst those landed in the oolony scarcely anj are sick. — Grose to 
Dondas, 12th October, 1793$ Histoneal Beoords, rol. ii, p. 69. 



88 THE SECOND FLEET. 

^790 plainly that he " only came in the ship to navigate her." 
Finding that he could obtain no help in that quarter, Kent 
" contrived to get the convicts themselves to preserve order, 
cleanliness, and regularity," and he found his reward in 
'' the little trouble there was with them in the medical 
lelS^ department." In his letter to Nepean, 2nd September, 
proposal. 1793^ lie made the very pertinent suggestion that the 
captains of transports should be bound down to obey the 
orders of the naval agent in matters affecting the health 
and lives of the convicts. That the surgeon of the Bodding- 
tons should have been constrained to make such a remark 
shows how defective was the system. The instructions 
given were sound and well judged, but as they could not be 
enforced they were practically useless. 

A better If the atrocities committed on board these vessels failed 

system 

Introduced, to meet with the punishment they deserved, they led, at 
any rate, to a radical alteration in the system of trans- 
portation. Contracts were made on a different basis, and a 
naval officer was placed in charge of each vessel, with in- 
structions to look after the welfare of the convicts, and see 
that they received the provisions for which the contractors 
had been paid.* More than that — a bonus was given to 
those in charge for delivering the prisoners in safety at their 
destination. When the Surprize made her second voyage 
she had on board a superintendent and a surgeon. To these 

A monetary officers, and also to the master of the vessel, an allowance 

inducement. t c • t 

was made of a gumea each for every convict landed at Port 
Jackson, ''as an inducement to them to take every possible 
care for their preservation." The Governor was informed 
of the step that had been taken by the Commissioners of 
the Navy, in a despatch dated 5th March, 1794, and he was 

• Beferring to the Kitty, which arrived in Kovember, 1792, Collins says (vol. 
i, p. 246) : — ** There was also on board this ship, on the part of the Crown, 
a medical gentleman who was appointed for the express purpose of attending 
to such convicts as might be ill daring the voyage ; so extremely solicitous 
were the members of Administration to guard against the evils which had 
befallen the convicts in former passages to this country.*' 



THE SECOND FLEET. 69 

requested to give certificates of the number of convicts ^^^ 
landed^ so that the oflScers might claim the reward.* 

This was an improvement on the terms under which the 
transport Boddingtons was chartered in the year 1793. 
The amount to be paid to the contractor (Mr. William P*yn»«|t 
Richards, junior) t was to be £22 per head for each con- 
vict. This was £4 2s. 6d. more per head than the sum paid 
to the owners of the vessels of the Second Fleet, but there 
was an important condition in the contract. The sum of £5 
per head was kept back, and was only payable on the pro- 
duction of a certificate from the Governor that so many 
convicts had been landed; for every convict who died at 
sea the contractors lost £5.1 The effect of these different Effect 

of the new 

measures was that the owners, the masters, and the surgeons reguiatioM. 
in charge became pecuniarily interested in the welfare of 
the convicts. It is scarcely necessary to say that under the 
new system the abuses which led to the wholesale destruc- 
tion of life on board the vessels of the Second and Third 
Fleets had no existence. 

The necessity that existed for changing the system was 
shown not only by the doings on board the vessels of the 
Second Fleet, but by the case of the Queen, transport, which S^^J "*• 
arrived in October, 1791. In this instance a complaint was ^•'^^p^^ 
made to Phillip, who caused a magisterial inquiry to be held. 
The evidence proved that provisions had been deliberately Defmudinj 
and fraudulently kept back from the convicts. § Phillip did Seir foodl 
not attempt to inflict any penalty, but sent a copy of the 
proceedings to Lord Grenville, explaining that he adopted 
this course because he doubted if he had " the power of 
inflicting a punishment adequate to the crime." || Phillip 

* nistoricfil Becords, toI. ii, p. 134. 

t A good deal of correspondence passed between Mr. Bichards and Sir Joseph 
Banks on the subject of transporting and maintaining conyicts. See Historical 
Becords, toI. i, part 2, pp. 508-519, 522, 624, 652, 580, 625, 636, 642, 670. 

X Collins, Tol. i, pp. 304-305. 

§ The eridenoe taken in this case and the finding of the Court -will be 
found printed at length in the Historical Records, vol. ii, pp. 453 et seq. 

II Historical Records, toL i, part 2, p. 538. 



70 THE SEOOKD FLEET. 

IWI y^Q highly commended by Dnndas (who had succeeded 
Grenville) for the action he had taken in this matter, but 
it does not appear that the offenders received any punish- 
ment for their misconduct, although Dundas remarked that 
he would take care when "the parties concerned return 
home that justice be done.'^* 

* Htfltorioal Seooxds, toL i, part 2, p. 623. 




LORD GRENVILLE. 



Reproduced by Heliotype from " Memoirs of Uie Court aud Cabinets of Qeorge III.' 



. « ... • I 



Lo- t> (. -< ^ ■... f 



71 



DESPATCHES FROM ENGLAND. 

Bt the Lady Juliana^ PhUlip receiyed a despatch^ dated 1789 
20tli June, 1789 * from the Right Hon. William Wyndham Theunt 
Grenville^t in which the despatches sent from Port Jackson fr^ 
in the previous year were acknowledged. The despatches °^ 
written by Phillip in May, Jtdy, September, October, and 
November, 1788, were sent to England by different trans- 
ports; but, as it happened, all the vessels, with the ex- 
ception of the Friendship, which was scuttled at sea on 
the hom^eward voyage, arrived at about the same time,t ?*^^"ft 
and the . British Government was placed in possession, 
almost at once, of the history of the settlement from its 
foundation in January, 1788, to the 16th November of the 
same year. 

Phillip would have been more than mortal if he had not 
felt some disappointment when he read Grenville's despatch. 
It was the first communication he had received from the Nature 
Government since he left England more than three years oontente. 
before, and it was, at the same time, a reply to a number 
of his own letters in which he had given an account of 
the voyage and the establishment of the settlement, a 

* Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, p. 252. 

t Aiterwaids Baron Gh^nyille, succeeded Lord Sydney as Secretary of State 
for the Home Department on 5th June, 1789. On the 8th June, 1791, he 
accepted the portfolio of Secretaiy of Foreign Affairs, and was succeeded at 
the Home Omce by Henry Pundas (afterwards Yisooimt MelYille). — Dictionary 
of Kational Biography, vol. zxiii, pp. 138-138. 

X ** The transports which sailed hence in May, July, and Kovember, 1789 
(the Friendship excepted),, arrived in England wiUiin . a very short time 
of each other, and their arrival relieved the public from anxiety on our 
account." — Collins, toI. i, p. 118. 



72 DESPATCHES 

1780 narrative of eyents that had happened since his arrival, 
and a statement of tho difficulties he had encountered in the 
administration of affairs. He had accomplished a great task. 
He had brought a fleet of eleven vessels through a long and 
tedious voyage with very little loss of life ; he had landed 
nearly a thousand men at Sydney Cove without accident 
of any kind ; he had established settlements at Sydney, 
Parramatta, and Norfolk Island ; and he might reasonably 
have expected to receive such an acknowledgment of these 
services as would show that they were properly valued by the 

Faiatpmiso. British Government. But beyond an intimation that ''his 
Majesty is graciously pleased to approve of your conduct in 
the execution of the arduous and important service which has 
been conmiitted to your care/^ and a word of approval for 
the measures which had been taken to promote morality, 
there is nothing in the curt business-like communication 
sent by Grenville to show that the work which Phillip had 
done, and was doing, was appreciated, or even understood. 

A diB- The brief despatch contained little more than an announce- 

appointing 

letter. ment that the Guardian was about to be despatched with a 
supply of provisions, implements, and a few useful convicts 
and superintendents, that a thousand more convicts were to 
be sent in the autumn, and that, in the opinion of Grenville, 
Norfolk Island was a better place for the chief settlement 
than Port Jackson. 

But if Phillip felt disappointment at the unsympathetic 
nature of the despatch, it was as nothing compared with 

SSnf ' the discomfiture he must have experienced when he found 

menda^ionf ^j^^^^ while somc of the requests preferred in his letters 
had been attended to, the most important of his recom- 
mendations had been entirely ignored. One of the strongest 
points urged in his despatch of 9th July, written six months 
after his arrival, and enforced in others, was this — ^that no 
more convicts should be sent, at any rate not in considerable 
numbers, for two years at least. He did not give this advice, 

A warning, which was a Warning as well as a irecommendation, without 



FBOH ENGLAND. 73 

cause. His reasons were substantial. He knew that the ^'^ 
only way to establish the settlement on a sound basis was 
to make it self-supporting ; and to accomplish this end it was 
necessary, before all things, that the land should be culti- 
yated. But this all-important work could not be under- 
taken with any prospect of success unless there was on the 
soil a population capable of subduing it. The principle 
would have held good in any situation, but the circumstances 
of the case gave it peculiar force. Land of fair quality had ^^^^^^. 
been discovered at Parramatta, and although it was not so wttiew. 
much encumbered with timber and scrub as that in the 
vicinity of Sydney Cove, yet the labour of clearing it was 
very great. Cultivation under such conditions would have 
proceeded slowly, even if the men employed had been fit for 
the work and willing to perform it. But they were not. 
Scarcely any of them had before laboured in the fields, 
while some were so old and enfeebled that they were unfit 
for manual labour of any kind. Those who were strong 
enough to work were incorrigibly idle, as well as ignorant, 
and needed the most constant and vigilant supervision, superrision 
There was only one person in the colony qualified by 
previous experience in agriculture to properly direct them,* 
and a great deal of the labour was consequently thrown 
away. It would have been simple madness to send out 
large numbers of people of this sort in the expectation that 
they would be able to till the land and support themselves, 
and Phillip was not slow to represent the case to the British 
Government. Writing to Lord Sydney on the 9th July, 1788, 
after pointing out that if superintendents were not sent out 
the convicts would be a burden to the country, he said : — 

" I should hope that few convicts will be sent out this year or Temponuy 
the next, unless they are artificers, and after what I have had ^runmk 
the honour of observing to your Lordship, I make no doubt but SeoeMwy. 
proper people will be sent to superintend them.f The ships that 

• Ante, p. 19. 

t With the conyicts of the Second Fleet, over one thousand in number, 
nine Bupeiintendents were sent, but only fire arriyed. 



74 DB8PATGHSS 

1780 bring out convicts should have at least two years' provisioiis on 
board to land with them, for the putting the canviots on board 
some ships and the provisions that were to support them in others, 
as was done, I beg leave to observe, much against my intimation 
[inclination], must have been fatal if the ships carrying the {pro- 
visions had been lost"* 

In the despatches which he subsequently vrrote Phillip 
pressed the point. Writing on the 10th July, one day later, 
Theriffht he explained that the people wanted in the colony were 
emigmate. ^' farmers, and people used to the cultivation of the lands 
. . . without which agriculture will make but a very 
slow progreas.^t A few sentences further on he said : — "The 
sending out settlers, who will be interested in the labour of 
the convicts and in the cultivation of the country, appears to 
me to be absolutely necessary/^ The request that settlers 
might be sent out was repeated in his despatches of the 
28th September and the 30th October. On the latter date 
he wrote : — 
Slow « Your Lordship will see by my former letters the little pro- 

of agricui- gress we have been able to make in cultivating the lands, and 
I presume the necessity of a few proper persons being sent out 
to superintend the convicts, as well as settlors, who have been 
used to cultivation. "J 

The '^little progress" that was made in cultivation maybe, 
seen from the despatches which were before Grenville when 
he wrote to Phillip, telling him to prepare for the reception 
of a thousand more convicts. Writing on the 28th Septem- 
ber, 1788, Phillip reported that " the detachment is now in- 
^i^mS' closing ground for their gardens, and we have about six acres 
of wheat, eight of barley, and six acres of other grain ";§ 
and on the 30th October he stated that he had sixteen acres 
under cultivation '^ at a small farm on the public account." 
The land that had been cleared was situated in the neigh- 
bourhood of Sydney Cove ; operations at Rose Hill were 
only about to commence. Altogether, only thirty-six acres 

* Historical Heoords, vol. i, part 2, p. 147. 

t lb., p. 177. t lb., p. 207. § lb., p. 189. 



7B0M HSNOIiAKD. 75l 

of land wore under cnltiyation^ the larger portion of which ^'^ 
was private property. What would become of the seed The harvest, 
then in the ground — a second sowing — could not be pre- 
dicted with anything like certainty^ for the first sowing had 
almost entirely failed. 

This was the state of the agricultural industry in New a die- 
South Wales when Phillip sent off his despatches towards proq)eot 
the close of the first year. It did not augur well for the 
future of the settlement. The day when the colony would 
be self-supporting was clearly a long way ofE. Its ^'sole 
dependence/' as pointed out by Phillip, was on the supplies 
sent from England. Settlers who would make good use 
of the land were wanted ; but instead of these being sent, 
shipload after shipload of useless convicts were despatched. ^JJJJa 

Although the Home Government was to blame for dis- 
regarding the repeated admonitions of Phillip, it must be 
borne in mind that the case was viewed in an entirely 
different light at Whitehall and at Sydney. Phillip was 
face to face with the diflBiculties of the position; the author- 
ities in England saw them only from afar, and did not fully 
realise them. They were possibly misled by the tone of 
the despatches received from Phillip, who, while stating 
the facts plainly enough, always wrote hopefully about the 
future of the settlement. The authorities at Home seem to views of th© 

authorities 

have been possessed with the idea that the colony would be »» England. 
self-supporting almost from the first, and the conviction 
was not easily shaken. Advice and warning, unless they 
were given in the plainest language. Were thrown away upon 
them. The main purpose of the enterprise was another 
point in regard to which Phillip's views were at variance 
with those of the Secretary of State. Although he knew 
that the primary object was to relieve Great Britain of her 
criminal population, Phillip seems to have had larger ideas Phillip's 
on the subject than the statesmen who directed affairs in views. 
London. It is evident from his despatches that he contem- 
plated the formation, not of a convict-station, but of a colony. 



76 DESPATCHES 

17W It is not difficult to find a reason for the action of Sydney 
and Grenville in ignoring Phillip's request that transporta- 
tion should cease for two years. In 1789, when Phillip's 
despatches containing this request reached England, the 

state metropolitan and county gaols were crowded with convicts. 

inSIgriand. Thirteen years had elapsed since the cessation of trans- 
portation to America, and, of the enormous number of con- 
victs sentenced to transportation during that time, a few 

crowded ^^^ ^®^^ s®^* *^ Africa, and some were confined in hulks 

winwcts. upon the river Thames, but the vast majority, numbering 
upwards of 100,000,* were lying in the county and metro- 
politan gaols and bridewells, awaiting the execution of their 
sentences. So great was the risk of escape and disease^ 
through cramping these unfortunate people in the small 
and insecure buildings which then served as county gaols, 
that the Secretary of State was daily importuned to make 
some arrangement for their removal. 

Shortly after Grenville took office, the evil had assumed 
such proportions that the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of 
London brought the matter under his notice, and pointed 
out that Newgate Gaol was so overcrowded with felons, 
many of whom had long been awaiting transportation, that 

SnSSw. ^l^^ir health was suffering, and, unless something was 
speedily done, the most fatal consequences were inevitable. 
Letters to the same effect from Magistrates in the country 
districts poured in upon Grenville ; but he had only one reply. 
The gaols, he admitted, were " extremely crowded in every 
part of England . . . the hulks are all quite filled" ;t 

* As early as March, 1786, Edmund Burke called the attention of the 
House of Commons to the ** melancholj situation under which those unfor- 
tunate people laboured who were sentenced to transportation." Their num- 
bers, he declared, were at that time estimated at not less than 100,000. They 
had been accumulating for tlie preTious ten years. "He wished to know 
what was to be done with these unhappy wretches." Apparently, the GK>Tem- 
ment did not know themselves —the only satisfaction Burke obtained was an 
assurance that tbey would not be sent to Ghimbia, which he aUuded to as the 
** capital seat of plague, pestilence, and famine. The gates of hell were there 
open day and night to receiye the yictims of the law." — Parliamentary 
History, toI. xxv, p. 391. 

t Historical Records, vol. ii, p. 426. 



F£OH. ENGLAND. 77 

"but lie hoped shortly to be able to despatcb a number of the ^'^ 
convicts to the new settlement at Botany Bay. There can 
be no doubt that Grenville was aware, when he took this 
hazardous step, that it was in direct opposition to Phillip's 
recommendation ; but he probably thought it better to let 
the convicts take their chance of starving in New South 
Wales in preference to keeping them huddled together in The 
pestilential dens, where the unwholesome conditions and 
meagre fare meant misery, disease, and death.* 

In the despatch of the 20th June, 1789,t in which Gren- influx 
ville informed Phillip that about 240 female convicts had 
been shipped on the Lady Juliana, and about 1,000 more of 
both sexes were shortly to follow, no allusion whatever was 
made to the reasons which had induced the Government to 
ignore his recommendations. However mortifying this was 
to Phillip, it must have been aggravated by the despatches 
that followed, impressing upon him the necessity of discharg- unneoesBwry 
ing the very duty that he had said in his own letters he was 
most anxious to perform. J Writing on the 24th August, 1 789, 
Grenville enjoined Phillip to carefully attend to the pro- 
visions sent by the Guardian and Lady Juliana, and "to use 
every practicable exertion in order to put the colony in such 
a situation as not to depend on Great Britain for its supply 
in the article of provisions." He went on to say that a 

• " Convicts," remar&ed the famous philanthropist and prison reformer, 
John Howard, " are generally stout robust jouDg men -who nave been accus- 
tomed to free diet, tolerable lodgings, and vigorous exercise. These are 
ironed and thrust into close offensive dungeons, and there chained down, 
some of them without straw or other bedding, in which they continue, in 
winter, sixteen or seventeen hours out of the twenty-foar in utter inactivity, 
and immersed in the noxious effluvia of their own bodies. . . . Their 
food is at the same time low and scanty ; they are generally without firing, 
and the powers of life soon become incapable of resisting so many causes of 
sickness and despair." — State of the Prisons in England and Wales, 4th ed., 
p. 467. The same writer narrates that on a visit to Morpeth Gaol in 1776 
ne saw in an ** offensive dungeon^ the window only 18 inches by 9, . . . 
three transports, who, upon 9uspteion of intending an escape, were chained 
to the floor. — lb., p. 425. In Durham county gaol he saw *' six prisoners, 
most of them transports, chained to the floor. In that situation they had 
been for many weeks, and were very sickly. Their straw on the stone floor 
was almost worn to dust." — lb., p. 420. 

t Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 252. t Post, p. 85. 



78 . . DESPATCHES 

1^^ further supply of provisions would accompany the convicts 
who were to be sent by the Neptune, Surprize, and Scar*- 
crroneous l>oro^gl^^ ^^^ added: — ^'^ I caunot help flattering mysdf 
calculation, ^hat after that period very little farther aids will be wanted 
from this country for the subsistence of the convicts."* 
It is inconceivable how such an expectation could have 
been formed, excepting on the supposition that Phillip's 
despatches, received several months before, had not received 
proper attention. It seems scarcely possible, indeed, that 
Grenville could have even read those passages in Phillip's 
despatches of the 15th May and 9th July, 1788, in which 
he pointed out the dependent condition of the settlement : — 

Phillip asks ^' Your Lordship will, I presume, see the necessity of a regular 
forfowo? supply of provisions for four or &ve years." t 

five yean. 

* * ♦ ♦ ♦ 

He repeats "Thtis situated, your Lordship will excuse my observing a 
"** ' second time that a regular supply of provisions from England will 
be absolutely necessary for four or ^ve years, as the crops for two 
years to come cannot be depended on for more than what will be 
necessary for seed, and what [stock] the Sinus may procure can. 
only be to breed from. "J 

* * * * * 

An <' No country offers less assistance to the first settlers than this 

cou^. ' does ; nor do I think any country could be more disadvantageously 

placed with respect to support from the mother country, on which 

for a few years we must entirely depend. "§ 

If Phillip had known that a thousand more convicts were 
to be sent immediately, and that large batches were to follow, 
he would not have ventured to express any opinion as to 
when the colony would be self-supporting. Grenville, it is 
b^nd*"^ clear, looked at the matter simply from his own point of 
view ; he made little or no use of the information at his 
disposal. Had he done so, he would never have written 
that remarkable sentence in his despatch of the 24th 

• Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 261. 

t lb., p. 127. J lb., p. 146. § lb., p. 151. 



FBOM EK&LAND. 79 

Augnst.* When this despatch is read in connection with l78»-90 
one written exactly four months later it becomes eren more 
incomprehensible. Writing to Phillip on the 24th Decem- 
ber^ Grrenyille^ after explaining that for several reasons 
it was necessary that all the convicts on the Neptune^ 
Scarborough; and Surprize, including those intended for 
Norfolk Island, should be disembarked at Sydney, he went 
on to say : — 

" The disembarking the convicts at Sydney, exclusive of the An accuntte 
consideration before mentioned, seems indeed to be a measure 
highly necessary, as from the length of the passage from hence, 
and the nature of their food, there is every reason to expect that 
many of them will be reduced to so debilitated a state that im- 
mediate relief will be found to be expedient for the preservation 
of their lives."t 

Although the shocking condition in which the convicts 
of the Second Fleet actually arrived could not have been 
foreseen, it is apparent that sickness was apprehended, and 
that convicts would be landed in such a condition that they 
would be a burden rather than a help to the colony. And 
yet the arrival of these ships was to mark a period beyond 
which very little further assistance would be wanted from 
the mother country. 

Phillip's reply to Grenville's first despatch was written on pwikp 
the 17th June, 1790,t a fortnight after it had been received to^Grenviiie 
by the Lady Juliana, and nearly a year after it left England. 
It betrays no feeling of annoyance, nor is a word said as to 
the probable influence that would be exerted on the future 

• Ante, p. 77. 

t It woTild appear from this paragxaj^ that the great mortality on the 
transports of the Second Fleet was partly due to close confinement in England 
prior to embarkation. Howard, referring to the emaciated condition of some 
of the conyicts when placed on board transports, mentioned as worthy of 
imitation a practice then in vogae in Portugal, of enrolling as soldiers all 
prisonem aboat to be transported to Brazil, and sending them to a sanitorium 
to bathe and be better clothed and fed, that they may be properly prepared 
for their long Toyage. The adoption of a similar system in England would 
haye prevented an enarmous amount of suffering.— nState of the Prisons, 4th 
edition, p. 150 and 466 (note). 

X Historical Beoords, toI. i, part 2, page 846. The despatch is addressed to 
Nepean, but is eyidently intended as a reply to Grenrilla. 



80 



DESPATCHES 



1790 

Official 
etiquette. 



Arrival of 
the Second 
FleeL 



An 
explanation. 



Obstacles 
to progress. 



Official 
oversight. 



of the settlement by the arrival in a few weeks of a 
thousand more convicts. It would not have been in accord- 
ance with the rules regulating official correspondence for 
the Governor to question the wisdom of the course pur- 
sued by Ministers in England ; but even if Phillip had felt 
inclined to say a few words in deprecation of the step that 
had been taken, it would have been useless to do so, for 
arrangements had been made for the despatch of the trans- 
ports, and when Phillip wrote his reply to Grenville they 
were expected to arrive every moment. They actually came 
into the harbour a week later. But although Phillip did 
not remonstrate with his official superiors, he endeavoured 
to educate them, by explaining the position of affairs, and 
pointing out the difficulties that had been encountered — 
difficulties which made the despatch of large bodies of 
convicts imprudent to the last degree. After urging for 
the fourth or fifth time that settlers, rather than convicts, 
should be sent out, men who possessed some means, as well 
as a knowledge of farming, Phillip wrote : — 

^'As it may appear that we have not made that advance 
towards supporting ourselves which may have been expected, I 
will, sir, beg leave to observe that in addition to those untoward 
circumstances which have thrown the settlement so far back,* it 
never yet has been possible to direct the labour of more than a 
small part of the convicts to the principal object. A civil and 
military establishment form a considerable part of our numbers, 
which is increased by women and children, all of whom are 
undoubtedly necessary, but are a deadweight on those who have 
to render the colony independent for the necessaries of life. 
Stores, barracks, and houses have required time, and we have still 
stores and barracks to build in the stead of those temporary ones 
at first erected."! 

It does not seem to have occurred to the Minister and the 
officials at the Home Office that buildings for the accommo- 
dation of the people had to be erected, and that it would be 

* Phillip alludes here to the loss of the Q-unrdian and the Sirius. 
t Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, p. 847. 



PBOM ENGLAND. 81 

necessary to clear the land before even a hut could be built '^'^ 

or a field sown. The convicts were at once to set about 

tilling the soil, and the colony was almost immediately to 

become self-supporting. In time the illusion was dispelled, 

but many a despatch had to be written from Sydney before 

the situation was realised. Nothing shows more strikingly The Home 

the profound ignorance of the Home Office . on the sub- ignomat of 

, °, "1.1 1 T condition of 

ject than the conditions which were laid down in Phillip's colony. 
Additional Instructions respecting the terms on which con- 
vict labour was to be granted to soldiers and settlers. 
These Instructions, which were received by Phillip with the 
despatch of 24th August, 1789, contained this clause : — 

"And whereas many of the non-commission officers and men 
of the marine detachment, or other persons who may become 
settlers upon Our said continent* of New South Wales, or the said 
islands dependant thereupon, may be desirous of availing them 
selves of the labour of part of the convicts now under your 
orders : It is Our Will and Pleasure, that in case there should be 
a prospect of their employing any of the said convicts to advan- 
tage, that you assign to each grantee the service of any number 
of them that you may judge sufficient to answer their purpose, on 
condition of their maintaining, feeding, and clothing such convicts 
in such manner as shall appear satisfactory to You, or to Our 
Governor of New South Wales for the time being. "t 

This condition might have been complied with by settlers An 
of the kind that Phillip wanted — men with means, who would condition. 
have been prepared to spend money for a few years in the 
hope of obtaining a return later on. But, unfortunately, no 
English settlers of any description had ofEerod themselves. 
A year or two later a few settlers were sent out, but they took 
up land on much more favourable conditions as to convict 
labour than those prescribed in the Instructions. The only The first 
persons available as settlers at the time were men belonging ^ 
to the marine detachment stationed in the colony, and it was 

* It ifi worthy of notice- that New South Wales is in these Instructions 
officiallj described as a " continent" for the first time, 
t Historical Becords, toI. i, part 2, p* 258. 
VOL, II. — ^F 



82 DESPATCHES 

^'^ quite out of their power to take tip land under the conditions 
laid down. So far from being able to maintain, feed, and 
clothe convict servants, they would not have been able, as 
settlers, to support themselves. It was only possible to place 
Fed by the sottlcrs upou the Boil by giving to each man provisions from 
ment. the store for a year or two, and convict servants, who were 
to be supplied with food and provisions form the same source. 
Phillip settled the question in a few words : — 

" No soldier or oliher person in this settlement could at present 
accept of the assistance of convicts in caltivating the land which 
might be granted them on the conditions pointed out in the 
Instructions — 'of feeding and cloathing them.' I believe, sir, 
that it will be little less than two years from the time of granting 
the lands before those lands will suppcwrt the cultivators."* 

PhiUip Phillip had, in fact, anticipated the Royal Instructions, 

ftnticipcites J. ■/ 

wa ^ for he proposed in his despatch of 13th February, 1790, 
that the first settlers should be allowed a certain number of 
convicts for two years, who were to be supported during 
that time at the expense of the Crown.t 

Phillip also felt called upon to reply to that part of Gren- 

ville's despatch in which it was intimated that but for the 

expense that had been incurred the Minister would have 

Site of the felt inclined to recommend that Norfolk Island should be 

.fiettlement. ^ ^ 

made the principal settlement. We have here another 
example of the indiBEerence displayed by the English 
authorities. While Grenville took no notice of Phillip's dis- 
tinct and oft-repeated warning against flooding the settle- 
ment with convicts, he went out of his way to express an 

* Historical Becords, toL i, part 2, p. 347. 

t " As the labour of clearing the j^nnd of timber will be great, I think 
«ach settler shoald not have less than twenty men on his farm, which I sup- 
pose to be from five hundred to one thousand acres ; it will be neoessaiy to 
give that number of conyicts to those settlers who come out, and to sup- 
port them for two years from the public stores ; in that time, if they are in 
any ways industrious — and I do not think they will be able to do it in less 
tine — at the expiration of the two years they may return half the conricta 
they hare been allowed, and woald want no further assistance from GtoYcnt- 
ment." — Phillip to Sydney, Historical Jtaoords, vol. i, part 2, p. 806. 



FSOM E17GLAND. S3 

apmion on a point about whicli he could not possibly bave ^^'•^ 
-the knowledge that the Governor possessed. He knew that 
the soil of Norfolk Island was more fertile than that at 
Port Jackson, and for this reason, apparently, concluded 
that an unfortunate choice had been made. This opinion 
was expressed, it is evident, on the spur of the moment, 
and without giving attention to facts or paying respect to 
Phillip's judgment. The area of Norfolk Island is small, as Norfolk 
-could have been asoertained in a moment by reference to 
the maps and charts. Even supposing its whole surface to 
be suitable for cultivation, it was inadequate for the support 
of the large number of convicts that were to be sent out.* 
As to other conditions — ^whether it possessed a safe har- ansuited 
bour, whether the climate was favourable, or whether it was Mttfemen?/ 
soitable for trading purposes — the authorities were entirely 
ignorant. Phillip, on the other hand, was possessed of all 
the facts. He knew from the reports of Lieutenant King 
that the island, though exceedingly fertile, was so limited 
in area that under the most favourable conditions it was in- 
capable of supporting more than a handful of people, and 
that, so far from having a harbour where ships could lie, there 
was actually no place at which men or stores could be landed 
except in the finest weather. It was a common occurrence 
for vessels sent with stores from Port Jackson, to sight 
the island and have to stand off and on for several days 
before they could get near enough to send boats on shore, 
•and before it had been occupied a year several accidents 
occurred, attended with considerable loss of life. This is 
the place which in the opinion of Grenville should have 
been made the principal settlement, although he knew that 
Phillip had taken the fleet into ''the finest harbour in the 
world,'' and had before him territory of unknown extent, 
"but practically unlimited. 

* Writing to Nepean on the 29fih Januaiy, 1792, £iog bkjts : — '* The whole 
island does not contain more than about 18,000 acres, of which 200 ore unfit 
for cultiyation." This, howerer, appears to hare been an oyer-estimate. In 
1796, King set down the area at "about eleven thousand acres." — Ck)llin8, 
vol. i, p. 503. . 



84 DESPATCHES 

1790 Phillip treated the suggestion with respect, but he nfust 

i^JH^ haye felt the absurdity of the position. He pointed out 

that there was one objection to making Norfolk Island the 

principal settlement — it possessed '^no harbour or good 

roadstead." He made no reference to its limited area, but 

contented himself with setting forth the advantages of Port 

Jackson, which lies, as he explained, between two harbours — 

Botany Bay and Broken Bay — so that '^if a ship falls in with 

compared *^® coast in bad weather, a few miles either in the north- 

Byd^ey Ward Or southward, she can find immediate shelter." He 

modestly added, '^ and I believe it will be found hereafter 

that the seat of government has not been improperly placed.*^ 

Phillip's choice has been amply justified. 

It is curious to note, however, that if Phillip had not 
been so impressed with the necessity of making a speedy 
choice, the head-quarters of the settlement might have been 
established at Parramatta instead of Sydney. Phillip thus 
refers to the question : — 

" I had little time to look round me when I first arrived, for 
my Instructions particularly pointed out that I was not to delay 
the disembarking the people, with a view of searching for a better 
situation than what Botany Bay might afibrd. I was obliged to 
look farther, but I did not think myself at liberty to continue my 
research after I had seen Sydney Cove. Had I seen the country 
TOssessed by near the head of the harbour I might have been induced to have 
arruna jngde the Settlement there, but we knew nothing of that part of 
the country until the creek which runs up to Rose Hill was dis- 
covered in a journey I made to the westward three months after 
we landed ; and although I was then fully satisfied of the good- 
ness of the soil, and saw the advantages of that situation, mast of 
our stores and provisions were landed, and it required some little 
time to do away with the general opinion that such a situation 
could not be healthy, and which I was inclined to think myself 
until I had examined the country for some miles round, and was 
satisfied that there was a free circulation of air, in the goodness 
of which few places equal it,"* 

* Hbiorical Becords, vol. i, part % pp. 348, d49» 



PBOK ENGLAND. 85 

Bnt even if Phillip had chosen the head of the harbour ^'^^^ 
as the site for the settlement^ the fact would have made 
little difference to the future of Sydney. Parramatta would J^p**^ 
have been the principal town, but it would not have kept Sydney- 
its position. For a time, indeed, it did enjoy the distinction. 
When it was discovered that there was better land in the 
neighbourhood than any that could be found near Sydney 
Cove the bulk of the population settled there, and Sydney 
was only second in importance. In fact, so little was thought 
of it that Tench, writing in December, 1791, described it as 
follows : — 

" This place (Sydney) had long been considered only as a dep6t WSJJ^ 
for stores. It exhibited nothing but a few old scattered huts and 
some sterile gardens. Cultivation of the ground was abandoned, 
and all our strength transferred to Rose Hill." * 
But the growth of the colony caused Parramatta to lose its 
pride of place, and the principal port of the colony became 
also its chief city. 

Phillip had scarcely finished writing his reply to Grenville^s 
despatch of the 20th June, 1789, when the Justinian arrived 
with that of the 24th August, 1 789.t This was the despatch in 
which Phillip was enjoined to be careful in the distribution Economy 
of the provisions sent by the Lady Juliana and Guardian, and Phuiip. 
urged to use every exertion to make the colony independent 
of the mother country for its supply of provisions. These 
injunctions show the anxiety of the Government to keep 
down the expenditure, and to get rid of the burden of 
provisioning the colony as speedily as possible. But they 
need not have been written. Phillip had been provident 
from the first; and the sharp experience of the last six 
months had taught him to be more careful than ever of 
the stores. As to the exhortation to do his best to make An oneaiiad- 

for 

the colony self-supporting, he might have answered it by exhortation. 
quoting his own despatches, which show that this object had 

• Tench, Complete Account, p. 158. 

t Historical Becorde, toI. i, part 2, pp. 252 and 260. 



86 . DESPATCHXS 

I'^W been in his mmd from the first. He had even pointed ont 
the way in which the goal, according to his judgment, might 
be most speedily attained ; and, had he chosen to do so, he 
might hare complained that his advice had been disregarded^ 
and his requests poorly, and grudgingly, responded to. But 
he contented himself with acknowledging the receipt of the 
Phillip instructions, and writing a brief sentence to record the fact 
that he had been economical in the expenditure of stores^ and 
mindful of the object which the Government had so much 
at heart. '' The strictest economy,'* he informed GrenviUe, 
" has ever been used, and every exertion has been made on 
my part to put the colony in the situation recommended, of 
the necessity of which I am fully persuaded.'^* As to the 
expectation Grenville had formed, that upon the receipt of 
the supplies sent by the Guardian and the Lady Juliana very 
little further aid from Great Britain would be required, he 
referred the Minister to his previous despatches, and declared 
that the colony had suffered from so many disadvantages 
wfflcuitioe that '^ it may rather be a matter of surprise that a regular 
rit^on settlement exists than that it is not in a more flourishing 
state.'' The wreck of the Guardian destroyed at a blow the 
fabric which Grenville had reared in his mind, and Phillip's 
despatches must have convinced him that he had been 
altogether too sanguine in his expectations. 

Even if the Guardian had come safely into port instead 
of striking an iceberg, those expectations, founded on the 
merest conjecture, could not possibly have been realised* 
TheMiOTiy The colony would not have been "thrown back," to use 
*»<*•" Phillip's expression, as was the case, but it would have 
been still a long way from the situation in which the British 
Government desired to see it. This vessel had proved a 
disappointment in more ways than one. In his first set of 
despatches Phillip had begged that superintendents might 
be sent out to overlook the convicts, and instruct them in 
the cultivation of the land, and that if convicts were sent 

* Historical Beoords, toL i, part 2, p. 351. 



&ej sHonld be naefixl men^ sucli as farm labourers and ^"^^ 
artificers. The latter reqaest was answered by sending on 
board the Guardian twenty-five convicts who were supposed oo^t 
to be artificers. Ont of these^ nineteen arrived at Sydney^ 
and they had behaved so well in the hour of danger that 
most of them were given their freedom.* So far, therefore, 
as public work was concerned^) their services were lost. 
How urgent was the need for men of this sort is shown by 
the particulars given in Phillip^s despatch as to the avail- 
able labotir at Sydney at this time (June, 1790), when 
building and repairs to buildings were much required. The 
marine detachment could boast of one carpenter and one 
smith ; there were on shore from the Sirius two carpenters carpenters 
and one smith ; while of the convicts the trained workmen 
consisted of six carpenters, four smiths, two bricklayers, 
one stonemason, and ^^four men who work with the carpen- 
ters, brought up as seamen and servants. '^ But this small 
strength was less than appeared on paper, for Phillip says 
of the carpenters that '^of the six we have only three merit 
the name.'' 

It was much the same with the superintendents sent by 
the Guardian. They were nine in number, and the list of 
names and occupations, which was appended to Grenville's 
despatch, looked very well.f But when Phillip wrote, only The wrong 
five instead of nine had arrived, of whom he reported that 2^^!^° 
but one was a farmer. Two said that ^^ they were used to the 
farming business when they were seventeen and nineteen Youths 
years of age,'' but, Phillip added, ^Uhey cannot from the teens!' 
knowledge they then obtained be able to instruct the con- 
victs or direct a farm." It is evident, therefore, that the 
superintendents were badly chosen. There could have been 
no misunderstanding as to the sort of men required, for 
Grrenville, in his despatch of the 24th August, says that 
the superintendents were sent in consequence of Phillip's 

• Ante, p. 44. 

t Historical Becords, toI. i, jMixt 2, p. 262. 



88 DESPAXCHES FKOM ENGLAND. 

1789 ^'representation of the want of proper persons to instruct 
the convicts in the manner of tilling the land and to super- 
intend their labour."* The Minister can scarcely be held 
personally responsible for the unhappy selection that was 
made^ but it is plainly to be seen that there was blundering 
or neglect somewhere. 

* HiBtorical Becords, toI. i, part 2, p. 261. 



89 



THE NEW SOUTH WALES CORPS. 

Exactly a montli before Grenville wrote Hs despatch of the ^'^^ 
20th June, 1 789, the first official step had been taken to create neSt"*" 
a special military force which was to replace the detachment S^^ 
of marines then doing service in the colony. On the 20th 
May, Sir George Yonge, Secretary at War, addressed a letter 
to the Treasury, intimating that it had been determined to 
raise a corps of infantry for service in New South Wales, 
and directing that it should be immediately placed upon 
the establishment.* It was to number in the aggregate strength of 
three hundred rank and file, and to be " commanded by a***®^**'^** 
major having a company." Early in June, Major Grose 
received instructions to raise the force, and after some 
correspondence as to terms the instructions were carried 
out. It was afterwards decided, in consequence, it may be 
presumed, of letters from Phillip, in which he stated that a 
force of five hundred men would be required for the pro- 
tection of the settlement, to increase the strength of the 
Corps. 

Although the Corps was specially raised for service in New specially 
South Wales, where it remained until its action in the Bligh Se sendee, 
episode led to its recall, and was described in the despatches 
as the New South Wales Corps, that title was not always 
applied to it. It was sometimes called the New South Wales 
Regiment, while some of the English newspapers of the time 
chose to call it the " Botany Bay Rangers," and others the 
" New South Wales Rangers." Its status in the Army was 

• Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 232. 



90 



THE NEW SOUTH WALES COEPS. 



1789 

Its status 
in the 
British 
•xmy. 



The 

method of 
recruiting. 



Bounty 
money. 



precisely the same as though it had been formed for general 
instead of special service. This point seems to have been 
raised while the Corps was in course of formation, for in 
August, 1789, the Secretary at War considered it necessary 
to explain : — 

" With regard to the rank of Major Grose's corps, it being the 
youngest in the Army must, of course, when drawn up, either with 
other entire corps or with detachments from them, take part on 
the left. But with regard to the officers in all corps, without 
distinction, the militia excepted, they naturally take part in all 
duties according to seniority in their respective ranks."*^ 

As the New South Wales Corps played a prominent part 
in the early history of the colony, and exerted a potent in- 
fluence on its affairs, the conditions under which it was 
formed and maintained are worthy ol more than ordinary 
attention. The force was raised after the manner in vogue 
in those days. A "letter of service '' was given to an officer, 
usually a colonel, authorising him to enlist a certain number 
of men, and fixing the bounty allowed for each recruit at so 
much per head. If the officer employed in this service could 
procure men at a smaller bounty than the sum allowed in 
the letter of service, the extra money went into his own 
pocket — ^it was his profit or reward for the services rendered 
in raising the regiment.f There was another system in 
practice so late as the Crimean War, known as '^ raising 
men for rank,^^ by which regiments were raised by noblemen 
or gentlemen, who received as compensation for their trouble 
and expense the right to nominate the officers.J In Grose's 
case both methods seem to have been employed: he received 

* Historical Beoords, toI. i, part 2, p. 255. 

t " When new regiments were raised, a fixed sum was allowed as bounty or 
lery money for each recruit, and the colonel to whom the letter of service 
was giyen for raising the regiment in some instances got the men at so much 
more or less, as his personal influence or good fortune enabled him to do.'* — 
Clode, Military Forces of the Crown, toI. ii, p. 4. 

X ** Theexpense of raising new corps was frequently prorided for in another 
manner, fiz., by an agreement between the Crown and a nobleman or gentle- 
man that the latter should raise the regiment or corps, reoeiyiog — n the 
coDsideration for his trouble and expeoso— the nomination of all or of some 
proportion of the officers.*' — lb., p. 5» 



THB 3nsW SOtTH WALES COEPS. 91 

the bonnty money^ and was also allowed to nomiirate some 

of tlie officers. The Corps^ in the first instance^ consisted of constitution 

f omr companies^ each company of one captain, one lieutenant, 

one ensign, three sergeants, three corporals, two drummers, 

and sixty-seven privates. In the letter of service sent by 

the Secretary at War (Sir George Tonge) to Major Grose, 

on the 8th June, 1789, he was informed; — 

" Yourself and the three captains now to be appointed by his 
Majesty will each be required to raise a coniplete company (viz., 
three sergeants, three coFporaI% two drummers, and sixty-seven « 
private men), in aid of the expenses of which you will be allowed 
to name the lieutenant and ensign of your respective companies, 
&nd to receive &om the public three guineas for every recruit 
approved at the head-quarters of the corps by a general or field 
officer appointed for that purpose.""^ 

The bonnty offered to recruits varied according to cir- Rocruitinfir 
cnmstances. The normal amount was forty shulings. It timee. 
was so in Shakespeare's time, and the same bonnty was com- 
monly paid in the Eighteenth Century; but in time of war, 
when it was necessary to obtain considerable numbers of 
men as rapidly as possible, very much larger bounties had 
to be paid.f When Grose received his instructions to raise 
the New South Wales Corps, England was at peace with 
the world, and it was not necessary to tempt men by offering 
very large bounties. It is probable, therefore, that out of 
the three guineas per head allowed by the War Office, Grose -^.^^^^^w 
received a fair sum as a recompense for his services in raising »y8t«m. 

* Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 240. 

t " With regard to the amount of bounty, it it curious to nonce the long 
continuance of 408. as the Bum given by the Crown to the recruit on enlist- 
toent. In 1697, when Shakespeare wrote the ffrst part of Henry IV, he 
puts it into Falstaff's mouth to Bay that he had ^mituied the King's Press, and) 
' got in exchange of 150 soldiers three hundred and odd pounds.' Upon the 
iacrease of the Army to meet the Bebellion of 1715, the inducement neld oBt 
was 40s. ' for ereiy man who shall Ust himself in any of the regiments of foot.' 
In later years the same sum will be found mentioned in the Statute Book ; 
and it was not until after Mr. Burke's Act [passed in 1783] had been in 
operation for some years, and the cost of recruiting had been transferred to 
t£e public, that the amount of bounty was raised to the exceseiTe prices thai 
in recent wan were demanded for muitaiy sernee." — Qode, Milituy Farces 
of the Crown, roL u^ pp. 4, 6. 



92 THE NEW SOUTH WALES CORPS, 

1''^ the force. The plan was a convenient one for the War Office. 
By paying a fixed sum for each recruit, and giving the officer 
the right to nominate the subalterns, the cost of raising the 
force could be estimated to a penny, and all trouble avoided. 
The Government supplied the money, and Major Grose 
found the men. The arrangement was simplicity itself, but 
it was open to abuse. The practice does not now exist in 
the British army. 

Nominating Groso was also allowcd the privilege, whatever it may have 
been worth, of nominating the Adjutant, Quarter-master, 
and Chaplain. It may be remarked here, that the detach- 
ment of marines sent out with the First Fleet had no Chaplain. 
It was only a detachment, not a regiment, and the desirable- 
ness of appointing someone to look after the spiritual wel- 
fare of the soldiers does not seem to have been recognised 
by the authorities. The circumstances under which the 

cha lain ^^^' Richard Johnson was appointed Chaplain of the settle- 
ment have already been alluded to.* In sending out the 
New South Wales Corps, the appointment of a Chaplain 
was a feature in the arrangements. In a letter of the 8th 
June, 1789, the Secretary at War informed Major Grose 
that the Chaplain ^' must positively engage to embark with, 
the Corps, and remain with it while abroad,'' and, he added, 
that certificates of character must be furnished before the 
appointment was proposed to the King.f 

The Corps, three hundred strong, was raised and ready for 
Augme^ inspection in September, but the propriety of increasing the 
Corps. number was soon under consideration. Writing on the 8tli 
October to the Under Secretary for Home Affairs, Major 
Grose stated that he had heard of the proposed augmen- 
tation of the force, and intimated that he was ''ready to 
raise either one or any number of companies without a 

• See Vol. i, pp. 54 (note). 

t The gentlomaa appointed was the Ber. James Bain. He returned to 
Bngland with Grose in December, 1794, and although the Corps was subee- 
quently greaUj increased in numbers, no successor wss appointed. 



^ 






"> 



K 



THE NEW SOUTH WALES CORPS. 93 

sliilling expense to the Government, if allowed to nominate ^'^^ 
the officers.*' No action was taken at the time, but on the 
23rd of February, 1791, instructions were given to Grose 
to raise two additional companies. One of them, he was Two 
informed in a letter from Sir George Yonge, was to be com- companies. 
manded by a second major, who was to obtain his appoint- 
ment on condition of contributing five hundred pounds to 
the expense of the levy. The nomination of the rest of 
the officers was left to Grose, according to the original con- 
ditions. Grose thought he saw here a way to promotion. 
With the addition proposed, the Corps would consist of six 
companies; and if further increases took place, of which 
there was every probability, the Corps would before long Groro'a 
become equal in point of numbers to a regiment of the line, promotioo. 
Even with a strength of six companies, it should be com- 
manded, Grose thought, by a colonel, or, at the very least, 
a lieutenant-colonel. Accordingly, he renewed his proposal 
to the War Office in this form : — 

" Should I be promoted to the rank of It. -colonel, I will with- 
out expence to Government raise both tlie companies, reserving to 
myself the nomination of the captain and subaltern officers. Should 
it be thought expedient to add only a major to the Corps without 
permitting me to succeed to any additional rank [/ toiU raise the 
companies on conditions of receiving the levy moneyj nominating 
the captain and svhaltem officersy and receiving from the captain 
appointed to a majority Jive hundred potmds.]"* 

Grose's suggestions were not adopted. The two com- His 
panics were raised on the conditions laid down by the not adopted. 
War Office, and although Grose was given a Commission as 
Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales, he did not 
obtain, until some time afterwards, the coveted step in 
military rank, which he would, no doubt, have valued far 
more highly. On the 31st March, Grose reported to the 
Secretary at War that the men had been enlisted, and 

* HiBiorical Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 250. The brackets and italics are 
Gxoie's. 



94 THE JHEW SOUTH WAIiES CORPS. 

1^^ were ready for inspection. The Corps was subsequently still 

Further further augmented, and early in 1792 an auLxiliary company, 

tion. consisting of men from the marines, who had taken thdr 

discharge in preference to returning with the detachment to 

England to be discharged there, was raised by Phillip, and 

placed under the command of Captain-Lieutenant Johnston.* 

When at its maximum strength the Corps consisted of ten 

companies, numbering eight hundred and eighty-six non- 

oommiBsioned officers and privates. 

Reputation The New Bouth Wales Corps has been held up to reproach 

oftheCorpg . . . , . 

by more than one writer. Allowing that its materiel was 
open to criticism, there is no reason to suppose that it was 
worse than that of other regiments raised in England at about 
the same time. Grose, who had been recruiting for two years 
before he was instructed to raise a special force for service 
in New South Wales, and was, therefore, well-informed con- 
cerning the composition of the Army, did not regard the 
^JlJjJy Corps as below the standard ; on the contrary, his account 
of the men places them above the average. Writing from 
Portsmouth to the Secretary at War, on the 80th July, 1790, 
he reported that since he had taken command the men had 
conducted themselves with the greatest propriety, and had 
given '' constant satisfaction " to everyone concerned. This 
remark occurs towards the close of a letter in which he asked 
that two incorrigibles might be turned over to the Navy.t 
These men, he explained, did not belong to those he had 
received from the Savoy ; J they had been enlisted as ordinary 

* He was afterwards promoted to the rank of major, and to the command of 
the Corps. While in that capacity he deposed Governor Bligh (180*)), and 
assumed t^ Qoyemment. For doing this he was tried bj rourt-martial and 
cashiered. 

t The inference is that in Ghose's view the morale of the Cotrpe was superior 
to that of the Wavy. 

X A military prison. It was a part of the old Savoy Palace, bnilt by 
Simon de Monrfort io 1245, and demolished in 1881 by the foUowerc of Wat 
Tjler. It was rebuilt and dedicated as a hospital by Henry VIII in 1509. 
Tn the early pnrt of the last centaiy parts of it served *' as two marshalseas 
for keeping prisoners — as deserters, men pressed for military service, Dutch 
recruits, &c" Prints of the Savoy in 1798 and 1798 are still in existence 
showing the hospital and prison. At the foot of one is a statement that ** thia 



Facs/mi/es of' 
Au/ographs of Off/cers ort/ieNek/Souf^iYa/es Corps. 

f^f^ ^?2^ A^^^ t^^^ 





//:%i:^^7^ ^y^- 






^vecu*<;f^ 















Jc^^t^ ^^/ex^^'-rc^ cy^c^tc> 



THE JTEW SOJJTBi WALES COSPS. 96 

recrnitB. A fefw montliB later^ when a detacliineTit of the ^''•^ 
CorpB was on board the G-orgon, two soldiere from the Savoy soidiew 
got drimk and canBed a diBtnrbance^ which was made much savoy, 
of by the commander of the vessel, Captain Harvey, who 
reported to the Admiralty that the men had mutinied. G-rose 
wrote to the Secretary at War declaring that a ^' drunken 
irregnlarity," which ended in the two soldiers being pnt in 
irons, had been magnified into a mutiny, from motives of 
personal pique; and from the fact that Captain Harvey, 
although he was a protege of Sir Joseph Banks, was almost 
immediately afterwards superseded by Captain Parker, it 
would seem that Ghrose's view of the matter was accepted by 
the authorities.* 

As to the principal officers of the Corps, who were taken The offloew 
from different regiments in the Army, it does not appear repute, 
that they were selected with the idea that the service was 
one for inferior men. Major Grose, the Commandant, was MajorOrose. 
a man of good standing in the Army, and his connections 
were at least respectable. His father was an antiquary of 
note,t whose work in the branch of literature to which he 
devoted himself brought him considerable fame. Major 
Grose had a long and honorable career in the British army. 

part of the Saroj is now occupied hy the Army ae a place of confinement for 
their detert'-rs and transports." — Thombury*B Old and New London, toI. 
iii, pp. 95-100. The buildings were pulled down in 1819 to form the western 
approach of Waterloo Bridge. In Farquhar's play, ''The Becruiting Officer," 
one of the characters declared tliat as an inducement to enlist, the recruiting- 
sergeant " promised to advance me ; and indeed he did so — ^to a garret in the 
Savoy. I asked liim why he put me in prison ; he called me a lying dog, 
and said I was in garrison." — Act iii, sc. I. For particulars conceminij the 
system of recruiting the Army in foroe during the last century, see Clode's 
Milituy Forces of the Crown, vol. ii, pp. 4 and 14; and Lecky's History of 
the Eighteenth Century, vol. iii, p. 589. 

* The correspondence on this subject will be found jn the Historical Becords, 
vol. i, part 2, pp. 420. 421. 

t In Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary, Q-rose's father, Francis Qroae, is 
described as '* an eminent English antiquary." He was born in 1781, and was 
the author of numerous books, including The Antiquities of England and 
Wales, The Antiquities of Scotland, and The Antiquities of Ireland. Ho 
had some bent for the military profession, for in early life he entered the 
Surrey militia, becoming adjutant and paymaster. He died in Dublin on the 
r€lh Itfay, 1791 , two months before his son's departure for Sydney. 



«6 THE NEW SOUTH WALES COBPS. 

^"^•^ According to a statement of services prepared by himself^ 
he received a Commission as ensign in the 52nd Begiment 
in January, 1775, and soon afterwards was fighting in the 

At Bunker's American War of Independence. He was at the Battle of 
Bunker's Hill, and was afterwards twice wounded — once at 
the storming of Fort Montgomery, and once at Monmouth 
Court-house. He had to leave America because of his 

Hi8 wounds, and was employed as captain in recruitinjr for two 

subsequent • -ri i j t^ • x xi. • • j 

career. years m England. It was owing to the experience gamed 
in this work, no doubt, that he obtained the privilege of 
raising the New South Wales Corps. Six years before he 
undertook this duty he had been promoted to the rank of 
major in the 96th Regiment, and while serving in New South 
Wales he received further promotion as lieutenant-colonel. 
In 1795 he was obliged to return to England in consequence 
of his wounds breaking out, and was subsequently placed 
upon the stafE, becoming colonel in 1798, and major-general 
in 1805. The statement, to which Grose's name is appended, 
covers nearly thirty-five years of military service. That 
Grose enjoyed the confidence of the British Government 

A dual is shown by the fact that he was not only placed in command 

ment of the Corps, but honoured with a Commission making 

him Lieutenant-Governor of the colony, in which position it 
fell to him to administer its affairs for two years. It is 
evident also that he was personally known to the Home 
Office officials, for in writing to the Under Secretary soon 
after his arrival in Sydney he addressed him as ^^ My dear 
friend.'' 

Captain The senior captain, Nicholas Nepean, was the brother of 

epean. jjvau Nepcau, the Under Secretary of the Home Office. 
The first record we have of his services is his appointment 
to the post of second lieutenant in the 58th Company of the 
Plymouth Division of the Royal Marines. The date is 15th 
December, 1776. In this capacity he served under Admiral 
Keppel in the engagement off Brest, 27th July, 1778. Pro- 
moted to the rank of first lieutenant of the 120th Company^ 



TftB NEW SOUTH WAIiES COSFS. W 

on 22iid Deoember^ 1778, lie served in varions divisions of ^^^ 
tlte Murines until 22nd October, 1789, when lie embarked 
for New South Wales as senior captain of the New Sonth 
Wales Corps. He returned to England in the Britannia on He 



to ^^iT^^yl^w*^ 

sick leave, sailing from Sydney on 8th September, 1798. 
Although he did not return to the colony, he continued on 
the establi^ment of the New South Wales Corps until 1st 
September, 1795; when he joined the 93rd Foot as lieu- 
teoftst-colonel. He was subsequently raised to the rank 
of brigadier-general on the staff of Great Britain, and in 
March, 1807, was appointed to the command at Cape Breton. 

Of Captain William Hill less is known. Up to June, 1789, 
when he joined the New South Wales Corps as captain, 
next in rank to Nicholas Nepean, he held the post of a half- 
pay lieutenant in the 86th Foot. It is evident, however, 
from an account* sent by him to William Wflberf orce, that 
he had the confidence of the great philanthropist, and was 
a man of character and abihty.t 

Captain William Paterson had, prior to accepting a Com- cagain 
mission in the Corps, established a reputation as an African 
traveller. He published an account of his travels in the 
year 1789.$ The first record of his services in the Army 

* Historical KecorcU, toI. i, part 2, p. 366. 

f Captain Hill was killed bj eayages at Tate Island, when on his way to 
England, in Julj, 1793. Ck>llins says of him that he was ** a gentleman of 
liberal education, qualified to adorn the circles of life in which his rank in 
eoeiety placed him." 

t A Narrative of Four Journeys into the Country of the Hottentot and 
Caffraria, in the years 1777-8-9. Illustrated with a map and seventeen 
copper-plates. By Lieut. William Paterson. London, 1789. The volume 
WHS dedicated to Sir Joseph Banks, and contains abundant evidence of 
Paterson's botanical knowledge and of his powers of observation. In the 
Appendix a paragraph occurs from which it is evident that during the period 
which intervened between the date of his travels in Africa and his sailing 
for Hew South Wales, he had seen active service with the British troops in the 
southern provinces of India. According to Collins, Paterson was the only 
naturalist in the country. He says : — ** About this time pMarch, 1795], the 
spirit of inquiry being on foot, Mr. Cummings, an officer of the Corps, made 
an excursion to the southward of Botany Bay, and brought back with him 
Bome of the head-bones of a marine animal« which, on inspection. Captain 
Paterson, the only naturalist in the country, pronounced to hare belonged to 
the animal described by M. de Buffon, and named by him the Manatee." — 
Collins, ToL i, p. 409. 

VOL. II. — G 



98 THE NEW SOUTH WALES CORPS. 

1790 Lists and Eegimental Succession Books is his appointment 

as ensign in the 98th Foot, date 7th October, 1781; he was 

TOrvicee. promoted to the rank of lieutenant on the 4th July, 1783; 

captain on the 5th June, 1789 ; major on 4th November, 

1795 ; and lieutenant-colonel on the 19th January, 1798. 

iSStenants. ^^^ lieutenants — ^Macarthur, Poveaux, Townson, and 
Abbott — all held Commissions in various branches of the 
British army prior to joining Grose's force. 

Macarthur. Macarthur settled in the colony after the recall of the 
Corps, and became one of the most remarkable figures in 

Foveaux. our histoiy. Poveaux, prior to the departure of the Corps, 
attained the rank of major, and was entrusted with the 
Lieutenant-Governorship of Norfolk Island. He continued 
in the service after his return to England, and was raised 
in 1830 to the rank of lieutenant-general. He died in 
London in 1846, at the advanced age of eighty-six. 

SSrftud That Grose himself had a high opinion of the Corps as a 

for the whole, and was resolved to maintain its credit as far as 
possible, may be gathered from his action in the case of 
Ensign Duberly. While a portion of the Corps was at 
Portsmouth this officer was guilty of '^ repeated neglects and 
misconduct," and Grose was obliged to place him under 
arrest. He would readily have released the offender, he 
explained in a letter to Sir George Tonge, if an acknow- 
ledgment of error had been made; but the young officer 
obstinately refused to apologise or ''make the slightest 
concession," preferring rather to be tried by Court-martial. 
Grose therefore asked that a General Court-martial might be 
assembled, but two days later he wrote another letter to the 
Secretary of War, informing him that Duberly had made 
" much concession," and that, therefore, he wished to with- 
huiiMuiit ^^^^ *^® application. He was desirous, he said, of giving 
Mr. Duberly another chance, and added : — " I am the more 
anxious to avoid (if possible) his being brought to a Court- 
martial from an idea that, exclusive of this young man's 




CAPTAIN JOHN MACARTHUR. 



Beproduced by Heliotype from au ori^nal oil painting in the possession 
of the family. 




U 1 B R V 







THE NEW SOUTH WALES COEPS. 99 

destruction, it will be rather an unpleasant and disgraceful ^''^^ 
tiling to the Corps/'* In this matter, as well as in others, 
Grose displayed not only kindness of heart, but a regard 
for the honour of the force. In his opinion, the New South 
Wales Corps had a reputation to lose. 

An example of the practice that prevailed of drawing 
soldiers from the criminal classes may be found in a 
proposal made to Governor Hunter by the Military Depart- 
ment of Bengal, in a letter dated the 11th January, 1796, 
in which it was pointed out that, owing to the war with 
France, there was little probability of obtaining from 
England much-needed recruits for the Indian army, and it ^^^ 
was suggested that ^^ a number of stout young men" might 'o'lod'*- 
be obtained from the convicts whose time of servitude had 
expired. 

It was not anticipated by the Indian authorities that any 
objection would be raised to the scheme, and it was carried 
so far that an agreement was made with Captain Eaven, of oj'^J^ 
the storeship Britannia, then at Calcutta, to return with two ^{^'JSim, 
hundred recruits, for whom he was to receive £12 for each 
man landed at Bengal ; and two officers, a lieutenant and 
a surgeon, were sent over to superintend the recruiting. 
Hunter refused to incur the responsibility of sanctioning the 
scheme. Although the expiree was regarded as a free man, 
it was the established policy of the Government to raise 
every obstacle which would prevent him leaving the colony; 
and Hunter, recognising that many of them would eagerly 
seize this opportunity, referred the matter to the Secretary Hunter an- 
of State, and, in doing so, pointed out that, while it might ^^^ 
be desirable — ^when the number of expirees increased — to 
dispose in this way of the most turbulent of them, under the 
then existing circumstances it would be unwise to deprive 
the colony of any considerable number of labourers. His 
action was approved, and he was directed to signify to the 

* The correspondence is given in the Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2, pp. 
404,406. 



100 



THE NEW SOUTH WAXES COEPS. 



1791 



Evil of 

oonviot- 

recruiting. 



Phillip 
ueutmL 



Grose 
favoumble. 



Bengal authorities that permission to recruit the Indian 
army in the manner proposed could not be granted, as " it 
was conceived that the inconveniences of such a plan would 
more than counterbalance its advantages." 

But what tended more to the demoralisation of the Corps 
than the levies made from the Savoy or other English prisons 
was the practice which obtained in Grose's time of filling up 
vacancies by enlisting convicts who had served their time, 
and emancipating others to serve as soldiers. The question 
as to whether this was a proper way to maintain the strength 
of the garrison had been raised before Grose's arrival in the 
colony. In his despatch of 5th March, 1791, Phillip informed 
Grenville that three or four convicts had offered themselves 
as soldiers. He said nothing for or against the practice, 
but asked for instructions, remarking that although there 
had been " no very great impropriety in the conduct of any 
of those who say the time is expired for which they were 
sentenced, it is more than probable that they will become 
troublesome as their numbers increase.''* This may have 
been intended as a hint that it would be advisable to put 
some of the convicts under the restraints of military dis- 
cipline; but Phillip did not venture to make any recom- 
mendation. * No objection, however, was raised to the en- 
listment of ex-convicts on the part of the British authori- 
ties, and Grose made a practice of recruiting the Corps 
from this source. In August, 1 793, thirty men were enrolled 
from the convict class. They had been selected because 
they were men of good character, and had formerly served 
in the Army.f While he was administering the government 
Grose went further, and emancipated convicts who had a 
part of their time to serve, on condition that they enlisted 
for life. In October, 1793, twenty-three convicts were so 
emancipated, of whom seven had been transported for life, 
and three for fourteen years. J Whether Grose acted on his 

* HiBtorioal Beoorde, toI. i, part 2, p. 472. 
t Collins, Tol. i, p. 304. J lb., p. 317. 



THE KEW SOUTH WAIiES COBPS. 101 

own responsibilitj or songlit approval from head-qnarters ^^^ 

before recruiting the Corps in this manner does not appear^ 

but the practice at a later date received the official sanction sanotioned 

by Home 

of the British Government. The War Office having in the oovwn- 
oarly part of 1797 decided to raise the strength of the Corps 
to ten companies^ a despatch (22nd February, 1797) was 
sent to Governor Hunter, instructing him to consult with 
Major Paterson, the Commandant, as to the best means of 
carrying the Order into effect : — 

" You will, in addition to such individuals as shall be willing to inrtnictloiw 
enlist^ and who are not otherwise employed or engaged in the public Engianci. 
service of the settlement, emancipate such convicts as are willing 
to enlist, and whose good conduct since their arrived shall best 
entitle them to such an indulgence/' 

These instructions could not have been much relished by 
Hunter. He had previously, when complaining of the con- 
duct of the soldiers, made some strong remarks on the consti- 
tution of the Corps, and now he was directed to employ 
the convict population of the colony in the same service. 
Much, however, was left to his discretion. Only men of 
good conduct were to be enlisted, and amongst the convicts 
were many who had been transported for trivial offences, and 
were not unfit for military service or other honest employ- 
ment. But putting the matter in the most favourable light, 
this method of strengthening the Corps was open to serious 
objection. If it was necessary to recruit from the criminal 
class, it would have been better to go to the Savoy than to 
enlist convicts on the spot. 

The objections to the practice are obvious. It is not to undarimWo 

** -^ . method of 

be supposed that because the convicts left one servitude for recmittng. 
another they broke off all intercourse with their friends. 
Nothing was more improbable. Men of that kind were 
more likely to sympathise with the convicts than with the 
military, and their introduction into the Corps was a source 
of embarrassment, if not of danger. 



102 THE NEW SOUTH WALES CORPS. 

1780-00 j^ ^as intended in the first instance to send out the four 
companies with Major Grose by the end of the year 1789. 
Writing to Phillip on the 24th December of that year, Gren- 
ville informed him that a detachment^ consisting of about 
one hundred officers and men, had been put on board the 
Surprize, Scarborough, and Neptune, and that the remainder, 
consisting of upwards of two hundred more, under, the com- 
mand of Major Grose, would embark at Portsmouth, on board 
oriffioai his Majesty's ship Gorgon, in the course of a few days. The 
corSSi out. first part of the plan was carried out, but not the second. 

The Neptune, Surprize, and Scarborough sailed on the 
17th January, 1790. According to a statement dated the 
21st December, 1789* (apparently an enclosure to Grenville's 
despatch of the 24th idemf), the detachment of the Corps 
embarked on these vessels was distributed as follows : — 

Wj^button On the Neptune: Captain Nepean, Lieutenant Macarthur, 

and forty-three non-commissioned officers and privates. 
On the Surprize: Captain Hill, Ensign Prentice, Mr. Harris 

(Surgeon's Mate), and twenty-eight non-commissioned 

officers and privates. 
On the Scarborough : Lieutenants Abbott and Townson, and 

thirty-two non-commissioned officers and privates. 

In all, seven officers and one hundred and three non- 
commissioned officers and men. The names of the officers 
on each ship are not given in the official papers ; but they 
are mentioned by Mrs. Macarthur in her journal.J 

Beyond the narrative sent by Captain Hill to Mr. Wilber- 
force,§ and the journal kept by Mrs. Macarthur, || nothing 
descriptive of the voyage is known to have been preserved. 
Convict Captain Hill's letter is valuable as the testimony of an eye- 
on bran, witness to the ill-treatment the convicts received on board 
the transports ; and although Mrs. Macarthur's journal ia 

* Historical Records, yoI. ii, p. 482. 

t Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, p. 284. 

t Historical Records, yoI. ii, p. 489. 

§ Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 366. 

II Historical Records, vol. ii, p. 487. 



sports. 



THE NEW SOUTH WALES CORPS. 103 

taken up cliiefly with matters personal to herself and her ^^^ 
husband^ it is of interest as bearing on the conduct of the 
men who had charge of the convict vessels in those days. 

Mr. and Mrs. Macarthur underwent many trials on board 
the Neptune. Trouble began before the fleet left England. 
While the Neptune was at Plymouth, Macarthur had a dispute 
with Captain Gilbert, the master of the vessel, and fought a a dud. 
duel with him on shore.* 

Captain Nepean, who was in charge of the detachment on 
board, sent an account of the affair to his brother the Under 
Secretary, and Captain Gilbert was superseded by Captain ^J^^ 
Trail. So far as the Macarthurs were concerned, the change aupcraeded. 
was for the worse. They were subjected to serious annoy- 
ances, which are fully described in Mrs. Macarthur's journal, 
and no redress could be obtained from either Captain Trail 
or Captain Nepean. Affairs on board the Neptune came to 
a . chmax one day, when Macarthur, having brought his 
superior officer on deck to hear a complaint against Captain 
Trail, was reprimanded, instead of receiving the support he 
looked for. Upon this Macarthur applied for permission to Macarthur 

•*••*• 'exchanges 

exchange to tho Scarborough, and as no opposition was Jjo^ 
offered he completed the voyage in that vessel. The master J^^'L 
of the Scarborough, Captain Marshall, is very highly spoken 

* Accounts of tbe affair ^t into the London newspapers. The Morning 
JPost, of 2nd December, 1789, gives the following version : — "Saturday, in 
consequence of a private dispute on board the Neptune, Captain G-ilbert, the 
commander of that ship, attended by his second, Mr. Kelson, of Plymouth 
Bock, met by appointment Lieutenant Macarthur, of the Botany Bay Bangers, 
with his second, the surgeon's mate of the Neptune, at the old G-un Wharf, 
near the Lines. The distance of ten paces being measured, both gentlemen 
fired their pistols together ; Lieutenant Macarthur's ball passed through Cap- 
tain Gilbert's coat. They then fired a second pistol each, without effect, 
when the seconds interposed, and the business was settled by Lieutenant 
Macarthur declaring Captain Gilbert's conduct was in every respect that of a 
gentleman and a man of honour. In the evening Lieutenant Macarthur 
declared the same on the quarter-deck of tbe Neptune, to the satisfaction of 
all parties. It is said the quarrel originated on a refusal of Captain Gilbert 
to admit Lieutenant Macarthur into his own private mess ; at tbe same time 
he offered him every accommodation for himself and his family the ship would 
allow. This brought on some dispute, which occasioned very high words, 
but we are happy ike duel ended without bloodshed." 



IM THE NEW SOUTH WAXES CQBP8. 

^^^ of by Mrs. Macartlmr; but tte voyage was one of sufEer- 
ing for her and of danger to her bnsband^ for after leaving 

seued * the Cape he waB seized with the fever which was raging 
in the ship, and for several days his life was despaired 
of. Macarthur and Nepean had unfortunately quarrelled 
before they left England. Mrs. Macarthur was, apparently, 
unaware of the fact when she wrote her journal, for she not 
only made no allusion to it therein, but writing from Sydney 
in March, 1791, she remarks, ''we shall be pleased to 
remove anywhere with Captain Nepean ; he is a truly good- 
hearted man, and has, I believe, a great friendship for Mr. 
Macarthur";* but if the quarrel had been patched up it had 
not been forgotten, and probably rankled in the minds of 

Nepeaa'8 both men. The dispute was afterwards revived, and was 

apinst carried so far that Nepean, after his arrival in Sydney, endea- 
voured to bring Macarthur to a Court-martial for conduct 
alleged to have taken place " a considerable time before he 
left Europe." t As there would have been great, if not in- 
superable, difficulty in holding a General Court-martial, Sir 
George Tonge, the Secretary of War, wrote to Phillip in 
July, 1792, for a report, with the object of having the case 
settled by the War Office; but while correspondence was 

oroieu proceeding, the matter, through the friendly interposition 

^ "* of Grose, was arranged.^ 

The Neptune, Scarborough, and Surprize arrived, as 
already stated, towards the end of June, 1790. They bore 
despatches from the Secretary of State informing Phillip 
that Major Grose, who had been appointed Lieutenant- 
Governor, was about to follow with the rest of the Corps, 
^y^ and that on his arrival Major Ross and the marine detach- 
Home. ment, with the exception of those who wished to remain in 
the colony, were to embark as soon as possible for England.§ 

* HiBtorioal Becordfl, yoL ii, p. 601. 

t Letter £rom Sir George Yonge to Gtyremor Phillip. — ^Hiatodoal Beoords, 
Tol. i, part 2, p. 630. 

X Historical RecordB, rol. ii. p, 28. 

§ Historical Records, toL i, pa^ 2, p. 285. 



THE ISTEW SOUTH WALES C0B.P8, IQS 

Infitead of coming out at tlie time proposed^ Grose ^^^ 
xemained in England until Jvlj, 1791^ wlien he took his 
passage in the Pitt, arriving in Sydney on the 14th February, 
1792. In November, 1790, he represented to Nepean the ^roie 
poor character of the ^^accommodationB" allotted to him- with 

* qxuurten 

self and his brother-officers on board the Gorgon, the vessel o° >i^p* 
in which it was at first intended he should sail with the 
remainder of the Gorps."^ He complained that every com- 
fortable situation in the ship was occupied by the naval 
officers, ^^who profess a positive resolution of messing by 
themselves," and he asked that arrangements might be made 
80 that if the officers of the Corps were to live by themselves cuquism on 
an ''eligible" place for their mess might be allotted to them. '*"'*" 
Grose was the more anxious to have better accommodation 
because he was accompanied by his wife and family. The 
difficulty was removed by abandoning the original intention 
of sending all the remaining officers and men out in one 
vessel. In view of the fact that it was intended to send out 
about two thousand more convicts, it was deemed expedient 
to detain the troops and distribute them as guards on the 
convict ships. The change of plan was announced in a Emborka- 

■^ ox- tionplan 

letter from Grenville to Phillip, 19th February, 1791 : — altered. 

"It has been judged expedient that the detachment of the 
New South Wales Corps originally intended to accompany Major 
Grose in the Gorgon should assist in guarding the convicts 
mentioned in my letter to you, No. 9 [16th November, 1790],t 
which have since been increased by clearing the gaols in Ireland 
to about 2,050, aU of whom will, I expect, be embarked on board 
the several transports mentioned in the enclosed list,^ and will 
proceed on their voyage in the course of the present month. "§ 

The force distributed among the ten vessels is not stated, 
but a comparison of the official returns of July, 1790, and 

• The Gorgon sailed in March, 1791, and arrived at Sydney on 2l8fc September. 

t The number of conyiots mentioned in this despatch -was 1,800. 

X The tntDsports referred to were provided hy Messrs. Camden, Calvert, 
and King. They comprised the Queen, Athintic, William and Ann, Britannia, 
Matilda, Salamander, Albemarle, Mary Ann, AdhniralBarrington« and Active. 

§ Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 461. 



106 THE NEW SOUTH WALES CORPS. 

1791 December, 1791,* shows that on the latter date the strength 
Corps of the Corps then present in the colony had been increaeed 
on various from One hundred and three to two hundred and seventy- 

tnoBpoits* 

three, including seventy-six stationed atNorf oik Island. The 
transports nuist therefore have brought out about one hun- 
dred and seventy of all ranks, including Captain Paterson 
and several of the subalterns. The rest of the officers 
remained in England with Major Grose until the Pitt sailed. 
This vessel took on board one company of the Corps, com- 
manded by Captain Hill. The sixth company came out after- 
wards in detachments as guards for the convict ships. 

The voyage of the Pitt was marked by misfortune. After 
leaving St. Jago,t where the vessel put in for refreshments, 
DisastrouB the troops were attacked by a malignant fever, which carried 
of the Pitt, off a large number. The commander. Captain Manning, in 
a letter to Alderman Macaulay, the head of the firm from 
which the transport was hired, describes the misfortune in 
forcible language : — 

" For a considerable time our scene was truly melancholy. la 
fourteen days we buried twenty-seven seamen, soldiers, their wives 
and children. Scarcely a person escaped death who was watering 
on shore at that d place, St. Jago."t 

From a return sent by Grose to the Admiralty, from Rio 
de Janeiro, it appears that thirteen soldiers were carried off 
^tomente ^^ *^® fover. He attributed the outbreak to the defective 
of tevwi^ arrangements on board. Captain Manning, on the other 
hand, regarded it as due to climatic causes, the time of the 
year at which the island was visited being notoriously 
unhealthy ; this theory is upheld by the fact that while the 
soldiers and sailors, who had liberty on shore, suffered 
severely, the convicts, who were confined to the ships, 
escaped the fever altogether. Grose lost on the voyage 

* Historical Becords, yoI, i, part 2>pp- 863 and 568. 

t St. Jago, the largest of the Cape Verd islands : this form of the name has 
disappeared from the maps. The island is now known as Santiago. 

{ Historical Becords, toI. i, part 2, p. 527. Captain Manning's letter was 
published in the FuhUe Advertiser (London) of date 9th Februaiy, 1793. 



THE NEW SOUTH WALES CORPS. 107 

about one-sixth of the detacliinent ; and on the 26th March, ^"^ 
a month after his amval, the total strength of the Corps at ^^^^ 
Sydney, Parramatta, and Norfolk Island was returned at di*. 
three hundred and forty, rank and file. 

When Grose arrived at Sydney, in February, 1792, ihe 
Corps consisted of six companies, one of which, however, 
remained in England.* Its strength was shortly afterwards ^'^^ ^ 
increased by the formation of one extra or auxiliary company, 
enlisted by Phillip from the marines who elected to remain in 
the colony as soldiers.t The command of this company was 
given to Captain-Lieutenant Johnston, the only officer of the 
marines (with the exception of Collins) who did not return to 
England at the expiration of the three years' term of service. 
The question havins: arisen as to whether Johnston's seniority Johnston 

T i» • 1 • -o-L m • *^ command 

was to date from his appomtment to this company, rhillip th^ai 
communicated with the War Office, and was informed in a company, 
letter from Sir George Yonge, dated 4th July, 1793, that, 
" as Captain Johnston only obtained that rank in the marines 
on the 25th September, 1792, his Commission as captain of 
a company in the New South Wales Corps cannot be dated 
earlier than that day." The auxiliary company was placed 
on the establishment on the 25th of June, 1793, and thus 
became part and parcel of the New South Wales Corps. 
This brought the strength of the Corps up to about five 
hundred officers and men, but as the convict population 
increased, further augmentations became necessary. For a 
time the Government adopted the expedient of taking men Mode of 

^ * " augmenting 

from regiments on service in England and sending them as the oorpo. 
guards of transports to Sydney, where they were added to 
the New South Wales Corps. But this plan was not approved 
of at the War Office, and in February, 1794, the Secretary 

*The company whicli remained in England was sent oat at yarious periods 
as guards on donvict ships, and merged as they arrived into the six companies 
located in the colony. In this way, although the Corps nominally consisted 
of seven companies, only six were actually on service in the colony up to the 
year 1796. 

t Authority for this was given in Grenville*s despatch, 24th December, 
1789.— Historical Becords, toI. i, part 2, p. 286. 



•''■'"•..TsM^' 



( u--f ':; 



lOB THE NEW SOTTTH ITAIiES COBPB. 

X7M-97 of Hj^ar wrote to the Home Office,* stating that there were 
no men belonging to Major Grose^s corps left at Chatham, 
and that he did not suppose the Government wonld approTe 
of his ordering any recmits of other corps to be sent to 
New South Wales " against their inclination." In May, 
1795, a guard being required for the Lord Cornwallis, 
transport, Major-General Pox received instructions from the 
War Office to transfer to Major Grose's corps such a number 
of " volunteers " from the recruits under his command as 
would be sufficient to make up a detachment of twenty-five 
Boanties men, each volunteer to receive an extra bounty of a i?uinea 

to traDsport •/ o 

guards. and a half. Two commissioned officers, appointed by the 
Duke of York, who commanded the forces at that time^ 
were to go with the detachment. 

This step> however, was only taken to meet an emergency. 
On the 10th June, 1796, the War Office authorised Grose, 
who had returned to England, but was still in command of 

g>g^ the Corps with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, to raise two 

increaaed. fresh Companies, which were to be " of the same establish- 
ment as the other companies of the Corps.'^ The nomination 
of the officers was left to Grose, but it was stipulated that 
the officers recommended for companies should have served 
two years as subalterns, and that '^ the gentlemen named 
for ensigns'^ should not be under sixteen years of age. 
Becraits for the Army were now at war price,t and instead 

Bounty of three guineas (the bounty given when the first detachment 
of the Corps was raised), Major Grose was now allowed 
" seven pounds ten shillings for each recruit." 

The two companies were raised in due course, and in less 
than a year afterwards, February, 1797, the War Office 
proposed to raise an additional company. This increase, 
according to a statement annexed to a letter sent from the 
War Office to the Paymaster-General, would have raised the 
number of companies to ten, with a total strength of nine 

* HiBtorical BeoordB, toI. ii, p. 124. 

t Great Britain was at this tune engaged in a serioos oonfiiot with Fnuxoe. 



THE KEW SOUTH WALES GOBFS. 109 

lumdred and forty-eight. But for some reason not stated^ 1797-1809 
the instmctiona^ less than a month afterwards^ were coun- 
termanded. In December, 1802, the force numbered fire strength 
hnndred and twenty-four non-commissioned officers and nvr-im. 
men. In 1805 the strength was increased to six hundred 
and fifty-six. In 1807 two fresh companies were added to 
the Corps, bringing up the nominal strength to eleren com- 
panies of eight hundred and sixty-six non-commissioned 
officers and privates. 

On the 26th January, 1808, Major Johnston, who then BUgWa 
had the command, placed Governor Bligh under arrest, and recall of 

toe GoFps* 

assumed the Government. As soon as the fact became known 
to the authorities in England it was decided to recall the 
Corps, and instructions were given for the 73rd Begiment, 
then stationed in Scotland, to take its place. Upon its recall 
the name of the force was chanffed from the '^ New South io2nd 

Reffixnfint, 

Wales Corps" to the " 102nd Eegiment." The change of g^^^ew^^ 
name was made on the suggestion of the Duke of York, corpe. 
Commander-in-Chief, in a letter to Lord Castlereagh, dated 
20th October, 1808. Castlereagh suggested that it would 
be better to establish it as a second battalion ^^to some of 
the regiments already numbered"; but this was not done, 
and on the 4th March, 1809, the Mustermaster-General of 
the British army was notified by the War Office that the title 
of the Corps had been changed to the 102nd Regiment.* In 
December, 1809, Lieutenant-Colonel Macquarie, who had^cquarfe's 
been appointed to the Governorship, arrived at Sydney, in Jl^^^ 
command of a battalion of the 73rd Regiment, seven hundred 
strong, which relieved the New South Wales Corps. But 
while instructions were given to Macquarie to take care that 
every officer belonging to the Corps, including Colonel Pater- 
son and Lieutenant-Colonel Foveaux (who were not in the 
colony when the Government was subverted), ''do proceed to 

* In the London Times of SOtJi January, 1809, appeared the following 
announoement : — " The New South Wales Corps is for the future to be called 
tto lQ2nd Begiment." 



110 THE NEW SOUTH WAXES CORPS. 

1810 England with the regiment/** he was expected to make up 

the full strength of his regiment by voluntary enlistment 

Regiment ^^^ *^® f OTce which had been recalled. He had no difficulty 

f^i^d. ^^ S®**i^g volunteers. On the 30th April, 1810, he wrote 

to Lord Castlereagh : — 

" I have much pleasure in informing your Lordship that a suffi- 
' cient number of volunteers have turned out from the 102nd to 
complete the 73rd Regiment within nineteen men of the full 
establishment of 1,000 rank and file. 

" A great number of old soldiers of the 102nd who had served 
long in this country wished to remain in it 

. I have taken the responsibility upon myself of 

forming them into an invalid or veteran company for the service 

of the colony until his Majesty's pleasure shall be known. . . . 

AninvaUd J have made the establishment of this invalid company one 

company. * '' 

hundred rank and file, with the usual proportion of sergeants 
and drummers, to be under the command and charge of an officer 
of the 73rd Regiment, until I shall receive orders from Home 
respecting it." 

The augmentation of the 73rd Regiment from the New 
South Wales Corps did not stop here. The strength of the 
Corps had been raised in 1807 to eight hundred and sixty- 
six non-commissioned officers and privates, but only three 
hundred and forty-five non-commissioned officers and men 
went home with the regiment. Upwards of five hundred 
men have therefore to be accounted for, and it would seem 
that most of them joined the 73rd Regiment. Writing to 
Lord Liverpool on the 9th November, 1812, Macquarie 
Want pointed out that he had not sufficient barrack accommoda- 
tion for the garrison, increased as it had been by drafts 
from the 102nd Regiment : — 

"At the present time the 73rd consists of 1,128 men, inde- 
pendent of their women and children, and the Veteran Company, 
106 men, with their proportion of wom6n and children. Total, 
1,234 soldiers." 

• Letter from Lord Castlereagh to Goyemor Macquarie, 14th May, 1809. 



THE NEW SOUTH WALES CORPS. Ill 

As tlie strength of the battalion brought out by Macquarie 1^)7-33 
was ^' about seven hundred,'' it follows that upwards of 
five hundred men were added after its arrival, which is as 
nearly as possible the number left behind from the New 
South Wales Corps. 

The New South Wales Corps was thus split in two. One 
part returned to England as the 102nd Eegiment; the other 
remained in New South Wales, and became part and parcel 
of the 73rd Begiment. 

From 1807 to 1811 the 102nd Eegiment appears on the MoTementa 
pay-lists as a regiment of ten companies; in 1812 and 1813 i807-i8i8^ 
it numbered eleven companies, but was afterwards reduced 
to ten. From 1812 to 1817 the regiment was engaged partly 
on foreign service and partly on service in Ireland. A 
portion of the regiment was despatched to the Bermudas in 
July, 1812, and in June, 1814, took part in an expedition 
against Moose Island, in America, which capitulated on the 
11th July. In February, 1816, the 102nd, by direction of 
the Prince Begent, became the 100th Begiment. Towards 
the close of 1817 the companies which had been doing 
duty abroad returned to England ; those which were on icond 
service in Ireland were recalled, arriving early in March, SaSndcd. 
1818, at Chatham, where, on the 24th March, 1818, the 
regiment was disbanded. 

The Veteran Company enjoyed a life of twenty-one years. The veteran 
It was formed on the 10th March, 1810, and as long as the TOmpany. 
73rd Begiment remained in the colony was linked with that 
regiment as an invalid company. In the lists for March, 
1814, it is described as the "New South Wales Veteran 
Company,^' and from that date to September, 1823, it was 
linked with the 46th Foot and 48th Foot, the regiments 
which followed the 73rd in the performance of garrison 
duty in New South Wales. 



112 



1789 

Phmipand 
the land 
question. 



The 

" founda- 
tions of an 
empire.** 



Apportion- 
ment 
of land 
grants. 



THE DISPOSAL OF CROWN LANDS UNDER 
PHILLIP. 

Phillip's sentiments in regard to tlie alienation of Crown 
lands were worthy of the man who did not doubt '' that 
this country will prove the most valuable acquisition Great 
Britain ever made.'^* Prior to the departure of the First 
Fleet from England, and before his General Instructions 
were drawn up, he had impressed upon the Government 
the desirability of furnishing specific directions respecting 
land grants to seamen and marines. It is evident he was 
anxious to put free men, and not convicts, in possession of 
the soil. His chief anxiety in regard to the latter was that 
they should be kept apart from the rest of the community. 

" As I would not wish convicts to lay the foundations of an 
empire, I think they should ever remain separated from the 
garrison and other settlers that may come from Europe, and not 
be allowed to mix with them, even after the seven or fourteen 
years for which they are transported may be expired."t 

When he received his General Instructions, Phillip dis- 
covered that the views of the authorities on this point were 
diametrically opposed to his own. The only class to which 
he was empowered to issue land grants was tho emanci- 
pated convicts, to whom he was directed to allot areas as 
follows: — To single men, 80 acres; to married men, 50 
acres, and an additional 10 acres for each child, with provi- 
sions, in each case, for twelve months, and tools, seed, and 

* Historical Beoords, toL i, port 2, p. 151. f lb., p. 53. 



THK DISPOSAL OP CROWN LANDS UNDER PHILLIP. 118 

stock from the public store. So far as seamen, marines, l78a-89 
and other free men were concerned, Grenville was content 
that they should wait until Phillip had examined the country 
and reported upon its capabilities, and upon the terms and 
conditions on which he thought the land ought to be 
distributed. 

In compliance with these instructions, Phillip reported in 
July, 1788, as follows : — 

"Lands granted to officers or settlers will, I presume, be on 
condition of a certain proportion of the lands so granted being Grants 
caltivated or cleared within a certain time, and which time and iSdSera. 
quantity can only be determined by the nature of the ground 
and situation of the lands ..... they [the 
officers and settlers] likewise must be allowed convicts, who must 
be maintained at the expense of the Crown. 

"Your Lordship will be pleased to consider this opinion as given 
in obedience to orders, on a subject which requires more consider- 
ation than I can give it at present, and at a time when I have 
only a very superficial knowledge of the country for a few miles 
around."* 

This despatch reached England in March, 1789; and in 
June following, Grenville wrote, in reply, that the matter 
would be submitted to his Majesty by an early opportunity. 
By one of the vessels of the Second Fleet, which arrived at Further 
Sydney in June, 1790, Phillip received Instructions under ie^^fin^' 
the Royal Sign-Manual with respect to grants of land to^^*^°** 
be made to non-commissioned officers and privates who 
might prefer to remain in the colony when the detachment 
was relieved, and to " such other persons as may be disposed 
to become settlers.'^ The document is known as Phillip's 
'^ Additional Instructions. '' It was evidently drawn up with 
one single object in view, namely, to induce the non-com- 
missioned officers and men of the marine corps to settle in MUitur 
the colony, when their three years of service were ended, to 8etti«. 

* Historical "Records, yoL i, part S, p. 177* 
VOL. II. — H 



in 



THE DISPOSAL OF 



1789 



PrivUegea 



No 

encourage- 
mentto 
free settlors. 



Phillip, accordingly, was directed to issue grants to all 
soldiers who were willing ^to remain, as follows : — 

To married men« — Non-<M>mmi8sioned officers, 150 acres; 
privates, 100 acres; and, in eadi case, .10 additional acres 
for every child. 
To single men. — Non-commissioned officers, . 130 acres ; 
privates, 80 acres. 

He was to allow them from the public store, clothes, 
provisions, seed-grain, tools, and implements, sufficient for 
one year, free of charge ; and ensign to them the services of 
any number of the convicts — " you may judge suffioientto 
answer their purpose'* — on condition of the grantee main- 
taining them in a satisfactory manner. If the marines 
preferred to enlist in the" relieving corps, they were to 
receive a bounty of £3 per man, and, at the end of five 
years' service, double the quantity of land.* 

The free settlers, about whom Phillip was so anxious, were 
practically shut out. If any of them found their way to the 
colony, he was instructed to give them every encouragement 
^' without subjecting the public to expense." Grants of land 
could be given to them; but they must not exceed the 
area allowed to non-commissioned officers. The services 
of convicts were, if required, to be assigned to them ; but 
neither for themselves, nor for the convicts so assigned, 
were they to be allowed clothing or provisions, seeds or 
tools, from the public store. No inducement whatever was 
held out to them; and Phillip saw at once that unless this 
was done it was hopeless to expect that the colony would 
be anything more than a penal settlement for many years. 

This must have been a severe disappointment to him. 
Upon no point had he been so emphatic in his despatches 
to Whitehall as upon the necessity for placing free settlers 
upon the soil ; he had, from the first, been convinced that 
the prosperity of the settlement depended upon it, and the 

* These Instructions 'will be .found printed at length in the Historioal 
Beoords, yol. i, park 2, p. 256. . 



CROWN IiAJJIJS TTNPEB THILLIP. 115 

eonviction -was confirmed by experience. By the transpo^s l^^^^l 
. irhicli returned to England after landing the first convicts 
and stores, he informed Lord Sydney : — 

" If fifty farmers were sent out with their families they would pmiup'» 

, •' advocacy 

do more in one year in rendering this colony independent of the forpnoticftl 
mother country cts to proviaians than a thousand convicts.'^ 

'^ The sending out settless who will be interested in the labour 
of the oonviots and in the cultivation of the country Appears to 
me to be absolutely neoessaiy."t 

In the despatches of February, 1790, carried byLientenant 
P. 6. King, he "reported ! — 

''If settlers are sent out^ and the convicts divided amongst 
them, this settlement will very shortly maintain itself, but with- 
oat which this country cannot be. cultivated to any advantage."! 

In replying to Grenville's despatch which covered his 
Additional Infitructions concerning the issue of land gxents^ 
Phillip contented .himself with remarking i — 

I have had the honor of observing in my former 
despatches that settlers appear to me absolutely necessary. "§ 

In March, 1791, he returned to the subject : — 
" After three years' experience, I am not only fully persuaded Free 
that the sending out settlers, amongst whom the greatest part of venug 
ihe convicts should be distributed, and supported by Government 
for a certain time on some such plan as proposed in my former 
letters, is necessary ; but I am persuaded that a large body of 
convicts on the account of Government will not answer any good 
purpose until the country can support itself. ''|| 

No notice having been taken of his representations, 
PhiUip wrote to Nepean in November, 1791, in the follow- 
ing terms : — 

''My former letters have pointed out the great necessity of a 
few intelligent, good settlers, who would have an interest in their 
own labour, and in the labour of those who might be employed 
under them ; but to which I have not received any answer. « « 

*'Hiit<Nrieftl BeooMto, voL i, part;2, p. 168. 

t lb:, p. 177. t lb., p. 299. § Ib.^p;a4fir. || lb., p. 470. . 



116 THE DISPOSAL OF 

1791 The colony is now in siich a situation that a few honest settlers 
Free setUora who have been bred to agriculture, being sent out> may, in a very 
expenditure, short time, be the means of taking off the heavy expense which ' 

Government has hitherto been at for supplying this colony with 

provisions."* 

To Dundas^ in March following, he wrote :— 

" I have, sir, in all my letters pointed out the great advantages 
which would attend our having a few intelligent farmers as 
settlers. They would do more for the colony than five hundred 
settlers from soldiers or convicts."t 

^"to?" It will be seen from these extracts, culled from Phillip^s 

<"«reg»«i«>. despatches during the first four years of the life of the 
settlement, what importance he placed upon the introduc- 
tion of agricultural immigrants ; and what little heed was 
taken of his oft-repeated requests and warnings. 

The persistent manner in which the Imperial authorities 
ignored Phillip's recommendations in this, as in other mat- 
ters, forces us to the conclusion that the management of 
Colonial affairs at Whitehall — eo far at least as New South 
Wales was concerned — ^was delegated to subordinates.j: 

Shortly after Phillip's first despatches reached England, 
Grenville took charge of the Colonial Office ; but, like his 
predecessor, he appears to have failed to appreciate the sig- 
nificance of the undertaking. Neither in his voluminous 
miscellaneous correBpondence§ nor in his Parliamentary 
GrenviUe's utterances can any allusion to the colony be found. The 

apathy. . . . . T 

despatches and instructions to Phillip, which emanated from 

* Historical Records, toI. i, parfc 2, p. 657. t lb., p. 697. 

X Henry Taylor, who commenced his official life as a clerk in the Colonial 
Office, mentions in his Autobiography (toI i, p. 70), that while but a young 
man, and during the first decade of liis serrice, the Goremor of an important 
colony was recalled at his instance. The Secretary of State was, at first, not 
prepared for so strong a measure ; but, " Nowise discouraged by his reluctance, 
I proceeded to draw up an elaborate and Toluminous despatch, recapitulating 
the GoTemor's errors and misdoings from the commencement of his adminis- 
tration, and ending with his recall. The Secretary of State gare way, the 
despatch was signed, and the Governor came home accordingly. 

§ See Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of George III — ^By the Duke 
of Buckingham and Chandoo. 



CB.OWN LANDS XTNDEE PHILLIP. 117 

the Colonial OiBce while lie was in power, contain no in- ^^•^ 
dications of the administrative ability with which his con- 
temporaries credited him. In the heat of party strife and The colonial 
the pressure of the domestic afEairs of the Empire (which 
formed the chief business of his Department), Grenville 
appears to have lost sight of the infant colony, or to have 
regarded it merely as a convenient solution of the problem 
presented by the overcrowded gaols. '^ The penal colonies,'* 
wrote one of the leading authorities on the administration of 
Colonial affairs, " were regarded as mere conveniences for 
the execution of justice at Home, and excited no farther 
interest in the minds of statesmen. '** If any further proof *^*jj^*® 
be needed of the failure of the leading statesmen of the ^,S2j^ 
time to realise the significance of Phillip's mission, it can be 
found in the fact that Henry (afterwards Lord) Brougham, 
in a comprehensive treatise on the " Colonial Policy of 
European Powers," published in 1803, while he devoted 
considerable space to small insular settlements in the West EnjiiWi 

statesmen 

Indies, made no allusion whatever to New South Wales, ""d New 

South Wales. 

which had then been an occupied part of the British 
Dominions for fifteen years. 

In acknowledging the receipt of Grenville's despatch 
covering the Royal Instructions concerning land grants. Land flrrant 
Phillip wrote that he would obey the directions he had 
received, but he was compelled not very long afterwards 
to tell the Secretary of State that they would have to be 
carried out according to the spirit rather than the letter. 
In March, 1791, he gave grants to some marines and 
sailors who had returned to Sydney from Norfolk Island, 
where they had cleared land with the view of settling upon 
it. It would have been impossible, he explained, for these a neocssaiy 
men to maintain themselves at the expiration of twelve 
months, and he undertook on his own responsibility to give 
them eighteen months' provisions, td build huts for them, 
and clear half an acre of land for each. These cases were 

• Colonization and Colonies — By Professor Merirale — "Preface. 



118 THE DISBOSAIi.OF 

^^ treated as exoeptions air the time^ and Phillip informed the 
Secretaiy of State that he should not deviato from the 
(Mvemnenb Additional Instructions in future. Eight months later, 
■et&era. howeyer, he wrote to say that he had been compelled by 
the force of circumstances to again depart from the Instmc* 
tions. To what extent he did so is shown by an enclosure 
that accompanied the despatch.'**' Settlers were to be sup- 
ported with provisions and clothing from the public store 
for eighteen months instead of twelve^ and to receive the 
necessary implements of husbandry and live stock and seed« 
Huts were to be built for them, a portion of the land 
cleared; and in one case four convicts — supported from 
the public store — were allowed for eighteen months. The 
propriety of making this departure from the Instruction? 
^vernment ^^'^^ ^^* questioned by the authorities in London, who had 
aoquiercet. satisfied themselvcs, according to Dundas's despatch of the 
10th January^ 1792, that an allowance of one year's provi- 
sions was insufficient.t 

In regard to land grants to settlers from the convict class, 

EmandDist a great distinction was drawn between the emancipist and 

MiaSdf* the expiree. In the case of the former the Grovernor waa 

all6wed.no discretion. If he emancipated a convict he was 

bound by his General Instructions to give him a grant of 

land, tools, seeds, &c.,and to provision him for twelve months 

from, the pubUc store. In the case of the convict whose 

term of servitude had expired a grant of land could be 

made, and even tools and provisions: allowed for " a limited 

time " ; but the concession was an act of grace, dependent 

on the good behaviour of the convict, or on the likelihood 

of his returning to England unless sufficient inducement 

' was held out to detain him in the colony. 

• Historical Becordd, toI. i, part 2, pp. 589, 540.' 

t The opinion of the seUlfiment on the queation is thus stated by CoUina 
(vol. i, p. 129) .—"The period fixed by Government for victualling a settler 
from the public stores — twelve months — ^waa, in general, looked upon as too 
shorty and it was tliougbt not piaoticablo for anyone at the end of that period 
to maintain himself, unless during that time he should have very great 
assistance given him, and be fortimate in his crops." 



CROWN LAHBS TTNllEIl PHILLIP. US[ 

. There was a remarkable omission in,Phillip's Instmctions ^■5^*®- 
ODncerniu^ land grants. Whila prorision was made for Land grants 
ihe non-commissioned officers and men of the marine f orce^ marines. 
nothing-was said abont grants to the commissioned officers.. 
Phillip^ on his own responsibility^ had given them small plots 
of land^ which they were encouraged to cultivate with the 
aid of oonviet labour, and such live stock as could be spared ; 
but the land was only held on sufferance, the occupiers had 
no ownership in it, and when iftiej left the colony they could 
neither sell it nor the improvements they had. made upon 
it ; when their occupation ceased, their interest in the land 
ceased also. 

Li his first despatches Phillip mentioned that the officers com- 

* ^ missioned 

felt this to be a hardship ; but nothing was done to remedy ?{S°J" ?°^ 
it, and when the officers of the New South Wales Corps 
arrived to relieve the marines they were much chagrined to 
find that they were no better off in this particular than their 
predecessors. They had joined the Corps with the knowledge 
that free grants of land would be made to settlers, and in the 
expectation, that they wouldbe allowed to participate in the 
good things to be distributed. Phillip was well aware of 
this, as is- shown by his despatch to Dundas of the 4th 
October, 1792. ''The officers in the New South Wales 
Corps," he wrote, ''have supposed on coming to this country 
that lands might be granted to them, with indulgences 
similar to those which have been granted to settler&'^ Some Acquisition 
of them, there cannot be the least doubt, joined the Corps motive 
chiefly because of the special advantages which belonged to corps, 
life in a new settlement, where land was to be given away. 
Such appears to have been the case with Lieutenant John 
Macarthur, who exchanged from the 68th Foot into the New 
South Wales Corps, and came out to the colony with his 
wife, to whom he had not long been married. The voyage to 
a distant uncivilised country, and the separation from rela- 
tives, friends, and iassociations which the new appointment 
involved, would have discouraged and alarmed many women ; 



120 



THE DISPOSAL OF 



X789 



Prospective 
advantages. 



Oaptain 

Hill's 

oonunents. 



Governor 

not 

responsible. 



but Mrs. Macarthur, so far from opposing the plan^ 
was, to nse lier own words, *' a warm advocate for it/' In 
a letter to her mother, written from Chatham Barracks 
shortly before the first detachment of the Corps sailed for 
Sydney, she refers to her husband's exchange into ''the 
Corps destined for New South Wales, from which we have 
very reasonable expectation of reaping the most material 
advantages." 

The feeling that prevailed among the military officers 
when it was found that no provision had been made for 
them in the allotment of land finds expression in the letter 
which Captain Hill, of the New South Wales Corps, wrote 
to Wilberf orce, describing the iniquities practised on board 
the vessels of the Second Fleet. Having finished his account 
of the voyage. Hill gave his impressions of the colony, 
which were anything but favourable. Coming to the land 
question, he said : — 

"In America the officers and settlers had grants of land in 
proportion to their rank ; but those of the marines who are now 
here, and have borne every hardship, have no such thing, neither is 
thei^ an intention of giving each their portion. In my humble 
opinion nothing can be more impolitic. Industry is the first 
essential to the welfare of any kingdom, consequently all measures 
that are adopted to promote it are highly commendable ; and I am 
well persuaded Britain will not thank our Governor for acting, 
not only on a mean but on an unstable plan, to the great disquiet of 
every individual in the colony, and the certainty of bringing an 
endless burthen on the mother country."* 

Ostensibly, this is Hill's personal opinion, written for 
the information of the great philanthropist, but there can 
be little doubt that it also represented the views of the 
marine officers, who had been denied their " portion" of 
land. It is not easy to see why the blame should have 
been cast upon the Governor. The marine officers must 
have known what the Instructions were, even if they had 

* Hifltotical Beoords, vol. i, part 2, p. 870. 



CROWN LANDS TTNDBR PHILLIP. 121 

not been publicly exbibited, for one of their number, Judge- ^'^^ 
Advocate Collins, quotes them in his book. Captain Hill 
and the other officers ought to have been aware, from 
their military experience, that when a servant of the Crown 
receives written instructions, whether they are based upon 
a mean or a liberal policy, no course is open to him but 
to obey them. Phillip was not responsible for the policy 
that had been decided upon by the British Government; his 
function was to carry it into effect according to his instruc- 
tions. Evidently, however, he was credited with a desire 
to keep from the marine officers what was regarded as a 
right. It may have been thought that he was taking this 
means of showing his disapproval of the obstructive conduct pwnip 
which some of them had pursued. If so, the suspicion was blamed, 
unfounded. The provisions as to land grants contained 
in the Additional Instructions were not made on Phillip's 
recommendation; he knew nothing about the conditions 
until he received the Additional Instructions, with orders 
for his '^ exact compliance " therewith. 

The object the British Government had in view in framing 
the Additional Instructions was to promote the settlement 
of the land. Whether any of the non-commissioned officers 
and men would like to remain in the colony when the 
three years' term of service had expired was not known to 
the Government at the time, but there was every reason to 
suppose that the officers, or the majority of them, intended 
to return to England as soon as they were relieved ; and as 
grants of land were not offered as rewards, but with the An 
object of inducing persons to settle in the colony, the cir- tS^Se™ 
cumstance that grants to officers were not provided for 
in the Additional Instructions should excite no surprise. 
The Government did not act on mere supposition. In 
October, 1788, the commanding officer. Major Ross, trans- 
mitted to the Admiralty replies from the marine officers, who 
had been requested to state whether they desired to return 
at the end of the three years for which they had engaged. 



122 IHa mBFOSLMi OP 

17W Qj. remain m* the colony. Out of the eleven officers bel6ng- 
MarinM not ini? to the detachment, six intimated tibeir wish to return ab 

pennonent " 

residenta. the end of tibe three years^ term^ or as soon afterwards aa 
might be convenient^ and the other' five sent in answera 
which showed little disposition on their part to remain 
in the colony as settlers.* That the Grovemment was not 
averse to officers settling in the colony is evident from the 
fact that when a request was made for grants of land for 
them it was readily complied with. On the 24th November, 
1791, rather more than a year after the Additional Instruc- 
tions had reached him, Phillip wrote to the Secretary of 
State informing him that several of the officers had applied 
to him for land grants, and asking for instructions; 

At this time the position had undergone some change. 
Most of the officers of the marine detachment had made 
arrangements to return to England by the Gorgon, which 

Gfants Sailed a month afterwards. Those referred to bv Phillip 

to offloera . "^ ■*■ 

of New must therefore have consisted chiefly of officers of the New 

South Wales ^ '' 

Corps South Wales Corps, who were intended to be stationed per- 
manently in the colony, and consequently enjoyed advan- 
tages in the matter of land occupation which the marines, 
whose period of service was three years, did not. In dealing 
with the officers' request the British Government adhered 

* The answers of fire oflfoers to the question aa to whether they were 
desirous of remaining in the colony were as follows : — Watkin Tench, captain- 
lieutenant — "As a soldier for one tour of three years more." Q-eorge 
Johnston, first lieutenant — '-* Haying heen so short a time in this country^ 
cannot determine whether ho would wiah to remain or not ; as to settlings 
can say nothing." John Johnstone, first lieutenant — ^'^ Having heen so 
. short a time in this country, cannot determine whether he would wish to 
remain or not ; as to settling, can say nothing until he knpws on what terms.'*^ 
James Maitland Shairp, first lieutenant — '* Being so short a time in the 
country, he cannot yet jvidffo whether he would wish to remain or not ; as to 
settling, until he knows the terms and nature of the grant, can't deter- 
mine." William Dawes, second lieutenant — '* As a soldier for one tour of 
three years- more." — Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, p. 201. On the lOth 
July, Bt>8S forwarded letters to the Admiralty from Lieutenants Poulden, 
Timins, Bavey, Olarite, Creswell. and Kellow, requesting that they<mi|tht he 
relieved at the expiration of three years, on the ground that private affairs in 
England required their attention.— Ih., p. 163. Captain Collins, the Judge- 
Advocate, also wished to retum to England ; in December, 1792» he wrote to 
Dundas asking to be relieved from further service in the colony, but the 
applieadon was not gnmted. — lb., p. 674. 



CKOWN' HABDB TTNDEE PHILLIP. 12J 

to tEe principle laid down from the firsb— that' land was to be ^'^ 
parted with only for the purposes of settlement. Phillip's 
tetter was aiddressed to Lord GreHville; it was replied- to 
on the 14th July, 1792., by his. successor, the Bight HonJ 
Henry Ddndas : — 

"In answer to the request made by several of the military and»nrtioMd 
civil o£Scer8 to have grants of land made them, whidi they may 
dispose of at their departure, I do not foresee that any inoon- 
venience can arise from your complying with their requisitions,^ 
Jirovided the allotments are made nbt with .a view- to a temporary 
but an established settlement thereon-; that is, comprehending 
such portions of land^ and in such situations as would be suitable 
lor a hond'Jide settler, should it ever come into the hands of such 
a person."* 

This reply to the request for laijd on the part of the civil 
and military oflScers, which did not reach the colony until 
Phillip had left it, may be taken as an. indication that the 
marine officers would have been included in the Additional 
rnstructions if it had been supposed that any of them desired 
to remain in the colony as settlers. It will be seen later on 
how far this power of granting lands to officers was exer- 
cised, and to what extent the settlement of the colony was 
affected thereby. 

Two points in which the scheme was defective may be Defects 
referred to now. While the area of land which a non-» scheme, 
commissioned officer could take up was limited, the direc- 
tions given in Dundas's despatch prescribed in the case of 

commissioned officers neither maximum nor minimum. 

< 

. The other point in which the scheme failed to realise the 
expectations which had been formed was the ease with 
which settlers were able to dispose of their property.. They 
wera required by the conditions embodied in the grants- to 
preside upon and cultivate the land ; but there was nothing 
to prevent thepafrom-selling their allotments after they had ^JJ^*"*- 
gpne into possession. Phillip brought the- question undep 

* fiittorical JELeooids, to1« i, part.2, p. ^2v 



124 THE DISPOSAL OF 

1^^ the notice of the British Government in his despatch of the 
4th October, 1792 :— 

" Experience has also pointed out many inconveniences attend- 
ing the receiving men as settlers who only look to the convenience 
of the present moment. With some the sole object in becoming 
settlers is that of being their own masters, and with others the 
object is to raise as much money as will pay their passage to 
England, and then assign their lands to those who take them with 
the same view." 

Phillip went on to say that there were many settlers of 
this class at Norfolk Island. According to a report from 
Lieutenant-Governor King, forwarded by Phillip to Dundas^ 
many of the settlers at Norfolk Island actually applied to 
the master of the Pitt to take them off the island, whereupon 

dtuation ^^^7 Were called together and informed that if any of them 

ai^ttrfoik endeavoured to leave before or soon after the expiration of 
the twelve months for which they were to be victualled from 
the public stores they would be detained until the quantity 
of provisions issued to them had been made good. This was 
a rough-and-ready way of dealing with the situation, but it 
was effective ; and as no grants had yet been issued, Phillip 
was able to prevent what he described as an " imposition '* 

^S^ ^y ordering the removal of some of the convicts from the 
land, and giving to others leases for five or ten years, instead 
of free grants.* 

Grose noticed a similar disposition on the part of the 
settlers at Sydney and Parramatta, but in their cases, unfor- 
tunately, grants had been issued. In his first despatch to 
the Home Department, 9th January, 1793, the Lieutenant- 
Governor reported that he was "much plagued with the 
people who become settlers, who have evidently no other 
view than the purpose of raising a sufficient supply to pay 
their passages to England." He also complained that the 

live stock settlers persisted in selling their live stock. Some sheep 
which Governor Phillip on his departure had divided among 

* Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 654. 



CROWN LANDS ITNDEE PHILLIP. 125 

tbem '' were almost as soon as given offered for sale/' and 1703 
Grose was '' absolutely obliged to encourage and promote 
the purchase of them by the officers, dreading that, without 
this precaution, the dissipation of a week would exterminate 
effectually a stock that had been the work of years to 
collect/' It became known to the authorities that the pro^Med 

by offloeza. 

military settlers sold their land as well as their live stock to 
the officers, while many of the convict settlers bartered 
away their possessions for rum.* 

It is worthy of note that Grose, who assumed the crovern- omm ud 

•^ ... the land 

ment of the colony on Phillip's departure in December, 1792, question, 
began to issue grants to the officers of the New South Wales 
Corps before the arrival of Dundas's despatch, which did not 
reach him until the 16th January, 1793. He justified his 
action on the ground that he could not conceive the exist- 
ence of any intention on the part of the Home Government 
to deal less liberally with the commissioned officers of the orante 
Corps than with the non-commissioned officers and men.f 

In Phillip's Additional Instructions, the assignment ]^«^^^ 
system, which exerted so powerful an influence on the^^^"**™- 

* Measures to prevent the abuse of their priTileges by the convict settlers 
were taken. Writing from Whitehall, on the dOth June, 1793, Dundas 
directed that the following clause should be inserted in all grants made to 
convicts either on emancipation or on the expiration of the terms for which 

they had been transported : — "And it is hereby provided that the said 

shall reside upon and cultirate the lands hereby granted for and during the 

term of five years from the date hereof, provided the said shall so 

long live ; and any sale or conveyance of the said lands before the expiration 
of the said term of five years shall be void, and the said lands shall in such 
case revert to his Majesty, his heirs and successors, except it shall be certified 
imder the hand and seal of the G-overnor, or in his absence the Lieutenant- 
Governor, of his Majesty's Colony of New South Wales for the time being, 
that the same was made with his consent." It was also directed that leases 
maie to settlers of the convict class should not be assignable except with the 
consent, in writing, of the Governor or Ideutenant-Govemor. — Historical 
Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 50. 

t Beferring to the issue of a grant for twenty-five acres to Lieutenant 
Cummings on the 13th December, 1792, Collins says (vol. i, p. 266) : — " In 
the instructions for granting lands in this country, no mention of officers had 
yet been made ; it was, however, fairly presumed that the officers coald not 
be intended to be precluded from the participation of any advantages which 
the Crown might have to bestow in the settlements, particularly as the 
greatest in its gift, the free possession of land, was held out to people who 
had forfeited their lives before they came into the country." 



125 THE BISPOSAX OP 

^'^^ social condition of ihe eolony, was for the first time officially 
Tecogni&ed. With certain limitations prescribed by the 
Governor^ it had been in operation from the beginning. 
The only labonr a^^ilable in the early days of the colony 
"was that of thB conviots; and when Phillip^ without 
waiting for infttruotions^ gavB io the civil and military 
offitcers their small plots Qf land^ he also took the respon- 

^^S^ fiibUity of placing convict labour at their disposal. But 
this was a measure of expediency only. Phillip did not 
think it desirable that the practice should endure ; his view 
was that the services of the conviots should not be mono- 
polised by the officers^ who in his day made but a poor use 
of their opportunities^ but that they should be distributed 
among the free settlers he so ardently desired to see estab- 
lished on the land. Writing to Lord Sydney on the 12th 
February, 1790, he remarked that it had been necessary 
to give convicts to the officers, "but that the practice was 

oSS^wffl. '^ attended with many inconveniences/' and would not 
be continued after the marine detachment was relieved, 
unless directions to the contrary were received. In another 
despatch, written a day later, he gave his views as to the eon** 
ditions on which convicts should be assigned to settlers ; — 
" As the labour of clearing the ground of timber wlQ be great, 
I think each settler should not have less titan twenty men on his 
farm, which I suppose to be from five hundred to one thousand 
acres ; it will be necessary to give that number of convicts to 
those settlers who come out, and to support them for two years 
from the public stores ; in that time, if they are any ways 
industrious — and I do not think they will be able to do it in leas 

Another time — at the expiration of the two years they may return half the 
convicts they have been allowed, and would want no further 
assistance from Government. 

" It may be necessary to grant lands to officers and soldiers who, 
becoming settiers, will of course be entitled to every indulgence ; 
but few of the officers now here have reaped any great advantage 
from being allowed convicts ; and it is attended with unavoidable 
inconveniences, from the convicts being left so much to them- 
selves, and frpm their mixing with the soldiers." 



CaOWN I/ANDS TI3mE£ PHILLIP. 127 

Phillip's opinion was that ingtead of assisting military *"*> 
settlevB with coimct labour/ the better plan would be to Phfflp'a 
S.II0W them a certain quantity of grain for the support of ^ 
iheir live stock until they had a market to go to. He went 
on to speak of the regulations that would have to be made 
if these suggestions were adopted; but. he was in igno- 
i^mce of the fact that while he was writing his despatch 
the Additional Instructions^ signed by the King^ were on 
their way to Sydney on board the Lady Juliana. But for 
the extraordinarily long passage made by that vessel^ he 
would have received them before he had put pen to paper. 
Although the oflSioers were not mentioned in the Additional 
Instructions which authorised the Governor to assign to each 
grantee — ^non-commissipned oflScer or private — ^the service ooicen 
of as many convicts as jcould be employed to advantage^ " ^™" ^ 
they obtained very soon afterwards as much land as they 
required, and as many convict servants as they could 
conveniently employ ."**" 

The condition that assigned convicts were to be main- 
tained, fed, and clothed by those for whom they worked 
was found to be impracticable. When the Additional 
Instructions reached the colony the people were in a state 
of semi-starvation, and the convicts, from the privations 
they had undergone, were unfit for the severe labour of 
clearing and breaking up the land. After the arrival of the 
Second Fleet they were in a better condition for work; but convict 
no settler could have taken up land with any prospect of 
success unless his labourers, as well as himself, were sup- 
ported for a time from the public store. Phillip pointed 
this out at once, expressing the opinion that it would be 
two years before the land would support the cultivators. 
He took the responsibility of relaxing the condition, and 
it became the rule to give to settlers the service of convicts 
who were victualled for a certain period at the public 
t;ost. 

**»Po«t, pp. 252/289. 



128 



THE DISPOSAL OF 



1790 

Tlie 

Additional 

InstriKS 

tiODfc 



Sixe 

of giants. 



Fees. 



I\ee 
settlera 



The Additional Instructions were accompanied by a table 
of fees, but it was expressly directed that the non-com- 
missioned officers of the marines and convict settlers were 
not to be subjected to the payment of such charges. The 
fees were moderate in amount, and the schedule would 
excite no attention but for the revelation it makes of the 
existence in the minds of British Ministers of much larger 
views with regard to the occupation of the land than are 
disclosed by the Instructions. 

The largest grant that Phillip was authorised to make 
was one hundred and fifty acres, with the addition, in the 
case of non-commissioned officers who were married, of ten 
acres for each child. The grants to non-military settlers 
were not to go beyond this limit. But the list of fees 
authorised by the table, which was to be '' hung up in one 
of the most public places," provides not only for small grants 
of land, but grants of great extent. The Governor's fees, 
which come first, are as follows : — ^' For the Great Seal to 
every grant not exceeding 1,000 acres, 5s. ; for all grants 
exceeding 1,000 acres — for every 1,000 acres each grant 
contains, 2s. 6d. ; for a license of occupation, 5s.'^ Under the 
heading '' Secretary's Fees" a charge of 5s. is made for grants 
under 100 acres ; a charge of 10s. for grants between 100 and 
500 acres ; and ^' for every grant from 1,000 to 20,000 — for 
the first 1,000 acres, 15s., and for every 1,000 acres more, 
2s. 6d." Another item under the head " Secretary's Fees" 
is as follows: — "For grants of land where the number 
of proprietors shall exceed twenty, each right, 2s. 6d." 
Licenses of occupation, with no limit as to the area of land 
to be occupied, are also provided for. While, therefore, 
the Additional Instructions restricted the area of land to be 
granted to any one person to a comparatively small area, 
provision was made in the schedule of fees for grants up to 
20,000 acres, either to settlers, associated proprietors, or 
companies. It is evident that at the time the schedule was 
prepared the British Government had in view the occupa- 



CROWN LANDS TJNDEE PHILLIP. 129 

tion of land in New South Wales at a date not far distant ^^^ 
bj a class of men quite different from those provided for in 
the Additional Instructions.* 

Other proposals for taking up land on a large scale were 
under notice in the years 1791 and 1792, and it is not im- 
probable that they had been submitted informally as early 
as the year 1789. Sometime in 1791 a Quaker named John sutfon'g 
Sutton was in correspondence with the Home Department 
concerning the terms on which Quaker families would be 
accepted as emigrants.f Sutton made certain proposals, 
which were agreed to in a modified form, and it was arranged 
that fifteen families should go out. The principal conditions 
were that the emigrants should have free grants of land, 
that they should have implements and tools out of the public ^'JJJ^®' 
store, provisions for two years, and the service of convicts anigmnts. 
free of charge, who were to receive two years' rations and 
one year's clothing from the store.J Nothing appears in the 
memorandum of conditions to show what area of land was 
to be granted ; but in the proposals made by Sutton it was 
stipulated that each settler should have not less than five 
hundred acres ; and it was further proposed that the " said 

* It does not appear that anj definite steps in this direction were taken so 
earlj as 1789 } but the Records show that proposals were under the considera- 
tion of the Goyemment not long afterwards. In vol. i, part 2, of the Historical 
Beoords, p. 424, will be found a proposal to send out fanailies to settle in 
liew South Wales. It is printed from a manuscript in the handwriting of 
Sir Joseph Banks, and it ends with the words, " My proposal read to Mr. 
IR^epean." It is not certain that the proposal was made by Sir Joseph Banks 
himself. He was in the habit, as the papen purchased by the Kew South 
Wales QoTemmentfrom Lord Braboume show, of making copies of doouments 
bearing upon the affairs of the colony, and the words *' my propositi read 
to Mr. Nepean" may hare formed part of an original document written by 
somebody else. It would seem, however, that this proposal, which contem^ 
plated the grant of an '* estate" to the person who made it, to be occupied 
by ^onilies to be sent from England, was actually laid by Sir Joseph Banks 
before the Under Secretary of the Home Department. The MS. bears no 
date, bat it is beliered to hare been written sometime in the year 1790. 
Paasibly it was written at an earlier date, or communicated, verbaUy, to the 
Secretary of State, or the Under Secretary, preyious to the framing of the 
schedule of fees attached to the Additional Instructions. 

t The correspondence is published in the Historical Becords, yol. i, part 
2, pp. 580-585. 

i lb., p. 684. 

VOU II. — I 



130 



THE DISPOSAL OF 



1791 



Kailmum 
gmata. 



settlera. 



TheplftD 
abandoned. 



settlers" should receive a grant of " such further tracts of 
land as they may respectively discover, survey, and lay out, 
free of expence and quit-rent, the same not exceeding twenty 
thousand acres in one tract." There is a coincidence here 
that will not escape notice. Sutton asked for a grant under 
certain conditions of ''twenty thousand acres in one tract" — 
the schedule of fees attached to the Additional Instructions 
provided for the issue of grants of land up to twenty thou- 
sand acres. Sutton's proposal was not placed in writing 
before the Government until the latter part of 1791 ; but 
a comparison of figures leads to the inference that this 
plan of emigration, or something like it, had been under 
consideration at an earlier date than that borne by the 
Additional Instructions. 

Sutton and his Quaker families did not go to New South 
Wales. The British Government was anxious that the 
arrangement should be carried out, and some of the intend- 
ing emigrants left the provinces and went to London with 
the view of embarking. 

Dundas wrote to Phillip on the 10th January, 1792, in- 
forming him that a vessel had been taken up for the purpose 
of conveying stores to the colony, and that " every encour- 
agement " would be given " to induce certain settlers (who 
are Quakers, to the' amount of fifteen families, and who have 
made proposals to the Government) to embark by the same 
conveyance." Six months later he wrote another letter, 
explaining that difficulties had arisen, causing delay, and 
that the transport Bellona was about to be despatched with 
eleven settlers. He expressed regret that these " are as yet 
all that have ofEered themselves." Nothing was said in this 
despatch about the Quaker families. The delay that took 
place seems to have been fatal to the plan. While the 
intending emigrants were waiting in London unfavourable 
reports concerning the colony reached their ears ; becom- 
ing dissatisfied, and perhaps alarmed, they abandoned the 
enterprise, and returned to the places from whence they 



CROWN LANDS UNDER PHILLIP. 131 

came. According to Collins, they had actually '^ engaged ^''^^ 
to take their passage" in the Bellona, "but it was said 
they had been diverted from their purpose by some mis- 
representations which had been made to them respecting 
this country." * 

In January, 1792, Mr. G. Matcham, writing from Lower 
Grosvenor-place, offered to send out one or more families 
as settlers, and his younger son, with a capital of £3,000 or capttaUflti 
£4,000, provided that he could obtain " such an extent of 
country as to make it an object of attention " to him. He 
suggested that the area should be '^ t^n or twenty thousand 
acres — ^two or three hundred acres between Rose Hill and 
Sydney Cove, or on the opposite shore between Rose Hill 
and the mouth of the harbour (where, I understand, there 
are no settlers), and the remainder in a direct line towards 
Broken Bay."t It is clear that this gentleman contemplated 
a free grant of land, for he commenced this letter with 
the remark that he had been induced to write it by ^^ the 
proposals made to free settlers in New South Wales." In 
a letter written some months afterwards he intimated that 
" twelve thousand acres are the least that can make it an 
object to me," and he offered to pay a quit-rent, or to pur- 
chase the land. A few months later, Mr. W. Richards, Propoeai 

_ to contract 

junr., who had made several contracts with the Government forBtores. 
for the conveyance of convicts to New South Wales, sub- 
mitted proposals for supplying the settlement with stores. 
While the matter was before the Treasury, he wrote to Sir 
Joseph Banks, intimating that if his terms were agreed to, 
and he was allowed to open a store at Port Jackson, and 
also to take up land, he would become a settler. J He 
pressed the subject on the attention of Banks, but nothing 
seems to have come of either Richards' s proposals or those 
submitted by Matcham. 

• Collina, vol. i, p. 263. 

t Historical Becords, toI. i, part 2, p. 69l« 

J lb., pp. 626-627. 



132 



THE DISI^OSAL GF 



1700 



Th ftkt 
and the lean, 



Crown 



Town Bites. 



Ofanrcfa 
and school 
lands. 



Isolated 
grants. 



It was frtrther provided in the Additional Instructions 
that the land should be so parcelled out that each grantee 
would have a fair proportion of good and inferior land^ 
and of whatever water-frontage might be available. The 
breadth of the allotments was to be one-third of the length, 
and the length was not to ^^ extend along the banks of any 
river, but into the mainland, that thereby the said grantees 
may have each a convenient share of what accommodation 
the said harbour or river may afford for navigation or other- 
wise.^^ It was also directed that, between the allotments 
of one hundred acres or fifty acres, spaces '^ ten acres in 
breadth and thirty acres in length '^* should be reserved for* 
the Crown, but open to be leased at the discretion of the 
Governor for any term not exceeding fourteen years. The 
Governor was further required to lay out ^'townships'' and 
*' towns '' in such situations as he judged proper, and to 
provide for the settlement of families in towns, '^ with town 
and pasture lots convenient to each tenement.'' The towns 
were to be laid out upon or near some navigable river or 
the sea-coast, and land was to be reserved in the township 
for military and naval purposes, ''and more particularly for 
the building a town-hall and such other public edifices " as 
might be deemed necessary. 

Phillip was also directed '' that a particular spot, in or as 
near each town as possible, be set apart for the building of a 
church, and four hundred acres adjacent thereto allotted 
for the maintenance of a minister, and two hundred for a 
schoolmaster." 

The Governor, it may be supposed, was somewhat puzzled 
by the direction to lay out the settlement like a chess-board, 
putting the settlers on one set of squares, and reserving 
the others for the Crown. If the matter had been left in 



* "By this was probably meant an area haying a frontage of ten tqnares, 
each containing one acre, and a depth of thirtj squares, each containing one 
acre — t.^., three hundred acres. The expression was not repeated in Hunter's 
Instructions ; he was merely directed to reserye not less than fi?e hundred 
acres between all grants of one thousand acres. 



CROWN LANDS UNDER PHILLIP. 133 

his liands lie would probably have taken the land just as it ^^^ 
came, and allotted it in the way most conducive to its 
profitable occupation. It is possible that the idea of the 
Government was that the blocks of land reserved for the ' 
Grown would be made valuable by settlement around them, 
and might therefore be disposed of afterwards to advantage. 
The plan was good in theory only; in practice it broke 
down completely. Phillip, who did his best to carry out the 
instructions he received, no matter how they conflicted with 
his own views, obeyed orders, and placed the first settlers 
on isolated patches of land. But he soon found that this 
arrangement was not only disadvantageous, but dangerous. 
The settlers, he explained in a letter to Grenville, were, by 
this disposition of the land, separated from each other by 
forests, and exposed to the attacks of hostile natives, and ^^5g[J£ 
as each allotment was- occupied by one man, '^or at i^iost^^^ 
a man and a woman,^' the settlers were liable to be cut 
off in detail. There were other disadvantages belonging 
to the system. The settlers, Phillip pointed out, could not 
so readily assist each other in moving heavy timber; the 
labour of fencing the ground was greatly increased; and 
every man was obliged to watch his own farm, which, from other dis- 
being surrounded with a wood, was peculiarly liable to ^*°*^*' 
depredation. Accordingly, Phillip gave to the settlers the 
land which had been reserved for the Crown ; they were 
thus placed in a position in which they could unite for the 
purposes of industry or defence. He explained to the Home 
Department that the force of circumstances had obliged 
him to deviate from the Instructions, and his action in this 
respect was not called in question. 

The plan broke down in Norfolk Island also, but for a 
different reason. There were no natives there, but the small 
area of available land rendered obedience to the Instruc- 
tions incompatible with the settlement of the island. On 
the 8th May, 1792, six months after he took charge as 
Lieutenant-Governor, King wrote to Dundas to explain that, 



134 



THE DISPOSAL OF 



1790 



Instractions tlOnS. 

impntctio 

itble at 

Norfolk 



" Town- 
ships '* and 
"towns.** 



Use of the 
terms. 



like Phillip, he had been obliged to depart from his instnic- 
He did not do away with the reserves altogether, 
but in order to make room for the settlers, for whom he 
had been instructed to make provision, he was obliged to 
greatly reduce the area of the intermediate spaces. 

The command given to the Governor to lay out '^ town- 
ships^^ and ^^ towns " in proximity to the coast was made 
apparently in ignorance of the conditions prevailing at 
the settlement, although Phillip's despatches had disclosed 
plainly enough the nature of the adjacent country. The 
word " township" was used in the Instructions in a different 
sense from that which custom has given it in these Colonies. 
Centres of population are cities or towns'; places of lesser 
importance, which elsewhere would be called villages or 
hamlets, are townships; in other words, a township is a 
small town. But the "townships" contemplated by the 
Additional Instructions were something different; they signi- 
fied areas or districts which were to be devoted to agricul- 
tural purposes, of which the town, with its public buildings, 
was to be the head-quarters or centre. It was intended, 
AgricuitunJ apparently, that these townships or agricultural areas should 
be laid out in contiguous blocks, each having its town ; and 
in that manner settlement was to spread over the country. 
Little attention had been given to Phillip's despatches, or 
this mistaken notion would not have been embodied in a set 
of Instructions with which the Governor was enjoined to 
give exact compliance. The fact was, as the accounts which 
had reached the Government from its representative showed, 

• " When I arrived here I foand eight seamen and two marines belonging 
to the Sirius were already settled, and agreeable to QoTemoT PhiJHp's 
instructions to Major Ross (the then Commandant of the Island) there was 
left a space of fifty rods in front for the use of the Crown between each settler. 
On the Deputy-Surveyor's representing to me that if the same measure- 
ment was observed in settling the other marines who came with me and who 
followed in the Queen there would not be sufficient ground for half of them, 

I undertook to give directions that the intermediate spaces 

shoiild be only twenty rods, by which means they are all well settled along 
the runs of water. I beg, sir, to observe that nothing but the very great 
inconvenience which I foresaw would occur could have induced me to nave 
taken this step." 



CROWN LANDS UNDER PHILLIP. 135 

only a few patches of arable land had been discovered 1791 
anywhere near tl*e coast j the greater part of the country 
known in Phillip's time was rough and unfit for agriculture. Ministers 
But in framing the conditions of land settlement no thought of natural 

_ ° _ . _ . ^ ^_ characterto- 

appears to have been given to the curcumstances of the tics, 
colony, of which the British Government, according ijo 
Grenville himself, was practically ignorant. 



136 



PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT AFTER THE 
ARRIVAL OF THE SECOND FLEET. 

1790 Fqr some time after the arrival of the Second Fleet the 
Care of sick Strength of the community was employed in attending to 
convicts. ^YiQ sick convicts and providing for their better accommo- 
dation. In the letter in which he reported the arrival of 
the ships, Phillip, while promising Lord. Grenville that 
preparations should bo made for the reception of a fresh 
batch of one thousand convicts, explained that ^Hhe building 
of stores and barracks will find full employment for the few 
artificers in this settlement for some months, and the number 
of sick will employ all our carpenters for some time in pro- 
convict curing them shelter/'* But the cultivation of the soil was 
not neglected; and in the month of July, 1790, all the con- 
victs who were fit to leave the hospitals were sent to Rose 
Hill-t This was the best thing to do with men enfeebled by 
suffering and privation ; but although they were employed 
under the most favourable conditions, so far as health was 
concerned, their services were of little value. How little 
the convicts sent out in the Second Fleet contributed to the 
development of the country at that time is shown by the 
Governor's despatches to the Home Department. '^ I have 
increased," wrote Phillip, " the number of those employed in 
CT<»ringthe clearing the land for cultivation, as far as it will be possible 
to do it before next January, except by convalescents, from 

* Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, p. 855. 

t '* Such of the convicts from the ships as wore in a tolerable state of health, 
both male and female, were sent up to Eose Hill, to be employed in agri- 
culture and other labours." — Collins, vol. i, p. 125. 



PROGBESS APT£E ABKIVAL OF SECOND FLEET. 137 

whom little labour can be expected/'"*^ Tbe returns, enclosed ^^^ 
with Phillip's letter of 17th July, 1790, show that the number 
of men employed in clearing and cultivating the land at Rose 
Hill was only 113, not one of whom was capable of doing a 
^ood day's work. Although there were many fresh mouths 
to fill, the producing power of the community had not been 
materially increased. Five or six months would have to 
elapse before the labourers in the field could be reinforced 
with effect, and by the expiration of that period harvest-time 
would have arrived. In other words, the season would be 
lost. 

According to the return alluded to above, there were at Number of 

r^ , *i convicts at 

work at Sydney 316 male convicts, some of whom were con- Sydney and 

. . . . Rose Hill. 

valescents, while the number incapacitated by sickness was 
413. At Rose Hill 154 were employed, and 25 were sick. 

In the face of these difficulties, Phillip acted with prompti- 
tude and sagacity. On the site where Parramatta now stands Foundation 
he immediately laid out a town on regular lines, the principal Pamunatta. 
street of which was to contain huts for the accommodation 
of the convicts of the Second Fleet. This street, which is 
identical with the present George-street, Parramatta, ran 
from the public landing-place up to the foot of the'' Crescent'* 
or rising ground on which still stands the old Government 
House. The huts were built of wattle and plaster, with 
thatched roofs. As a precaution against fire, the street was 
formed with a width of 200 feet ; and the huts were separ- 
ated from each other, according to Phillip, by spaces of 100 
feet.t Each hut was to contain ten convicts; and sufficient 
ground was allowed, in each case, for a vegetable-garden. 
Captain Tench visited the ''town'^ in November, 1790, and 
reported upon the progress which had been made. Thirty- Architec- 
two of the huts were completed. They were each 24 feet by Parramatta. 
12, and were divided into two rooms, '' in one of which is 
a fireplace and brick chimney." Some of the huts contained 

* Historical Becords, yol. i, part 2, p. 359. 

t AocozdiDg to CoUins, the spaoe between each hut ma onlj 60 feet. . 



138 PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT 

^^®^ as many as twelve or fourteen convicts. Considerable pro- 
gress had also been made with a niunber of pnblic buildings ; 
amongst others, ^' a house of lathe and plaister 44 feet long, 
by 16 wide for the Governor on a ground-floor only, with 
excellent outhouses and appurtenances attached to it/' In 
December, 1791, Tench again visited Rose Hill. The '^great 
road " of convict huts was then finished. It was " a very 
noble one, of great breadth and a mile long in a strait line,'* 
calculated to " make Pall Mall and Portland Place hide their 
diminished heads/^* In the eyes of Tench and many of 
Dertinyof his Contemporaries, Parramatta was the future metropolis 
of the settlement. 

At first no distinction was made between the " town" and 
the surrounding district. They were both known as Rose 
Hill ; but on the 4th June, 1791, Phillip took advantage of 
the ceremonials in connection with the anniversary of the 
birthday of George III, to publicly announce that from that 
date it would be known by the native name of the spot on 
which it stood, viz., Parramatta.f Between the Parramatta 

• Tench, Complete Account, pp. 75, 78, 140. 

t '*The Governor called it rar-ra-mat-ta, being the name by which the 
natives distinguished the part of the country on which the town stood." — 
Collins, vol. i, p. 165. At this distance of time it is very difficult to say 
with certainty the ori^ and meaning of the native name Parramatta. 
Bennett, Australian Discovery and C>>lonisation, p. 125, states that it 
means the ** place of eels." The Hon. Richard Hill, M.L.C., who for many 
years has been recognised as an authority on the habits and language of 
the natives, states that he remembers having heard many years ago from 
the old blankfellows that this was the meaning of the word. When the 
distribution of blankets was made to the blacks at Windsor on 24th May, 
1894, the Hon. W. Walker, M.L.C., who for many years has resided in 
that district, kindly made inquiries, at the request of the Editor, amongst 
the oldest of the natives, whose dialect corresponds with that of the Port 
Jackson and Parramatta natives. One very old but intelligent native 
informed him that the word *' Para" meant eels ; and that the name arose 
from the fact of a sreat number of eels having been once killed in the river 
there. On the other hand, we have the statement of Mrs. Macarthur, 
writing from Parramatta in the year 1795, that the name signified " the 
head of a river." — Historical Records, vol. ii, p. 509. Many old residents 
allege that the word signifies the *' meeting of the waters," and point to the 
fact that where the town now stands the river originally ran over a ledge 
of rock ; the water above being auite fresh, and that below brackish. The 
weiffht of evidence and the well-known practice of the natives of distin- 
guishing localities by the class of food to he obtained there, appear to point 
to the first-mentioned translation as the true one. Instances of the practice 



ATTER THE AKBXVAL OP THE SECOND FLEET. 139 

of his time and the Panvunatta of to-day there is no resem- 1791 
blance. The widely-separated hnts have disappeared, and ^™j^*** 
in their places are houses closely packed together; theP'^^^*- 
desolate-looking street two hundred feet in width has become 
a business thoroughfare sixty-six feet wide.* 

Phillip saw that '^some little inconveniences" might be 
felt from the convicts being ^^ so much dispersed," but he 
pointed out that to give these people their own gardens 
was ''a spur to industry, which they would not have if 
employed in a publick garden, the' intirely for their own 
benefit." In this sentence Phillip describes in a few words 
one of the peculiar disadvantages under which the settle- 
ment laboured. It depended mainly upon the labour of the 
convicts, by whom work was regarded as a part of the 
punishment to which they had been sentenced, and they ^^^ ^^ 
shirked it whenever they could. To agricultural labour 
they seem to have had a particular aversion. Phillip tried 
to make them understand that when they plied the hoe 
and the spade they were working for their own benefit, but 
he failed signally. He was right, nevertheless. The com- 

alluded to might be cited in ereat numbers. The spot on which Newcastle 
now stands was called by tne natives **Mulnbinba," from an indigenoos 
fern named **Malabin.'' which was found there. The island at the entrance 
of Lake Macquarie they called *'Niritiba" ; it being a favourite resort of 
the "Niriti'' or " mutton-bird."— Eraser's Edition of Threlkeld's Aus- 
tralian Language, pp. 51, 52. 

* Collins, in his Account of New South Wales (vol. i, pp. 125, 126), nves 
a fuller description of the plan than that contained in Phillip's despatch : — 
'* There also [Rose Hill] the Governor, in the course of the month, laid down 
the lines of a regular town. The principal street was marked out to extend 
one mile, commencing near the landing-place, and running in a direction 
west, to the toot of the rising ground named Rose Hill, and in which his 
Excellency purposed to erect a small house for his own residence whenever 
he should visit that settlement. On each side of this street, whose width 
was to be two hundred and five feet, huts were to be erected capable of 
containing ten persons each, and at the distance of sixty feet one from 
the other ; and garden-ground for each hut was allotted in the rear. As 
the huts were to be built of such combustible materials as wattles and 
plaster, and to be covered with thatch, the width of the street, and the 
distance they were placed from each other, operated as an useful precau- 
tion against fire ; and by beginning on so wide a scale the inhabitants of 
the town at some future day would possess their own accommodations and 
comforts more readily, each upon his own allotment, than if crowded into 
a small space." 



140 PSOGBSSS OV THE SETTLEMENT 

l^W munity, from the Governor downwards, suffered from the 
want of fresh food ; and as all shared alike, the labourers in 
the field were in reality working for their own advantage. 
Bat the convicts could not, or would not, see this. It 
was enough for them that the work was compulsory ; they 
detested it, and avoided it as much as possible. In giving 
tiSoiS**rJff *^^°^ their own gardens, Phillip touched the only vulner- 
to labour, g^j^jg gpQ^ . j^q appealed to the selfishness of human nature^ 
and he did not appeal in vain. 

The land which the convicts cultivated for their own profit 
was not, of course, granted to them. It was simply held 
Sw iMd on during the pleasure of the Governor, and might pass out of 
aufferancc. ^-j^e hands of the occupiers without a moment's notice. 

Phillip, in founding the town of Parramatta, did not con- 
template the establishment there of a permanent convict 
settlement. He was obliged to put the convicts on the soil 
to begin with, but he proposed that they should be removed 
in a few years to new country, at a distance from Sydney, 
and that the town of Parramatta should be placed at the 
disposal of free settlers, who, he supposed, would be glad 
mente"^°* to build ou the ground.^ It was impossible to ^^ detach a 
delayed body of couvicts to any distance," because there was no 
one to whom the charge of a distant settlement could be 
given.t If it had been determined, for example, to establish 
a settlement on the Hawkesbury, as was done a few years 
afterwards, nothing would have been easier than to have sent 
with the convicts a detachment of troops under an officer as 
a guard ; but something more than this was required. It 
for want of would havo been useless to send to a distance a number of 
denta men who only worked under compulsion, and knew nothing 
of agriculture, without some one to direct their labours, 
and Phillip, as already mentioned, had no such man at his 
command. A still more serious obstacle, and one which 
Phillip had more difficulty in surmounting, stood in the way 

* Phillip to Gronyille, Hiatorioal Beoords, vol. i, part 2, p. 368. 
t lb., p. 860. 



AFTER THE ARRIVAL OF THE SECOND ELEET, 141 

of liis efforts to advantageously employ the convicts wto 1<^-®1 
arrived in June, 1790. This was the drought which lasted 
from July of that year until August, 1791. 

Phillip reported in March, 1791, that : — " From June until Aproionged 
the present time so little rain has fallen that most of the 
runs of water in the different parts of this harbour have been 
dried up for several months, and the run which supplies this 
settlement* is greatly reduced, but still sufficient for all 
culinary purposes."t This condition of things seems to have 
Buprised Phillip, who offered the opinion, with some confi- 
dence, that such a dry season did not often occur. He was 
speaking, of course, of the coast districts, for his knowledge 
of the country went no further ; and it is worthy of note that 
in this, as in other matters, he formed a sound opinion from Phiuip'a 
very slender evidence. Severe and prolonged droughts are ^"^^^ ^"" 
common in the interior parts of New South Wales and the 
other Australian colonies, but they are infrequent on the 
coast. 

The crops sown in 1790, Phillip reported, had suffered The horveet 
greatly from the dry weather.J He remarked, however, 
that they had turned out better than was expected ; but did 
not state how many acres were in cultivation, nor what the 
yield was, although he had given particulars of the previous 
harvest. Collins, who reported the former season's yield, 
is also silent with reffard to this harvest. In fact, it is a meagre 

. . return. 

evident that the yield was too small to be worth mentioning. 
Mrs. Macarthur, writing to England in March, 1791, made 
the following allusion to this subject : — ^^ We have not 

• The Tank Stream. 

t Historical Records, toI. i, p. 2, p. 470. In a later despatch, Phillip sajs 
that rerj little rain fell from the beginning of July, 1790, to Angust, 1791. — 
lb., p. 633. 

t In his account for September, 1790, Ck>llin8 'writes (toI. i, p. 187) : — 
** Very small hopes were entertained of the wheat this season ; extreme dry 
ireather was daily burning it up. Toward the latter end of the month some 
nan fell, the first which deserved the name of a heavy rain since last June." 
In October things were no better : — " The little rain which fell about the 
close of the preceding month soon oeased, and the garde&s and the oom- 
grounds were again parching for want of moiBtiire." 



142 PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT 

^^1 attempted anything in tlie farming way. Our neighbours 
succeed so badly that we are not encouraged to follow their 
example. The Goyemment farm did not this year, in grain, 
return three times the seed that had been sown."* In the 

Agricultural same month, Phillip, anxious to represent affairs in the most 
favourable light, reported that the progress made in agri- 
culture since '' last June '* had been considerable, and that 
at Rose Hill two hundred and thirteen acres would be sown 
''^this year," that is to say, in 1791. 

^unl Tench gives a more complete account of the state of 

agriculture at the close of the year 1790 than either Phillip 
or Collins. In November of that year he inspected the 
settlement at Rose Hill. He found two hundred acres 
cleared and cultivated ; '^ of these, fifty are in wheat, 
barley, and a little oats, thirty in maize, and the remainder 
is either just cleared of wood, or is occupied by buildings, 
gardens, &c.'' Pour enclosures of twenty acres each had 
been marked out for cattle, two of which were fenced in. 
The Rev. Richard Johnson is referred to as " the best farmer 
in the country." The fifty acres of wheat and barley were 
expected to yield four hundred bushels. Tench mentions 
incidentally that all the land was turned by the convicts 

Convicts as with the hoe; the daily task of each convict being sixteen 

labourers, rods — one-tcnth of an acre.f 

The area proposed to be sown in 1791 (213 acres) was 
not large, but Phillip looked hopefully to the future. The 
essential point was the maintenance of the supply of food 
from England. Phillip was convinced that the people would 
soon be able to support themselves if the land was brought 
under cultivation, but unless the labourers were well fed 
they could not work. The country in its natural state 
afforded no subsistence ; everything depended on a regular 
supply of food from England. After reporting what had 
been done, Phillip said, ^' And I hope we shall be enabled 

• Historical Records, toI. ii, p. 606. 
t Tench, Completo Account, pp. 75, 76. 



PhUUp's 



AFTER THE AKKIVAL OF THE SECOND FLEET. 143 

by the arrival of the necessary supply of provisions to con- 1^^8<^1 
tinue our labours/^ These supplies did not arrive with the 
regularity that was desired. Writing on the 24th July, 

1790, Phillip informed Nepean that no butter, oil, or pease 
had been received, neither were there any spirits in stock. 
These articles had not been supplied when Phillip, writing 
to Grenville eight months later, expressed the hope that 
the speedy arrival of the ships from England would make 
a reduction of the ration unnecessary ; and, on the 1st April, 

1791, he was obliged to reduce the allowance of food by Ration 

reductioDa 

one-quarter * To make matters worse, the quality of the 
provisions was inferior. The flour, which had been bought 
in Batavia at a high price, was, according to Phillip, ^^fuU 
one-eighth bran, and the rice was bad." Collins gives a 
still more unfavourable description of the food upon which 
the people had to subsist. According to his account the 
flour was " the best article " dispensed from the stores. ^' The b^ ,_, 

^ ^ ^ provisions. 

rice was found to be full of weevils ; the pork was ill- 
flavoured, rusty, and smoked ; and the beef was lean, and, 
by being cured with spices, truly unpalatable. Much of 
both these articles when they came to be dressed could not 
be used.^t ^^ bis letter to Wilberforce,} Captain Hill com- 
plained bitterly of the ^^ scanty pittance of salt provisions *' 
on which he had to live, and which was set before him 
"unaccompanied by either vegetable, vinegar, or other thing 
to render it palatable or wholesome." He was obliged to 
buy some wine to " counteract the efEects of the diabolical 
morsel I am daily obliged to eat." 

The circumstances were altogether unfavourable for agri- 
cultural operations. The efltect of the reduction in the rations 
and of the innutritions food could, wrote Collins, be seen iii-fed 
in " the countenances of the labouring convicts." Those of 
the First Fleet had not recovered from the effects of the 

* Collins, yol. i, p. 158. 

tlb. 

X Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, pp. 369, 370. 



lU 



PROGRESS OP THE SETTLEMENT 



Ck>mmeDd- 

able 

progress. 



Public . 
buildings. 



^"^^ famine of 1789-90, and those ^^who arrived in Jnne, had 
not recovered from the severity of their passage to this 
country/** 

When the conditions nnder which the cultivation of the 
soil was commenced at Bose Hill are considered, surprise 
must be felt, not that so little progress was made in the first 
year, but that anythmg was done at all. 

The progress made in building during the year following 
the arrival of the Second Fleet was much greater than 
might have been expected. Phillip reported to Grenville 
on the 4th March, 1791 :— 

" Three stores, saffioient to contain two years' provisions for the 
settlement, are built heref [Sydney] and at Rose Hill ; they are of 
brick and tiled, so that we are no longer under any apprehensions 
of an accident from fire. A barrack is also finished at Rose Hill 
for an hundred men, and the officers' barracks will be finished by 
the end of May, immediately after which barracks for officers and 
men will be begun at this place [Sydney]." 

This was the first despatch which Phillip had sent to 
England since July, 1790; it contained, therefore, a report 
of his proceedings for nearly eight months. The buildings 
spoken of were commenced after the arrival of the Second 
Fleet — a storehouse and new barracks at Rose Hill were 
storehouses built, accordiug to Collins, during the months September- 
December. The storehouse at Rose Hill, one hundred feet 
long and twenty-four feet wide, was begun and finished in 
November, which was a rainless month. In December the 
foundations of a new storehouse at Sydney were laid. 

• Collins, Tol. i, p. 163. 

t Phillip was of opinion that the colony oould not he in a secure position 
unless enough provisions to last for two years were always in stock, and he 
provided store-room accordingly. The bmldings in his time, however, were 
never filled. With regard to the storehouse, Collins writes (vol. i, p. 137) : — 
" The Gk)vernor proposing [September, 1790] to erect a capacious storehouse 
and a range of barracks at Rose Hill, a convict who understood the business 
of brickmaking was sent up for the purpose of manufacturing a quantity 
sufficient for those buildings, a vein of clay having been found which it was 
supposed would burn into good bricks. A very convenient wharf and landing- 
place were made at that settlement, and twenty-seven huts were in great 
forwardness at the end of that month," 



APTEK THE ABBIVAL OF THE SECOND FLEET. 145 

Although water was badly wanted for the crops, the drought ^^^ 
was conyenient for building operations. Good clay had been 
found from which bricks were made, b'lt so great was the Primitivo 
hurry that the bricks were used without being burnt — 
before, in fact, the clay had become dry. Properly-burnt 
bricks, howeyer, could not have been used, because there was 
no lime at hand with which to make mortar. Under these 
circumstances, undried bricks, although not very durable, 
served the purpose better than anything else. Phillip thus 
explained his building dijficulties to Grenville : — 

"The want of limestone still obliges us to confine our buildings Want of lime 
to a certain height, for although the clay is of a strong binding of walls, 
nature, we cannot with safety carry the walls of those buildings 
[the storehouses and the barracks] more than twelve feet above 
the ground, as the rains are at times very heavy, and should they 
come on before the clay is thoroughly dry, the walls would be in 
danger from the great weight of the roof." 

While Phillip was devoting himself to the development of 
the new settlement at Parramatta,*^ he had to look sharply 
after affairs in Sydney ; for there were many things upon* 
which it was necessary to keep a watchful eye. One of them 
was the practices of the masters and sailors of transports, 
who were only too ready to help the convicts to get away Abscondin? 

•^ J f o ,/ convicts. 

from the settlement.t The sailors belonging to the trans- 
ports were, according to Collins, guilty of "much irregu- 
larity'' when they went on shore. Phillip was greatly 
concerned at the thought of losing capable workmen, the 
bone and sinew upon which the progress of the settlement 
depended; and he accordingly took vigorous measures to 
prevent it. 

This practice had begun soon after the arrival of the 
First Fleet. The Charlotte, which sailed in May, 1788,. 

* Gollinfl (toI. i, pp. 132, 138) makes special allusion to the energy displayed 
by FhiUip in direeting "in person" every undertaking of importance, whether 
at Sydney or Pammatta. 

t " The masters of ships would give passages to such people as could afford 
to pay them from ten to twenty pounds for the same."—- lb., p. 282. 

VOL. II. — K 



U6 PBOORESS OE THE SETTLEMENT 

^'^ carried away a seaman belonging to the Supply, and a 
stowaways, young man who was an apprentice to the boatswain of the 
Sirius. Writing to.Nepean on the 22nd August, 1790, 
Phillip reported that several convicts had escaped in this 
way. The evil, he declared, could not be checked unless 
the masters of the ships were prosecuted with severity. The 
very next day, several convicts being missing, a search was 
made on board the Neptune, and one of them was discovered 
in the hold. It was asserted by the quarter-master of the 
vessel that " preparation had been made when the people 
stowed the hold for concealing convicts." Phillip believed 
that other convicts were concealed on the Neptune. He 
warned her master that he would be prosecuted if he 
poScSeas. assisted convicts to escape; but beyond this he could do 
nothing.* 

Phillip returned to the subject in a letter to Nepean, 14th 
December, 1 791 . He sent the names of a number of convicts 
who were believed to have been concealed on board the 
Hig remedial transports and carried from the settlement, and suggested 
that in future the masters of such vessels should be required 
to keep a record of all persons who were received on board 
from the time they came on the coast to their return to Eng- 
land, a heavy penalty to be paid for neglect to register the 
name of any convict shipped. The suggestion was adopted 
bJ"?eB?o^e ^J *^® British Government, and Phillip was informed by 
Government Duudas in a despatch, Written on the 10th January, 1 792, that 
masters of vessels who ofEended in the manner complained of 
would be made liable to forfeit their charter-parties. 

* According to Collins (vol. i, p. 181), a small partjof soldiers was sent on 
board the Neptune, under the command of Lieutenant Long, of the marines, 
Tfho had been appointed by the Q-ovcrnop, after the arrival ot the first detach- 
ment of the New South Wales Corps, to do the duty of town adjutant. The 
result of the search was t^e discovery of one man and one woman. '^ The 
man was one who had just arrived in the colony, and being sooa tired of his 
situation, had prevailed on some of the people to secrete him among the fire- 
wood which they had taken on board. In the night another person swam off 
to the ship, and was received by the guard. He pleaded bemg a free man, 
but as he liad taken a very improper mode of quitting the colony, he was, by 
order of the Governor, punished the day following, together with the convict 
who had been found concealed among the firewood." 



APTEB THE ABBIVAL OP THE SECOND ELEET. U7 

This rigorous measure, althoagh it did not prevent the ^'^ 
escape of convicts by the transports, at all events kept down 
the practice; but there was another kind of absconding 
which could not be guarded against in the same manner. 
The longing for freedom and the distaste for work were so Attempts to 
strong in some of the convicts that they braved the greatest 
dangers and encountered the most terrible hardships in 
order to escape from the settlement. A remarkable instance 
occurred in September, 1790.* Phillip does not appear 
to have made any report on the subject to the English 
authorities, but Collins gives a full account of the affair : — 

'' In the night of the 26th [September, 1790] a desertion of an 
extraordinary nature took place. Five male convicts conveyed 
themselves, in a small boat called a punt, from Hose Hill undis- 
covered [to Sydney]. They there exchanged the punt, which would ^SeoL 
have been unfit for their purpose, for a boat, though very small and 
weak, with a mast and sail, with which they got out of the harbour. 
On sending to Rose Hill, people were found who could give an 
account of their intentions and proceedings, and who knew that they 
purposed steering for Otaheite. They had each taken provisions 
for one week; their cloaths and bedding; three iron pots, and some 
other utensils of that nature. They all came out in the last fleet, 
and took this method of speedily accomplishing their sentences of 
transportation, which were for the term of their natural lives. 
Their names were John Tarwood, a daring, desperate character, 
and the principal in the scheme ; Joseph Sutton, who was found 
secreted on board the Neptune, and punished ; George Lee, George 
Gonnoway, and John Watson. A boat with an officer was sent 
to search for them in the north-west branch of this harbour, but 
returned, after several hours' search, without discovering the least 
trace of them. They no doubt pushed directly out upon that ocean its probable 
which, from the wretched state of the boat wherein they trusted 
themselves, must have proved their grave."! 

A more desperate adventure it would be difficult to 
imagine. As discovery of the fugitives by any of the search 
parties that were sure to be sent out would mean return to 

• Another instamoe is noticed in Vol. i, pp. 172-174. 
t Collins, Tol. i, p. 136. 



148 PBOGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT 

1700 captivity, and punishment with the lash, the intention of 
Tarwood and his companions was evidently to make their 
way, if possible, to some distant country. But they were 

J^JIj^ ^ot properly equipped for an expedition of that sort. They 
embarked in a small and crazy boat, poorly provisioned and 
ill-furnished, and they had no firearms with which to pro- 
cure animal food or protect themselves from the savages 
they might expect to encounter on the coast, where they 
would be obliged to land as they travelled northwards. It 
seemed likely enough, as Collins concluded, that in making 
their escape from the colony they were going straight to 
their death. But they did not thus perish. Nearly five 
years after their departure, when the incident had been 
almost forgotten, four of the number, who had been cap- 

SSavora. ^^^^ under remarkable circumstances, were brought back 
to Sydney. The fifth was dead. 

In August, 1795, the Providence, 28 guns, under the 
command of Captain Broughton, was off Port Jackson, but 
was driven northwards by adverse winds as far as Port 
Stephens, where four of the runaways were discovered. This 
was the first port they had reached, and they landed there. 
They did not attempt to continue their voyage, probably 

Mi^with from the want of provisions. Finding the natives friendly, 
they lived among them, dragging out a miserable existence 
until their recapture, which they did not try to avoid. It 
is worthy of remark that some years before the arrival of 
the Providence, Mr. Surveyor Grimes, while on a voyage of 
discovery in the schooner Francis, visited Port Stephens, 
where he remained for some days, but saw nothing of the 
fugitives, who at the time were at a distance from the coast ; 
they heard, however, of the arrival of the schooner soon 
afterwards from the natives, with whom some of the crew 
appear to have had an encounter. According to Collins, the 

Inter- abscouders took wives from the natives, and one or two had 

withnativeB. children.* 

* Collins frol. i, p. 426) gives the follo-vdlig account of the dlscoTerj : — 
•< The FroTidenoe met with yeiy bad weather on her passage from the Brazil 



AFTER THE ABBIYAL OF THE SECOND FLEET. 149 

This incident shows how little was known, at the time^ of ^'^ 
the country, even of the coast near Sydney. It also brought 
under the notice of the new occupiers of the land a fact of 
which they do not seem to have been previously aware — 
that the natives did not use a common language. It was NsUve 
discovered that tribes not far removed from Sydney spoke 
in a tongue which was not understood in the settlement. 
Port Stephens is only a hundred miles from Sydney, and 
yet, according to the account given by these four men, the 
language differed from any dialect known in the district 
surrounding Sydney.* 

Many other attempts were made to escape from the settle- 
ment, but few were successful. One of the exceptions was 
the case of Bryant and his companions.f The only way in 
which convicts could get clear away was by seizing a boat The only 
and putting to sea ; but a careful watch was kept, and it was of escape!*^ 
very seldom that escapes were made in this manner.]: It 
was a common thing, however, for convicts to take to the 
bush in twos or threes, or in larger parties, although the 

coast, and was diiTen past this harbour as far to the northward as Pprt 
Stephens, in which she anchored. There, to the great surprise of Captain 
Broughton, he found and receired on board four white people, (if four 
miserable, naked, dirty, andsmoak-driedmen could be eaUed white) runaways 
from this settlementl. . . . Four of these people (Joseph Sutton haying 
died) were now met with in this harbour by the officers of the ProTidence, 
and brought back to the colony. They told a melancholy tale of their 
Bufferings in the boat ; and for many days after their arrival passed their 
time in detailing to the crowds, both of black and white people which attended 
them, their adrentures in Port Stephens, the first harbour tbey made. 
Having lired like the sayages, among whom they dwelt, their change of 
food soon disagreed with them, and &ey were all taken ill, appearing to be 
principally affected with abdominal swellings. They spoke in high terms 
'of the pacific disposition and gentle manners of the natires. They were at 
some distance inland when Ifr. Gximes was in Port Stephens ; but heard soon 
after of the schooner's Tisit, and well knew, and often afterwards saw, the man 
who had been fired at, but not killed at that time, as was supposed by Wilson. 
Each of them had had names given him, and given with several ceremonies. 
Wives also were allotted them, and one or two had children.^' 

• Collins, vol. i, p. 426. 

t See Vol. i, p. 172. 

X In December, 1791, two convicts stole a boat belonging to Mr. White, the 
chief surgeon, and sailed northwards up the coast, bat the day after their 
flight they were seen by the Gk)rgon between Bydn^ and Broken Bay. 
Pinding that they were discovered, tbey '*ran into the woods." — Collins, 
vol. i, p. 190. 



150 PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT 

1791 fugitives had nothing to choose between death from starva- 
tion, or the spears of the natives, and return to the settle- 
ment, where they were sure to be severely punished. There 
Convict^ seemed, however, to be an impression in the minds of some 
knowledge, of the couvicts that it was possible to escape by land to 
some other country. One party of absconders, according 
to their own account, set out with the object of getting to 
China, but it was generally supposed that '' this improbable 
tale was only a cover to the real design, which might be 
to procure boats, and get on board the transports after they 
had left the Cove.^'^ 
Eacapees It is a noticeablc fact that the convicts who seemed most 

generally 

newarxivata. anxious to make their escape were newcomers, rather than 
those who had lived for a time in the colony. On the 1st 
November, 1791, twenty-one convicts (including one woman) 
who had arrived by the Queen about five weeks beiore, went 
off into the bush bound for '^ China.'' Most of them were dis- 
covered a few days afterwards, and brought back in a ''state 
of deplorable wretchedness, naked, and nearly worn out by 
hunger,'* but three of the party, who were found in the 
neighbourhood of Narrabeen, ''notwithstanding their situa- 
tion, did not readily give themselves up." They said nothing 
about China, but confessed that they had gone into the bush 

Abhorrence to escape work ; and so determined were they not to labour, 
if they could help it, that a few days after their capture they 
again absconded. At the muster ordered in January, 1792, 
there were over fifty absentees.f 

Phillip before this had frequently complained of the indo- 
lence of the convicts, but among the new arrivals the 

♦ Collins, Tol. i, p. 185. 

t " By the Commissarj's report of the muster it appeared, that forty-four 
men and nine women were absent and unaccounted for ; among which num- 
ber were included those who were wandering in the woods, seeking for a new 
settlement, or endeavouring to ^et into the path to China ! Of these people, 
many, after lingering a long tmie, and existing merely on roots and wild 
berries, perished miserably. Others found their way in, after being absent 
seyeral weeks, and reported the fate of their wretched companions, being 
themselyes reduced to nearly the same condition, worn down and ezhauBted 
with fatigue and want of proper sustenance.'* — lb., p. 195. 



AFTER THE ARRIVAL OF THE SECOND FLEET. 151 

repugnance to work was taking such an awkward shape ^^^ 
that strong measures became necessary. He therefore called 
the conyicts together^ and warned them that in future 
absconders would be fired upon by the soldiers wherever Escapees 
they were seen, and that if any were brought in alive they 
would be severely punished.* Although Phillip was not to 
be trifled with, he displayed neither anger nor vindictive- 
ness. On the contrary, having made, as he supposed, a 
strong impression upon the convicts, "he forgave some 
offences which had been reported by the magistrates, 
exhorted them to go cheerfully to their labour, and changed 
their hours of work agreeably to a request which they had Phillip's 
made/^t Phillip^s harangue seems to have had the desired nSSy^ 
effect. Absconding became a much less frequent offence, 
and the extreme measure of shooting down convicts in the 
bush, simply because they had run away from work, was 
never resorted to. 

Notwithstanding the great mortality which took place 
on board the Neptune, Surprize, and Scarborough, the 
arrival of those vessels and the Lady Juliana almost doubled 
the population of the settlements. A return made up to the 
25th July, 1790,t shows that on that date the number of per- Population 
sons living at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island, including 
men, women, and children, was — at Port Jackson, 1,455 ; at 
Norfolk Island, 524; and at Eose Hill, 260. In all, 2,239. 
Of the gross number, 1,640 persons, including 83 children, 

* " The praotioe of fl jing from labour into the woods still, bowever, prevail- 
ing, the Governor caused all the convicts wbo arrived this year to be assembled, 
and informed them of his determination to put a stop to their absconding from 
the place where he had appointed them to labour, by sending out parties with 
orders to fire upon them whenever tbej should be met with ; and he declared 
that if any were brought in alive, be would either land them on a part of the 
harbour whence they could not depart, or chain them together with only 
bread and water for their subsistence, during the remainder of tbeir terms of 
transportation. He likewise told them that he had heard they were intend- 
ing to arm themselves and seize upon the stores (such a design bad for some 
days been reported), but that if they made any attempt of that kind, every 
man who might be taken should be instantly put to death." — Collins, vol. i, 
p. 186. 

fib. 

t Historical Becords, voL i, part 2, p. 365. 



155 



FBOGBESS OF THE SETTLEMENT 



1790 



Colony over' 
crowded. 



Norfolk 

Island 

Buppliei. 



The ration 
at Norfolk 
Island. 



belonged to the convict class ; the remaining 599 constituted 
the free population, consisting chiefly of the civil and mili- 
tary ; of this number 57 were children. Before the arrival 
of the Lady Juliana^ the convict population at Sydney and 
Rose Hill was rather less than 400 ; by the time the last of 
the transports came in, the number had been increased to 
upwards of 1,200. 

This influx of convicts, a large number of whom required 
medical treatment, while scarcely any were fit to labour, was 
a serious embarrassment, and Phillip lost no time in reliev- 
ing the settlement, so far as was practicable, by sending 
ofE a batch to Norfolk Island. The Surprize, which arrived 
on the 26th June, was got ready as quickly as possible, 
and sailed on the 1st August with 194 convicts, of whom 
157 were women, and as large a quantity of provisions as 
she could stow. The female convicts were evidently taken 
chiefly from the 225 brought out by the Lady Juliana, for 
previously to her arrival there were only 70 female convicts 
in the settlement. The Justinian was loaded with stores 
and sent to the same destination ; she sailed on the 28th 
July, and both vessels arrived on the same day. 

Norfolk Island was in as great straits for food as Port 
Jackson, and the relief was received with gladness. The 
day before the ships arrived, the ration, which had continued 
to diminish since the wreck of the Sirius in March, was 
reduced to a very low point — it was described in one of the 
proclamations as " the most reduced allowance that it is 
possible for people to subsist on" — and even at that rate 
there were only provisions for twelve weeks in store.* The 

* The ration consisted of two pounds of floor, one pint of rice, and haM a 
pint of oaravanceB per week for each person, in addition t-o what birds or fish 
iniglit be procured. ** CaraTance«," " calliyances," or " carayanserae" — ^the 
word is spelt in three ways in the despatches — ^is another name for the chick- 
pea. According to Mr. Charles Moore, Dinnstor of the Sydney Botanic 
Gardens, " The chick-pea, Oieer (tneHnum, is the ' cece* of the Italians, the 
'gart)anos' of the Spaniards, anl the 'gntm' of India. This plant is 
extensively cultivated in India. It has from time to time been cultivated va 
this colony, but has not proved a profitable crop, and I do not think it is now 
grown here." 



AFT££ THE AURIFAL OF THE SECOND FLEET. 1S0 

timely appearance of immense flocks of birds and the ^'^ 
plentiful supply of fresh fish saved the people from starva- 
tion.* The birds referred to are called petrels in some of 
the accounts; Phillip described them as puffins. t They 
came in thousands to Mount Pitt, a high hill near Sydney 
Bay, the head-quarters of the settlement, and as they were 
easily killed they afforded an abundant supply of animal 
food. It was noticed as a remarkable circumstance that the 
birds made their appearance almost immediately after the 
loss of the Sirius, and did not leave Mount Pitt until the 
relief arrived. Prom this fact they were called ^' Birds of "sirdBof 
Providence." They were also called " Pittites."J ° ^^ 

According to Collins, there went to Norfolk Islojid, in the 
Surprize, Mr. Thomas Freeman, Deputy-Commissary, who 
had been appointed to the office by the Governor's war- offldab. 
rant, and two superintendents, who were recent arrivals.§ 
He mentions at the same time a name which has become 
historic. " There came out in the Neptune a person of the 
name of Wentworth, who, being desirous of some employ- TyAroy 
ment in this country, was now sent to Norfolk Island to act 
as an assistant to the surgeon there, being reputed to have 
the necessary requisites for such a situation." || This was 
Mr. D'Arcy Wentworth, a young man who had been trained 
in England for the medical profession. He made good use 
of his opportunities, and after a few years' service in Norfolk 
Island as surgeon's assistant and superintendent of convicts 

* Ross, in reporting to Ghrenyille the arrival of the Surprize and Justinian, 
declared that ** if Proyidence bad not worked a miracle in our favour there 
would have been but few of us found alive when those ships arrived." — 
Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 402. 

t The vulgar name is *' mutton-bird." Mutton-birds are sometimes to be 
seen in poulterers* shops in Sydney. 

X An interesting account of these birds, and the manner in which they were 
made use of, is contained in a letter written by one of the non-commissioned 
officers of the Sirius. The letter, which forms part of the Banks collection 
of papers, is published in the Historical Records, vol. i, part 2. The portion 
relating to the " Birds of Providence " will be found at pp. 397, 398. 

§ Mr. Freeman had been employed as assistant to Mr. Palmer, Commissary 
at Sydney. 

I! Ck)liins, vol. i« p. 130. 



154 PBOGRESS APTEK ABRIYAL OF SECOND FLEET. 

1^^ obtained important appointments at Sydney. He was the 
father of William Charles Wentworth, who in later years 
played a prominent part in the political life of the colony. 

At the close of 1790 the loss of population caused by 
death and desertion in the settlements at Sydney and 
Parramatta was reckoned up by Collins. It amounted to one 
hundred and fifty-nine souls. During the twelve months the 
only deaths from sickness among the free population were 
those of two seamen and one soldier ; while of the convict 
MortaUty. class. One hundred and twenty-three men, seven women, and 
ten children died. Most of these had arrived by the vessels 
of the Second Fleet, and many of them were in a dying 
state when they landed. The despatches show that fifty 
died in less than three weeks after their arrival. The rest 
of the people, notwithstanding the privations they suffered, 
seem to have kept their health. 



155 



SETTLERS ON THE SOIL. 

When Phillip left England he was directed to turn his 1780 
attention, immediately upon landing, to the cultivation of the ARricuiture: 
soil. The difficulties which confronted him in attempting 
to comply with this order have already been alluded to. 
They arose, in part, from the nature of the undertaking, but 
principally from the imperfect manner in which the expedi- 
tion had been equipped. Great as these difficulties were, Difficuiues 
Phillip, from the outset, maintained that they would disap- ^superabie. 
pear with the introduction of suitable settlers ; and as soon 
as an opportunity offered he determined to prove whether 
industrious farmers could, within a reasonable time, support 
themselves by their own exertions on the produce of the 
land. 

In November, 1789, the opportunity he was waiting for 
presented itself. Several of the convicts claimed that they 
had served a large part of their sentences in England, on 
the hulks or elsewhere, before their embarkation, and that 
they were, soon after their arrival, entitled to their liberty. 
Amongst these was a young farmer from Cornwall, named 
James Buse, who had been sentenced at the Bodmin Assizes Fint umd 
of July, 1782, to sev3n years' transportation, and who had SmesRuee. 
been distinguished for his diligence and good behaviour. 
The authorities having omitted to furnish Phillip with a 
statement of the dates on which the convicts^ sentences 
expired, he placed Euse — spending the receipt of the papers 
from England — ^upon an acre of cleared and prepared land initial Btepe. 
on the right bank of the Parramatta Biver, where the town 



156 SEXTLEKS 

1790 nQYp- stands. A hut was bnilt for him; seeds, implements of 
agriculture, and a small quantity of live stock were provided; 
and he was allowed clothing and provisions for twelve 
gjoentiveto mouths from the public store. As a spur to his industry, he 
was promised that if he behaved well he would receive a 
grant of thirty acres on the site where his hut stood. 

An opinion had been freely expressed by the military 
officers, and, according to ColKns, was " pretty freely dis- 
seminated," that the land in the colony would not return an 
equivalent to the labour expended in cultivating it. Not- 
withstanding this. Ruse gladly accepted the conditions, 
telling the Governor that if one acre more was cleared for 
him he should be able to support himselE after Januaiy, 
1791. 

Phillip doubted whether the man would he so successful 
as he anticipated, but thought that he would ^' do tolerably 
well" after he had been supported from the public store for 

Penever- eighteen months. Buse, however, was as good as his word. 

triumphant. In November, 1790, when he had been twelve months on 
his farm. Tench interviewed him concerning his antece- 
dents and the progress he had then made. He had at that 

hiSSt. *^°^® ^^ ^^^® ^^^ ^ ^^^^ ^^ '^ bearded wheat," half an acre 
in maize, and a small kitchen-garden. The wheat, which he 
expected to go about eight bushels to the acre, was sown 
in May and June, the maize in August and September. Buse 
gaTe the following description of his method of preparing 

Hte metood the ground : — " Having burnt the fallen timber off the 
ground, I dug in the ashes, and then hoed it, never doing 
more than eight, or perhaps nine rods in a day, by which 
means, it was not like the Grovemment farm, just scratched 
over, but properly done ; then I clod-moulded it, and dug 
in the grass and weeds — t^his, I think, almost equal to 
ploughing. I then let it lie as long as I could, exposed to 
air and sun ; and just before I sowed my seed, turned it all 
up afresh. . . . The greatest check upon me is the 
idishonesty of the coirncts, who, in spite of all my vigilance. 



of tillage. 




us KrsL Who 




'if* yif M^> n n. R 16 Kt Mj Mtrih % f s.pjtr 




TOMBSTONE OF JAMES RUSE. 

(The First Settler.) 



ON THE SOIL. 167 

rob me almost every night." Buse mentioned that he ^'^ 
had been "bred a husbandman, near Launcester (mc), in Hia early 

V -'^ youth. 

Cornwall."* 

Although only an acre and a half of cleared land were 
placed at his disposal, instead of two acres, he was in an 
independent position by the 25th February, 1791, "when 
he declined receiving any further support, being then able 
to maintain himself." In the meantime he had taken a wife. An 

independent 

and a child had been born to him, both of whom, Phillip spint. 
reported, "he wishes to take off the store next Christmas."t 

Buse had fairly earned his reward,J and on the 22nd |^^-y 
February, 1790, Phillip signed the first land grant executed ^*^^ 
in Australia, making Buse the proprietor of thirty acres of ^ignA 
land. The allotment, which was situated on the south of the 
" Ponds," at Parramatta, was named " Experiment Farm " mfSiten." 
in the grant, which thus became a record of the success 
which had attended Phillip's first effort in land settlement. 

The boundaries of the grant can still be traced. The 
farm faced a small tributary to the Parramatta Biver, 
known as Clay Cliff Creek. It now forms a part of Ander- 
son Ward, in the Borouffh of Parramatta, and lies about its 

. ° situation. 

twelve chains in a southerly direction from the public wharf 
at the foot of George-street : it is bounded on the west side 
by Harris-street, on the south by Brisbane-street, and on 
the east by Elizabeth-street. The land was sold by Buse to 
Dr. Harris, of the New South Wales Corps, by whom, a 
cottage, which still stands, was built upon it, and called 

• Tench, Complete Account, p. 80. 

t ** Sometime in this month [March^ 1791], James Buse, the first settler 
in this countrj, who had been upon his ground about fifteen months, haying 
got in his crop of corn, declared himself desirous of relinquishing his claim 
to any further provisions from the store, and said that he was able to support 
himself by the' produce of bis farm. He had shown himself an industrious 
man ; and the Goyernor, being satisfied that he could do without any further 
aid ihnom the stores, consented to his proposal, and informed him that he 
should be forthwith put in possession of an allotment of thirty acres of ground 
in the situation he then occupied." — Collins, vol. i, p. 158. 

t Buse was rewarded in another way. His wife, who, like himself, was a 
convict, was emancipated in July, 1792.— lb., p 225. 



158 6ETTLEES 

1791 "Experiment Cottage/' a name it still bears. The part of 
the land which Buse first tilled is now a large vegetable- 

2Sd2! garden, cultivated by Chinese. The accompanying facsimile 
is from the original document,* which is still in existence. 
A conveyance to Dr. Harris is endorsed on the back of the 
original grant. 

A few years afterwards (1794) Buse obtained another 
grant of thirty acres of land, " situate on the east side of the 
river Hawkesbury, in the district of Mulgrave Place." The 

^^^. land was named in the grant " Buse Farm.^t 

It had thus been demonstrated that an industrious man, 

with a little assistance, could maintain himself on the land 

after a year and a half, or less ; and eighteen months was 

R€fiuitofthe adopted as the time for which settlers should be supported 

experiment. , , ^ 

from the public store. The experiment had succeeded 
beyond expectation, but the advantages arising from it 
were not immediately apparent. The land was capable of 
supporting an army of industrious settlers, but the large 
Settiere. body of cultivators Phillip wished to see in possession was 
conspicuous by its absence. There was no immigration of 
free men, and neither the marines whose term of service 
was about to expire, nor the convicts who had served their 
sentences, showed much inclination to go upon the land as 

* The original deed was kindly placed at the Editor's disposal by Mr. F. 
Beames, J.P., of Parramatta. Buse died in 1837, and was buried in St. John's 
churchyard, Campbelltown. The quaint inscription on his tombstone will be 
found facinff p. 157, reproduced by photographic process. 

t As no detailed surrey of the country had been made, the boundaries of 
the early grants could not be accurately defined. The insertion in the grants 
of specific names was of use, therefore, as afibrding a means by which the land 
could be identified. Phillip Schaffer's grant, bearing the same date as that 
given to Euse, was for 140 acres, " to be known bv the name of The Vineyard, 
laying on the north side of the creek leading to Parramatta." Similarly, the 
tlurty acres of land granted by Grose to Charles Williams on the Hawkesbury 
in 1794 was " to be known by the name of Williams's Farm." Schaffer was 
one of the superintendents sent out by the G-uardian. In the official list he 
is thus described, '* Phillip Schaffer, formerly a lieutenant in one of the 
Hessian Ck>rp8 which served in America, has been accustomed to farming." 
According to Phillip, *' he was not calculated for the employment for which 
he came out, but as a settler will be a useful man." — Historical Records, vol. 
i, part 2, p. 686. Collins says that Schaffer did not know enough of the 
English language to qualify him for the position of superintendent. 



.«■'• 



**^t 




ON THE SOIL. 159 

working proprietors. Thef reluctance of the soldiery to ^^^^ 
accept the terms laid down in the Additional Instractions 
was explained by Phillip in his despatch to Grenville of 5th 
November, 1791.* Most of the officers of the detachment Pwaimtatio 

' , , officers. 

had formed a bad opinion of the country, and were anxious 
to leave it.f They made no secret of their dislike to the 
colony, and their disbelief in its resources; and the men 
taking their cue from the officers, looked with disfavour on 
the prospect held out to them. The convicts were open to 
the same influences, and, in addition, they were naturally 
anxious to leave the colony the moment their sentences 
expired. But Buse's success, which the Governor did not »«»*■ 

^ ^ ^ success 

fail to point out whenever he had the opportunity of doing beneflcw. 
so, with other favourable circumstances, altered the position 
somewhat, and in the despatch referred to above, Phillip 
was able to write to Grenville in a cheerful strain : — 

" I have now the pleasure of informing your Lordship that most 
of those fears and apprehensions are done away, and that we have 
now eighty-six settlers here and at Norfolk Island — ^that is, thirty- 
one from the marines, eleven seamen, and forty-four from those 
convicts whose sentences have expired ; there are likewise more 
marines who have desired to be received as settlera when the detach- 
ment is to be embarked X No man of bad character has been 
received as a settler." 

Phillip added that all the settlers were doing well, and J/J^^^ 
would, he hoped, be able to maintain themselves when the 
time for which they were to be supported from the public 
stores had expired. The return which accompanies this 
despatch§ shows that most of the settlers were placed in 
possession of their land in July or August, 1791, or at a sub- 
sequent date. It also shows that Norfolk Island, no doubt 
because of its greater fertility, was preferred to Bose Hill. 
The number of settlers given in the return is eighty-seven, 

* Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 535. 
t Ante, p. 35. 

X The detachment embarked for England a month after this despatch was 
written. 

§ Historical Records, rol. i, part 2, pp. 540, 541. 



160 ^ BETTIiEBS 

1791 one more than the number stated by Phillip, and of these, 
fifty took np land at Norfolk Island, while thirty-seven were 
SiikT*"^ placed at Rose Hill. Phillip was satisfied with the progress 
differ. which had been made in settling the marines and conyicts 
on the soil ; but Collins looked at the matter in a difiEerent 
light. According to his account, the conyicts who went on 
the land at this time formed only a sm^ll number of those 
whose sentences had expired. He speaks also of an alter- 
native proposal, not referred to in the despatches, by which 
convicts who did not care to become settlers were to work 
for twelve or eighteen months after their time of sentence 
was over : — 
Expirees " The convicts whose terms of transportation had expired were 

fcoTOtJ^ now [July, 1791] collected, and by the authority of the Grovemor 
informed that such of them as wished to become settlers in this 
country should receive every encouragement ; that those who did 
not, were to labour for tlieir provisions, stipulating to work for 
twelve or eighteen months certain ; and that in the way of such 
as preferred returning to England no obstacles would be thrown, 
provided they could procure passages from the masters of such 
ships as might arrive; but that they were not to expect any 
Their desire assistance on the part of the Governor to that end. The wish to 
EngiaSd! return to their friends appeared to be the prevailing idea, a few 
only giving in their names as settlers, and none engaging to work 
for a certain tima"* 

Phillip pointed out this difiiculty in his despatch of 5th 
November, but he did not say in so many words that the 
ex-convicts had refused to bind themselves to work for the 
Government. Those who could make themselves useful at 
sea would, he foresaw, be carried away by the transports, 
but by far the greater number ^^ must remain, discontented, 
and desirous of seizing the first opportunity which offers 
of escaping." Phillip improved the occasion by suggesting 
settiew that if settlers with means were sent out they would be able 

with means *' 

required, to offer employment to the people under conditions that 
would make them content to remain in the colony. 

* Collins, ToL i, p. 169. 



OHf THE SOIL. in 

• It was some years before free settlers from England ^'•^ 
were obtained^ and in the meanwhile the difficnlty had to 
be met in the best way possible. If the Grovernor was dis- 
satisfied; so were the convicts whose sentences had expired. 
They stood in a peculiar position. If they chose to remain Position of 
in the colony as settlers, they were well treated; they 
received free grants of land and support from the Grovern- 
ment for a sufficient length of time to enable them to become 
independent ; but if they refused these terms, and made up 
their minds to leave the settlement, they received no aid 
whatever. Unless they had money, or were able to give 
services in exchange for a passage, they were helpless. 
They must remain in the colony, and work either on their 
own account or for the Government, under conditions similar 
to those which had proved so distasteful to them during 
their time of compulsory servitude. If they declined to work,8te»i, 
work, they had no alternative but to steal or starve. 

Phillip does not state at what time the settlers who fol- 
lowed Euse were placed on the land, but the return of P>o°eer 
5th November, 1791, shows that the majority of those who 
accepted the conditions* offered by Government had taken 
possession of their holdings in the months of July and 
August, 1791. Three became settlers as early as 30th March, 
while ten received grants at Norfolk Island on the 5th April. 
According to Collins, the greater number of ex-convicts were 
settled in the month of August. Twelve were placed on land 

• The conditions were as follows : — 
To marines and seamen : — 

** To be clothed and victualled for eighteen months ; to he supplied 
-with a proportion of grain and a proper assortment of such tools and imple- 
ments of husbandly as may be necessary for clearing and oultitating the 
land, SB well as witn such a proportion of hogs and poultry as may be neces- 
sary and can be spared from the general stock of the settlement, not to be 
less than two breeding sows, one cock and six hens, to hare half an acre of 
land cleared of timber, and the necessary assistance giyen for building a but 
sufScient to shelter the settler from the weather and secure his property." 
To convicts whose sentences had expired : — 

*' To be supported and clothed from the public store for eighteen months, 
to receive two sow pigs, with the necessary implements of husbandry and 
grain for sowing the ground the first year." 

Historical Becords, vol. i, pairt 2, p. 540» . 

VOL. II. — L 



162 SETTLEBS 

^^®^ at the foot of Prospect Hill, near the site of the reservoir 
Locidityof which now constitutes the chief water supply of Sydney; 
while fifteen were put in possession of farms at a place on 
the northern bank of the Parramatta Eiver, long known as 
'^ The Ponds/'* The name has fallen into desuetude. The 
locality is now known, part of it, as Rydalmere, and the 
other part as Ermington. The relative positions of these 
first land grants can be seen from the accompanying map 
of the part of the County of Cumberland adjacent to Parra- 
matta and Prospect Hill. The mapt is complete with the 
exception of two grants which cannot be located. These 
were probably given to the two settlers to whom Collins 
Forfeited refcrsj as having been deprived of their grants for non- 
fulfilment of the condition which required bond fide cultiva- 
tion. The results were not at first very encouraging. The 
indortry scttlcrs who houcstly cudeavoured to do their best with the 
auccess. land, and were content to live frugally, soon found them- 
selves on the road to prosperity, but those who were not 
industrious became tired of the life before they had given 
it a fair trial. Some of them wished to give up their land 
almost as soon as they had acquired it ; others sold their 
live stock to procure luxuries, and thus deprived themselves 
of a valuable aid to success. Phillip reported to Dundas 
on the 19th March, 1792, that not only had several of the 
■settlers who had been placed upon the land acted in this 
way, but that he had, in addition, ^^ just received an account 
of twenty-two men and nine women who are received on 
board that ship [the Pitt] the terms for which they had 
ex^^s?' been sentenced being expired. Thus will the best people 

* " The G-overnor had now [August, 1791] chosen situations for his settlers, 
and fixed them in their different allotments. Twelve convicte, whose terms 
of transportation had expired, he placed on a range of farms at the foot of a 
hill, named Prospect Hill, about four miles west from Parramatta ; fifteen 
others were placed on allotments in a district named the Ponds, from a nngo 
of fresh -water ponds being in their Ticinity ; theee were situated two miles 
in a direction north-east of Parramatta." — Collins, toI. i, p. 172. 

t Hhe Editor is indebted for this map to Mr. C. J. Saunders, Chief Drafls- 
man of the Department of Lands, by whom it was specially prepared for the 
illustration of this chapter. 

t Collins, vol. i, p. 212. 




lUJtWy Andgi 



/ •v' (, 



( V..; 



ON THE SOIL. 168 

always be carried away, for those who cannot be received ITW-I 
on board the ships as seamen or carpenters pay for their 
passage." * 

Daring the latter end of 1790 and the commencement of 
1791 as much progress was made with the cultivation of 
the land by the convicts on the public account as the circum- 
stances would permit. The conditions were not favourable. 
With debilitated and ill-fed men as labourers, the clearing 
of the ground could only proceed slowly, while the pro- 
longed dry weather rendered it impossible to put any seed 
in the ground until June, when a little rain fell. But the Adverse 
drought did not break up until August, and Phillip. had to 
report in November that, although the crops looked better 
than there had been reason to expect, they had suffered very 
much from the seed having lain so long in the ground before 
it vegetated.f 

What progress had been made by the settlers towards the 
end of the year is shown by the return of land under culti- caitiration. 
vation at Parramatta in November, 1791. J The total area 
cleared was 921 acres ; but of this 288 J acres had not been 
sown. The remaining 632^ acres included 90i acres of 

• Historical Record*, toI. 1, part 2, p. 697. 

t "During this month [Juoe, 1791] some rain had fallen, which had 
encouraged the sowing of the public grounds, and one hundred and sixteen 
bushels of wheat were pown at Parramatta. Until these rains fell, the ground 
was so dry, hard, and literal! t burnt up, that it was almost impossible to break 
it yriih a hoe, and until this time tliero had be^n no hope or probability of the 
grain vegetating." — Collins, Tol. i, p. 166. " In addition to the quantity of 
ground sown with wheat, a large proportion was cleared to be sown ihis season 
with Indian com ; and the country about Parramatta, as well as the town 
itself, where eight huts were now built, wore a vtry promising appearance. 
At Sydney, the little ground that was in cultivation belonged to individuals ; 
the whole labour of the conricts employed in clearing ground being exerted at 
Parramatta, where the soil, though not the best for the purposes of agriculture 
(according to the opinion of every man who possessed any knowledge of 
farming) was still better than the sand about Sydney, where, to raise even a 
cabbage after the first crop, manure was absolutely requisite." — lb., p. 167. 
An obvious printer's error occurs in this passage of Collins's work. He gives 
the number of huts at Parramatta as eight, whereas Tench, who visited the 
town some months before, states that about fifty huts were then finished, and 
more were in course of erection. There is other evidence to indicate that 
** eight " is a misprint for " eighty." 

t Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 539.; 



164 SETTLBKS 

^'^^ garden-ground, leaving 542 acres actually under cultivation. 
Area under Of this, 405 acres belonged to Government, 92 to settlers, 

cultivation, ^ o ^7 

Kovember, and 45 to Servants of the Crown. Of the 288i acres wluch 

1791. 

had not been sown, 134 were used as cattle-enclosures, in 
which the timber had been thinned, but the surface of the 
ground had not been disturbed;* the remaining 154^ acres 
were ready to receive the seed, and therefore might be 
properly described as "in cultivation.'^ There was thus 
actually under cultivation an area of 787 acres. 

The settlers, of whom thirty-seven had been put in posses- 
sion of lots at Parramatta, thus held on an average about 
2^ acres of cultivated land each. The greater number, 
however, had only had their land for a few months. Of the 
405 acres belonging to Government, 351^ were in maize, 44^ 
in wheat, 6^ in barley, 2 in potatoes, and 1 in oats. The yield 
i'^iIot!*™^ from this was as follows :— Maize, 4,844^ bushels ;t wheat, 
638 bushels; barley, 59 bushels. J The other produce (barley, 
potatoes, and oats) was not recorded. Of the 4,844i bushels 
of maize, 2,6494 were issued as bread for the colony, 695 
bushels had been reserved for seed "and other purposes,^* 
while not less than 1,500 bushels had been stolen from the 
grounds.§ Three hundred and eighty-three bushels of the 
wheat were sown for the next harvest, while 255 were issued 
in lieu of bread. The whole of the 59 bushels of barley 

• The object of the enclosure was to prevent the live stock straving a\raj 
and being lost in the bush. Soon after the arrival of the First Fleet, four 
cowB and two buUs, the only horned cattle the settlement possessed, strayed 
away. They were not heard of again until November, 1795, when they were 
discovered on the banks of the Nepean. They had by this time increased to 
a herd. — Vol. i, pp. 306, 3L1, 312, 393. " At the commencement of this month 
[July, 1791] not less than one hundred and forty acres were thinned of the 
timber, surrounded by a ditph, and guarded by a proper fence." — Collins, 
vol. i, p. 167. 

t Historical Beoords, vol i, part 2, p. 645. 

X lb., p. 64,5 (note). 

§ Phillip explains that the convicts stole the grain because they were pressed 
by hunger. Several of them died from eatingmaize in its crude state when 
carrying the grain to the public granary. He adds: — "But in speaking 
of these people, it is but just to observe tliat I can recollect very few crimes 
during the last three years but what have been committed to proouie the 
necessaries of life." — ^Ib., p. 645» 



ON THE SOIL. 165 

seems to have been reserved for seed. In October, 1792, l^'W 
Pliillip informed the Secretary of State of the progress PrMmn 
made in the settlement of the soil during the preceding 
eleven months. The number of settlers at Parramatta to 
whom lands had been granted had increased from 37 to 65, 



of whom 53 had been convicts.* The area of ground under Area i 
cultivation on the public account had increased from 405 October, 
to 1,000 acres ; that in possession of the settlers from 92 to 
416 acres; and the gardens from 90^ to 100 acres ; making 
in all 1,516 acres. The settlers had, in addition, 97 acres of 
ground cleared of timber. It will be observed that the 
average area of ground under cultivation by each settler 
had been more than doubled in eleven months. Four-fifths 
of the Government ground were sown with maize, the 
remainder with wheat and barley.f The cultivated land was 
situated at Parramatta and Toongabbie, or '^Toon-gab-be,^' Toong»bbie. 
as Phillip spells the native name, which he adopted as he 
had done in the case of Parramatta. In the neighbour- 
hood of this place there were, according to Phillip, '^ several 
thousand acres of exceeding good ground/' 

A word may be said here as to the quality of the land on 
which the first settlers were placed. The success which at- 
tended Captain Macarthur's efforts at Elizabeth FarmJ a few 
years later, and the profitable use to which some of the land 
is put at the present day, shew that the soil, if not unusually 
rich, was at least fairly good. But in Phillip's time, as 
already pointed out, an idea was very generally entertained 

• HiBtorical Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 661. 

t lb., p. 640. Phillip's statement as to the area of land in cultiyation agrees 
very closely vith the report of the Surveyor-General, dated 16th October, 
a fortnight lat^r than the despatch. According to this report, printed 
by Collins (vol. i, p. 248, 249), the ground " in cultivation " comprised 
1,703 acres, but of this area there were 162^ acres which had been cleared only. 
This reduced the area of cultivated land to l,540i acres, showing only a 
tofling increase on the area v^iorted by Phillip in his despatch. The return 
will be found in the Appendix. 

t Orieinally one hundred acres in extent, granted to LienteBant John 
Maoarthur by Lieutenant-dovemor Grose, on the 12th February, I7{>3. The 
fann was situated on the soutii bank of the Parramatta Biver. The BoaehiU 
racecourse now stands on part of the ground. 



166 



SETTLERS 



1798 

Popular 
opinion 
unfavour- 
able. 



PhUlip 
combatoiL 



Expert 
reports land 

gCKXL 



Settlers 
responsible 
tor non- 
Buoceea. 



DifflcultioB 
to be 
overcome. 



that the land was worthless — that it would produce next 
to nothing, and, in short, was incapable of supporting 
life. Reports of this nature reached England, and Phillip 
hearing of them took an opportunity of presenting the other 
side of the case. He did not pretend to be an expert, but 
he made use of the first one ho could lay his hands upon. 
This was Mr. David Burton, a superintendent who was sent 
out in the Grorgon.* He had been brought up as a gardener, 
and knew good land when he saw it. Phillip instructed him to 
report on the soil at Parramatta and Toongabbie, and he was 
particularly directed not to overrate the value of the land.t 
His reportj was of a very favourable character. It stated 
that the land, as a rule, was good, and that all the settlers 
seemed to be in a fair way to success, excepting two at 
Prospect Hill and three at The Ponds, who complained that 
their land was bad ; but Mr. Burton, having inquired into 
these cases, came to the conclusion that want of success 
was owing not to the sterility of the soil, but to other causes, 
for which the cultivators were responsible. § 

The results of Phillip's efEorts in the settlement and culti- 
vation of the land were, so far, not of great magnitude, and 
they were probably disappointing to the English authorities 
who expected more than could be attained under such 
unfavourable circumstances. The difficulties that had been 
encountered, and had still to be met, were of an extraordi- 
nary character. Convicts had been poured into the country. 
Even if they had landed in good health, want of food and 
the absence of men capable of directing their labours in the 

* He ehofc himself accidcn tally on 13th April, 1792, and died of the wound 
a few days afterwards. Collins speaks of him as a talented botanist and a 
capable surreyor. 

t See Phillip's despatch. — Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, p. 599. 

J lb., pp. 599, 600. 

§ Hunter's first impressions regarding the quality of the soil were un£aT<iur- 
able. In his Historical Journal, p. 203, he writes : — " If it be the determination 
of Gk>Ternment to persevere in establishing a settlement in this country upon 
an extensive plan, the nation must be content to submit to a very heavy 
expense. It must be stocked with cattle, were it only for the manure, for 
without manure this country is too poor ever to yield tolerable crops." 



ON THE SOIL. 167 

field would have made their successful employment as culti- ^"^^^ 
yators of the soil an impossibility. But in addition to these 
obstacles^ the settlement suffered from a drought of great 
severity, which lasted for more than a year. These disad- 
vantages were set forth in Phillip's despatch to Grenville of 
the 15th December, 1791 : — 

'^ I must beg your Lordship's permission to refer — for those 
causes which have prevented the colony's being in the situation I 
expected, and which I have no doubt but that it would otherwise 
have been in — to those parts of my letters in which I have pointed No 
out the loss of the man on whom I placed great dependence, and tendent. 
who was charged with directing the labour of all the convicts 
employed in agriculture ; the very long drought ; the reduced Th« 
ration, and which, when not so very low as to render the people 
incapable of labour, serves as a too well-founded excuse for 
their doing but very little work, and must be always attended 
with great discontent amongst such people ; the miserable state in sick 
which two large bodies of convicts have been landed, who are a 
burthen to the colony, and who, when they regain their health, are 
not in general calculated for hard labour; and the want of a proper 
person to be charged with the cultivation of the ground, and to 
have the direction of the convicts who are employed in agriculture. 
If I have too often adverted to this subject, I trust that the cause will 
excuse me to your Lordships, and for observing that it now only 
wants one month of four years since I first landed in this settlo- 
ment, during which time all the public live stock which has been inaufflcient 
received is not more than what would be necessary for one good 
farm, nor has that been received till within these three months/' 

The allusion made to the live stock pointed to a conspicuous DcfecUve 
defect in the arrangements which were made for founding ments. 
and maintaining the colony. The necessity of stocking the 
country was as apparent to the authorities of the Home 
Department as it was to Phillip, but the means taken to 
supply the want were ludicrously inadequate. The defect 
was aggravated by the mortality which took place among the 
animals that were placed on board the ships, and by the loss 
of the whole of the Guardian's shipment ; but accidents at 
sea were to be expected, and allowance should have been 



168 flETTXiEBS 

^^^ made for tkem. If all tke live ^Btock sliipped daring tlie first 
three or four years liad been landed at Port Jackson in safety^ 
fiJ^rtatiora ^* would have been insufficient for the purpose for whidi it 
inodequftte. ^3^ intended ; bnt what with accidents at sea, and losses 
on land, the live stock in the colony when Phillip wrote his 
despatch in December, 1791, nearly four years after its 
establishment, was not enough, as he forcibly expressed it, 
'^ for one good f arm,^' and most of it had been receiyed 
during the last few months, viz., that brought from the 
4Jape in the Gorgon by Lieutenant-G-ovemor King. 

The loss of the Guardian seems to have paralysed the 
Home Department, for although the importance of intro- 
ducing live stock was recognised in the despatches sent to 
Phillip, no measures were taken to supply the colony for a 
considerable time afterwards. The Gorgon was well fitted 
for carrying sheep and cattle, but no arrangements were 
made to employ her in this work, and, but for the enei^y 
Lieutenant- and forethought of Ejng, who exceeded his authoriiy, and 
King's ran the risk of being reprimanded for so doing, she would 
have arrived at Sydney without a single head.* As Phillip 
pointed out in writing to Dundas on the 19th March^ 1792, 
the proper plan would have been to fit out a couple of ships 
for the express purpose of conveying live stock from the 
Cape to Port Jackson. 

It was not until the middle of 1792 that any systematic 
plan for stocking the colony with cattle and sheep was 
considered by the Home Department, and the arrangement 
then proposed was of doubtful value, and certain, whatever 
happened, to cause delay. The Gxrvemment had been for 
some time in correspondence with the authorities at Calcutta, 
with the view of obtaining regular supplies of provisions 
for the settlement from that place, and it was proposed 

* Aooording to tho official return, ibe public lire stock in the aettlemei t in 
Korember, 1791, two months after t^e arriral of the Gorgon^ consisted of 
one stallion, one mare, two oolte, sixteen cowa, two calves, one nm, fiftj 
ewes, six lambs, one boar, fourteen sows (old and young), and twenty-two 
pigs. — ^Historical BeccTds, toI. i, part 8» p. 5ld. 



Oy THE SOIL. 169 

to obtain Iit© stock also from India. Dundas wrote to ^'®* 
this effect to PhilUp on the 15th May, 1792,* and followed cattiefrom 
sp the subject in a despatch of two months' later date, 
14th July, 1792,t in which he said: — ^"I have some hopes 
that you may receive a few sheep or homed cattle, or both, 
by the Boyal Admiral from the Gape. At the same time, 
as I observed in my last, it is to Bengal that I chiefly 
look for an efiScient supply of that nature/' He therefore 
recommended Phillip to send the transport Daedalus to Gal- ^^ 
cutta for a shipment of stock. This vessel, as Phillip had 
been informed by Dundas, in a despatch written in July of 
the previous year,:t had been sent to the north-west coast 
of America, to convey stores for the ships Discovery and 
Chatham, which were pursuing a voyage of exploration and 
survey, under Captain Vancouver; and after the performance 
of that service she was to sail for Sydney, where she was 
expected to arrive early in 1793, her commander. Lieutenant 
Hanson, having instructions to place himself under the orders 
of Governor PhilKp, either " for going to Calcutta or else- 
where for the puipose of procuring supplies." To save time, 
instructions were g^ven to Vancouver to put some live stock 
on board the Daedalus at Nootka or the Sandwich Islands.^ 
For some reason which is not explained, Vancouver did not 
carry out this arrangement. He proposed to procure breed- 
ing cattle and sheep from the Spanish ports on the south 
parts of the coast of New Albion ;|| because that country, stock from 
like New South Wales, was but " slightly cultivated," and (cwiiornia). 
the stock reared under those conditions had "succeeded 
to a very high degree, with scarce the smallest care and 
attention."!^ '^ Twelve cows and six bulls, with an equal 
number of male and female sheep," were accordingly shipped 
on board the Daedalus at Monterey.** With the exception of 
some hogs, one calf, and four sheep, none of them survived 

* Historioal lUoords, toI. i, part 2, p. SM. 

+ lb., p. 631. X lb., p. 497. § lb., p. 601. 

II Now California. 

f HUtorical Keoopds, toI. i, part 2, p. $67. — lb., p. 680. 



170 SETTLERS 

l'^ the passage. The despatch from Dundas giving instruc- 
tions to the Governor to send the Daadalus to India for live 
stock came into Grose's hands shortly before the arrival of 
the D89dalus, and . having doubts as to her safety, he made 
arrangements to carry out the instructions in another way. 
In April, 1793, he contracted with the master of the store- 
ship Shah Hormuzear to proceed to Calcutta and bring back 
one hundred head of cattle.* 
Disastroui When the Daadalus arrived, the day after the despatch in 

voyage of , , -^ •/ r 

stockahip which Groso informed Dundas of the hire of the Shah 

Dffidalus. 

Hormuzear was written, Grose feared that he had been too 
precipitate; he must, however, have felt relief when he 
learned how destructive to the live stock the voyage of the 
Daedalus had been. The Shah Hormuzear did not return ; 
in her place the Neptune was fitted and loaded with cattle 
and provisions, but was wrecked shortly after leaving 
Bombay; and it was not until 31st May, 1795, that the 
Live stock Endeavour entered Svdnev Harbour with the live stock for 

from India. , ' •' 

which Grose had contracted in April, 1793. One hundred 
and sixty-two head of cattle were safely landed, but about 
twenty died shortly after.f The Daedalus was to have 
brought stores as well as live stock for the settlement, but 
when she arrived it was found that Vancouver, instead of 
being in a position to send provisions, was himself in want 
of supplies. As it happened, Grose was able to furnish 
almost everything that he required. 

India, which was regarded by the Qovemment of the 
day as the best place to go to, both for live stock and 
provisions, failed at first in both respects. The breed of 
cattle which thrived there was small, and the provisions 
and clothing produced were found, as a rule, to be of 
inferior quality. Some time before Dundas's despatch of 
16th July, 1792, reached Phillip, the Atlantic, which had 
been sent to Calcutta for supplies, returned to Port 

* Historical Beoords, toI. ii, p. 22 (note). 

t lb., pp. 286 and 802 s Collins, tuI. i, p. 419L 



ON THE SOIL. 171 

• 1703 

Jackson^ bringing, in addition to a cargo of provisions, 
a few head of cattle, sheep, and goats. The live stock 
was not more successful than the provisions, which Phillip 
reported to be '' very inferior to those of a similar nature inferior 
which are furnished from Europe." Only a few head were 
shipped, and a large proportion perished. Of two bulls, 
one cow, one calf, two rams, eighteen ewes, and twenty 
goats purchased at Calcutta, one calf, eight ewes, and 
thirteen goats died on the voyage ; the only cow received 
from Calcutta was very weak when she landed, and was 
soon afterwards lost by falling into the water. As the 
bulls were of the buffalo breed, while the cows in the 
settlement were of the European breed, these animals 
were of little value. Afterwards, however, provisions of 
good quality were obtained from India, while the sheep sheep from 
sent from Bengal, though small, were prized because of 
their productiveness. 



175 



THE THIRD FLEET. 



1791 

More 

convicts en 
route. 



Ten 

transports 

acoom- 

modate 

2,050. 



From the despatches brought by the vessels of the Second 
Fleet, Phillip learned with dismay that a thousand more 
convicts were about to be sent out, and he was directed 
to make preparations for their reception. For some reason 
which does not appear (probably a difficulty in obtaining 
transports), the hulks and gaols in England and Ireland 
were not '^ cleared" until the early part of 1791, when 
upwards of two thousand convicts, instead of one thousand, 
were despatched to Sydney. Writing on the 16th November, 
1790,* Grenville informed Phillip that orders had been given 
to engage a number of vessels which would accommodate at 
least 1,800 convicts ; but in a despatch of later date (19th 
February, 1791),t it was stated that the number had been 
'' increased by clearing the gaols in Ireland to about 2,050." 
This large number of convicts was sent out in ten vessels, 
provided by Messrs. Camden, Calvert, and King, under 
contract with the Commissioners of the Navy. The trans- 
ports were the Queen (which brought 200 convicts from 
Ireland), Atlantic,! William and Ann, Britannia, Matilda, 

• Historicftl Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 415. t lb., p. 461. 

X Lieutenant Bichard Bowen, one of the naval agents, who was on board the 
Atlantic, reported on his arrival in Sydney the discovery of a " good harbour 
on the coast," in latitude 35° 6' south, which he named Jervis Bay. In the 
Naval Chronicle, vol. xxiii, pp. 368 to 379, a memoir of Lieutenant Bowen is 
given, in which mention is made of his services under Sir John Jervis, after- 
wards Earl St. Vincent. There is little doubt that Bowen named the bay 
after his former commander, to whom be was largely indebted for promotion 
in the Navy. The county in which the bay is situated was subsequently 
appropriately named St. Vincent. Bowen furnished Phillip with an eye> 
draught of the bay, of which the accompanying cb&rt is a reduced copy. 



BOWENS CHART OF JERVIS BAY 




( Encios»d in Phi/h'/o, ho Grgny/Z/e. A/oy s'^/rS/.) 



WEATHERHEADS CHART OF JERVIS BAY. 



tahen by Coj^ iVeafAerhead AtasferoT/^tfatifda 



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THB THIBD FLEET. 173. 

Salamander, Albemarle, Mary Ann, Admiral Barrington, ^'^^ 
and Active. At the same time tlie Gorgon man-of-war, H.M.a 
which had been used as a reception-ship for convicts in 
1787,* was got ready for the purpose of conveying stores 
and a few convicts to New South Wales. £ing, who had 
been appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island, 
had a passage in this vessel, and the action he took on the 
voyage in purchasing live stock at the Cape was not with- 
out importance to the colony. 

All the transports arrived in safety, but in the case of 

one of them, the Albemarle, not without an adventure. Mutiny 

On the 9th April, in latitude 44° 30' north, longitude 15* Aibemarie. 

20' west, a number of the convicts made an attempt to seize 

the vessel, but it was frustrated by the vigorous action of 

the master, George Bowen, who seized his blunderbuss 

and shot the leader in the shoulder. The man fled, and the 

other mutineers following his example, Bowen was left in 

possession of the deck. He at once mustered all hands, and 

sent a search party below for the mutineers, who were 

easily secured. A sort of informal Court-martial was held p^p*_ 

on the spot, in which the naval agent. Lieutenant Robert 

Parry Young, took part, the result of which was that 

two of the men who had instigated the mutiny, one of 

them being the man wounded by Bowen, were immediately summary 

hanged at the fore-yard-arm.f ^^^ 

The island lying off the south head of the bay was named Bowen Island 
in honour of its discoverer. In NoTember, 1791 — three months after Bowen 
discoTered it — Captain Weatherhead, of the transport Matilda, while ooastine 
southward in search of seals, put into the bay to stop a leak. He remained 
there some days, and upon his return to Sydney furnished Phillip with the 
accompanying chart of tlie bay, copied from the original, which is still in 
existence. See Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, pp. 648, 553, 556, 558 ; 
Collins, Tol. i, p. 174; Tench, Complete Account, p. 136 ; Hunter, p. 541. 
* As tbe Grorgon ** was to bring out stores and provisions, her lower-deck 



ffuns were left iu England, and her complement was reduced to 100 men." 
The thirty male convicts she brought out ** assbted in working the ship/' aa 
those on board the Guardian had done. — Hunter, Historical Journal, p. 552. 



t A report of the occurrence, unsigned, is given in the Historical Keoords, 
vol. i, part 2, p. 487, as apparently from Lieutenant Toung, the naval agent 
in charge; but from information received since that volume went to press, 
it appears that the report came from Mr. George Bowen, the master. 



.174 



THE THIED FLEET. 



1791 

Anivalof 
the Third 
Fleet 



Mortality on 
voyage. 



Sick 
convictn. 



Loss of life 
explained. 



Few deaths 
on some 
vessels. 



The arrival of the transports was spread over a period of 
three months. The Mary Ann entered the port on the 9th 
July, and the Admiral Barrington on the 16th October. 
According to Phillip's despatch of the 5th November, 1791,* 
there were shipped on board these vessels 2,061 male and 
female convicts, while only 1,863 were landed ; 194 men and 
4 women, nearly one-tenth of the gross number, having died 
on the voyage. A great many were landed sick, and others 
became ill shortly after their arrival. The chief surgeon's 
report, dated several weeks after the arrival of the last ship, 
was to this effect : — " Under medical treatment and inca- 
pable of labour, 626 — 576 of whom are those landed from 
the last ships.^t It is obvious from these facts that abuses 
such as marked the conduct of affairs on board the vessels 
of the Second Fleet were not absent from the ships of the 
Third Fleet, although the consequences in the latter case 
were not so disastrous. If any doubt existed as to the 
cause of the great mortality and the unsatisfactory condi- 
tion of the convicts who survived, it would be removed by 
the knowledge that while some of the vessels lost large 
numbers of prisoners and came into port with a heavy sick- 
list, in other cases the loss of life was small, and the convicts 
arrived in good health. The inference to be drawn from 
these facts is that the sickness and death arose from pre- 
ventible causes — in other words, from the treatment which 
the convicts received on the voyage. 

Phillip gives no details concerning the ships and their 
passengers ; but in CoUins's book each vessel is alluded to 
separately. The Mary Ann's passengers (women) were '^all 
very healthy " when they arrived, and spoke highly of the 

Phillip, when the affair came to his knowledge, approyed of what had 
been done. — Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, p. 559. OoUins (vol. i, p. 181) 
remarks : — " Thej had at this time parted company with the other transports, 
and no other means seemed so likely to deter the conyicta from any future 
attempt of the like nature. It afterwards appearinc; that two of the seamen 
had supplied them with instruments for sawing off their irons, these were 
left at the island of Madeira, where the Albemarle touched, to be s^ot 
prisoners to England." 

• Historical Eccord?, rol, i, part 2, p. 63S. t Il>- 



THE THIED FLEET. 175 

treatment they had received from the master of the vessel. ^'^^ 
There were very few deaths on the Albemarle and the 
Britannia, which landed their convicts in a healthy state. 
On the Salamander and the William and Ann there had been 
five and seven deaths respectively, while the former had only 
one and the latter five sick. In the case of the other five 
transports the mortality had been heavy, and they brought Heavy 
a number of sick convicts into port. Collins briefly describes Shew. ^ ^^ 
their condition as " unhealthy." The worst case was that of 
the Admiral Barrington. This vessel took on board one 
hundred and twenty-nine convicts, of whom thirty-six, or 
more than one-fourth, died on the voyage, while eighty-four 
were brought in sick. So that of the whole number embarked 
on this vessel only nine escaped either sickness or death. It 
is impossible to believe that this wholesale loss of life and 
general sickness could have taken place if the convicts had 
been properly cared for. In one case, that of the Matilda, 
there appears to have been a special reason for a high death- 
rate and a heavy sick-list. Her convicts for the most part ^edand 
were old and infirm.* The sufferings of these unfortunate ^°^™' 
people can be easily imagined. The voyage to Australia 
in those days, under close confinement and unhealthy con- 
ditions, could hardly but prove fatal to such men when it 
tried the constitutions of the young and robust. 

That the convicts in some cases had not received fair 
treatment was apparent to other people besides Collins. 
When reporting the arrival of the Third Fleet, Phillip Phillip's 
described to Grenville, in forcible terms, the condition which 
the majority of the convicts were in when landed. Many of 
them, he declared, would never recover their strength. The 
" greatest part '^ were so emaciated by long confinement, or 
want of food, that for many months they would be a " dead- 

• " The conricts in this ship, on their landing, appeared to be aged and 
infirm, the state in which they were said to have been embarked. It was not, 
therefore, to be wondered at, that they had buried twenty-five on the passage. 
• • • Twenty were brought in sick, and were immediately landed at the 
hospital."— Collins, vol. i, p. 172. 



176 



;tH2 THIBB VLB£T« 



1791 



Lax 
Bupenision. 



OallouB 
treatment. 



MortaUty 

after 

landing. 



weight on the stores/''^ Both these causes of sickness and 
death were preventible. Confinement, to a certain degree, 
was necessary; but if those who had charge of the ressds 
had taken any trouble in the matter, it would have been 
easy enough to have given the convicts as much air as would 
not only have preserved their lives, but have kept them in 
tolerable health.f But the convicts seem to have been 
regarded by the masters of transports as worthless beings, 
whose health did not demand a thought, and who were 
better dead than alive. The want of food could only have 
been caused by the default of those who had charge of 
them. In regard to two vessels of the Third Fleet, com- 
plaints wcTO made that provisions had been withheld ; but 
as nothing was said on the point with respect to the other 
vessels, it must be assumed that the practice was not general. 
The two vessels referred to were the Active and the Queen . 
In the latter case an inquiry was made, and the charge sub- 
stantiated. J It does not appear that any action was taken 
with regard to the Active. § Out of two hundred and 
twenty-two male convicts landed from the Queen in Sep- 
tember, 1791, only fifty were alive in May following, j] 

* Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 638. The state of affairs in Koyember, 
a month after the arrival of tne last of the transports, is thus described by 
Collins (vol. i, p. 189) : — " The mortality during this month had been great, fifty 
male and four female conyicts dying within the thirty days. Fiye hundred sick 
persons received medicines at the end of the month." Hunter, in his Journal, 
p. 561, says : — ** Forty-two convicts died in the month of November, and in these 
people nature seemed fairly to be worn out ; maoy of them were so thoroughly 
exhausted that they expired without a groan, and apparently without any kind 
of pain." Referring to the number of convicts returned as siclc. Hunter says 
that one hundred might be added to the Parramatta list, for there was that 
number of men who were " so weak that they oould not be put to any kind 
of labour, not even to that of pulling grass for thatching the huts." 

t See the case of the Boddingtons, ante, p. 67. 

X The proceedings in this case will be found printed at length in the 
Historical Records, vol. ii, p. 463. 

§ Of the Queen and Active, Collins says (vol. i, p. 179) : — " These ships 
had been unhealthy, and had buried several convicts in their passage. The 
sick which they brought in were landed immediately ; and many of those who 
remained, and were so ill as to require medical assistance, were brought on 
shore in an emaciated and feeble condition, particularly the convicts from 
the Active. They in general complained of not having received the allowance 
intended for them ; but their emaciated appearance was to be ascribed as much 
to confinement as to any other cause." . . 

II Collins, vol. i, p. 210. 



THE THIKD PLEET. 177 

Phillip, on loth March, 1792, wrote to Dundas :— 1792 

" I am very sorry to say that most of the convicts who were 
received by the last ships still continue in the same debilitated state 
in which they were landed, and of whom, in less than seven months, 
two hundred and eighty-eight men have died. In the seven months 
prior to the arrival of those ships the deaths were nineteen. The 
returns of sick this day is — civil and military, eighteen; male 
convicts, three hundred and ninety-four; and females, seventeen."* 

Even then the extent of the mischief had not been realised. 
The sick convicts continued to droop and die, and by the end 
of the year, according to Collins, the death-roll had risen to increase of 
four hundred and thirty-six, most of whom arrived by the ^ 
Third Fleet. It is apparent, therefore, that of those who 
landed sick from the transports comparatively few recovered. 
Phillip's despatch shows that most of the sick convicts 
referred to in the return of 19th March were those who 
arrived in the vessels of the Third Fleet, but the number 
cannot be stated with exactness. 

The mortality which took place among these people is the 
more conspicuous from the fact that the losses by death 
in the other classes of the community were small. Nearly Not due to 
everyone who wrote about the colony at that time, from cKoaat, 
the Governor downwards, spoke well of the climate ; and 
although they had to live upon food that was generally 
insuflBcient in quantity and inferior in quality, there was 
little sickness or death among the free population. 

One feature of the case, regarded by Collins as peculiar, 
is not perhaps so strange as it appeared to him. He noticed a medical 
that many of the sick convicts, instead of gaining health p'**^^®"^ 
and strength after exchanging the pestiferous atmosphere 
of the transports for the pure air of Sydney and Parramatta, 
were attacked by complaints of a dysenteric character, which 
caused the death of the weak, and from which the stronger 
recovered with difficulty.f He was disposed to attribute 

• Historical Beoords^ toI. i, part 2, p. 696. 

t " There were at this time not less than seyenty persons from the Matilda 
and Atlantic under medical treatment^ being yfeikg emaciated, and imfit for 

V0I«. II.— M 



178 



THE tHISB FLEET. 



1792 



Enfeebled 
consti- 
tutions. 



Result of 
cruelty on 
voyage. 



• Culprits to 
be brought 
to trial. 



the canse to " change of water/' but while this may have 
been an element in the case^ it ifi not probable that it was 
the chief cause of the great destraction of life that took 
place. The most reasonable supposition is that the systems of 
the men were so reduced by the sufferings they had endured 
during the voyage that they were peculiarly liable to disease^ 
and incapable of resisting ailments which^ under other cir- 
cumstances, they might have thrown off. If the '^change of 
water" had been the cause of the complaints from which 
they suffered and died, it is not likely that the military and 
civilians who came out in the transports and the man-of-war 
Gorgon would have escaped. The more the circumstances 
are considered the stronger becomes the conviction that the 
ill-health and loss of life that occurred among the convicts 
of the Third Fleet after their arrival was mainly caused by 
the treatment they received on board the ships. 

Phillip's representations to the British Government con- 
cerning the treatment which the convicts had met with on 
board some of the vessels of the Third Fleet, although they 
might very well have been conveyed in stronger language, 
were not without effect. They were strengthened by the 
report of the magisterial inquiry which had been held in 
the case of the Queen, transport. Dundas, in a despatch of 
15th May, 1792,* said he should take care that when the 
persons concerned in this case returned to England justice 
should be done ; and he informed Phillip that it was pro- 
posed in the future to employ, both for the transport of 
convicts and stores, vessels in the service of the East India 
Company, and he trusted that " by this means the evil^ 
which have hitherto subsisted will be put an end to." 

Any kind of labour, and the list was increasing. It might hare been supposed 
that on changing from the unwholesome air of a ship's between-deoks to the 
pure air of this country, the weak would hare gathered strength ; but it had 
been observed that in general soon after landing, the conxicts were affected 
with dysenteric complaints, perhaps caused by the change of water, many 
dying, and others who had strength to overcome the disease recoTering from 
it but slowly." — Collins, vol. i, pp. 174, 176. 
* Historical Becords, rol. i, part 2, p. 628. 



THE THIBD FLEET. 179 

The ill-treatment of tlie convicts on board tlie transports '^^^ 
of tlie Third Fleet was not the only ground of complaint 
against the masters and owners. Notwithstanding the fact 
that the vessels had been chartered at so much per ton for 
the conveyance of convicts and stores^ a part of the space 
which should have been occupied by convicts or utilised for 
the stowage of stores was fraudulently taken up by the MenenMr 
owners with merchandise which could be exchanged in China * '**'*"**^ 
or India for a return cargo. Lieutenant-Governor King^ 
who was returning to Sydney in the Gorgon, was the first 
to report the fact. Writing on the 29th July, 1791,"*^ from 
the Cape, where the transports had put in, he told Nepean : — 

*^ I am credibly informed that each transport has upwards of 
200 tons of iron, copper, and lead in them, besides other articles. 
I hope Governor Phillip can seize it, as so much more beef and 
pork would be acceptable to the colony." 

Kong did not say where he got his information from, but 
it was accurate, so far at least as four of the transports were 
concerned. On his arrival in Sydney he communicated what 
he had learned to Phillip, who inquired into the matter, and 
found that the Admiral Barrington, Albemarle, Active, and 
Queen '^had on board a very considerable quantity of copper, 
lead, iron, and cordage." Prom Phillip's letter to Grenville contmband 
of 8th November, 1791, it appears that the masters acknow- 
ledged the fact ; their excuse being that it was known before . 
they sailed that the articles were on board ; they had been 
*' received publickly," and were '^ intended for a Portuguese 
settlement in India.'* t The story was plausible, but Phillip 
did not believe it, and would have confiscated the cargo, Phuiiph»d 
which was in point of fact contraband, but he did not think i ' 
he had authority to do so.| 

The vessels, it appears, had clearances from the Custom 
House for copper, lead, iron, and steel, but Phillip was in- 
formed in a despatch, 15th May, 1792,§ that the articles in 

• Historical Records, rol. 1, part 8, p. 506. f lb., p. 647. 
J Phillip to arenTUlo, ib., p. 564. § lb., p. f^" 



180 THE THIRD PLEET. 

ITW question had been carried out clandestinely, and were there* 

fore to be considered as belonging to the Navy Board. While 

oo^rament Dundas commonded Phillip's caution, he told him that he 

SoJlerJted should havo been better satisfied if a seizure had been made.* 

bim. 

-Some of the transports gave trouble in another way. A 
part of the stores put on board the Albemarle, Active, and 

^i!toik°' Queen was intended for Norfolk Island; but when the 

Island masters of those vessels arrived at Sydney they informed 
the Governor that the contract made by their owners with 
the naval authorities did not go beyond the delivery of their 
cargoes at Port Jackson.t They had received written in- 
structions to this effect before they left England, and as 
Phillip was not in a position to dispute the point he made 

At!antia^ the bost of thiugs, and chartered the Atlantic, which took 
the Norfolk Island stores to that settlement. She also 
conveyed thither Lieutenant-Governor King and Captain 
Paterson, with part of a company of the New South Wales 
Corps. The other portion was taken by the Queen. She 
brought back Major Ross, who had acted as Commandant 
under a Commission from Phillip, and also a detachment of 
marines, which was relieved by Captain Paterson's company. 
It is stated by Collins that Assistant-Surgeon Balmain, who 

u^Dffen. ^^ been sent to relieve Mr. Considen, and the Rev. R. 
Johnson, who went for the purpose of performing marriages 
and christenings, were also taken to Norfolk Island in the 
Atlantic, besides a number of marine and convict settlers, t 

Lieutenant- Reference haa been made on a previous pa&re to the 

Governor . , . , 

King action of Lieutenant-Governor King, when returning to the 

• Writing to Bundas on the 11th October, 1792, Phillip expressed regret 
that he had allowed the transports to go. — Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, 
p. r>65. Frauds of this kind were put a stop to by the insertion of a clauso 
in the contracts, by which merchandise on board the transports not properly 
accounted for was liable to seizure. — Dundas to G-rose, 15th February, 1794. 
Historical Records, toI. ii, p. 118. 

t When Phillip's report on the subject reached England, it was decided to 
insert in future contracts a clause under which cargo was to be delivered either 
at Port Jackson or Norfolk Island, at the GoTernor's discretion. — The Natj 
Board to Governor Phillip, 17th May, 1792. lb., p. 469. 

I Collins, Tol. i, p. 183. 



THE THIRD FLEET. 181 

colony by the Gorgon, in procuring live stock at the Cape ^''^^ 
of Good Hope; in addition to this he also purchased a 
quantity of seeds and plants at the various ports at which 
the Gorgon touched.* Prom St. Jago, he wrote on the 3rd 
May, 1791, that he had procured at Teneriffe some fig- pncant 
ttee&, orange-trees, and vine-cuttings. He also obtained a and 
quantity of cotton and other seeds. At the same place he 
managed to secure four pairs of hand-millstones, which 
he regarded as a possession of no little value. Up to that 
time there were few implements in the colony for grinding 
com ; and King imagined that he was fortunate in hitting 
upon a place where millstones, which would keep a family 
of ten persons going, and last a hundred years, could be 
bought at 3s. 4d. a pair. The want of mills for grinding 
com was mentioned frequently in the despatches sent to 
England by Phillip, but he did not approve of handmills. 
Those sent out from England were ^' easily rendered use- 
less and destroyed," and to grind corn with them for a 
large number of people involved "great labour." He 
represented that windmills were an absolute necessity, and MOisand 
in course of time he obtained not only windmills, but mill- 
wrights to look after them, and millers to work in them.f 

Prom the Cape, King wrote to Nepean on the 3rd July, 
1791, to tell him that he had purchased a quantity of live 
stock, consisting of black cattle, sheep, and swine, for which 
he intended to draw bills on the Treasury. J This purchase 
is a striking example of King^s energy and forethought. King's 
He knew that live stock was one of the most urgent needs toraStooght 
of the new settlement ; he knew also that while the fact was 
equally patent to the British Government, no effort had been 
made to supply the want. It must have struck him as 

^ Historical Kecords, vol. i, part 2, pp. 488, 492, 493, 495. 605. 

t In May, 1792, an agreement was made between the Home Department 
and Thomas Allen, who was employed in the King^s mills at Rotnerhitbe, 
undet which AUen accepted serrice for four years as master-miller in New 
South Wales. His salary was £52 lOs. per annum. — lb., p. 621. 

X For a description of the stock purchased and the fate which befel it, see 
post, p. 188. 



182 THE THIKD FLEET. 

^^ singular in the extreme that, wlnle the importance of pro- 
curing lire stock was dwelt upon in the despatches from 
England, proper steps had not been taken to profit by the 
voyage of the Grorgon, although she was a suitable vessel, 
and it was known that cattle, sheep, and swine could be 
procured at the Cape-* King made good the omission, 
^out Without any authority he purchased as large a quantity of 
authority, ^j^q^ ^g ^i^q Gorgon could conveniently carry — ^if the vessel 
had been differently fitted up she could have carried much 
moret — and succeeded in landing part of it at Sydney. He 
was pretty sure of his ground, but still he had some mis- 
givings. It was not a safe thing for an officer to go beyond 
his instructions, and all the letters King wrote on the subject 
show that the responsibility he had taken pressed heavily 
upon him. In his first letter from the Cape, 3rd July, 1791, 
he assured Nepean that : — 

Ston^uiy " ^® other consideration than the knowledge I have of the great 
motive. want of black cattle, sheep, Ac., to breed from, and haviug every 
reason to suppose that it was the intention of his Majesty's ministers 
that stock should be transported from hence to New South Wales, 
could have induced me to take the unauthorised step of drawing 
for the payment on the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners 
of his Majesty's Treasury."J 

'cauon. Writing privately to KTepean on the same date, he said 
in justification of the unusual step he had taken : — " Had I 
not interfered in the business, the Gorgon would have gone 

* Captain Parker had been informed by the Admiralty that he was to take 
liye stock on board at the Cape, from Messrs. De Wit and Kerstan, merchants, 
but the necessary order from the Treasury had not been sent. See King lo 
Nepean, Historical Beoords, vol. i, part 2, p. 492 ; also King to Stephens, 
8rd July, 1791, Historical Becords, vol. ii, p. 461. 

t After his arrival at Sydney, King wrote to Kepean, 27lh. October, 1791 : — 
" Should a forty-gun ship be sent for the purpose of bringing cattle to this 
colony, 1 think a hundred black cattle, two hundred slieep, and a quantity of 
stores might be landed here Tory safely." — Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2, 
p. 680. Writing to Dundas on the 19th March, 1792, Phillip said, "Ihat 
if such a ship as the Gbigon was to be properly fitted in England, with only 
half-a-dozen guns mounted, she would be able to bring ten times more liye 
stock than the colony has hitherto received." — lb., 697. 

t lb., p. 498. 



THE TSLBD PLEET* 183 

wiihont a single head of stocky and as it is, I tliink she ^"^^ 
should have stowed more, but I have gone far enough to 
risque a censure/'* The responsibility continued to weigh 
on his mind, for in a letter written towards the end of the 
month he expressed a fear that he might be ^' greatly cen- 
sured *' for the part he had taken, and begged Nepean to 
tell him by the first opportunity whether he had done right 
or wrong. 

The stock which caused King so much anxiety fared 
rather badly at sea, but nevertheless the shipment was far 
more successful than others had been. According to a Live stock 
memorandum which appears at the foot of King's letter to Cape. 
Nepean of the 27th October, 1791, t 28 head of cattle, 66 
sheep, 11 pigs, 16 rabbits, and 20 pigeons were shipped on 
board the Gorgon at the Cape of Good Hope. The passage 
was marked by cold and rough weather, and only 19 cattle, 
59 sheep, and 5 pigs (including births on the passage) were 
landed at Sydney. The fate of the rabbits and pigeons is 
left to conjecture. 

Phillip was not placed in such a bad plight by the arrival Landing of 
of the Third Fleet as he had been the year before, when ^o Third 
the Neptune, Scarborough, and Surprize came into port 
loaded with sick and dying men, although the number of 
convicts he had to provide for was twice as many. One 
reason was that the sick were not landed in such a deplorable 
stat« as those brought by the vessels of the Second Fleet; 
another was that they were not all thrown upon the colony 
at once, but were distributed over a period of three months. 
Phillip had also received longer notice, and he had learnt 
by experience how to meet these calls on his resources. 
One feature of the case that cannot fail to arrest attention 
is the implicit confidence which the English authorities Policy of the 
seem to have placed in the ability of the Governor to pro- authoriues. 
vide accommodation at short notice for any number of 

.•HiBtoDOiI Beo(»d8| toL i, port 2, p. 196. f Ib.» p. SaO. 



184 THE THIKD FLEET» 

17M convicts that might be sent to the colony. When they had 
cleared the gaols and sent the prisoners on board the trans- 
ports, their difficulties were ended. 

There seems, indeed, to have been some suspicion on the 

part of the Home Department that an inconvenient, if not 

an imprudent, course was being pursued, for in the despatch 

of 19th February, 1791, informing Phillip of the impending 

Half-yearly departure of the Third Fleet, Grenville stated that a 

tion scheme, system was to be adopted of sending out convicts " m two 

embarkations in the course of each year." By this plan it 

was hoped that a regular intercourse between the mother 

country and the settlements in Australia would be kept up, 

and inconvenience from the " accidental failure" of supplies 

prevented.* Phillip, in replying to this despatch, expressed 

gratification that a system which promised so well was to 

be adopted. But the expectation was not realised, and for 

Jj^i« many years afterwards the colony suffered from the want 

of regular supplies. 

When Phillip received Gren villous despatch of 19th Feb- 
ruary, 1791, he had less than three months in which to 
prepare for the reception of over two thousand criminals. 
Owing to the numerous deaths on board the transports, the 
actual number to be provided for was 1,863; and this large 
influx of population severely taxed the resources of the 
Accommo- settlement. The sick, of whom there were upwards of five 
new arrivals, hundred, wcre placed in the hospitals ; those who were 
capable of work, no matter in what degree, were sent to 
Parramatta and the neighbourhood, where the cultivation 
of the soil was proceeding. It was impossible to provide 
houses for the whole of these convicts by the time they 
arrived, so Phillip erected two large buildings, thatched 

* arenville to PhUlip, Historical Becoids, vol. i, part 2, p. 458. *< Witil 
great satisfaction we heaid, that from our Gk>vemmeDt having adopted a syrtem 
of sending out convicts at two embarkations in every year, at which time pro* 
visions were also to be sent, it was not probable that we should again experionM 
the misery and want with which we had been but too well acquainted, froA 
not having had any regular mode of supply." — Collins, vol. i, p. 168. 



THE THIED PLBBT, 185 

witli grass, whicli afforded shelter from tlie weather, but ^^^ 
nothing more.* The accommodation was, of course, only 
temporary; but the fact that such a plan had to be adopted 
shows to what expedients Phillip was driven, in order to , 
provide for the large additional population suddenly thrust 
upon him. 

Although eleven ships, including the Gorgon, had arrived 
in the course of a few months, the colony was still badly 
supplied with provisions. After the arrival of the Matilda, 
the second vessel of the Third Fleet, on 1st August, 1791, 
the allowance of flour was increased; and on the 27th, Ftm»tion 
the Atlantic and Salamander having arrived, the full ration 
was issued, after being suspended for twenty-one weeks.f 
The whole of the fleet, ten sail in all, as well as the warship 
Gorgon, had arrived by the middle of October, and yet we 
find Phillip reporting to Nepean only a month later (18th for a time 
November) "we are again at a reduced ration."! It may 
appear strange that a reduction in the ration should have 
become necessary so soon after the arrival of the ships, but 
the fact is easily explained. The small amount of provisions inadequate 
they carried was out of proportion to the large increase they 
made in the population. § 

* "At Parramattii the only accommodation vliiob the shortness of the notice 
admitted of being provided for the people who were on their passage was got 
up. Two tent-hutf , one hundred feet long, thatched with grass, were erected ; 
and independent of the risk which the occupiers might run from fire, they would 
afford gcKxi and comfortable shelter from tne weather." — Collins, vol. i, p. 1 72. 

t lb., p. 174. 

X Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 557. *' About the middle of the 
month [November] an alteratiun took place in the ration ; two pounds of 
flour were taken off, and one pint of pease and one pint of oatmeal were 
issued in their stead ; the full ration, which was first served on the 27th 
August last, having been continued not quite three months." — Collins, vol. i, 
p. 188. According to the same authority, another pound of flour was taken 
off the ration at the end of December, 

§ Historical Berords, vol. i, part 2, p. 588. *' The quantity of provisions 
received by these ships being calculated for the numbers on board of each 
Itor Bine months only after their arrival, and as, so large a body of convicts 
hsving been sent out, it was not probable that we should soon receive another 
supply, the Governor judged it expedient to send one of the totnsports to 
Bengal, to procure provisions for the cclony ; for which purpose he hired the 
Atlantic, at fifteen shillings and sixpence per ton per month." — Collins, 
vol. i, p. 188, 



186 TH£ TBIB^ PLEET. 

13^ Tlie wreck of tke Sirins at NorfQlk Island, in Mardb, 

1790, now left the settlement (the population of which had 

been largely increased by the conyiotB of the Third Flee^ 

with only one King's ship— "the small armed tender Supply 

— rigged as a brig. Both for the proper protection of the 

settlement and the examination of the coast, Phillip thought 

that : — 

Two « The colony should never be without two ships ; and I feel it 

vessels my duty to say that I think no ships can with safety be employed 

necessary. ^^ ^^^.^ station unless they are King's ships, that is, ships having 

commission, warrant, and petty officers on board them; and I 

think that more than one commissioned officer should be on board 

such ships."* 

There was considerable force in what Phillip urged. 
Having regard to the circumstances — ^the lawless character 
Services to of the bulk of the population : the state of the hao'bour at 
formed. times, whero numerous transports, commanded m many 
cases by unscrupulous masters, and manned by disorderly 
seamen, were lying within easy distance of the shore — the 
presence of one man-of-war, if not two, was a necessary 
precaution; but the matter does not appear to have pre- 
sented itself to the British Government in that light. 
Phillip's strong representations on the subject, however, 
would probably have led to the appointment of at least one 
war-vessel to the station, but for the circumstances in which 
The p^uest the Government was placed. By the time his despatch 
reached England war with France was imminent, and it 
may readily be understood that the Admiralty felt disin- 
clined to part with any of its war-ships for service at the 
out-of-the-way settlement of New South Wales. Phillip 
had expected that a vessel wotdd be sent out to take the 
place of the Sirius, but in this he was disappointed. The 
Gorgon might reasonably have been expected to remain at 
the settlement pending some arrangement ; but after her 
departure in December, 1791, the station was without a 

* HlBtorical BeoordB, toL i, part 2, pp. 5S4, 554, 648. 



TSB 1SQ3J) XliBET« 187 

man-of-war until the 26th Angnst, 1795, when H.M.S. "^ 
Providence arrived, followed, on the 7th September, by the Awifniof 
Reliance and the Supply, two men-of-war, which had been 
purchased and fitted specially for the settlement. 

The scarcity of boats was felt even more than the want of ^^^^ 
ships. Writing to Grenville on the 5th November, 1791, 
Phillip stated that the only boat available for his journeys 
between Sydney and Parramatta was one that he could not 
go out of the harbour in. The boats capable of exploring 
the coast, which he would have gladly employed in services 
of that kind, had been laid up for many months.* No doubt 
Phillip would have kept these boats in repair if he had been 
able to do so, but he had no boat-builders or shipwriirhts No boat- 

builders. 

at his disposal. The position was slightly improved at the 
beginning of the following year, the Pitt having brought out 
a small vessel in frame. But Phillip was not certain that he sm»ii v«me\ 
should be able to set her up, for there were only three or four frame, 
ordinary shipwrights available, and he was led to express his 
regret "that one or two good shipwrights*' had not been sent 
out. Even when the vessel had been set up she must remain 
'^ until proper people can be found to man her.'* 

It was not until the 24th July, 1793, that the Francis, for The Pmnds, 
so the little craft was called,t was put in the water — the first Uunched. 
vessel launched in Australia. She is described by Collins as 
a sloop of forty-one tons, but she was turned into a schooner 
because that rig was considered safer. It was found after- 
wards that a mistake had been made. She sailed badly, and 
had to be remasted. The launching of the little vessel would 
have been delayed still longer but for an accident which 
placed the services of a capable shipwright at the disposal 
of the colony.} When she was equipped, Grose gave the 

* HiBtorical Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 534. 

t " In compliment to the Lieutenant-Gorernor's son." — CollinB, toI. i, p. 
801. 

t ** A person who came out to this country in the capacity of a carpenter's 
mate on board the Sinus, and who had been discharged from that ship s books 
into the Supply, haying been left behind when that yessel sailed for England, 



188 THE THIRD PLEET, 

^'^^ command to Mr. William House, boatswain of the Discovery, 
Her captain, who had been sent by Vancouver to Sydney for the purpose 
of being forwarded to England as an invalid, but had 
recovered from his illness. As soon as she could be got 
ready, Grose despatched the Francis to Dusky Bay, New 
Zealand, '^ in order to ascertain how far that place, which I 
understand possesses all the advantages of Norfolk Island, 
with the addition of a safe harbour and seal fishery, may tend 
to the benefit of his Majesty's service, as connected with 
Ayefui these settlements." The Francis afterwards did good work 
in exploring the New South Wales coast, and proved of 
infinite service to the colony. 

offered his Beryices to put together the Tessel that aniyed in frame in the 
Pitt ; and being deemed sufficiently qualified as a shipwright, he was engaged 
at two shillings per diem and his proyisions to set her up. The keel was 
accordinglj laid down on blocks placed for the purpose near the landing-plaee 
on the east side."— Collins, yol. i, pp. 203, 204. 



189 



EMANCIPATION. 

When preparing the Governor's Commission and Instruc- 1787 

tions (the two documents from which Phillip derived his very The power 

extensive powers), a novel point of law presented itself to 

the authorities. For many years it had been the custom to 

empower the Governors or proprietors of Colonial possessions 

in America and elsewhere to exercise the royal prerogative 

of pardon in regard to ofFences committed within the limits 

of their own territories* Phillip, however, had asked for 

more than this power. When submitting a number of 

suggestions to the Secretary of State for the guidance of 

the officials in drawing up his Instructions, he requested 

that he should be empowered to emancipate deserving 

convicts; that is to say, that he should have authority 

to pardon convicts for ofFences committed in Great Britain, for offences 

•V 1.1 ,.. «, , committed 

This was, from the pecuhar circumstances of the settle- *^^^* 
ment, a very necessary power ; but it was one which could 
not be delegated to Phillip by the Crown without statutory 
authority,* the prerogative of pardoning '' any kyndes of -^nununi- 
felonnyes • . • comytted in any parties of this JJ^Sgative. 
realme*' being vested in the Crown alone, by 27 Henry VIII, 
c. 24. For this reason we find that Phillip's Commission 
contained a clause which conveyed no greater powers than 
did the Commissions of Governors of free settlements. The 
clause in question was evidently intended to apply only to 
sentences passed by Colonial tribunals. It ran as follows : — 

" And wee do hereby give and grant unto you full power and 
authority where you shall see cause or shall judge any offender or 

* Chita's Prerogatives of the Crown, pp. 88«108. 



190 EMANCIFATION. 

1787 offenders in criminal matters or for any fine or fines or forfeitures 
due unto us fit objects of our mercy to pardon all such offenders and 
to remit all such offences fines and forfeitures treason and wilful 
murder only excepted in which cases you shall likewise have power 
upon extraordinary occasions to grant reprieves to the offenders 
until 1 and to the intent our royal pleasure may be known therein."* 

Governor It vv^ill be noticed that the persons pointed to as fit objects 

can only . 

p^OTiiocai of clemency are not '^convicts/' but ''offenders "; and the 
words which follow, especially when they are read in 
connection with that portion of the clanse which relates 
to reprieves, plainly indicate that it was not the emancipa- 
tion of convicts that was contemplated. In order to enable 
PhiUip to do this, it was neoessary to pass a short Act em- 
powering the King to delegate his prerogative in the cases 
of convicts sentenced in England, and then to issue a Com- 
mission to Phillip under the Gh*eat Seal of Great Britain 
authorising him to act. In fact, such a Commission was 
anticipated in his Instructions ; but in the original the date 
was omitted. Tie clause ran as follows : — 

PhiUip's " And whereas we have by our Commission bearing date 

given and granted unto you full power and authority 

to emancipate and discharge from their servitude any of the 
convicts under your superintendence who shall from their good 
conduct and a disposition to industry be deserving of favour : It 
is our will and pleasure that in every such case you do issue your 
warrant to the Surveyor of Lands to make surveys of and mark 
out in lots such lands upon the said territory as may be necessaiy 
for their use."! 

The remainder of the clause has reference to land grants. 

Before an Act could be passed and a Commission made out 
the Fleet had sailed ; Parliament went into recess a few weeks 
afterwards, and did not reassemble until six months had 
elapsed. No opportunity was, at the time, expected to oconr 
of conmiunieating with Phillip for many months ; and it was 
not until May, 1790 (three years after his departure), iiiftt 

* Hittorical Reooids, toL i, put 2, p. 68. f Xb., p. 90. 



EMAKCIPATiOSr. 191 

the Act 80 Geo. Ill, c. 47, entitled, ''An Act for enabling liis IW) 
Majes^ to anthorise his GroTemor or Lientenant-Goremor AnSnAbUiig 
of Bacli places beyond the seas to whicli felons or other 
offenders may be transported to remit the sentences of such 
offenders,'' was passed* This will account for the blank in 
Phillip's Instructions not being filled in before the fleet 
sailed. The text of the Act is given in Appendix D. It gave 
the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor, for the time being, 
power to remit, absolutely or conditionally, the whole or 
any part of the term for which any convict had been trans- 
ported. It required the pardon to be made in writing under Mode of 
the seal of the territory, and a duplicate, also under seal, to ^ 
be forwarded to England for insertion in the next General 
Pardon which passed under the Great Seal. During the 
interval which elapsed between the grant by the Gbvemor 
and the confirmation by the Crown, the emancipated con- 
vict was in the position of one who had received a pardon 
under the Royal Sign-Manual ; that is to say, he was dis- Legal effect 
charged from the necessity of servitude, but could not claim 
the restitution of his civil rights, which had been forfeited 
by attainder for felony. 

For many years the full import of this distinction was 
not recognised. It was generally considered in the colony 
that the legal effect both of absolute and conditional par- 
dons conferred by the Governor of New South Wales was 
to restore to the parties all the privileges of free subjects.''^ 
In fact, even as late as 1818, Mr. Justice Field, in giving 
judgment in the case of Doe d. Jenkins v. Pearce and FUta 
wife, declared that ''the King's or Governor's absolute tionTf the 
pardon would, of course, restore him (a felon attaint) to his 
competency.'^t Considerable consternation was therefore 
created when it became known that the Court of King's 
Sench had ruled in the case of Bullock v. Dodds| that the 

* Bigge'B Baport, p. 181. 

t See the leport of this oam in the Ssfdney Gaxetie of 29l;h August. 1818, 
imtten (aooordmg to Mr. Oommiasioner Bigge) by Mr. Justice Field himself. 
t Bamewall and Alderson's Beports, toI. ii, p. 268. 



192 EMANCIPATION. 

1791: extinction of the civil rights which followed upon attainder 

S*dvu*'*°° for felony not being removed by a pardon under the sign- 

righta. manual, and the remission of a convict's sentence by the 

Governor of New South Wales having no more effect than 

such a pardon, it followed that until the name of the party 

was included in a General Pardon under the Great Seal of 

the Kingdom he was still, in the eye of the law, civiliter 

mortuus. In the cause under notice this had not been done, 

and the plaintiff, although he had, shortly after landing 

in the colony, been emancipated by the Governor, was 

unable to recover on a bill of exchange because he could 

conflnnft- not show that the act of the Governor had been confirmed 

tion by 

Crown ty an instrument under the Great Seal of Great Britain. 

required. «' 

Bullock's case does not appear to have been an exception. 
Mr. Commissioner Bigge, in his report (May, 1822), stated 
that the direction contained in 30 Geo. Ill, c. 47 — that 
duplicates of pardons granted by the Governor should be 
forwarded to England for insertion in the next General 
Pardon which passed under the Great Seal — ^' had never 
been literally complied with in New South Wales.*'* 

nu^' The Special Commission empowering Phillip to emanci- 

iSm^^^" pate convicts was received by the Gorgon in September, 
1791; but Phillip had anticipated it. Writing on the 
5th March, 1791, seven months before he received this Com- 
mission, he informed Grenville that he had emancipated 
two convicts — " one from his very meritorious behaviour 
and the great service he has rendered the colony by his 
own labour, and by instructing others, in the business of a 
bricklayer.^'t The other was particularly recommended 
by the Lieutenant-Governor as having been the means of 
saving the Sirius from being burned after that ship went 

* Bigge'8 Report, p. 132. 
" t This man, according to Collins (vol. i, p. 140), was emancipated in October, 
1790. He was " at liberty to return to England/' but he agreed to work for 
two years more in retorn for food and clothing. The same writer says of 
this man : — "There was not a single house or building that did not owe some* 
thing to him." 



EMANCIPATION. I9J 

on shore."* In so acting' Phillip exceeded" Ms powers, and i^®^ 

the men were illegally at large. After the receipt of the 

Commission empowering him to emancipate, Phillip reported 

(5th November, 1791) that he had freed another convict. 

This person had been '^ bred to surgery,'* and was employed Joh» irytDg. 

as an assistant to the surgeons. He was made a free 

man because of his ^'exemplary oonduct."t In the case of 

the convict who was emancipated because at considerable 

personal risk he had saved the wreck of the Sirius from 

destruction by fire, the act of grace was redundant. Shortly 

after the warrant giving the man his freedom had been 

executed it was discovered that " his term of transportation 

had expired prior to his emancipation." The fact, however, 

was not discovered until he had left for India in the Atlantic, 

as an "emancipated" convict. J 

The remission of sentence, or emancipation, which the EniMcipft. 
Governor was empowered to grant was a conditional one. conditional 
It is apparent from Phillip's original Commission and 
Instructions that emancipation was to be granted with a 
view to turning the well-disposed convicts into settlers, 
and so promoting the cultivation of the country. In the 
Instructions which accompanied the Special Commission 
authorising the Governor to remit sentences, Phillip was 
directed to insert in the instrument granting the remission on residence 
*' a special condition that such felon or offender shall not colony. 
return within any part of our Kingdom of Great Britain 
and Ireland during the term or time which shall thus remain 
unexpired of his or her original sentence or order of trans- 
portation, on pain that the remission so to him or her 
granted shall in such cases be wholly null and void." This 
was an irksome condition. It meant not only that the 
emancipist who returned to Tiis native country before the 

• Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 472. 

f CollizkB (yoI. i, p. 99) mentionB thu man, Jobn Irmig; he was emanci- 
pated and Bent to Norfolk Island in March, 1790| to " act as an assistant t6 
the medical gentlemen there." 

X Historical Becords, toI. i, part 2, p. 635. 

VOL, II. — N 



194 EMANCIPATION. 

^''^^ term of his original sentence had expired forfeited his 
emancipation, and might be sent back to finish his punish- 
ment, but that he placed his life in jeopardy. According 
i^ effect to the law at that time, a convict who returned from the 

of the ' 

condition, place of transportation to Great Britain or Ireland before the 
term of his sentence had expired was guilty of a capital 
offence, on proof of which he was liable to the punishment 
of death. Emancipation as granted under these Instructions 
was not therefore perfect liberty. The emancipist, if he 
remained in New South Wales, was a free man. He might 
labour for his own profit instead of for the advantage of 
the State, or seek his fortune in any colony or in a foreign 
State ; but if he returned to the land of his birth he did so 
at his peril.* 

Desireof the The desiro of most of the convicts transported from the 

convicts to ^ 

Si^uSid^ United Kingdom was to return to the country from which 
they had been banished, and some of them, in their eager- 
ness to get back, paid no heed to the danger into which they 
ran, and were punished for their temerity. It was the 
Diiwouraired established policy of the British Government to keep con- 
authorities, victs from returning, whether they had served their sen- 
tences or not. According to the view then held at Sydney 
Cove as to the effect of a sentence of transportation, it was 
doubtful whether convicts would be able to return to the 
places from which they had been despatched even when 
their sentences expired. In one of his early letters to 
Nepean, 9th July, 1788,t Phillip said that those whose 
sentences would soon expire intended to " apply for per- 
mission to return to England," but, he added, that until 
instructions had been received from the Government none 
would be allowed to leave the settlement. He expressed 
the opinion, however, that if ^^ the most abandoned and use- 
less " were permitted, on the expiration of their sentences, 

• A similar condition was imposed in the case of the convicts who were 
" pardoned *' for their services in connection with the wreck of the G-uardian. 
■ — Ante, p. 44. 

t Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 164. 



JSMANCIPATION. 195 

to go to China, it would be a great advantage to the settle- ^'^^ 
ment. Prom this it would seem that the impression on 
Phillip's mind was that when once a criminal had been Convict 
transported, no matter for what term, he was practically practically 
banished from the mother country for the rest of his life, 
unless the authorities in England chose to allow him to 
return. 

Nothing seems to have been done to rectify this wrong 
until King's arrival in England, in 1790, with despatches 
from the colony. We find him writing to Nepean from 18, 
Craven-street, on the 1st February, 1791,* to say that he 
was ignorant whether Phillip, in his despatches of which 
he was the bearer, had mentioned : — 

"The great inconvenieDce that will attend the vast number of 
convicts who say the term of their transportation is expired. It Kind's 
is needless for me to say that those who can get a passage expect the matter. 
leave to quit the colony. On this head Governor Phillip desired 
I would speak to you." 

On the 5th March, 1791,t Phillip wrote to say that there 
were a number of convicts who said that their sentences were 
expired and wanted to return to England, and he begged for 
instructions. A few weeks after King had communicated 
with Nepean, Grenville wrote a despatch} informing Phillip 
that the return to England of convicts whose sentences had vie^-s of the 
expired " could not legally be prevented," but stated that it authorities, 
was extremely desirable that '^ every reasonable indulgence 
should be held out" to persons of this class to remain in New 
South Wales, and adding that ^^it should be distinctly under- 
stood that no steps are likely to be taken by Government for 
facilitating their return." But although the British Govern- 
ment did everything it possibly could to keep the convicts 
in the country to which they had been sent, many of them 
returned to England, Ireland, or Scotland, as soon as they Many return 
were in a position to do so, and many others would have Britain. 



* Historical Becords* vol. i, part 2, p. 433. 
t lb., p. 472. Jib., p. 460. 



196 BMANCIPATIOIJ, 

^'•^ returned if they could. Life in the colony, even with the 
advantages that were to be gained from a free grant of land 
and the means of subsistence for eighteen months, was to 
the minds of most of them an uninviting prospect. 

Although there were at this time many vessels returning 
to England, it is probable that if the discharged convicts 
had been obliged to pay for their passages very few of them 
would have been able to leave the colony. The transports, 
however, were frequently in need of hands, and men who 
could work were taken to England in exchange for their 
services during the voyage. As soon as it was known in 

Working Sydney that there was no legal obstacle to the return to 

P*"**^^' England of convicts who had served their time, advantage 
was taken of whatever opportunities presented themselves ; 
and a few months after Phillip received Grenville's despatch 
informing him that expirees could not be kept in the colony 
against their will, it became his duty to send to the Home 
Department '' a list of those convicts whose times being ex- 
pired have left the settlement in the different transports."* 
On the 16th December, 1791, he wrote to Grenville trans- 

Warrants mittiug the duplicates of four warrants of emancipation 

pfttion. under the seal of the colony.f 

The forms of absolute and conditional pardons will be 
found in Appendices E and F. In later years a third class of 
pardon, known as the Ticket-of-Leave, was introduced ; the 
form, for purposes of comparison, is given in Appendix G- 

* Historical Becosds, toL i^ part 2, p. 665. 
t lb., p. 566. 



197 



THE NATIVES. 

The admirable spirit displayed by Phillip in his dealings I79l-a 
with the natives during the three years following his land- phiuip and 
ing has been alluded to in a previous vol.* During the ® °* ^^ 
latter part of 1791 and the beginning of 1792 the relations 
between the natives and the new-comers did not improve. 
Phillip steadily adhered to the amicable policy outlined 
in his Instructions, but his efEorts to bring about a good Amicable 
understanding between the two races were constantly frus- 
trated. It may be said, however, that, with very few ex- 
ceptions, the white man, if not immediately to blame, was 
the original aggressor. The natives could appreciate kind 
treatment, and were very friendly with those who won their 
confidence, but they resented any injury, no matter how 
slight it might be ; and as the aboriginals' code of honour KativMr 
taught them to avenge any wrong, grave or otherwise, with of honour, 
blood, tragic consequences sometimes followed from small 
causes, and the injured natives had to be punished for taking 
the law into their own hands. But, as a rule, Phillip refrained 
from making any reprisals whenever he found that the 
natives had acted from a misconception of the motives of 
the settlers, or had been provoked by them. One case is 
particularly worthy of mention. In September, 1790, he 
was seriously wounded at Manly by a native whom he had ^2ned 
approached in a friendly manner; but, knowing that the ^y*i»a**ve. 
savage had misconstrued the overture, he took no steps to 
punish the offender, but rather endeavoured to have his 

• VoLi, pp. 119-188. 



198 



THE NATIVES. 



1790 



BenniloDg 



pacific intentions explained.*^ The reasoning of the native 
was very natural. Phillip had caused several of them to be 
captured, and when he advanced with outstretched hands 
to the one with whom he wished to make friends, it was not 
strange that his object should have been misinterpreted. 

It happened that Bennilong, one of the captured natives, 
who had escaped a few weeks before, was among the natives 
at the time, and it was probably owing to his representa- 
tions, as well as to the judicious conduct of the Governor, 
that good instead of harm came of the encounter. While 
Phillip was recovering from his wound, Bennilong was in- 
duced to return to the settlement as a visitor. He brought 
three other natives with him, and was so pleased with his 
reception that he took up his residence at Sydney, in a hut 
built for him at the eastern point of the cove. This point, 
on which Port Macquarie now stands, was until recent 
years known as Bennilong Point.t 

Bennilong' s return led to the establishment of amicable 

One instance of the f riend- 
A small 

boat belonging to the chief surgeon, Mr. White, was taken 
by five convicts to fish in the harbour, and was lost with all 
hands near Middle Head . Portions of the boat were washed 
ashore, and were found by the natives, who, instead of appro- 
priating them, placed them in positions from which they 
might easily be seen from boats passing up and down the 
harbour.J 

* See Vol. i, p. 124 ; Historical Becords, toI. ii, p. 603. 

t " Bennilong, after appointing sereral days to visit the Qovemor, came afe 
last, on the 8tk [October, 1790], attended by three of his companions. The 
welcome reception they met with from everyone who saw them inspired the 
strangers with such a confidence in us that the visit was soon repeated ; and 
at length Bennilong solicited the GK>vernor to build him a hut at the extremity 
of the eastern point of the cove. This, the GK)vemor, who was very desirous 
of preserving the friendly intercourse which seemed to have taken plaoe» 
readily promised, and gave the necessary directions for its being built." — 
Collins, vol. i, p. 137. 

t " The first information that any accident had happened was given by the 
natiref, who had secured the rudder, mast, an oar, and other parts of the 



resides 
at Sydney. 



Establish. 

of amicable relations with the native tribes, 

relations. 

liness of the blacks is specially noticed by Collins. 



THE NATIVES. 19& 

The f OTindation of a good understanding with the natives ^'^^ 
appeared to have been laid, but the promise was illusory. 
Although they looked sharply after their own possessions, o^n^wp 
they could not be brought to respect the right of property 
claimed by the new-comers in the products of the soil. 
Some of the articles of food used by the whites they would 
not oat — notably bread, but they were very fond of potatoes, 
which they stole from the fields. In a settlement where 
starvation was always a possible calamity, the preservation 
of the crops was a matter of life and death, and there being Reromp- 
no other effective way of stopping depredations in the hostilities, 
potato-fields, parties of soldiers were sent out to disperse the 
thieves. The natives, thinking perhaps that they had a right 
to the produce of the grounds they had occupied from time 
immemorial,* offered resistance. A party of soldiers having 
made a demonstration in one of the fields, a club was thrown. 
The reply was a discharge of firearms, which caused the 
precipitate retreat of the blacks. One of them was fatally ^JfiJ^'® 
wounded, and his body was found a few days afterwards, 
disposed for burial. The circumstances of this affair are 
related by Collins, who lamented that such severe measures 
for the protection of the crops had become necessary.f 

boat) which they had fixed in such situations as were likely to render them 
conspicuous to any boat passing that way. Mr. White and some other 
gentlemen, going down directlj, found their information too true. One of 
the bodies was lying dead on the beach. With the assistance of Cole-he 
and the other natiyes he recovered tbe seine, which was entangled in the 
rocks, and brought away the parts of his boat which they had secured." — 
Collins, vol. i. p. 141. 

• See Vol. i, p. 125. 

+ "It was much to be regretted that any necessity existed for adopting 
these sanguinary punishments, and that we had not yet been able to reconcile 
the natives to the deprivation of those parts of this harbour which we occu- 
pied. While they entertained the idea of our having dispossessed them of 
their residences, they must always consider us as enemies ; and upon this 
principle they made a point of attacking the white people whenever oppor- 
tunity and safety concurred. It was also, unfortunately, found that our 
knowledge of their language consisted at this time of only a few terms for 
such things as, being visible, could not well be mistaken ; but no one had yet 
attained words enough to convey an idea in connected terms. It was also 
conceived by some among us, that those natives who came occasionally into 
the town did not desire that any of the other tribes should participate in the 
enjoyment of the few trifles they procured from us. If this were true, it 



200 THE NATIVES. 

1791 Notwithstanding thig nnfortunate incident, it was not 

Convicts long before friendly relations with the natives were re- 
natires. established ; but they were broken ofE again very soon^ by 
an act of wanton mischief on the part of some of the con- 
victs. Several of the natives were accustomed to sell or 
exchange fish among the people at Parramatta^ and in a 
settlement where fresh animal food was almost an unknown 
thing this was a great advantage. While one of these 
natives, named Ballooderry, was disposing of the fish he 
had caught, his canoe, which he had endeavoured to hide, 
AwMton was discovered by six convicts, who destroyed it. Balloo- 
derry was greatly enraged at this, and '^threatened to 
take his own revenge, and in his own way, upon all white 
people.'* With the object of pacifying him, and showing 
him that it was intended to treat him and his people with 
convicte justice, the convicts who had destroyed the canoe were found 
and punished. Ballooderry was even led to believe that one 
of them had been hanged. But this did not satisfy the wrath 
of the savage. According to aboriginal law, a man who 
had been injured must take personal vengeance, and the 
only way in which he could do so was by shedding some 
one^s blood, no matter whose, provided that the victim was 
A native's of the samc tribe or race as the person who had inflicted 
the wrong. Ballooderry watched for an opportunity, and 
coming upon a convict who had strayed from Parramatta 
into the bush, attacked and wounded him with a spear. 
Instead of trying to capture and punish Ballooderry, Phillip 
simply forbade him to appear again at any of the settle* 
ments. The result was that *' the other natives, his friends, 
being alarmed, Parramatta was seldom visited by any of 
them, and all commerce with them was destroyed."* 

Origin of the This occurronce serves to show how many of the mis- 

misunder* , ^ , 

standings, understandings between the natives and the white popula- 

would for ft long time retard the general underBlandmg of our friendly inten- 
tions toward them ; and it was not improbable but that they might for the 
same roason represent ns in ewwj unfaTouzable light they could imagine." — 
Collins, vol. i, p. 147. 
•lb., p. 166. 



THE KATIVES. 201 

tion, ending frequently in loBs of life, arose. The convicts ^^ftt 
stole the natives' nets and spears or destroyed their canoes; 
the blacks^ in retnm^ speared the white men whenever 
they could do so with safety. According to Phillip, whose 
knowledge of the circumstances must be regarded as accu- 
rate^ the convicts were, with few exceptions, the aggressors. 
When two men were kiUed by natives at fiushcutters' Bay, ^, ^j,, 
soon after the foundation of the settlement, he refused to ^^"' 
take any measures to punish the murderers, because he was 
convinced that they had killed the convicts " in their own 
defence, or in defending their canoes.'^* Many convicts 
were killed and wounded after this in Phillip's time, and, 
according to his despatches, these outrages were nearly 
always committed in revenge for injuries done to the convicts the 
natives by the convicts. On the 12th February, 1790, a 
year before the destruction of Ballooderry's canoe, Phillip 
reported to the Home Department that one convict had 
been killed and ten wounded since November, 1788, He 
explained that it was ''impossible to prevent the convicts 
from straggling, and the natives, having been robbed and 
illtreated, now attack those they meet unarmed." In other Repriaato 

... , by the 

words, they took revenge for the injuries they had received natiyea. 
at the hands of the white man, according to aboriginal 
custom and precedent. 

The quarrel with Ballooderry and his friends did a great 
deal of harm. It not only deprived the settlement of the 
advantages that were gained from an interchange of com- 
modities with the natives — it estranged the people, and stnined 
caused them to assume a more hostile attitude than they had 
taken up before. Soon after Ballooderry had been warned 
not to approach the settlements, an attack was made upon a 
settler at Prospect Hill, and it was this, according to Collins, 
that compelled Phillip to depart from his instructions as to 
the disposition of the land, and place settlers on contiguous 
lots, instead of separating them by areas of land reserved 

• Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, pp. 148, 167, 171 ; toI. ii, p. 690. 



202 THE NATIVES. 

^7W for the Crown.* The unfriendly relations between the two 
races continued. In the following year some natives were 
discovered in the act of robbing a hut. They were fired at 
with a shot-gun, and one of them was wounded. A few 
days afterwards a convict, when walking from Parramatta 
B *^red!* *^ Prospect Hill, was set upon and killed ; his body bore 
no less than thirty spear- wounds. It was obvious that this 
murder was an act of revenge, and the friendly natives 
declared it to be so. Worse things happened in later years, 
one act of violence leading to another. If Phillip^s policy 
J had been loyally followed by the white population, the 

natives might have been of infinite service to the settle- 
ment in the early days ; instead of which they became an 
annoyance and a danger. 

* Ante, p. 132. ** In the beginning of the month [August, 1791] information 
■was received that a much larger party of the natives than had yet been seen 
assembled at any one time had destroyed a hut belonging to a settler at 
Prospect Hill, who would have been murdered by them, but for the timely and 
accidental appearance of another settler "with a musquet. There was no 
doubt of the hut having been destroyed, and by natives, though perhaps 
their numbers were much exaggerated ; the Governor, therefore, determined 
to place other settlers upon the allotments which had been reserved for the 
Crown ; by which means assistance in similar or other accidents would bo 
more ready." — Collins^ vol. i, p. 178. 



203 



PHILLIP AND DAWES. 

In the despatch containing Grenville^s final instructions* ^"^^^ 
concerning the recall of Rosses detachment of marines, one b«»u o« ti^e 
officer was singled out for special mention as likely to be of 
peculiar service to the colony, and authority was given to 
Phillip, in case he had not placed him in charge of the 
auxiliary company of the New South Wales Corps, to retain 
him on the footing of a lieutenant of engineers. This officer 
was Lieutenant William Dawes, to whose services refer- Sawee to"* 
ence has been made in a previous vol.f Shortly after the ^ w**^*^- 
despatch referred to was written, and before Phillip received 
it, a disagreement had, however, arisen between him and ^^fJ^Sfm?* 
Lieutenant Dawes which rendered the retention of the 
latter impossible. Phillip would doubtless, in keeping with 
his established policy of ignoring the petty annoyances to 
which he was constantly subjected, have made no mention 
of the dispute in his despatches, but it became necessary 
for him to explain why he had refrained from giving effect 
to Grenville's wishes concerning Lieutenant Dawes. The 
circumstances of the principal cause of dispute had occurred 
in December, 1790. In November, 1791,t Phillip, in reply- 
ing to Grenville, informed him that his charges were three 
in number : — 1. That Lieutenant Dawes had purchased Phoiip's 
rations from convicts contrary to the General Orders ; 2. 
That he had refused to do duty ; 3. That he had been guilty 

* Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 415. 

t Vol. i, p. 154. 

X Historical Becords, yol. i, part 2, p. 543. 



204 PHILLIP 

1791 of unofficerlike behaviour to tlie Governor. The first cliarge 
Parcbasiiig was not a light one ; traffic in convicts' rations had caused 
convk^.°™ serious trouble in the settlement. The men made a practice, 
as Phillip explains, of putting together their rations of 
flour, and obtaining in exchange spirits and tobacco. The 
terms were ten pounds of flour for a bottle of rum, and thirty 
pounds of flour for a pound of tobacco. Those who parted 
with their flour for spirits and tobacco were pinched with 
hunger. The full allowance of food was insufficient,* and 
convicts could not afford to give up a single ounce muck 
less the whole of their flour, which was the main part of the 
SSicwo* ration. The natural result followed — those convicts who had 
the practice, deprived themsclves of their ration of flour stole from the 
others and from the military. Robberies became frequent. 
The nature of the evil, and the measures that were taken to 
prevent it, may be seen from the stringent order issued on 
the 11th February, 1791,t in which, after pointing out that 
every individual was concerned in putting a stop to ''a 
practice which distresses the honest and industrious, whose 
gardens are robbed and provisions stolen by those who 
^wwid sen their rations,^' a reward of thirty pounds of flour was 
offered for the discovery of any person who should " on any 
consideration whatever" purchase or receive provisions 
from a convict. 

Phillip very properly looked to the civil and military 
officers for assistance in carrying out this order, and if any 
one of them, instead of helping to maintain the regulation, 
took part in the traffic which had been prohibited, he 
was guilty of a serious breach of duty. Lieutenant Dawes 
was so accused. As the facts of the case are only partly 
revealed, the degree of Mb culpability cannot be accurately 
Lientenoit measured. According to his account, dated 6th November, 
expiaoation. 1791, if he offended at all, it was in breaking the letter, not 
the spirit, of the regulation. He admitted having purchased 

* Phillip says that " etrerj man could eat his ration," and that few of the 
convicts were satisfied with the quantity of food they received, 
t Historical Becocday vol. i, pcurt 2, p. 450. 



AND DAWES. 205 

provisions from a convict, but he denied that they were ^"^ 
rations in the sense in which the term was used in the 
order. The convict in question was "baker to the garrison/' 
and it was known, Lieutenant Dawes asserted^ to all the 
officers that the man received a weekly allowance of flour 
" as the just perquisite of his business, which I therefore 
presumed became his own property, and as such was deemed 
by everyone to be entirely at his own disposal." He denied 
that he had ever purchased from any of the convicts any 
article of their ration. Phillip forwarded Dawes's statement phuup's 
to Lord Grenville, with a memorandum in which he stated thSwn! 
that he could not admit that Lieutenant Dawes had never 
purchased rations from convicts. Major Boss had, he 
alleged, been requested (presumably by Phillip himself) to 
point out to Dawes, " some time before,'* the impropriety of 
purchasing pease from convicts ; and in one case in which a 
convict appeared before the magistrates charged with a 
breach of the order in question, he admitted having given 
forty pounds of flour and twenty pounds of sugar to Lieu- 
tenant Dawes for *' spirits and other articles.'* 

As no inquiry was held, it is impossible to say to what An 
extent the regulation was infringed by Lieutenant Dawes; 
but it is apparent from his own account that he was at 
least guilty of an indiscretion. The order was prohibitory; 
it forbade the purchase of provisions from convicts under 
any circumstances whatever, and it was the duty of every 
officer to see that it was strictly enforced. If the flour 
which he purchased was the convict baker's perquisite, the 
proper course would have been for him to bring the matter 
under the notice of the Commissary before making any 
purchase from a convict, even though he happened to be 
baker to the garrison. 

The second charge was more serious than the first. It The second 
arose out of a difficulty with the natives in December, 1790. 
Some of the tribes, to avenge themselves for injuries thej 
had received from the convicts, altocked with speaxB any 



206 PHILLIP 

1790 white man they miglit happen to meet unarmed. Several 
of the convicts having been killed and others seriously 
wounded, Phillip determined to make an example of the 
Soldiers sent offenders, and sent out a large party of soldiers, with 
nfttivea instructions to pursue the tribe and bring in six prisoners, 
or, if that should be found impracticable, to put a similar 
number to death.* An order to this effect was issued on the 
13th December, 1790, and it fell to Lieutenant Dawes, in 
the ordinary course of duty, to go out with the party, which 
included two captains and two subalterns. Entertaining a 
strong objection to the plan proposed by Phillip for chastising 
the natives, he wrote a letter to Captain Campbell, who com- 
manded the detachment (Major Boss was acting as Lieu- 
Dawes tenant-Governor at Norfolk Island), refusing the duty. He 
to take part was remonstrated with both by Campbell and Phillip, but to 
no purpose. Apparently he had religious or conscientious 
scruples, which were temporarily allayed by the Chaplain, for 
^"* , „ it is stated that ^^ late in the evening Lieutenant Dawes in- 

eventually ° 

consejits. formed Captain Campbell that the Rev. Mr. Johnson thought 
he might obey the order, and that he was ready to go out 
with the party, which he did."t But the matter did not end 
here; he spent several days with the detachment in the 
vain pursuit of the savages, who disappeared as soon as the 
soldiers came in sight. After his return to Sydney he repented 
that he had been prevailed upon to go out on such a service, 
and " informed the Governor that ' he was sorry he had been 
persuaded to comply with the order,^ intimating at the same 

insubordi- time that he would not obey a similar one in future." This 
language, emphasised by a manner which showed to the 
Governor a determination to disobey orders in the future, 
was clearly insubordinate. If Phillip had been less forbearing 
it would have been more strongly resented. Lieutenant 
Dawes does not seem, however, to have regretted the part he 

* The expedition failed in its object. — ^Vol. i, p. 128. 

t One of Lieutenant Dawes's intimate friends described him as '' a most 
amiable man .... trulj religious, without anj appearance of formal 
sanctity." — Historical Beoords, voL ii, p. 711. 



AND DAWES. 207 

played on this occasion. In his letter of the 6th November, 1791 
1791, he informed the Governor that " after so long a time 
having elapsed, and repeated reflections on the subject, I 
feel at this instant no reason to alter the sentiments I then 
entertained/' 

A second expedition was sent out a few days after theThotwrd 
return of the first ;* but Lieutenant Dawes persisted in his 
refusal to take part in it, and the language he used to the 
Governor on this occasion constituted the third charge of 
" unofficerlike behaviour." His expressions, Phillip stated, UnoiDcor- 
" were such as would have subjected him to a Court-martial beha\'iour. 
had he been amenable to one.'' In regard to this part of 
the charge. Lieutenant Dawes, who appears to have been of 
a very impulsive disposition, disclaimed (in a letter to Phillip 
dated nearly a year after the event) any intention to " express 
anything either in word or manner in any degree improper 
or disrespectful," and he was " exceedingly pained " to find 
that such an idea was entertained. He explained that having 
conceived that a direct charge had been made against him 
by the Governor of " leaving the Observatory without suffi- 
cient cause," he had only done justice to himself in denying 
the charge " in terms sufficiently clear and expressive to 
leave no possibility of misconception."t 

It thus happened that while the Home Department was 
endeavouring to make arrangements for his stay in the 
colony. Lieutenant Dawes was doing his best to render it i*e 

•^ .,___. ^ . ^ ° ^ . /r. . 1 relations 

impossible for him to remain, at all events m any official between 
capacity. The Governor appears to have entertained no Dawes, 
personal animosity towards the lieutenant, and he would 
have been glad to keep him in the colony, ^'provided he 
had seen his error," not only because it was the wish of the 
British Government that he should remain, but because 
''his services were wanted in surveying and marking 
out allotments of land for settlers." Instead, therefore, of 

• Tench, Complete Account, p. 98. 

t Historical Hecords, Tol. i, purt 2, p. 645. 



208 PHILLIP ANB DAWES. 

I'^l ordering Mm home to be tried by Court-martial, Phillip 
sent him a written message informing him that his conduct 
would be "forgotten'^ if he acknowledged the impropriety 
of it ^' in such a manner as may leave no reason to suppose 
that anything similar will happen in future.^' The exercise 
of a little diplomacy might have removed the misunder- 
standing ; but none was shown by either party, and a month 
Dawes af terwaids Lieutenant Dawes left the colony in the Grorgon 
to Enfifiand. with the Commandant and the greater part of the marine 
detachment. 

sj8^J«nw The incident in itself is not of much consequence, but it 
incident, jg important as showing the difficulties with which Phillip 
had to contend, and the manner in which he dealt with 
SSiS?y *li6ii^- His relations with the officers of marines were un- 
pleasant all through, and if he had acted less judiciously 
than he did a misfortune worse than that which occurred 
in Bligh's time would probably have happened. In his deal- 
ings with Major Boss he kept his feelings under restraint, 
and sank his pride of office. He acted in the same manner 
with regard to Lieutenant Dawes. If he had taken a severe 
or a limited view of his duty, and paid no regard to sur- 
rounding circumstances, he would have put that officer 
under arrest when he committed his first act of insubordina- 
tion. It is not unlikely that he had these facts in his mind 
when he told Grenville, in the despatch which covered the 
correspondence with Dawes, that he had " often found that 
the peculiar situation this colony has been in made it neces- 
sary to pass over improprieties which could not otherwise 
have passed unnoticed.^** 

* Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, p. 548. 







■'i^fy^-^r^- 



HENRY DUNDAS. 

(Lord Melville.) 



Beproduced by Heliotype ; the urij^Inal painting by Sir Thos. Lawrenoe. 



Hr?4:\'^ C'.»n:/:,s 



209 



STATE OF THE SETTLEMENT IN 1792. 

The despatch written by Phillip on the 19th March, 1792, 1793 
the last year of his Governorship, shows that the difficulties Difflcuities 
under which the colony had so long laboured still existed, privatiom. 
The sick convicts brought by the Third Fleet in the winter 
of 1791 were a burden on the settlement; the want of 
implements to till the land, and clothing to protect the people 
from the weather, was severely felt.^ There was practically 
no live stock, and the colony was still threatened with star- 
vation. Want of sufficient food told on the strensfth of Emaciftted 

^ convicts. 

the labourers, while the survivors of the convicts who had 
been landed sick from the transports became so weak that 
they were incapable of doing any work. This occurred 
at a time when the absence of the expected supplies from 
England, and the uncertainty that was felt as to the time 
of their arrival, made progress with cultivation a matter of 
vital importance. The hours of labour were few — they did 
not amount, according to CoUins's reckoning, to more than 
three days per weekf — and the men who could work were so convicts 

unftble 

prostrated that their services were of little value.J Under to work. 

* ** The clothing which was received for the use of the convicts is so very 
slight that most of the people are naked a few weeks after they have been 
clothed." — Phillip to Dundas, Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, p. 596. 

t " One day in each week was dedicated to issuing provisions, and the labour 
of the other fire (with interruptions from bad weather, and the plea of tbe 
reduced ration) did not amount in all to three good working-days. — Collins, 
vol. i, p. 207. Phillip, writing to Nepean on 29th March, 1792, informed him 
that hours of labour were from 5 a.in. to 9 a.m., and from 4 p.m. to 5 SO p.m. — 
Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 610. 

X Writing of this state of thines, in February, Collins states (vol. i, p. 201) : — 
** The convicts employed in cultivating and clearing public ground beyond 
Parramatta, having been landed in a weak and sickly state, wore in general a 
most miserable and emaciated appearsnce, and numbers of them died daily. 
The reduced ration by no means contributed to their amendment." 

VOL. IL — 



210 



STATE OF THE 



1793 



Starvation 
and crimo. 



ThepongB 
of hunger. 



Reflections 
upon the 
seTerity 
of the law. 



these circumstances the cultivation of the land proceeded 
slowly and painfully. 

One of the results of this unhappy condition of things was 
systematic thieving by the half-starved convicts, who not 
only stole corn from the fields, but broke into the stores and 
carried off whatever provisions they could lay their hands 
on. Those who were found pillaging the crops were flogged ; 
those who were convicted of robbing the stores were hanged. 
As the safety of the settlement depended on the preservation 
of the stores, no mercy was shown to offenders of this class. 
One of them, confessing his fault the moment before his 
execution, said that he had committed the theft for which 
he was about to suffer because of hunger. " He appeared 
desirous of death,'' says Collins, " declaring that he knew 
he could not live without stealing." This is a significant 
remark. It shows that the robberies perpetrated at this time 
were due not so much to the depravity of the offenders as to 
an irresistible craving for food. PhiUip, writing to Dundas 
in October, 1792, informed him that nearly one-third of the 
1 791-92 crop of maize had been stolen from the grounds. 
So great, indeed, was the scarcity of, and craving for, 
food that several of the convicts died "from feeding on 
it [the Indian com] in its crude state when carrying the 
grain to the public granary.'' He added: "It is but just to 
observe that I can recollect very few crimes during the last 
three years but what have been committed to procure the 
necessaries of life.''* 

To hang starving men for stealing the means of sustain- 
ing life would be regarded in the present day as a cruel and 
a brutal thing; but in discussing the punishments inflicted 
upon the convict population of New South Wales a hundred 
years ago, the circumstances of the colony and the laws in 
force at the time must be taken into consideration. House- 
breaking under the English law was a capital offence, and 

* HUtorical Beeoxdsi yoI. i, pari 2, p. 646. 



. SETTLEMBBFT IN 1792. 211 

if a convict at Sydney or Farramatta was hanged for ^'^ 
stealing a bag of flour from the public store^ lie was not 
more Iiarshly dealt with than a man who was sent to the 
gallows in England for stealing a watch &om a dwelling- 
house: There was, in fact, greater reason for severity in Peculiar 
the former case than in the latter. It was necessary to of the 
protect the stores of food by every possible means, and 
mercy could not be extended to thieves without imperilling 
the public safety.* 

It is a noticeable fact that the culprits were in almost ouiprfta 

. newamvaiB. 

every case the convicts who came out in the vessels of the 
Second and Third Fleets ; those brought by the first trans- 
ports took no part in the robberies. The circumstance is 
not mentioned in PhUlip^s despatches; but it attracted the 
attention of Collins, who recorded it without suggesting any 
reason for the wide difEerence between the conduct of the 
old and the new convicts.f The reasons are not very difficult 
to discover. The first convicts had been well disciplined, ^^Ifviour 
and had become inured to want. They were, as a rule, in ^^^5^ 
good health, and better able to bear privations than the late 
arrivals. They also enjoyed advantages which the new- 
comers did not possess, for some of them, at all events, were 
able to supplement the ordinary ration with the produce 
of their gardens. In a great many cases the sentences of 
the men who belonged to the first batch of convicts were 
about to expire, and the knowledge that they would soon 
regain their freedom if they behaved well was a powerful 
incentive to good conduct. 

* Under extraordinary circumstances offenders hare been treated with 
•equal rigour in recent times. In 1884, when the surrivors of the Arctic 
Sxploring Expedition organised by the United States Gbvemment were on 
the point of starration, one of the party stole food from the common stock, 
and having disregarded the warnings he had recelTcd, was shot without trial 
of any kind, by the written authority of the commander, Lieutenant Qreely. 
— Three Years of Arctic Service, vol. ii, p. 317. 

t " To the credit of the conyicts who came out in the First Fleet it must be 
remarked, that none of them were concerned in these offences ; and of them 
it was said the new-comers stood so: much in dread, that they never wars 
admitted to any shave in their ooofidenoe." — CoUina, yoI. i, p. 196. 



212 



STATE OF THE 



1798 
Difloidarly 



Grose 

arrivefl by 
the Pitt. 



Provisions 
and stores. 



Salt meat 
only. 



The new arrivals appear to liave been so dissatisfied 
with their lot, and so impatient of restraint, that, weak and 
suffering as they were, they broke out into riot and disorder^ 

It was necessary to put a stop to these demonstrations, 
which threatened the peace of the settlement, and according* 
to Collins a proclamation was issued forbidding convicts to 
assemble in numbers, and directing that any man who left 
his hut during a disturbance should be deemed to be aiding 
and abetting the rioters, and should be punished accord- 
ingly.* This rigorous measure had the desired effect, for 
riotous conduct on the part of the convicts appears to have 
immediately ceased. 

While affairs were in this state the Pitt arrived from 
England (14th February, 1792), having on board Major 
Grose, Lieutenant-Governor of the colony, and Commandant 
of the New South Wales Corps. The Pitt also brought a 
company of this force under the command of the Adjutant, 
Lieutenant Rowley, and a number of convicts.t A ship 
from England was always a welcome sight at Sydney 
Cove. In the case of the Pitt the feeling of satisfaction 
was enhanced by the general belief that she had on board 
a substantial quantity of stores for the relief of the settle- 
ment; but like many other transports, she was a disap- 
pointment. She brought neither flour nor rice, and only 
enough beef and pork to supply the colony, at the reduced 
ration, for forty days.f The omission, which was a serious 
one, was explained by Dundas in a despatch forwarded by 
the Pitt :— 

"The supply was confined to these articles [salted beef and 
pork] on the idea that with the grain produced in the settlement^ 
the flour already sent from Home, the quantity purchased at 

• Collins, vol. i, p. 199. 

t The arrivals by this vessel were partly compensated for, by the departure 
in January of sixty-two convicts and settlers to Norfolk Island. 

X " She [the Pitt] brought out three hundred and nineteen male and forty- 
nine female convicts, five cnildren, and reven free women : with salt provisions 
calculated to serve that number of people ten months, but which would otilj 
f umish the colony with provisions for forty days." — Collins, vol. i, p. 201- 



SETTLEMENT IN 1792. 213 

Batavia, and the supply intended to be forwarded to you from l^W 
Calcutta, you would not, at least for the present, be in want of 
flour or rice. I shall, however, before the departure of the next 
ship,* endeavour to form the best opinion I can from your com- 
munications, of the exact state of the settlement in this respect ; 
and shall then make such preparation as may appear requisite for 
furnishing you with such further supplies as you may be supposed 
to stand in need of."t 

Collins alleged that when Dundas wrote this despatch. 
(5th July, 1791) lie had before him Phillip's letter to Gran- 
ville of the 17th July, 1790,t which was sent home by the 
Justinian, and in which the Secretary of State was informed 
that '^ after two years from this time we shall not want any 
further supply of flour." As a matter of fact, Collins was 
wrong ; and Dundas has been unjustly blamed. The Jus- 
tinian, after landing her stores, proceeded to China for teas, 
and did not arrive in England until some months after the 
Pitt had sailed. Dundas was consequently quite in the The 
dark, and had, when he wrote the despatch quoted above, state in^he 
no later advices from Sydney before him than those of 
April, 1790, of which Lieutenant P. G. King was the bearer. 
He was, perhaps, too sanguine in placing so much reliance 
upon the flour intended to be sent from Calcutta. It appears 
that in August, 1 790, some Indian merchants, having heard Provisions 

from Indin. 

of the wreck of the Guardian, proposed to Dundas, through 
Lord Cornwallis — Governor-General of India — to furnish the 
settlement with stores. About the same time Dundas wrote 
to Lord Cornwallis informing him that it was intended 
to send one of the transports to Calcutta for this express 
purpose, after she had landed her convicts at Sydney. The 
letters crossed. Cornwallis, relying upon the return of the An 
transport, took no further action in the matter. Dundas, ooirfaaio?, 
on the other hand, concluded that Cornwallis had contracted 
with the merchants for the hire of a storeship. Hence it 

* She was to leave in the autumn of 1791. 
i* Historical Becorde, toI. i, part 2, p. 497. 
i Oollina, vol. i, p. 201 ; Historical Becoids^ vol. i, part 2, pp. 859-363. 



4102 



214 STATE OF THE 

17W YTB^ that no provisions were received from India until 
2Qth June^ 1792^ wlien the transport Atlantic^ despatched 
to India by Phillip, returned to Sydney with a cargo of 
flour and grain. 

Phillip wrote to Dundas on the 19th March, 1792, report- 
ing the arrival of the Pitt^ and ten days later he explained 
filiation: matters in a letter to Under Secretary Nepean. The popu- 
«i women latiou of the settlements at Port Jackson and Norfolk 

224 childr n 

Island at this time numbered 4^192,* and Phillip felt it his 
duty to point out that : — 

'' A great quantity of provisions are consumed daily by such a 
number of people, and nine or twelve months' provisions brought 
by the transports for the three or four hundred convicts they are 
bringing out last but a short time when divided amongst such 
numbers."! 

The supplies brought by the Pitt were as a drop in the 
ocean in comparison with the wants of the settlement; they 
did not enable the Governor to make any increase in the 
ration. The position of affairs as regards the supply of 

Phillip food and the incapacity of the people for work was stated 
in language that could not be misunderstood. At the low 
ration then issued there was only enough flour in store for 
fifty-two days, and pork for one hundred and forty-seven 
days ; the only hope of replenishing the stores rested in the 
Atlantic, which had been sent from Sydney to Calcutta, and 
the vessel that was to follow the Pitt from England. It 

Anuizioufl was impossible to say how long the Atlantic would be in 
making the voyage to India and getting back to Port Jack- 
son ; and it was equally uncertain when the storeship from 
England would arrive. The people had learned from painful 
experience that delays frequently took place in despatching 
vessels from England, and that unreasonably long voyages 
were sometimes made. They had also a vivid recollection 

* 3,277 men ; 691 women ; 224 children. — ^Historioal Becoxds, vol. i, part 
2, p. 611 ; vol. ii, pp. 466, 467. 

t HiBtorioal Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 611. 



SETTLEMENT IK 1792. ^15 

of the disaster which overtook the Qoardian, and were ^'^ 
sorely troubled by the conviction that if the ships should 
fail they would be brought to the point of starvation. So The 
keen was the anxiety that Phillip made arrangements for starvation, 
the Pitt, which was going to India after taking convicts to 
Norfolk Island, to call at Calcutta, and, if the Atlantic had 
not been heard of, to receive on board a cargo of provisions 
and return to Port Jackson with all speed. Fortunately, 
however, her services were not required. 

The circumstances under which the Pitt was sent from 
England were not realised by the Governor at once. When 
she was unloaded, he discovered that, although she had on 
board only a small quantity of provisions for public use, 
she had brought out four thousand pounds' worth of goods, 
which were sold privately in the settlement. Besides this, Prhnue 
she had articles on board which the Commissaiy was obliged 
to purchase. It also appears that public stores, placed on 
board in the first instance, were sent on shore to make room 
for '^ private trade." Phillip called attention to the facts The Ktfs 
in a despatch written seven months after the arrival of the 
vessel, but not with the indignation the circumstances would 
have justified.* 

The Pitt was despatched at a critical time. If she had 
been well provisioned, the colony, on her arrival, would 
have experienced material relief ; sent out as she was, with 
only a small quantity of salt provisions for the public stores, 
and a considerable number of convicts, she brought only 
disappointment and vexation. 

In striking contrast to other accounts of the state of the 
settlement at, and immediately following, the arrival of 

• Phillip to Dtindas.— Historical Becords, toI. i, part 2, p. 649. "A shop 
Tiras opened at a hut on nhorc for the sale of the rarioas articles brought out 
in the Pitt ; and notwithstanding that a fleet of transports had but lately 
sailed hence, notwithstanding the different orders wBioh bad been sent to 
Bengal, and the high price at which ererything was sold, the avidity with 
which aU descriptions of people grasped at what was to be purchased was 
extxaocrdinary." — Collins, vol. i, p. 202. 



216 STATE OF THE 

1^®^ the Pitt was the first letter whicli Grose wrote to England ; 
Groue'sflnt it was addressed to his friend Evan Nepean, He thns 
England, describos his early impressions of the colony : — • 

"I am at last, thank God, safely landed with my family at 
this place, and, to my great astonishment, instead of the rock 
I expected to see, I find myself surrounded with gardens that 
ms fiwt flourish and produce fruit of every description. Vegetables are 
here in great abundance, and I live in as good a house as I wish 
for. I am given the farm of my predecessor,**^ which produces a 
sufficiency to supply my family with everything I have occasion 
for. In short, all that is wanting to put this colony in an inde- 
pendent state is one ship freighted with com and black cattle. 
Was that but done, all difficulties would be over."t 

While Collins was writing gloomy passages in his note- 
book, and even the sanguine Phillip was sending to England 
contrasiB. despatches pointing out the distressed condition of the 
people and the alarm which was felt, Grose painted every- 
thing couleur de rose. As he had, at the time of writing, 
been in the colony six or seven weeks, the tone of his 
letter can only be explained on the supposition that he did 
not know what was going on around him. It is true that 
he was stationed at Sydney, the head-quarters of the Corps, 
and therefore did not see the weak and emaciated convicts 
fainting at their work and '^ daily dropping into the grave ";t 
but these things, one would have thought, were the com- 
mon talk of the settlement. He must have known, at any 
rate, that the people were living on a scanty allowance of 
food, for at that time every one shared alike — the Governor 
received no more from the public stock than the meanest 
Grose's convict. Only a few months later, in fact, he made a com- 
aitcr. plaint to the War Office that the officers and men df the New 

South Wales Corps were treated no better than the con- 
victs.§ Whether it was that he had brought from England 

• Major Boss. 

"^ Historical Secords, toL i, part 2, p. 618. 
X Collins, Tol. i, p. 209. 

§ On the 22nd October, 1792, he wrote to Under Secretary Lewis : — '^ Noir, 
whenever it happens that a short allowance is issued to the felans« the 



SETTLEMENT IN 1792. 217 

extra supplies, wliicli rendered him for a time independent of ^'^^ 
the food issued from the public store, or that the produce of 
his farm kept him in plenty, it is certain that his opinion 
changed considerably within a few months. In April he 
was in possession of everything he wanted ; in October he 
joined with other officers of the Corps in chartering the 
Britannia to go to the Cape for supplies, and wrote a letter The offloen 
to Phillip begging him to facilitate the movements of the vosseL 
ship, so as to assist him and his brother-officers to "escape 
the miseries of that precarious existence we have hitherto 
been so constantly exposed to."* 

This effort on the part of the military officers to procure 
supplies which the ration issued from the stores did not 
afford, was regarded by Phillip with disfavour. He admitted Pi»i"*P 

' o J r ^ unfavour- 

that the garrison " suffered many inconveniences from the J^^*!^^^* 
necessary supplies not arriving," but he was unable to see 
the necessity, and doubted the propriety, of taking the step 
proposed. He was afraid that the course the officers pro- 
posed to pursue would be regarded by the East India Com- 
pany as an infringement of its privileges, and he had no Priviiesregof 
wish to brinff the colony into conflict with that powerful indu 

XT! 11 rr> ini CompWiy. 

organisation. He thought the officers should be content to 
receive such necessaries as they might obtain by sending 
orders to India or the Cape, availing themselves of the 
opportunities afforded by the arrival of the vessels under 
contract with the Government. He did not veto the scheme, 
but he refused to give it official sanction.t If he had fore- 
seen that this voyage of the Britannia to the Cape was the 

soldiers* ration is also reduced, and that without the smallest difference or 
distinction — the captain of a company and the convict transported for life 
divide and share and share alike whatever is served out. Our numhers are 
too much reduced hj unwholesome food aod bad quarters to make the saving 
a matter of much moment, even in the greatest scarcity ; nor can I imagine 
it was intended we should so equally partake of whatever miseries assail the 
colony." — Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 673, 

* According to Collins (vol. i. p. 236), Mr. Raven, master of the Britannia, 
let his ship for the sum of £2,000, and eleven shares of £200 each were sub- 
scribed for the purchase of cattle and articles of comfort not to be found 
in the public stores. 

t Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, pp. 651-653. • 



218 STATE OF THE 

17W prelude to a system under wlicli the military officers became 
prSSfStT' purveyors to the settlement and the monopolists of trade, 
he would probably have opposed the scheme more actively, 
although^ as he himself admitted^ he could not prevent it.''^ 
It does not appear that any objection was raised either by 
the British Government or the Bast India Company, for we 
find Grose writing to Dundas on the 81st August, 1794, 
informing him that the Britannia had been engaged by the 
rfiipment ^^^^ and military officers to bring a second shipment of stares 
and cattle from the Gape. 

While the arrival of the relief vessel was awaited, the 
A period of people lived in a state of sufEerinc: and suspense almost as 

suspense. , o *: 

intolerable as that they had undergone two years before, 
when the wreck of the Guardian, and the delay in the 
voyage of the Lady Juliana, brought the settlement to the 
verge of starvation. The ration was reduced month by 

star7aUon month, until it stood thus : — One pound and a half of flour, 
five pounds of maize, and four pounds of pork for each 
man per week. Women and children received a propor- 
tionately smaller ration. Even this small allowance of food 
was less than it looked on paper, for the maize was issued 
unbroken, and in grinding it with the rude appliances 
available about a quarter was lost.t The ration of pork 
represented rather more than half a pound of animal food 

^wJ* per diem ; but if the salt meat served at this time was no 
better than that generally supplied, the half-pound was prac- 
tically no more than a few ounces. These three articles — 
flour, maize, pork — constituted the food supply of the settle- 

* In making this admission, FhiUip let it be understood that his chief 
objection to the proposal was that it might lead to oomplications with the 
East India Company. Writing to Bundas, on the 4th October, 1792, he said: — 
" I wished to prevent what may be supposed to affect the int^erest of the East 
India Company by opening a door to a contraband trade ; at tlie same time, 
as I could not preyent it, and do not belicTe that the Britannia goes to the 
Cape with any such view, I beg leave to say that I do not think his Majesty's 
service will suffer, if the rcasoos assigned in Major Grose's letter should 
be deemed sufUcient for the step which has been taken, and which, being 
admitted, may prevent much discontent." — Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2> 
p. 651. 

t Collins, vol. i, p. 211. 



SETTIiEHENT IN 1792. 219 

ment ; and from the Governor downwards the ration received i''^ 
by every man was the same. The civil and military officers^ 
and others who had the means^ were able to supplement 
their allowance with game and fish^ obtained in small quan- oame and 
tities^ and with luxuries purchased from the masters of the 
transports^ who sold their goods at exorbitant prices* 

But the bulk of the people had only the ration^ and they 
were half-starved. The healthy suffered severely — ^the 
sick perished. In the despatches little is said about the sofferings of 
miseries of the people, but CoUins's account enables one 
to form some idea of the deplorable condition of things in 
the settlement at this time. Many of the convicts who 
arrived by the vessels of the Third Meet had never recovered 
from the privations they endured on the voyage, and died in 
great numbers. During the month of November, 1 791, fifty- 
four of these convicts died, and at the end of it five hundred 
were still under medical treatment. The total number of 
■deaths during the year was one hundred and seventy-one.''^ 
In the seven months following the arrival of the Third Fleet 
no less than two hundred and eighty-eight deaths occurred, |^*°^ 
the record for the previous seven months being but nineteen. 
The sick-list, on the 29th March, 1792, was four hundred 
and twenty-nine, of whom only eighteen were free.f The 
month of April, 1792, opened, according to Collins, "with 
a dreadful sick-list, and with death making rapid strides 
amongst ub."J At the beginning of May only fifty of the ^"^^^^ 
male convicts brought by the Queen in September, 1791, 
were living. The number landed is not stated in the 
despatches, but Collins, in his Account of New South Wales, 
gives it as one hundred and twenty-two. According to the 
official list, the number embarked was one hundred and 
' seventy-five, § so that the survivors numberedless than a 
third of the number sent out. During the year 1792 four 

• Oolliiw, ToL i, pp. 189, 194. 

t Historical Becorda, toL i, part 2, p. 596. 

X GollinB, Tol. i, p. 204. 

§ Historical Records, toL i, part 2, p. 463. 



220 STATE OF THE 

^'^^ Hundred and seventy-seven deatlis were recorded; of these, 
much the greater number took place during the first half 
of the year.* 

While the mortality was at its height it seems to have 
Dying from occurred to someone that the men who were dyinff from 

exhaustion. ... . 

exhaustion might possibly be saved if the meagre ration 
could be supplemented with fresh animal food and vege- 
tables. Special efforts were made to procure game and 
fish for the sick, for whom also a good supply of vegetables 
was obtained. These efforts met with success, and the 
increase of fresh wholesome food speedily reduced the death- 
rate. The settlement, however, still continued in a most 
critical condition. If any accident had happened to the 
relief vessels, calamity would have overtaken the settle- 
ment; even prolonged delay in their arrival would have 
Arrival of ^^^^ disastrous. Fortunately they both arrived in safety 
v^»!i8. — ^^® Atlantic from Calcutta, and the Britannia from 
England — before the colony had been reduced to extremity. 
On the 6th June ^^ there was only a sufficiency of flour in 
store to serve till the 2nd of July, and salt provisions till 
the 6th of August following, at the ration then issued; 
and neither the Atlantic, storeship, from Calcutta, nor the 
expected supplies from England, had arrived."t 
The ^iwtic The Atlantic anchored in Sydney Cove with a cargo of 
rice, soujee, and dholl on the 20th June.f These stores 
were anything but satisfactory. The soujee, an inferior sort 
of flour, § would not have been accepted by any but starving 
men, while the dholl (Indian peas) was scarcely fit for con- 
sumption. No animal food was brought by this vessel, 

• Collins, vol. i, pp. 204, 209, 210, 216, 268. f lb., p. 216. 
X One-third was sent to Norfolk Island. 



§ " It appearing that the flour of Bengal, unless it was dressed for the pur- 
pose, which would have taken a great deal of time, was not of a qualitj to 
keep even for the voyage from Calcutta to this countiy, a large proportion of 



rice, of that sort which was said to be the fittest for preservation, was par- 
chased. A small quantity of flour, too, was put on board, but merely for the 
purpose of experiment. It was called soujee by the natives, but was much 
inferior in quality to the flour prepared in Europe, and more difficult to make 
into bread." — Collins, vol. i, p. 217. 



SETTLEMENT IN 1792. 221 

except a few casks of salted pork, sent as an experiment. ^'^^ 
Yet her arrival, according to Collins, was the cause of " in- 
expressible joy." A " gleam of sunshine penetrated every- a "^rieam of 
one capable of reflection,'' and the community was so excited 
that " we all felt alike^ and found it impossible to sit for one 
minute seriously down to any business or accustomed pur- 
suit." When people of all ranks were thrown into raptures 
by the arrival of a vessel loaded with unpalatable food, the 
situation of the colony may be understood. 

Although the arrival of the Atlantic removed the imme- 
diate prospect of starvation, the supplies from England were 
still awaited with eagerness. As no animal food had been 
received, it became necessary to reduce the allowance of 
pork per week from four pounds to two — adding, as a set 
off, a pound of rice and a quart of pease to the ration. 

The Britannia, the long-expected storeship, arrived on the The 
26th July, 1792. She had sailed from England — not in the arrivoa with 
autumn of 1791, as promised, but on the 15th February, 1792 flour. 
— seven months after the Pitt — and carried a good supply 
of beef, pork, and flour.* The people were now put upon a ^^ ^^^ 
fair allowance of food, but it was still far below the "estab- ino«Med- 
lished ration," which was equivalent to that allowed to troops 
serving in foreign parts, with the exception of spirits.t For 
the present all anxiety was removed, and '^ universal satis- 
faction'' was felt. But had the Britannia been a month 
longer on the voyage the allowance from the store would 
have been reduced to a small quantity of vegetable food, 
and meat would have disappeared altogether from the 
ration.f 

* " The Britannia was the first of three ships that were to be despatched 
hither, ba?ingon hoard twelve months' clothing for the convicts, four months' 
flour, and eight months' beef and pork for every description of persons in the 
settlements, at full allowance, calculating their numbers a^ four thousand six 
hundred and thirty-niuA, which it was at Home supposed they might amount 
to after the arrival of the Pitt."— Collins, vol. i, p. ^{23. 

t The ration now consisted of 4 lb. of maise, 3 lb. of soujee, 7 lb. of beef 
or 4 lb. of pork, 3 pints of pease or dholl, and i lb. of rice. — lb., p. 224. 

tib. 



222 STiuTE GE THB 

I'M The inferior cargo brought by the Atlantie gave Indian 

Inferior provisions a bad name in the settlement^ but it was soon 

^m India, discovered that stores of good quality could be obtained 

from Calcutta and Bombay. Early in 1793 the Shah 

Hormuzear^ sent from Calcutta with a cargo of provisions 

as a speculation^ arrived at Sydney^ and supplier being still 

low^ her cargo was purchased and added to the public stock. 

Before this was done the provisions were examined by the 

Commissary, who reported that, with the exception of the 

salted meat, all the articles were superior in quality to any 

A second that had previously reached the colony. Grose's opinion of 

more the Salted meat was that, although inferior to Irish-cured 

8ati8lftctory« ® 

provisions, it was '^ not so bad but it might be eaten.'* On 
the other hand, every article brought by the Atlantic was 
unfit to be served as a ration except to people who were 
unable to obtain food of any sort. Finding how vast was 
the difference between the Atlantic's cargo and that sent 
as a speculation by the Shah Hormuzear, Grose, adopting 
the advice of Lord Comwallis,* would have preferred to 
await the arrival of another private shipment, rather than 
order a cargo from India ; but the small quantity of stores 
The in hand obliged him, in 1798, to send the Britannia to 

dmrtered by Calcutta f or provisions, and he suggested to Lord Com- 
wallis that a survey of them should be made before they 
were accepted, recommending, at the same time, that the 
master of the vessel, who had had long experience in the 
Navy, should be one of the examiners. 

There was now (July, 1792) comparative plenty in the 
unwhoie- settlement, but the food was coarse and unpalatable ; for 
the sick convicts whom Phillip was trying to rescue from 
death nothing could have been more unsuitable. One of 
the items of the ''established ration" was butter, but this 
article had not been supplied for a long time. That sent 
out in the first ships was rancid when issued from the 
store. Whether the cause was the length of the voyage or 

• Grose to Dirndas, 19tli April, 1793. — Historical Becords, Tol. ii, p. 2L 



SETTLEMENT IN 1792. 223 

bad cnring does not appear^ but it was decided that butter ^^^ 
was not a substance that could be used with advantage^ 
and oil was substituted.* Accordingly, a quantity of oil j^/gJSS?*^ 
was put on board the Eoyal Admiral and the Kitty, the 
vessels which followed the Britannia. But the oil was no 
better than the butter ; it could not be used as an article 
of diet, and was even unfit for culinary purposes. It was 
employed instead of candles, or it would have been wasted, t 

Shortly after the arrival of the Britannia, three vessels Arrival of 

. vetselfl from 

entered the port — the Royal Admiral and the Kitty from EngteidMid 
England, and the Philadelphia from America. From the 
master of the Philadelphia, Phillip purchased a quantity 
of American beef, while those who had the means bought 
what they coidd afford from the miscellaneous stores with 
which the vessel was freighted. J The Boyal Admiral The Rovai 
arrived on the 7th October, 1792, with over three hundred 
convicts. The Kitty arrived on the 18th November, with The Kitty, 
only a few women ; she sailed in March, but had to put back 
to Spithead to stop a leak, and while in port eight of the ten 
male convicts who were embarked made their escape. This 
was ^^an unfortunate accident, for they had been particularly 
selected as men who might be useful in the colony." § 

The Kitty had not arrived when Phillip wrote his last 
despatch (11th October, 1792) — the last, at all events, that 
appears in the Records. Although the official papers are 
not complete, it seems probable that Phillip wrote no later 
despatch than that of the 11th October. He had made up deqpJoh. 

• Fnder Secretary King to Phillip, lOth JanuAiy, 1792.— Historical Secorde, 
Yol. i, part 2, p. 590. 

t Collinn, vol. i, p. 241. 

j Sydney was indebted for the visit of this vessel, the first which had arrived 
under a foreign flag, to Lieutenant King. The Philadelphia was at the Cape 
in July, 1791, when King was there on his way out to Norfolk Island in the 
Gorgon. Sing suggested to the master. Captain Patriokson, that it might 
prove a ffood speculation to take out a cargo of provisions to Port Jackson, 
and the latter fell in with the idea. Having taken the vostel to England and 
diicharged her cargo, he made the best of his wav to Philadelphia, reloaded, 
and sailed early in April for Sydney, arriving on the 1st November The facta 
are stated by Collins, vol. i, p. 243. 

§ lb., p. 246. 



224 STATE OF THE 

1703 Ills mind early in the month to return to England as 
Boon as he had received permission to do so^ and he was 
anxiously awaiting instructions from England which would 
enable him to get away by the Atlantic, the next vessel to 
sail for England. If he missed this chance, he told Nepean 
in a private letter, he did not see how he was to get home 
unless by way of China or the north-west coast of America, 
*' neither of which would be very agreeable to a man going- 
in search of health/^ 

toe^Rojai'' Phillip's report on the Royal Admiral is brief and cau- 
AdmiraL tiously worded ; he evidently wrote under restraint. The 
mortality on board this vessel, though slight compared with 
the destruction of life which marked the voyages of the 
Second and Third Fleets, was greater than it should have 
been, and many of the convicts arrived in bad health, thus 
increasing the burden which the settlement had to bear. 
Twelve convicts died on the passage, and sixty-one were 
landed sick. This would have been considered bad for any 
vessel, but there was a special ground for dissatisfaction in 
this case. When the reports of the disastrous voyages of 
tSmcrf anew ^^^ Ncptuuc, Surprize, and Scarborough reached England, 
•ystein, ^^q Homc Department resolved to employ as transports in 
future vessels belonging to the East India Company instead 
of making contracts with English shipping firms, and the 
adoption of this course, it was confidently expected, would 
put an end to the shocking abuses which had thrown so 
much discredit on the transportation system. The Royal 
Admiral was the first Indiaman employed in the service, 
and her record was highly unsatisfactory. In the case of 
some of the vessels which had come out under different 
management, the great mortality and sickness was caused 
by indiflEerence and inhumanity. In this instance it does 
iMuffldent not appear that the convicts were purposely ill-treated, but 
tion. the ship was too small for the number on board. The fact 

was manifest to Phillip, who would have been justified in 
writing strongly on the subject to the authorities in England, 



SETXLEHENT IN 1792. 225 

but He contented Iiimself with directing attention to the weak ^^^ 
spot in the mildest terms : — 

** I have no doubt but that strict justice has been done them 
[the convicts], and hope the sending out convicts and stores by 
^ps employed in the service d the East India Gk>mpany ¥^ill 
answer the end proposed by Government ; but, sir, if I was to The vesBei 
give an <^inion, I think the people have been too much crowd«>d crowded, 
on board this ship."* 

Although the arriyal of these vessels relieved the colony 
from the fear of starvation^ the days of plenty had not yet 
set in. The full ration of meat was now issued, but^ instead The ration, 
of seven pounds of bread and one pound of flour, which 
formed part of the established nttion, the allowance was 
only two pounds of flour and five pounds of rioe. Without 
the latter article, which was obtained in large quantities from 
India, the people would have fared badly ; but it was a poor 
substitute for flour. With the fuU allowance* of flour, if the 
quality was good, everyone was satisfied ; when rice took 
the place of flour there was discontent. Unfortunately, the 
Kitty's cargo, particularly the floar,t was damaged by the 
bad weather she encountered, and it was f<9r this reason, 
probably, that so small a quantity was allowed in the ration, shoit 
At the beginning of December the allowance was increased flour*"*^^ 
to three pounds, and it stood at that for some time.^ 

* Phillip to Dimdas, Historical Records, yol. i, part 2, p. 665. The aniTid of 
the Soyal Admiml led to trouble in the settlement. Like most of the transports, 
she bronght out articles of private trade, and shops were opened at Sydnej and 
JParramatta. A license was also granted for the sale of porter. The result is 
thus described by Collins : — " Ifnder the cover of this, spirits found their way 
among the people, and much intoxication was the consequence. Seyeral of the 
settlers, breaking out from the restraint to which they had been subject, oon- 
dueted themselyes with the'greajtest impropriety, beatingtheirwiyes, destroying 
their stock, trampling on and injuring their crops in the ground, and destroying 

each other's property The indulgence which was intended 1^ the 

GoremoT for their bmefit was most shamefully abused ; and what he suffered 
them to purchase with a yiew to their future comfort, was retailed among 
themselyea at a scandalous profit ; seyeral of the settlers* houses being at this 
time literally nothing else but porter-houses, where rioting and drunkenness 
pravailed as long as the means remained.'*— -Collins, yoL i» pp. 240, 241. 

fib., p. 246. 

t " On the Ird of this month [Beoember], the G-oyemox^ as one of his 
liut acta in the settlement^ ozdeiBd one pound of fiova to be added to the 

YOL. II. — P 



226 STATE OF THE 

17W Other necessaries were wanting besides food and clotliing. 

The progress of the settlement depended upon the cultiva- 
tion of the land^ but after four years the deficient supply of 

The wwit of ordinary tools of husbandry was still a cause for complaint.* 
The want of iron pots, which were required for cooking' 
purposes, was a standing grievance. It must be regarded 
as a supremely ridiculous thing that the powerful organisa- 
tion which had the affairs of the colony in hand was unequal 

i^Dgiis. ^^ *^® ^^*y ^^ supplying the people with the commonest 
utensils. An effort was made to meet the difficulty when the 
Kitty was sent out, but while the greatest care was shown 
in ordering supplies, none appears to have been taken in 
stowing the cargo. The consequence was that a great many 
of the utensils sent by the Kitty were destroyed before they 
reached their destination.t Seven months later Grose com- 
plained of the want of common utensils and tools. J 

One portion 'of the Kitty's shipment arrived safely, and 
was very welcome, although it was not of so much import- 
ance as were provisions, or even iron pots. It consisted of a 

A consign- quantity of silver money in dollars, valued at £1,001. Phillip 

silver ooins had asked in one of his early despatches (28th September, 
1788) that money might be sent out to pay the wages of 
the marine artificers, "as bills would be attended with 
great loss and inconvenience. '^ In reply, Nepean stated, 
20th June, 1789, that a remittance would be sent by the 

weekly ration, which, by means of this addition, stood on his departure at — 
3 pounds of flour, 5 pounds of rice, 4 pounds of pork or 7 pounds of beef. 
8 pounds of dholl, 6 ounces of oil." — Collins, toI. i, p. 247. 

* Historical Records, toI. i, part 2, p. 643. 

t *' When her careo [the Kitty's] was landing it was found to have suffered 

considerably by the bad weather she had experienced The conricts 

had for a long time been nearly as much distressed for utensils to dress their 
provisions as they bad been for provisions ; and we bad now the mortification 
to find, that of the small supply of iron pots which had been put on board, a 
great part were either broken or cracked, having been literally stowed among 
the provision-casks in the hold." — Collins, vol. i, p. 245. 

t On 30th May, 1798, Grose wrote to Dundas :— " We suffer the greatett 
inconvenience from the want of hand-mills and iron pots. If Sre hundred 
mills and a thousand pots were sent in the first ship they will do away more 
distress than can be conceived. Tools are so much wanted that until the 
small supply we got in the Daedalus we had not an axe, and at this tune we 
haye not a cross-cutting saw in the stores." — ^Historical Records, toL ii, p. 80. 



SBTTLEMBNT IN 1792. 827- 

Guardian^ but the promise was not kept. The precise reason '^'^^ 
is not given, bnt Under Secretary King, who was acting for 
Nepean at the time, wrote on the 10th January, 1792, in 
forwarding the money by the Kitty, that '^ circumstances 
interfered " to prevent its shipment by the Guardian. In 
the meantime many of the artificers had become settlers, 
and wanted money to pay their way; while a number of a general 
superintendents who had been taken into the Government 
employment were also asking for their wages. The absence 
of cash caused a good deal of trouble, but Phillip did not 
say much on the subject in his despatches, probably because 
wants of a more pressing nature occupied his attention. 
The inconvenience was diminished a good deal, however, 
by an expedient adopted by the Commissary, who issued 
notes on himself, payable in cash or stores.* 

The money was sent in dollars instead of in coin of the 
realm, because the dollar was the standard coin both at the 
Gape of Good Hope and Batavia, the places with which 
the principal trade of the colony was transacted. 

It would be unnecessary to enter into the details given in 
the preceding pages but for the fact that upon the quantity 
and quality of the food supplied from the public stores the importance 
lives of the people and the progress of the settlement de- nS^^ 
pended. Notwithstanding the enormous difficulties which 
were encountered, owing to the landing of hundreds of sick 
convicts, and the absence of proper persons to direct agri- 
cultural operations, the land, even during the first few years, 
would have been turned to good account if the working 
population had been supplied with the necessaries of life. 

* '^ When the marines, who became settlers before and at the relief of tha 
detachment, were discharged for that purpose, they would have suffered great 
difficalties from the want of public monej to pay what was due to them, had 
not the Commissary taken their respective powers-of -attorney, and given them 
notes on himself, payable either in cash, or in articles which might be the 
means of rendering them comfortable, and of which he had procured a large 
supply from Calcutta. These notes passed through Tarious hands in traffic 
among the people of the description they were intended to serre, and became a 
species of currency, which was found very convenient to them.'*— Collins, 
ToL i, p. 246. 



STATE OF THE SETILBHEKT IN 1792. 

^'^ But, during the greater part of Pliillip's term, the convicts 
lived in a state of senu-starvation^ and were incapable 
of any considerable manual exertion. The failure whicli 
attended PhilUp^s strenuous suid perseyering efforts cannot 
be understood, nor can the responsibility for that &ilure 
be placed where it should properly rest, unless the dicnm- 
stances under which the settlement was supplied with food 
and other necessaries are carefully studied. 



229 



PHILLIP RESIGNS. 

On the 11th October, 1792, Phillip wrote to Dnndas, inti- 17M 
mating that it had become necessary for him to give up the Pump 
charge of the GoTemment, at least for a time, but as he permisaion 
did not feel sure, from the nature of a communication he England. 
had just received, whether he had permission to return to 
England or not, he had determined to '' wait the arrival of 
the next ships.''* He had been for some time anxious to 
return to England. In April, 1790, he applied for a year's 
leave of absence, to enable him to attend to private afEairs ; 
and on the 25th March, 1791, he renewed the request on 
the ground of ill-health. He had suffered greatly from His h«atii 
hard work, privation, and exposure,t and the change was 
highly necessary. In November, 1791, finding himself no 
better, he requested permission to resign the government, 
so that he might return to England in hopes of finding that 
relief which this country did not afford. It is to be noticed 
that, in the letter written nearly a year later, Phillip did 
not speak of resignation, but only pointed out that it had 
become necessary to give up his charge, ''at least for a 
time." He could not tell then whether he would ever be 
able to go back to the work which failing health obliged unoerteinty 
him to relinquish, but when he sailed from Port Jackson in retom. 
December, 1792, he left the colony never to return. At 
Sydney his departure seems to have been regarded as final. 
His intention to return to England, which was made known 
about the end of October, excited, Collins says, '' no small 

* Historical BecoTds, rol. i, part 2, p. 666. 
t Vol. i, p. 805. 



230 



PHILLIP KESIGNS. 



179a 

Sails in the 
AUftDtic 



MUltary 
honoun. 



OfBcors of 
mariDes. 



Captain- 

Lieatcnant 

Johnston. 



State of the 
colony at 
Phillip's 
departure. 



degree of concern in the settlement.*' Phillip went on 
boatd the Atlantic on the evening of the 10th December, 
and early the next morning the vessel sailed for England. 
Collins gives a brief account of his departure : — 

''His Excellency, at embarking on board the Atlantic, was 
received near the wharf on the east side (where the boat was 
lying) by Major Grose, at the head of the New South Wales Corps, 
who paid him, as he passed, the honours due to his rank and 
situation in the colony. He was attended by the officers of the 
civil department, and the three marine officers who were to 
accompany him to England. At daylight on the morning of the 
11th [December] the Atlantic was got under way, and by eight 
o'clock was clear of the Heads."* 

The officers of marines referred to by Collins were 
Lieutenants John Poulden (who was in charge of a small 
detachment), Thomas Davey, and Thomas Timins. With 
the exception of Captain Collins, Judge-Advocate, and 
Captain-Lieutenant George Johnston, the other officers of 
the Marine Corps, with the bulk of the men, returned to 
England by. the Gorgon and Supply, in December, 1791. 
Captain-Lieutenant Johnston remained for the purpose of 
taking command of the extra company which was raised by 
Phillip from the marines who had been discharged, and was 
attached to the New South Wales Corps.f Phillip took with 
him two natives, who afterwards returned to the colony.J 

Phillip had now severed his connection with the colony, 
but the work he had accomplished remained as a monument 
to his energy and perseverance. He had overcome many 
difficulties, and when he sailed for Englaiid there was a fair 
prospect of better times. Notwithstanding the serious 
disadvantages under which the colony laboured, leading to 

• Collins, vol. i, p. 251. 

t Ante pp. 94, 107 Historical Beoords, toI. i, part 2, p. 662. 

t ** With the GhoTornor there embarked, yoluntarily and oheerf uUj, tm 
natives of this country, Bennillong and Tem-mer-ra-wan-nie, two men who 
were much attached to his person ; and who withstood at the moment of 
their departure the united distress of their wives, and the dismal lamentations 
of their friends, to accompany him to England, a phice that they well knew 
was at a great distance from them." — CoUms, vol. i, p. 251. 







Major Johnston 



J; ! : ^v H.M-.. 



t . •• • I., ,-•• . ti • 



or TH 



UNIVERSITY ) 



.PHILLIP RESIGNS. r2Sl 

tKe failure of the plans he had formed, considerable progress ^'^^^ 
had. been made during the last year of his government, 
not only in the cultivation of the land, but in the erection 
of buildings for the accommodation of the people. As 
settlers presented themselves they were put in possession of 
allotments of land at Parramatta^ Prospect Hill, and the 
Field of Mars * 

Phillip had no time to write detailed reports on the pro- 
gress of agriculture; but Collins, who watched closely all that 
took place, describes in his book how well the industrious Proeperoug 

setUera. 

settlers fared. In May, '^ the settlers were found in general 
to be doing very well, their farms promising to place them 
shortly in a state of independence on the public stores in the 
articles of provisions and grain." '^ Several of the settlers 
who had farms at or near Parramatta, notwithstanding 
the extreme drought of the season preceding the sowing of 
their com, had such crops that they found themselves 
enabled to take off from the public store, some one and 
others two convicts, to assist in preparing their grounds for 
the next season." t In June, according to the same authority^ 
the ground sown with wheat and prepared for maize was of 
sufficient area, even if the yield per acre did not exceed that 
of the previous season, to produce enough grain for a year's 
consumption J 

The last return relating to agriculture which was prepared ^^Si'*''^ 
prior to Phillip's departure was dated 16th October, .1792. 
At that time the total area under cultivation was 1,540^ 
acres; of this, 1,012| acres were on public account, and 
527| belonged to settlers. In November, 1791, 780 acres 
were in cultivation, so that, approximately, the area under 
cultivation had been doubled in twelve months. These 

* '* Early in the month f FebruaTj 1792], eight settlers from the marines 
reoeived their grants of land, situated on the north side of the harbour, near 
the Flats, and named bj the Goyemor the Field of Mars." — Collins, toL i, p. 
201. 

t lb., p. 212. 

t lb., p. 216. In October there vaa every prospect of an abundant harrest. 
lb., p. 242. 



^W figures do not include land wUoli liad been cleared of iimlier 
ready for cnltivation, conskting in 1791 of lS8i acres, and 
in 1792 of 162i acres.* 

It may be said that agricnltnre^ as an industrial pnrsnit, 
was now fairly lanncbed. All difficnlties had not been 
surmounted^ but the chief obstacle— the want of food — ^had 
been temporarily removed, and there was reason to suppose 
that minor impediments, such as the want of tools and 
appliances, would soon be orercome. There was one great 

Jj««2^j^ drawback — the scarcity of live stock. What the Govern- 
ment possessed was not enough, as Phillip had pointed out, 
for one good f arm,t and there was no immediate prospect of 
obtaining fresh importations. Phillip had been obliged to 
place people on the land without giving them the stock they 
had been promised, and he frequently referred with regret 
to this circumstance in his despatches. On his departure 
he gave some sheep to the settlers, for breeding purposes ; J 
but some of them were undeserving of the kindness shown 

Improvident to them. Instead of preserving the stock and allowing 
it to increase, they bartered it for liquor or slaughtered 
it for food. 

Although Phillip's despatches show that a large proportion 
of the convict population was employed in erecting public 

JJoJjyj, buildings, § they contain little information as to the work 
done in this direction during the year. It may be seen 
from CoUins's account, however, that* a good deal was accom- 
plished. In April, 1792, the foundations of "two material 

pLrramatta. builduigs '' Were laid at Parramatta — a town-hall and a 

* Appendix C. 

t Ante, p. 167. 

J •• Of the »heep, the Qovemor gave tor each of the married settlers from th6 
convicts, and to each settler from the mariuesi and from the Sirius, one ewe for 
the purpose of breeding; and to others he gave snch female goats as could be 
spared. This stock had been procured at much expense; and his BxoellencT 
hoped that the people among whom he left it would see the adTantage it 
might prove to tnem, and cherish it accordingly." — Collins, voL i, p. 251. 

§ According to his despatch of the 4th October, 1792, there were onlj four 
hundred and fifty men available for agriculture, including^ thoM to be given 
to officers and settlers. — Historical Becords, vol. i, part 2, p. 654. 



hospital. The former was to '• inclnde a market-place/' for *'•* 
the sale of produce aoid general merchandise. The hospital, 
which had two wards, was finished in November, and was at 
once occupied ; the town-hall was in progress at the end of 
the year. In September the erection of new barracks at 
Sydney, *' on the high gronnd at the head of the Cove," was At sydn^. 
commenced.* Among works of minor importance carried 
ont during the year, Collins mentions the building of brick 
huts for the convicts, to take the place of the "miserable 
hovels occupied by many," and the construction at Sydney 
of a tank capable of holding nearly 8,000 gallons of water. 

On the whole, the colony, when Phillip departed, was in ^^f^ 
a better condition than might have been expected. It still menu. 
suffered frommanydisadvantages,but, considering the extra- 
ordinary difiSculties that were met with, the wonder is that 
BO much had been achieved. Phillip, at any rate, had no 
reason to reproach himself. He had done his best, and he 
had done well. The obstacles that were placed in his way by Difflcuitiee 
the errors of some and the opposition of others, and the dis- 
appointments that came upon him one after the other, were 
* enough to sour the temper and damp the courage of any 
ordinary man ; but Phillip's equable disposition and sanguine 
temperament enabled him to pass through the trying ordeal 
with infinite credit to himself and profit to the colony. No 
matter how great the difficulties, or how dark the prospect^ 
he never lost heart. His energy was unflagging, and His eneifty 
he spared no effort to promote the affairs of the settle- pradonce. 
ment, giving personal attention to matters which other men 
would have been content to hand over to the care of * 
subordinates. In dealing with the obstruction offered by 
the marine officers, his prudence and moderation averted a 
serious complication. 

* " This month was fixed for begmoing the new bamcks. For the prirate 
soldiers there were to be fire buUdingt, each one hundred feet by twentj-foar 
in front, and connected by a slight brick wall. At each end were to be two 
apartments for ofllceiv,> seTenty-fire feet by eighteen ; eaph apartment contain- 
ing four rooms for their accommodation, with a passage of tixteen feet."— 
Collin?, Tol, i, p. 231. 



2M .PHILLIP EESIGNS. 

1702 T}^Q value of Phillip's services can hardly be over- 
value of hii . estimated. He founded a great colony^ established branch 
settlements at Norfolk Island^ Parramatta, and Toongabbie^ 
and^ in the teeth of enormous difficulties^ brought nearly 
two thousand acres of land into cultivation^ placing the 
people in such a position that they were able, shortly after- 
wards, to grow enough com fpr their own consumption. 
Exploration, tj^q country had been explored, so far as circumstances 
would permit, and the establishment of new settlements on 
the fertile banks of the Hawkesbury had only been deferred 
because there was no one competent to take charge of an 
important station so fer removed from the seat of authority. 
It must be borne in mind that the work done in Phillip's 
time was performed by a population of less than four 
thousand men,* a large percentage of whom were soldiers, 
while a number were employed rs servants by the officers. 
£vourabie Of the remainder, a great many were sick and helpless, 
oondiUoDs. ^j^jj^ ^^^ population, from November, 1789, to July, 1792, 
lived upon a short allowance of food, barely sufficient some- 
times to sustain life. Having regard to the unfavourable 
and. trying circumstances in which he was placed, it must 
be allowed that Phillip, when he retired from the govern- 
ment in broken health, had done far more than could have 
been expected. He had struggled gallantly and successfully 
against adverse conditions, and he returned to England with 
a high and well-earned reputation. 

Although he had left the colony, he was still Governor of 
New South Wales, but a few months after his arrival in 
i^^tion. Loiidon he sent in his resignation. Life in a convict settle- 
ment a hundred years ago was certainly attended with many 
undesirable surroundings, and yet Phillip seems to have 
written the letter which put an end to the connection with a 
great deal of reluctance. Writing to Dundas on the 23rd 
July, 1793, he said : — 

'< It is, sir, with the greatest regret that I ask to resign a charge 
which, after six years' care and anxiety, is brought to the state 

* Most of them arriTed bj the Second and Third Fleets, in 1790 and 179L 



PHILLIF iUBSIGKS. 235 

in which I left it. But I have the oonsolation of believing that ^793 
I have discharged the trust reposed in me to the satisfaction of 
his Majesty's Ministry, and hope that I may still be of service to 
a colony in which I feel myself so greatly interested."* 

This letter conveys the impression that he would have 
liked to go on with the work he had conunenced so well, 
but the state of his health put his return to the colony out oocMioned 

_ byiU-beolUL 

of the question. He had endured privations which the 
Governor of the colony had to bear in common with every- 
one else ; he had been severely wounded with a spear thrown 
by a native at Manly ; and he had Bu£Eered from exposure 
to the weather on exploring expeditions. His constitution 
was sliaken. He was troubled, moreover, with an ailment 
which required treatment that could not be obtained in the 
colony^ and, acting upon professional advice^ he determined 
to remain in England. 

His resignation was accepted by the British Govern- 
ment with regret, and his services were acknowledged by 
the grant of a pension of £500 per annum, equal to one- a pension 
half of the salary he had enjoyed as Governor. This well- 
earned reward was not the only mark of favour he received. 
When he left England he was Post-Captain in the Navy ; 
after his return he was advanced to the rank of Admiral, a 
position which he held until his death, on 31st August, 
1814t 

* Historioal Records, toI. ii, p. 69. 

t " On Ist January, 1801, ho [Phillip] was promoted to the rank of Bear- 
Admiral of the Blue Squadron ; on the 2nd April, 1804, he was made Bear of 
the White; on the 9th November, 1805, Bear of the Bed ; on the 26th October, 
1809, Vice of the White ; and.on the Slrt July, 1810, Vice of the Bed."— Naval 
Chronicle, vol. zxrii., p. 9. 



236 



LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR GROSK 



Major Grose 
assumes 



A CHAirQE OF GOYEBNHEinr. 



pending the 
appointment 
ofPhlUip's 
successor. 



A military 
regime. 



On Pliillip'a departure the direction of alEairs passed into 
the hands of Major Grose, Commandant of the New South 
Wales Corps and Lieutenant-Governor of the colony.* The 
arrangement was a temporary one, rendered necessary by 
the circumstances which obliged Phillip to return to England 
before his successor had been appointed, but it lasted for 
two years — from the 11th December, 1792, to the 17th 
December, 1794. There is no reason to suppose that 
Grose wished to become Governor of the colony, or that his 
appointment to that office was contemplated by the Govern- 
ment. Nothing had occurred to bring about a change in 
the policy originally pursued, under which the control of 
the settlement was placed in the hands of a naval in pre- 
ference to a military officer, and it must have been well 
understood by Grose that the supreme power would rest in 
his hands for only a limited period. In these circum- 
stances it might have been expected that he would have 
administered affairs as nearly as possible on the lines laid 
down by his predecessor, in accordance with the Commis* 
sion and Instructions from which authority was derived. 
Instead of doing that, one of his first public acts was to 
introduce into the administration of civil affairs the forms 
and procedure peculiar to a military regime.f 

* G-rose succeeded Major Eoss in the Lieutenant-G-ovemorship. Although 
he did not leave England until the autumn of 1791, his Commission is daUd 
2nd November, 1789. 

t " Major Grose was, after a time, succeeded as Lieutenant-Governor by 
Captain Paterson, and during the principal part of the period of the rule of 
these two officers — nearly three years — the government of the settlement was 
practically a military despotism, of which the officers of the New South Wales 
Corps were the administrators."— Bennett, History of Australian Discovery 



A CHANGE t>P GOYEHNMENT. 237 

. Justice had been administered by Phillip in accordance WW-i* 
with the letter and spirit of his Conumssion and Instructions. Adminiit- 

* tration of 

Serious crimes, for which capital punishment might be^<» 
inflicted, were dealt with by the Court of Criminal Jurisdic- Pwiup. 
tion ;* minor offences were inquired into by Justices of the 
Peace, whose decisions were reported to the Governor. 

The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, and Judge-Advocate 
were Justices of the Peace ex officio-, but the ordinary Jiuttoes or 
magisterial duties of the settlement were discharged by the 
Rev. R. Johnson (Chaplain), Mr. Augustus Alt (Surveyor- 
General), and Mr. Richard Atkinst (Registrar of the Vice- 
Admiralty Court), who had been appointed Justices of the 
Peace by Phillip, under the authority of his Commission. 
Major Grose did not touch the Criminal Court, but with a 
stroke of the pen he abolished the magistracy. He did not innovations 
go so far as to cancel the appointments Phillip had made, 
but he deprived the Justices of their powers, and transferred 
the magisterial function to the officers of the New South 
Wales Corps. The circumstances under which the change 
took place, and the purpose with which it was made, are 
described at length by the Judge- Advocate.^ 

Whatever may have been the motive for making this vital a deubemte 
alteration in the government, it is apparent that it was done 
deliberately. This is shown by the fact that the assumption 
of office, which took place immediately after Phillip's depar- 
ture, and the promulgation of the order transferring the 
magisterial duties at Parramatta from the Justices of the 

and ColonitatioD, p. 171« Writing to Hunter on the Sth July, 1798, the 
Bex. B. JohnBon, Chaplain of the Colony, said :— ** But no sooner had 
GoTemor Phillip left ye colony than I was oonyinced that the plan or measures 
of Gbvemment were about to undergo an intire change. The civil magis- 
trates, within two days, received an oraer that their duty would in future be 
dispensed with, and nom that time until your Bxcellenoy's arrival again in 
the colony everything was conducted in a kind of military Dmnner. This, I 
believe, was the first step towards overturning all those attempt* and 
endeavours that had hitherto been planned and pursued for ye estabUshment 
of good order to be kept up amon^^ the different ranks and orders otf the 
inhabitants of ye colony." 
. •YoLi, pp. 211-215. 

t Afterwards appointed Judge-Advocate, 

t Collins, vol. 1, pp. 262-264. 



238 A CHANaS 07 

1799*94 Peace to Captain Foveaux, occurred simultaneously. Appa- 
rently, Grose, who was aware two months before the erent 
that he would be left in charge,* had laid down in his mind 
the system upon which he intended to administer the gorem- 
ment. In all probability he had consulted his' stafF on the 
subject. This is the more likely, because the change of plan 
would necessarily throw additional work upon the militaty 
Attitude of officors, and work of a distasteful kind. The marine officers 

the militftiy . <• ■» 

in Ross's time refused to have anything to do with the control 
of the criminal population, notwithstanding Phillip's appeals 
for assistance ;t but Grose's innovations entailed far more 
trouble to the military than would have been caused by com- 
pliance with Phillip's simple request to the marine officers 
that they would keep an eye on the convicts, and commu- 
nicate the result of their observations. It can scarcely be 
doubted that a consultation of some sort took place, and that 
Grose was assured of the support of his officers before he ven- 
tured upon so radical a change in the form of government. 

Grose'8 Unfortunately, we are not in possession of Grose's reasons 

silenoe 

for doing away with the civil authority. They ought to have 
been communicated to the British Government at the 
earliest opportunity ', but neither in the first despatch 
written by Grose in his capacity of Lieutenant-Governor, 
nor in any other communication that has been discovered, 
is there a word on the subject. In his first despatch to 
Dundas, 9th January, 1793,t Grose reported his assumption 
of the government, and referred to various matters of more 
or less consequence ; but there is not even a hint in this 
communication that he had made any material change in 
the government. 

It is not to be supposed that Grose endeavoured to hide 
from the British Government the important change he had 

* FhiUip's determination to return to England was known as earlj as 
October. 

t See Vol. i, pp 108, 109, 292, 29», 814, 815, 852, 858 ; HiBtorical Beooi^ 
Tol. it part 2, p. 138. 

X HiBtorical Records, toI. ii, p. 1. 



GOVERNMENT, 239 

made ; wliatever weak points lie had, Grose was straiglit- i79»-i)4 
forward in bis dealings. His letters and despatches show evidently 
that he was always ready to speak his mind. Besides, intentionaL 
concealment would have been impossible. Copies of the 
Orders issued would doubtless be sent to England, and 
there was a constant stream of correspondence between 
the officials at Sydney Cove and their friends in England* 
Many of the letters sent Home found their way into the 
newspapers, and a matter of this sort could not haveimnos- 
escaped attention. It is not likely that Grose attempted to oonoeai- 
deceive anyone. Strange as it may appear at this time, 
when the consequences of his ill-considered action are 
understood and realised, the fact seems to be that Grose 
considered it unnecessary to report to the Home Office the 
alterations he had introduced. He appears to have regarded The 
it as a matter of local administration, chiefly affecting the explanation, 
convicts, which did not concern the authorities in England ; 
and as the military command and the Governorship of the 
colony were now vested in one and the same person, he 
apparently thought that it was no longer necessary to 
keep up the distinction between the civil and the military 
authority. If he had examined Phillip's Commission of 
April, 1789,* as it was his duty to do, seeing that he had 
been called upon to administer the affairs of the settlement 
under its authority, he would have found that in superseding An nn- 
the civil magistrates he had been guilty of disobedience to lot. ** 
the authority under which he acted. It was never the 
intention of the British Government to invest the military 
with the functions that properly belonged to the civil tri- 
bunals. The Courts of Criminal and Civil Jurisdiction were poUcyof 
constituted by Letters Patent under an Act of Parliament ; ment.**^""* 
the establishment of a Magistrate's Court was provided for 
in Phillip's Commission, which contained this clause : — 

" And we do hereby authorise and empower you to constitute 
and appoint Justices of the Peace, coroners, constables, and other 

• Vol. i, pp. 474-480. 



240 



A CHAK6B 01* 



17M4M 



Establkh- 
mentof a 
dvil 
tribnnaL 



Grose's 

action 

discussed. 



His 

caatfonln 
other 
matters. 



necessarj officers and ministers in oar said territory and its depen- 
dencies, for the better administration of justice, and putting the 
law in execution, and to administer, or cause to be administered, 
unto them such oath or oaths as are usually given for theexecutioii 
and performance of offices and places." 

Letters Patent establishing the Courts of Law^ gave to 
these Justices equal powers to those possessed by Justices 
of the Peace in. England. 

It is clear^ from these two documents^ that the Govern- 
ment contemplated the establishment in th3 colony of a civil 
magistracy which should exercise the powers belonging 
to that office under the English law. In appointing Justices, 
Phillip carried out his instructions, and, until Grrose inter- 
posed, magisterial duties were discharged in tlie manner 
prescribed, and the system had worked well. It is difficult 
to understand how Grose came to overlook the fact that in 
abolishing the civil magistracy he was in reality disobeying 
the Boyal Instructions, whicli were as binding npon the 
temporary administrator of the government as they were 
upon the Governor to whom they were issued. If it had 
been intended that the colony should be subject entirely to 
military rule, provisions for the appointment of Justices 
of the Peace, who were to exercise the powers of English 
magistrates, and in the same manner, would certainly not 
have appeared in the Commission and Letters Patent. Grose 
either misunderstood them, or regarded the employment of 
Justices afi something within the discretion of the Governor. 

In so doing he incurred a great responsibility, of which, 
however, he appears to have been quite unconscious. In 
other matters he was over-cautious. Writing to Dundas on 
the 3rd September, 1793,t he explained the circumstances 
under which it had become necessary to buy food for the 
people, and added : — '^I cannot but be alarmed at all I pur- 
chase, and everything I do, being unaccustomed to business, 
and fearful of acting so much from my own discretion.'^ It 

• Vol. i, pp. 681-687.. t HistoricaL Beoords, toI. ii, p. 63. 



GOYEENMENT. 241 

is singular^ to say the least of it^ that an officer who was 1702-94 
afraid to act upon his own judgment in such a matter as 
the purchase of provisions, should have issued, at the very- 
first opportunity, an Order which made a momentous change 
in the government of the country. 

Simultaneously with the change of government, Grose Phiuip*i 
made an alteration in the distribution of food from the stores, regard 10 
Under Phillip's rule no distinction had been made between 
the free and convict classes — every man, from the Governor 
downwards, received the same quantity of provisions. This 
practice, which had commended itself to Phillip's humanity, 
was highly disapproved of by Grose ; and he made it the 
subject of one of his earliest complaints to the War Office.* 
Of course, if the full ration had been served to all, there 
would have been no cause for dissatisfaction ; but Grose 
protested against a system under which reductions were 
made to apply to the soldiers as well as to the convicts. 
And, accordingly, when he took Phillip's place, he lost 
no time in making a change. In his second despatch to 
Dundas, 16th February, 1793,t he announced that he had 
'^ considered it expedient, while on a reduced ration, to make Dwtinctioiis 
some little distinctions between the convicts and the civil Grow. ^ 
and military people." When the full ration could be issued, 
he explained, no difference would be made. The "little 
distinctions" applied to two articles — flour and rice — the 
former being the most important article issued from the 
public store. Shortly before sailing for England, Phillip 
had fixed the weekly ration of flour and rice at 3 lb. of 
the former and 5 lb. of the latter. The alteration made 
by Grose was that the civil and military officers, soldiers, 
superintendents, watchmen, overseers, and the settlers from 
the marines were allowed 6 lb. of flour and 2 lb. of rice 
per week, while the convicts and the settlers from the 
convict class continued to receive 3 lb. of flour and 5 lb. of 

* Historical Beoords, toI. i, part 2, p. 672. 
t Historical Becords* toL ii, p. 18, 

VOL. II. — Q 



242 



JL CHANGE OP 



1799-94 



Convicta' 
rations. 



Attitude of 
the GoTern- 
ment. 



Orose's 
policy 



FoUy of 
redudng 
oonvictflT 
rations. 



rice * This ''little distinction" must have been severely felt 
by the convicts. Flour, for which no satisfactory substitute 
could be found, was the mainstay of the ration. The quan- 
tity now issued to the military was below the full ration, 
which consisted of 8 lb. per week ; but that received by the 
convicts was little better than a starvation allowance, con- 
sisting, as it did, of less than half a pound a day. But they 
fared still worse before the year had expired, for supplies 
running short, the ration of flour or biscuit for the civil and 
military was cut down to 2 lb. for seven days, while the 
convicts received — ^f or the first time since the establishment 
of the colony — ^none whatever .f 

No notice was taken by the British Government of the 
new policy adopted in giving the convicts a smaller ration 
than that supplied to the rest of the people. Ministers had 
many matters of far more importance on their hands, and 
they were probably content to allow Grose, for the limited 
time he was in charge, to govern the colony in his own 
way. 

It may be contended by some that Grose was right in 
his belief that the privations incidental to a newly-founded 
settlement should not fall equally upon those who had 
injured and those who were serving the State. Phillip, 
however, viewed the question from another standpoint. The 
convicts, he contended, were required to do active and 
laborious work in erecting necessary buildings and in tilling 
the soil. The cultivation of the land was an object of special 
importance. Men employed in this work required a larger 
quantity of food than those engaged in the duties which 
required little or no physical exertion, and a reduction of 
the convicts* ration below that of the other classes would 
have defeated, or at all events interfered with, the object in 
view. There was another consideration. If good work was 

* The change, according to Collins, vioa made on the first day for istning 
provisions under Q-rose's government, viz., the 17th December, 1792. 
t Collins, vol. i, p. 323. 



G0VE»N3tfENT. 243 

to be got out of the convicts, it was necessary that they 179M4 
should not only be well fed, but made contented with their 
lot. The probability is that if Grose's plan had been acted 
upon at all times, and under all circumstances, serious 
trouble would have ensued. Fortunately, although the 
supply of food in Grose's time was occasionally very low, 
the period of want was not prolonged, and the danger that 
menaced the settlement soon passed away. 



244 



FOOD SUPPLIES UNDER GROSE. 

1798 Geosb found, as Phillip had done, that one of the principal 

difficalties he had to contend with was the impossibility of 

intertnittent keeping up regular supplies of food. This was owing partly 

to the intermittent nature of the supplies received from 

England, and partly to the uncertainty and length of the 

voyage. During the two years comprehended in Grose's 

Lieutenant-Governorship the prospects were alternately 

bright and gloomy. On one occasion such a quantity of 

stores were on hand that a cargo of provisions offered by 

^**7 ^' d *^® owner of a trading vessel, which arrived at Sydney on 

of famine, a voyagc of Speculation, was refused ; a year later the entire 

stock had been expended, and the stores closed a few hours 

before the arrival of a storeship from England, and there 

was actually nothing to save the people from starvation but 

the maize in the fields. 

At first Grose had no reason to feel anxiety. When 
Stoteojtoe Phillip left Sydney, on the 11th December, 1792, the stock 
departure ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^> ^^* ^^ *^® 24ith an American vessel, the 
Hope, arrived with a cargo of provisions, which was pur- 
chased for the use of the settlement ; on the 16th of the 
following month the transport Bellona entered the harbour 
Additional with further supplies; and on the 16th February, 1793, 
from ^ Grose reported that, although he did not feel justified in 
issuing a full ration, this was only a matter of precaution, 
for the stores contained '^ five months' flour and ten months* 
beef and pork, without including the wheat that is reaped 
or the Indian com we are about to gather.^'* At this time 

* Historical Becordi, vol. ii, p. 13. 



POOD SUPPLIES UNDER GROSE. 245 

the colony suffered very much from the want of tools and '^'^ 
implements^ especially axes and saws^ without which the 
clearing of the land could not proceed. Shortly after the 
Bellona arrived, the Shah Hormuzear came in with provi- 
sions, which were added to the public stock. This vessel had 
been loaded at Calcutta with the approval of the Governor- and indUu 
General of India, who seems to have thought, according to 
Grose, that ''this mode of conveying stores was preferable 
to taking up a ship."* The settlement was not at this 
time in want of provisions, and there was every appear- 
ance of an abundant harvest. But as the months went by 
without bringing any fresh ships from England, the situa- 
tion again became critical ; and to make matters worse, the 
crops, owing to the dryness of the season, failed. *' Our FkUnre of 
corn,"t said Grose, writing on the 30th May, 1793, "which 
once flattered us with the most luxuriant appearance, has, 
for want of timely rain, been parched and withered to almost 
nothing, and instead of the twenty bushels an acre which 
were expected, we must content ourselves with six.'* J While 
expressing uneasiness lest he might have been considered 
as " too premature " in purchasing provisions, Grose pointed J^SS*" ^ 
out that but for the " accidental supplies " which these pur- wppUeg. 
chases comprised '' the colony would at this time experience 
the severity of a very reduced allowance.'* He does not 
appear to have been aware that he was expected to purchase 
the cargoes of food that might be despatched from Calcutta, 
and that the British Government was relying largely on the 

* The amount exprnded hy Grose in the purchase of this cargOi or 
rsther the sum for which he drew bills on the Treasury in London, was 
£9|603 5s. 6d. Collins thought it necessary to account for so large a transac- 
tion with a private trader : — *' Although a supply of provisions had been 
lately received from England, it was but a small one, and we were not yet in 
possession of that plenty which would have warranted our rejecting a car^o 
of provifions, particularly when brought on speculation. The hour of dis- 
tress miffht again arrive, and occasions might occur that would excite a wish, 
perhaps in vain, for a cargo of provisions from Bengal." — Collins, vol. i, p. 271. 

t The word "com," as used in the despatches, usually signifies Indian 
com or maize, but sometimes it applies to wheat. In this case the maize crop 
is referred to'; the wheat produced from seventeen to eighteen bushels per 
acre. 

X Historical Records, vol. ii, p. 29, 



24S POOD fiUFFLIES 

*^ supplies wliich it was expected would be sent from thalr 

place.^ He was enlightened on the subject shortly afterwards 

by the arrival of a despatch from Dundas; and in August^ no 

storeship having arrived from England^ and, influenced by 

the probability that war might interfere with the movements 

^« of the transports, Grose chartered the Britannia, Mr. William 

chartered. Ravon, commander, and sent her to Calcutta for provision8.t 

Towards the end of June it became necessary to cut down 

R»taon^ the ration. The arrival of the Boddingtons on the 7th 

August did not improve the condition of affairs, for she 

brought a number of convicts, but very little food — salt 

provisions for only fourteen weeks at the full ration. By the 

Boddingtons, information was received that a sister- vessel. 

Arrival of the Sugar-caue, might be expected almost at once, but as 

convicts, she was supposed to be no better freighted with provisions 

than the Boddingtons, the intelligence was not received 

with much satisfaction. The Sugar-cane arrived on the 

17th September with stores, but the quantity, as had been 

supposed, was small. The voyages of this vessel and the 

Boddingtons were remarkable for the fact that only one 

death occurred among the convicts, and that there was 

scarcely any sickness on board.f The convicts who came 

out by the Boddingtons, according to Collins, bore testimony 

hu^e *^ *^® "humane treatment'* they had received from the 

twatament master, Captain Chalmers, and cheered him as they left the 

voyage. vessel for the shore. So far as can be ascertained, the 

convicts on board the Sugar-cane were treated with equal 

humanity ;§ but they were a disorderly lot of men, and 

• Ante, p. 213. 

t Grose had in his mind the impending war with France. War hetween 
England and the Bepublic was declared in February, 1793, but the fact was 
not known in the colony until the arrival of the Boddingtons in August. 

X See ante, p. 67. 

§ Thej were certainly well fed and eai«d for. In reporting the aniTml of 
the Sugar-cane to Dnndaa, 12th October, 1793, Groae eays z—^ The con- 
tnotor, as weU in thia ship as the Boddingtons, appears to have perfoniMd 
hii engagement with great liberality ; and the prisoners they hare conreyed 
prove by their healthy appearance the extraordinary attention that must hibTe 
been paid by the naral agents." — Historical Beoordis, yoL ii» p. 69. 



UNDER GBOSB/ 247 

an attempt was made by a number of them to seize the ^*^ 
ship. Before they could put their design into execution 
the mutineers were secured, and one of them hanged ; the 
others were punished with the lash."*^ 

No other vessel arriyed from England until the 10th suppues by 
March, 1794, when the William anchored in Sydney Cove and Arthur, 
with a large supply of salt beef and pork, but no flour. On 
the same day a small vessel, the Arthur, a brig of ninety- 
five tons, arrived from Bengal with a cargo of salt beef, 
pork, sugar, and rum. The salt meat was purchased by 
Government, while the sugar and rum were sold to private 
persons. In the meantime the settlement had suffered con- 
siderably from the short supply of food, particularly flour. 

Grose, who does not appear to have written any despatch 

to the Home Department between the 12th October, 1793, 

and the 29th April, 1794, reported in a communication 

of the latter date the arrival of the William on the 8th An 

^ — 
March, 1794, and remarked that all the provisions had been J 

issued from the stores a few hours before she was sighted. 

The stores having been replenished, Grose was anxious to 

represent matters in the best possible light ; he informed 

the Secretary of State that : — 

" As all our provisions were issued from the stores about six An empty 

hours before she [the William] appeared in sight, I am apprehen- store. 

give that from this circumstance our situation may be represented 

to be more desperate than it really was. It is, therefore, requisite 

that I should inform you that our Indian com was at that time 

ripe, and that the publick and private farms had yielded in such 

abundance as to secure us from auy other distress than that of 

being forced to live on bread only."t 

* Collins attributes the mutiny to the fact that a small and nntrustworthj 
guard (a sergeant's party) was expected to keep under control a peculiarly 
rebellious set of prisoners: — "As intentions of this kind [the seizure of 
Tefsels by conTiotsJ had been talked of in several ships, the military guard 
should neyer haye been less than an officer's command, and that guard 
(especially when tmbarked for the security of a ship full of wild lawless 
Irifih) ought nerer to have been composed either of young soldiers or of 
deserters from other corps." — Collins, vol. i, p. 811. 

t Historical Becords, vol. ii, p. 207. 



248 VOOB SUPPLIES 

17M It may be doubted whether Grose would have taken up 
his pen in the same cheerful state of mind if he had been 
BrMd and Q^iige^ ^q ]^yQ f^j. ^ few woeks or months on dry bread and 
dishes made from Indian corn ; and however he might have 
fared under such conditions^ the absence of animal food 
would have been severely felt by the convicts, who had to 
labour in the fields. Collins did not view the situation with 
any degree of complacency. Writing of the state of affairs 
at the beginning of March, shortly before the William 
arrived, he said : — 

*^ The provision-store was never in so reduced a state as at this 
time ; one serving of salt meat alone remained, and that was to 
be the food of only half a week. After that period, the prospect, 
unless we were speedily relieved, was miserable ; mere bread and 
water appeared to be the portion of by far the greater pai*t of the 
inhabitants of these settlements, of that part, too, whose bodily 
labour must be called forth to restore plenty."* 

Condition oi CoUins, at all events, appreciated the hardship which would 
have been caused by the absence of animal food, if Grose did 
not. But when the Lieutenant-Governor told Dundas that 
the only distress that would have been felt from the non- 
arrival of the William would have been the necessity 
of living on bread alone, he did not accurately describe 

Wheat and the situation. It is true that there was plenty of wheat and 

corn, but no , . . 

flour. maize in the fields, but there was no flour from which to 

make bread, and there were no adequate means for turning 
the com into flour. Hand-mills had been sent out, but the 
number was small, and they were only capable, with the 
expenditure of infinite labour, of grinding small quantities 
of grain. Efforts had been made to erect large mills at 
Sydney and Parramatta, but so far with indifferent success. 
To what extent the colony was in a position to supply itself 
with '^ bread " may be seen from Collinses narrative. In 
November, 1793, four months before the crisis had arrived, 
the convicts for the first time received a ration in which 

• Collins, Tol. i, p. 361. 



TJNDEK GBOSE. 249 

there was no flour or biacidt^ while the allowance of these ^^^ 
articles of food to the free population was reduced to two a 
pounds per week per head. Wheat and maize were issued, i»u<m. ^ 
but until the grain had been ground it could not be made 
into bread. The convicts had, therefore, to take their ration 
to the mills, and wait until they could obtain the equivalent 
in flour or maize-meal. They had to wait a long time. 
The mills were kept going night and day, but they were 
unequal to the demands made upon them. Some of the FkmrmiUfl 

*" inadequfttc 

convicts, after spending the night at the mills in the vain 
expectation of receiving a pound or two of flour, went to 
their work in the morning with unground wheat and maize 
for food.* It is evident from this that Grose's letter (from 
which Dundas would naturally conclude there was abund- 
ance of bread in the settlement) was calculated to convey 
a very erroneous impression. 

A month later the last of the flour had been used, and. The last 
as regards this part of the ration, the civil and the military flour, 
were no better off than the convicts.f The arrangements 

* *' On Saturday, the 28rd [NoTember, 1793], the flour and rice in ttore 
being nearly expended, the ration was altered to the following proportion of 
those articles, Tis. : — 

To the officers, civil and military, soldiers, oyerseers, and the settlers from 
free people, were served — 

Of Biscuit or flour ... 2 pounds. 

„ Wheat 2 „ 

„ Indian com 5 „ 

„ Pease 3 pints. 

To the male couyicts were served, women and children receiyiug in the 
proportions always obseryed :— 

(Of biscuit or flour, none — and for the first time since the 
establishment of the colony) 

„ Wheat ... 3 pounds. 

M Indian com 6 „ 

„ Paddy 2 pints. 

i> Oram 2 „ 

This was universally felt as the worst ration that had ever been served from 
his Majesty's stores ; and by the labouring convicts particularly so, as no one 
article of grain was so prepared for him as to be immediately made use of ."— 
Collins, vol. i, p. 323. 

t ** Notwithstanding every supply of flour which had been purchased or 
received into the store from Kngland, it was at length entirely exhausted ; the 
civil and military receiving the last on Monday the 9th [December, 1798]. 
This total deprivation of so valuable, so essential an article in the food of 



350 



FOOD BUFPLIEB 



^'^ for grinding com liad now improved somewliat^ but thd 
nulls were overtaxed^ and tlie people liad to receive their 
grain coarsely ground. In this shape it could not have 
been very palatable ; but there was plenty of it. To relieve 
the want caused by the scarcity of animal f ood^ » few h<^ 
were slaughtered^ and served in place of salt pork. Fresh 
A delicacy, meat was an almost unheard-of delicacy in the colony,* and 
one would have thought that this little change in diet would 
have been eagerly welcomed. Tet^ if Collinses account is 
correct, the people preferred salt pork to fresh ; not because 
they liked it better, but because it would last longer. 

The arrival of the William rendered it unnecessary to 
put the people on a diet of bread and water, and before 
the provisions she brought were exhausted two other store- 
ships from England, the Indispensable and Speedy, came 
into port, besides the Britannia, which had been chartered 
to bring stores from India, but had been obliged to change 
her course and go to Batavia instead.t The Indispens- 
able arrived on the 24th May. She was the first of a fleet of 
six or seven ships which were to sail from England with 
Provisions stores and provisions, and were expected to arrive in the 
clothing. course of two months. The provisions and clothing she 



Arrival of 
storeships. 



man, happened, fortunatelj, at a season when its pUoe ooaldin somei 
be supplied immediutelj, the harvest having been all safely got in at Toon- 
gabbie by the beginning of this month. About the middle of it, eight hundred 
bushels were threshed out, and on Monday the 16th the civil and military 
received each seven pounds of wheat coarsely ground at the mill at Parra- 
matta."— Collins, vol. i, p. 326. 

* " About the middle of the month [January, 1704] one small cow and m 
Bengal steer, both private property, were killed and issued to the non-commia- 
sioned officers and privates of two companies of the New South Wales Corps. 
This was but the third time that fresh beef had been tasted by the colonists 
of this country ; once, it may be remembered, in the year 1788; and a second 
time when the Lieutenant-G-ovemor and the officers of the settlement were 
entertained by the Spanish captains. At that time, however, had we not been 
informed that we were eating beef, we should never have discovered it by the 
flarour ; and it certainly happened to more than one Englishman tfaaii day, to 
eat his favourite -viand without recognising the taste. . . . The beef tiiat 
was killed at this time was deemed worth eighteenpenoe per pound, and at 
that price was sold to the soldiers. The two animals together weighed tluree 
hundred and seventy-two pounda."— lb., p. 338. 

t She was attacked in the Straits of Malacca by pirates, from whom tbm 
escaped after a six hours' engagement. 



UNDEB GROSE. 251 

brought were sufficient, with those received by the William, ^''^ 
to supply the wants of the colony for twelve months.* On 
the 8th June the Speedy arrived with further supplies, and 
the stores were now so well filled that when the Halcyon 
arrived a little later with a cargo of provisions, spirits, &c., 
from America, Grose refused to make any purchases. The Abundant 
goods, however, were sold to the officers. Another American ""pp"®*- 
vessel, the Hope, which arrived on the 5th July, had to go 
back with her cargo unsold, except the spirits, which were 
bought by the officers. 

After the arrival of the Indispensable and Speedy, Grose 
suffered no anxiety as to the maintenance of the people. 
But before that he was in a position to write with con- 
fidence. In acknowledging the receipt of the supplies 
brought by the William, he told Dundas, 29th April, 1794, 
that if a few months' flour were sent the colony would be 
able in future to supply itself with bread.f 

The rapid improvement which had taken place in so short : 
a time in the food-producing power of the colony was 
attributed by Grose to the energy which the civil and mili- 
tary officers, especially the latter, had shown in cultivating 
the land which had been allotted to them. The circum- 
stances under which the land was granted to these officers 
merit special mention. 

* On the 27tli May the weekly ration oonaisted of 8 lb. flour, 7 lb. beef or 
4 lb. pork, besides Indian com. 
t Historieal Beoords, toL ii, p. 20& 



252 



GROSE AND THE LAND. 



1798 

LAndgnmtt 
tooffioen. 



An 

erroneous 

impression. 



Gnntflby 
Phillip and 
OroML 



Why Phillip 
didnotgTMt 
land to 
officers. 



The action of Lieutenant-Governor Grose in issuing a 
number of land grants to civil and military officers has 
been condemned by more than one writer. Because Phillip 
gave no land to the officers^ except small plots of garden- 
ground for temporary use, while Grose issued grants to all 
who asked for them, it has been assumed that during the 
latter's term of office there was a sort of land scramble, in 
which the Lieutenant-Governor and his friends acquired 
large estates. No sooner had Phillip departed, says one 
writer, than "those who possessed the power at once 
commenced to divide the spoil.^'* 

Statements of this kind have been made under a grave 
misconception. There was no such thing as a division of 
the '^ spoil.'' In issuing grants to officers, Grose did nothing 
improper. He did not even assume any responsibility ; he 
simply followed his instructions. 

As the action taken by Grose in granting land to officers 
has been contrasted with Phillip's omission to make grants 
of that kind, it may be as well to repeat here the fact pre- 
viously stated — that Phillip had no authority to make grants 
to officers.f If he had been authorised to give land to the 
officers, he would certainly have done so. As his despatches 
show, he had no objection to the officers having land ; what 
he declined to do was to give grants before he had received 
authority to issue them. If, however, he had remained in 

. * Bennett, HUtory of Australian DiscoTery and Colonisation, p. 172. 
t Ante, p. 119. 



GROSE AND THE LAND. 253 

tie colony a little longer it would have become his duty to ^^^^ 
issue land grants to officers^ for the despatch of 14th July^ 
1792,* giving the necessary power, was addressed to him, 
and arrived at Sydney five weeks after his departure. It 
fell to Grose^s lot as administrator of the government to 
issue the first land grant to an officer, and it seems to have 
been assumed from this fact that the practice originated 
with him* 

It is also implied that Grose not only did wrong in granting Gnmts to 
land to officers at all, but that he disposed of the territory « 



to one class of the community in unduly large quantities. 
The second supposition is as devoid of foundation as the 
first. An examination of the lists of land grants issued 
by him shows that he did not unduly favour the military 
class. In fact, so little value was then placed upon the land 
that there appears to have been no hesitation in granting 
it to whoever made application. The grants to the officers, 
as a rule, did not exceed one hundred acres; the maximum Ana of 
appears to have been one hundred and twenty acres. There *^'*° 
was one exception to the rule. Lieutenant Macarthur, 
according to his own account, had nearly two hundred and 
fifty acres in cultivation, in 1794, at Parramatta. He may 
have purchased part of his land from settlers who wanted 
to get rid of their grants, but in any case he had become 
entitled to an extra grant for special services. Grose, nacarthur 
finding the labour of regularly visiting all the settlements PananS^ta. 
too irksome, placed the Parraxnatta District in Macarthur's 
hands, creating for him the appointment of Inspector of 
Works, which he held in addition to his position in the 
New South Wales Corps. In reply to a question as to 
what salary should be attached to the appointment, Grose 
was informed that the establishment must on no account 
be increased. No additional salary could be given to 
Macarthur, but he might be rewarded, Dundas wrote, by 
an extra grant of land, or an extra allowance of convict 

* Historical Becords, toI. i, part 2, p. 681. 



254 .GB08E AKD THE IiAND. 

^'^ aervants.* It ia probable that ke was rewarded in both 
The ways. At all events^ Macarthur, as a caltiyator of the 

agricuV land, soon left his brother-officers far in the rear. Other 

tuitet. 

settlers received much smaller grants. The private soldiers 
were allowed^ as a rnle^ twenty-five acres, although under 
the instructions from England they were to receive eighty 
acres if single^ and one hundred acres if married. Some 
of the applicants for land probably did not care to ask for 
a larger area than they could conveniently manage. 

Nothing was said in the despatch of 14th July, 1792, con- 
cerning the area of land that might be granted to officers ; 
Conditional the only Condition laid down was that allotments were to be 
''*° * made ^' not with a view to a temporary but an established 
settlement thereon; that is, comprehending such portions 
of land, and in such situations as would be suitable for a 
honayfide settler, should it ever come into the hands of such a 
person.^'t 

Acting on this authority, Grose granted to each officer 
who wished to take up land, allotments of one hundred acres, 
fifty acres less than the area allowed, by Phillip's Additional 

* Historical Beoords, Tol ii, p. 226. Collins (toI i, p. 265) thus ezplAiiM 
the reason for the appointment : — " In the course of this month [Januaijp 
1793] the Lieutenant-GoYemor judeed it necessary to send an o£Boer to 
Parramatta whom he could entrust wiUi the direction of the conyicts employed 
there and at Toongahbe in cultiyation, as well as to take charge of the public 
grain. This business had always been executed by one of the superintendents, 
under the immediate inspection and orders of the G-oTemor, who latterly had 
dedicated the greatest part of his time and attention to these settlements. 
But it was attended with infinite fatigue to his Excellency ; and the bosiDeas 
had now grown so extensiTe that it became absolutely necessary that the 
person who might have the regulation of it should reside upon the spol, 
that he might personally enforce the execution of his orders, and be at 
all times ready to attend to the various applications which were constantly 
making from settlers." Mrs. Macarthur, in a letter dated 2l6t December, 
1793, stated that her husband had been appointed to " inspect or superintend 
the public works. What adrantage nuiy accrue from this is at present uncer- 
tain, but the Major, in his despatches to Government, has strongly recom- 
mended them to confirm the appointment, and to annex to it such a salary as 
they may conceive equal to the importance of the trust." — Historical Records, 
Tol. ii, p. 507. In 1796, Mncarthur resigned the appoinment, beeaiae it 
*' occupied the whole of his time," and he had received no allowance for the 
extra work.— Hunter to Porthmd, 28 April, 1796. 

t Historical Becords, voL i, part 2, p. 632. 



.OBOSE AND THE IiAND. 255 

.Instructions, to non-connnissioned officers who had wives, ^^^ 
and thirty acres less than he was authorised to grant to un- 
married non*commisaioned officers.* The result was seen 
immediately. 

Grose reported on the 16th February, 1793,t five weeks 
after the instructions had reached him, that the officers were 
making rapid progress with their farms. He informed Miutary 
Dundas that they were doing this " at their own expense," farmers. 
and that he expected in six months to see them with 
cultivated areas "more than equal to a third of all that 
has ever been cleared in the colony." To convey a correct 
impression, Grose ought to have stated that each officer was 
allowed the services of ten convicts, victualled and clothed oovemmeak 

, aid. 

from the public store free of any charge; and that, in addi- 
tion, they were allowed to purchase the services of gangs 
of convicts, when not employed on Government work, paying 
for the same with spirits or other articles. 

Seven months later (September, 1793) Grose reported that Grose 
the officers were ^^ daily clearing ground to a considerable p«Sgr« • 
extent." With his despatch of the 29th April, 1794, he 
sent a report from the Surveyor-General, which showed that 
since Phillip^s departure 2,962^ acres had been put in culti- 
vation, of which 982 acres belonged to the civil and military 

* Qrose issued oae grant (twentj-five acres to Cammings) before the arriyal 
of the despatch authorising him to give land to officers. Apparently, this waa 
treated as a special case, but the circumstances ore not stated in the despatches, 
which do not eren mention the fact. Collins, however, notices the issue of 
the grant on the 31st December, 1792, and makes the foUowing comments 
(vol. i, p. 256) : — " In the instructions for granting lands in this country, no 
mention of officers had yet been made ; it was, however, fairly presumed that 
the officers coiild not be intended to be precluded from the participation of 
any advantages which the Crown might hare to bestow in the settlements ; 
particularly as the greatest in its gift, Uie free possession of land, was held out 
to people who had forfeited their lives before they came into the country." 
According to Collins, the first land taken up by officers was at a place 
known then as the "Kangaroo" ground, " situate to the westward of the town 
of Sydney, between that settlement and Parramatta," where " aUotments of 
one hundred acres each were marked out for the clergyman (who, to obtain 
a giant here, relinquished his right to cultivate the land allotted for the 
maintenance of a miniBter), for the principal surgeon, and for two officers of the 
corps."— lb., p. 266. 

t Historical Records, vol. U, p^ 14. 



25ft GBOSE AND THE JjJlSJ}. 

17W officers. In reporting the condition of the colony at this 
time (April, 1794), Grose said : — 
Midinir " When Governor Phillip left this country the military officers 

were sufifering in huts of the most miserable description. I haire 
now the satisfaction to say they are all in good barracks.* We 
have three large mills at work, and you will perceive by the 
Surveyor-General's return that two thousand nine hundred and 
sixty-two acres and one-quarter of ground have been cleared during 
my command."! 

^"oarocto^ Grose was justified in writing thus confidently of the 
condition and prospects of the colony. The difficulties 
attending a deficient food supply had been removed, culti- 
vation was proceeding at a rapid rate, and live stock was 
increasing.^ At about the same time as the officers began 
to engage in agriculture (February, 1793) the first free 
Free setden settlers f rom England, who had arrived by the Bellona, 
BeUona. woro placed upon the land. This vessel was to have brought 
out the Quaker families which Sutton had agreed to send, 
but that proposal, for the reasons stated on a previous page,§ 
was not carried out. The Bellona brought instead of the 
Quakers five settlers of the farmer class and their families ; 
a millwright named Thorpe, who had been engaged at a 
salary of £100 per annum; and a former resident, Walter 

• It would have been a fairer statement of the case to say that these barracks 
were being constructed -when Phillip left the colony. Ante, p. 144. 

t " The permission given to ofRcers to hold lands had operated powerfully 
in favour of the colony. They were liberal in their employment of people to 
cultivate those lands ; and such had been their exertions that it appeared by 
a survey taken in the last month [April] by Mr. Alt that nine hundred and 
eighty-two acres (982) had been cleared by them since that permission had 
been received. Mr. Alt reported that there had been cleared since Governor 
Phillip's departure, in December, 1792, two thousand nine hux)dred and sixty- 
two acres and one-quarter (2,962^), which, added to seventeen hundred 
and three acres and a half (1,7031) that were cleared at that time, made a 
total of four thousand six hundred and sixty-five acres and three-quarters 
of cleared ground in this territory." — Historical Accords, vol. ii, p. 208. 

X "It might be safely pronounced, that the colony never wore so favourable 
an appearance as at this period ; our public stores filled with wholesome 
provisions ; five ships on the seas with additional supplies ; and wheat enough 
in the ground to promise the realising of many a golden dream ; a rapidly* 
increasing stock; a country gradually opening, and improving everywhere 
upon us as it opened ; with a spirit universally prevalent of cultivating it." — 
Coilins, vol. i, p. 875. 

§ AxLte, p. 130. 



GtBOBE AITD THE LAND. 257 

Broady, or IBrody, who returned to tlie colony as master- ^''^ 
blacksmitli. These people having been offered their choice 
of land^ selected a level spot near Parramatta^ to which they 
gave the appropriate name of Liberiy Plains.* This settle- ^j^^y 
ment was not altogether a success. The settlers fell into 
an error which seemed to be common at the time — they 
sowed their wheat too late — and when the crop failed they 
attributed their disappointment to the unproductiveness of 
the soil, instead of to their ignorance of the seasons. They 
were of opinion, Collins says, " that they had made a hasty 
and bad choice of the situation,'^ but this, he remarks, ^'was nisap- 
nothing more thsyn the language of disappointment.^' Betuers. 

It has been assumed that settlement in Grose^s time was 
conducted in a haphazard way, but the supposition is not 
borne out by facts. Although the despatches throw no 
light on the subject, the narrative of Collins shows that in 
settling agriculturists on the soil, Grose located them in Grose's 
accordance with a definite plan. One of his ideas was to setueiuent 
form a chain of farms between Sydney and Parramatta, the a ohain of 
object being to bring the two centres of population into 
communication with each other. Most of the grants issued 
in the early part of 1793, after authority had b.een received 
to give land to the officers, were made in accordance with this 
design.t In October a number of convicts were set to work 
at Petersham, now a flourishing suburb of Sydney, where 

* ** The settlers who came out in the BeUona having fixed on a aituation at 
the upper part of the harbour above the Flats, and on the south side, their 
different allotments were surveyed and marked out ; and early in this month 
[Febmarj, 1793] they took possession of their grounds. Being all free people, 
one convict excepted, who was allowed to settle with them, they g^ve the 
appellation of * Liberty Plains ' to the district in which their farms were situated. 
The most respectable of these people, and apparently the best calculated for a 
bond-fide settler, was Thomas Rose, a farmer from Dorsetshire, who came out 
with his family, consisting of his wife and four children. An allotment of one 
hundred and twenty acres was marked out for him. With him came also 
Frederic Meredith, who formerly belonged to the Sirius, Thomas Webb, who- 
also belonged to the Sirius, with his nephew, and Edward Powell, who had 
formerly been here in the Lady Juliana transport. Powell having since hia 
arrival married a free woman, who came out with the farmer^s family, and 
Webb having brought a wife with him, had allotments of eighty acres marked 
out for each ; the others had sixty each." — Collins, vol. i, p. 267. 

t lb., p. 288. 

VOL. II. — R 



258 GBOSE AND THE XAND. 

^'^^^ sixty acres of Government ground were cleared of timber, 
twenty of which were sown with Indian corn.* In Decem- 
ber, 1793, a settlement was made on the Parramatta River, 
not far from the spot where the Northern Railway bridge 
now spans it. The place was named Concord, presamably 
because it was occupied by settlers from the civil and the 
military classes.t Little information with regard to these 
reSoenoe. Settlements is to be obtained from Grose's despatches, which 
give only an outline of events occurring during his term 
of office. Unlike Phillip, who took a keen interest in 
everything that pertained to the settlement, and kept the 
Home Department well informed even as to matters of 
detail, Grose seems to have given only a general view of 
afEairs, and reduced his despatches to the smallest possible 
compass. His communications to the Home Department, 
which are brevity itself compared with the letters of Phillip, 
present a striking contrast to those of the Governors who 
administered afEairs during the decade 1795-1805. Hunter 
and King were inclined to err on the side of prolixity; 
Grose erred in the opposite direction. 
Farma In January, 1794, shortly after the allotment of farms 

Hawkes- at Coucord, a settlement was formed on the banks of the 

burj'. ' 

Hawkesbury. Phillip, it will be remembered, had contem- 
plated the establishment of a convict settlement at this place, 
but had postponed the design because there was no com- 
petent superintendent whom he could put in charge. For 
the same reason, possibly, Grose did not send convicts to the 
Hawkesbury in the first instance. J 

• CoUim, vol. i, p. 817. 

f " On the 24th [December, 1793] ten grants of land passed the seal of the 
territory, and received the Lieutenant-Governor's signature. Five allotments 
of tweutj-five acres each, and one of thirty, ^ere given to six non-commissioned 
officers of the Kew South Wales Corps, who had cho.-en an eligible situation 
nearly midway between Sydney and Parramatta ; and wbo, in conjunction with 
four other settlers, occupied a district to be distinguished in future by the 
name of Concord. These allotments extended inland Irom the water's side, 
within two miles of the district named Liberty Plains."-, lb., p. 330. 

X " Another division of settlers was this month added to the list of those 
:already established. Williams and Jtuse, having got rid of the money which 
they had respectively received for their farms, were permitted, with some 



GBOSE AND THE LAND. 259 

The new settlement was a decided success. Three months ^7®* 
after the first landowners had gone into possession^ Grose Rapid 
wrote to Dundas, 29th April, 1794 :— ^"*^' 

'* I have settled on the banks of the Hawkesbury twenty-two 
settlers, who seem very much pleased with their farms. They 
describe the soU as particularly rich, and they inform me whatever 
they have planted has grown in the greatest luxuriance."^ 

Collins, nnder date of April, 1794, made the following 
allusion to these pioneer settlers upon the banks of the 
Hawkesbury : — "The best reports continue to be received. 
. . . Everywhere the settlers found a rich black mould a rich soil 
of several feet in depth, and one man had in three months 
planted and dug a crop of potatoes.'^t 

Although the land at and near Parramatta, according to 
Superintendent Burton's report,! was of fair quality — a 
fact established by Macarthur's success — it was certainly 
less productive than the rich soil on the banks of the 
Hawkesbury. Agriculture at Liberty Plains had not been 
successful, and in consequence eager eyes were turned to 
the Hawkesbury, where a crop of potatoes had been grown 
in so short a space of time. Grose's brief reports were of 
the most encouraging nature. On the 5th July§ he spoke 
of luxuriant crops, and on the 31st August he informed Luxuriant 
Dundas that : — 

" The settlers placed on the banks of the Hawkesbury, being 
seventy in number, are doing exceedingly well. The ground they 
have already in cultivation has all the appearance of bearing better 
wheat than has yet been grown in the colony."|| 

others, to open ground on the banks of the Hawkesbuiy, at the distance of 
about twenty-four miles from Parramatta. They chose for themselves allot- 
ments of ground conyeniently situated for fresh water, and not much burdened 
with timber, beginning with much spirit, and forming to themselres very 
sanguine hopes of success. At the end of the month they had been so active 
as to have cleared several acres, and were in eome forwardness with a few 
huts."— Collins, vol. i, p. 840. 

* Historical Beoorde, vol. ii, p. 210, where a plan showing the locality of 
these farms will be found. 

t Collins, vol. i, p. 864. 

J Ante, p. 166. 

§ Uistoncal Beoords, rol. ii, p. 238. || lb., p. 254. 



GBOSE AND THE ULNB. 

1794 The seventy settlers increased in number rapidly, and the 

district became before long the most productive of the settle- 
ments — so far, at least, as maize was concerned. On one 
point Grose was seriously in error. The settlers, it appears, 
were unwilling at first to take up land on the Hawkeebury, 
because they were afraid of the river overflowing its banks. 
Evidences of The apprehension was, probably, founded on the reports 
brought in by the exploring party which examined the 
river during the winter of 1789. Phillip, who was at the 
liead of the party, stated, in his despatch of the 13th 
February, 1790, that the water near the head of the river 
sometimes rose thirty feet above the ordinary level.* The 
traces of recent floods were plainly seen ; large logs of 
timber were lying in the branches of trees from thirty to 
forty feet above the level at which the river then stood.t 
Grose had perhaps not seen these reports, and there was, 
apparently, no one at hand to give him trustworthy inform 
erroneoua mation ou the subjoct. No flood was known to have occurred 
oonoiuaion. q[j^qq the. foundation of the colony, and, making a deduction 
from insufficient facts, he arrived at an erroneous conclusion. 
Writing to Dundas, on the 5th July, 1794, he said : — 

" The overflowing of the river, so very much apprehended, and 
on which account the settlers did not wish to be placed there, 
appears to be without foundation. This is universally acknow- 
ledged to be the most rainy season that has ever been ezpeiienoed 
in the colony, and the river has but little exceeded in any parts its 
natural limits."! 

For a time the settlers prospered exceedingly, raising large 

crops from the fine rich mould of which Collins speaks so 

admiringly ; but before many years had gone by they leamt 

m^firet from painful experience how destructive a Hawkesbury flood 

could be.§ 

* HiBtorical Beoorcis, voL i, part 2, p. 804. 

t Vol. i, p. 152. 

t Historical Records, yoI. ii, p. 288. 

§ In September, 1795, Captain Faterson, who was administering the gOTezn- 
ment, reported that the river had risen twentj-fiye feet abore its usoaL lerel, 
" laying the grounds of seTeral settlers under -water." Four jears lalar, in 



aUOSE AND THB LAND. 261 

On the whole, Grose had reason to be satisfied with the I'W^ 
progress that had been made in cnltivation, especially as 
the officers, upon whom he chiefly relied, were doing so 
well. The assumption that Grose unduly favoured them Fwwm 
in distributing the land, rests, as already stated, on little offloen. 
or no foundation. But although he did not give them 
more land than he supposed them to be entitled to, he 
favoured them in another way by placing the labouring 
population of the settlement practically at their disposal. 
An ordinary settler was allowed one or two convicts, sup- 
ported at the public expense, to assist in the cultivation of 
the land. Grose ffave the officers ten each to begin with : Ten convict 

° ^ servants for 

in some cases, according to the Rev. R. Johnson, more were ^»^ <>«<»'• 
allowed.* In the condition in which the colony then stood 
this liberal allowance of labour was of more value than a 
grant of land of unlimited extent. A settler having twenty 
thousand acres, but no labour to employ upon it except 
that of his own hands, would have been worse off than the 
holder of a hundred acres who received the gratuitous ser- 
vices of ten men. It is evident, therefore, that the officers 
were placed in a far better position than the ordinary 
settlers; the great advantage they received in this way 
made them, in fact, a privileged class. 

Grose took this course for reasons which are explained in 
his despatches to the Home Department. He had noticed 
the indolence of many of the settlers, and the readiness 
with which some of them parted with their land to obtain 
the means of leaving the colony. He despaired of being oro«e^ 
able to derive any benefit from this class of people, but he Rr»nttMr the 
thought that if the officers were encouraged to take up and 
cultivate land the production of grain would be promoted, 
to the groat advantage of the settlement. Having no 
instructions on the subject, he gave effect to his conviction 

'May, 1799, a much heavier flood occurred. Hunter reports that a heavy fall 
of rain, coming after a dry season, raised the river to a height of fifty feet 
ahove the ordinary level, with disastrous consequences to the settlers. 
• Historical Beoords, Tdl. ii, p. 208. 



262 . GROSE AND THE LAND. 

1798-4 in a very liberal manner. This liberality did not meet with the 

approval of the British Government. In a despatch dated 

30th June, 1793,* the omission made in the first instance was 

repaired. The Lieutenant-Governor was informed that : — 

He fa " AH the civil and military officers may, as such, be allowed two 

instructed . , , . . , <. i i ,. . 

to reduce convicts each, to be mamtained out of the pubuc stores for two 
to two, years longer, but after that period they should themselyes maintain 
such as they are desirous of keeping. But where grants of lands 
are made to such officers as at the same time continue to receive 
their pay, it is but reasonable that they should maintain such con- 
victs as are granted for the cultivation of their land, exclusive of 
the two allowed to them as officers for two years, in the manner 
I have mentioned." 

Grose was placed by this communication in a very nn- 

but does not pleasant position. He got over the diflBtculty by temporis- 

° '°* ing, and left to Hunter the disagreeable duty of taking from 

the officers the labour which they had first regarded as a 

privilege, but had come to look upon as a right. Replying 

on the 29th April, 1794, to Dundas's despatch of the 30th 

June, 1793, Grose intimated that as the concession had been 

made, and less than ten convicts each would be unequal to 

nfa reaaona the task of cultivating the farms of officers, he would defer 

carrying out the directions until further instructions on the 

point were received from England, adding that but little 

inconvenience resulted from these men being taken from 

the service of Government ; and expressing a hope that, 

as the produce raised by the officers had been of '^much 

He asiu for public utility,^' the matter would be reconsidered, and the 

■ideration. System allowed to remain undisturbed. 

In the opinion of the authorities in England, the convicts 

should have been employed rather for the public advantage 

than for the profit of individuals. Under Grose's plan, 

however, the officers cultivated the land with the aid of 

convicts maintained at the public expense, and then sold 

A one-sided to the Government the produce which might have been 

ment raised by the same labour from the public estate. It was 

* HiBtorical Record^, vol. ii, pp. 49-51. 



GROSE AND THB LAND. 263 

eminently a one-sided arrangement, from which the Grovem- ^"**^ 
ment received no benefit whatever. 

The point was seen clearly enough by the anthorities of 
the Home Department. Long before Grose could receive 
a reply to his despatch, in which he intimated that the 
arrangement he had made would go on until further instruc- 
tions were received, he had left the colony, and his com- 
munication was not answered until 10th June, 1795, when 
the Duke of Portland, commenting on the disproportion Decision of 
between the land cultivated by private individuals and ment. 
by Government, informed Hunter that the regulations 
which Grose had been directed to observe in regard to con- 
vict servants to be allowed to officers did not admit of any 
discretionary construction. The reasons which Grose had 
assigned for deferring the adoption of the regulations until 
further instructions arrived from England were declared to 
be ^^insufficient and erroneous."* No doubt the grantees of 
the land got more labour out of the convicts than the Govern- 
ment would have done ; but still, if the men given to the 
officers had been employed on the public land, the Govern- 
ment would, at least, have received some return. Instead of 
that, the Government paid everything, and received nothing. 
It was not likely that such a system would be tolerated. The 
point was again pressed on Hunter's attention in a despatch An emphatic 
from Whitehall, dated August, 1796 : — 

" It is not reasonable that the publick should feed those convicts 
whose labour it gives to individuals, and should afterwards purchase 
the produce of that labour. . . . The more convicts that can be 
made over to individuals, and taken off the store, the greater will 
be the advantage ; but it must be understood that those individuals, 
of whatever description, and in whatever situation they may happen 
to be, who take the convicts, must support them at their own ex- 
pence, and must not be suffered to receive the produce of the labour 
of the convicts at the cost of the Crown." 

When Hunter received this despatch he had been admin- 
istering the Government for about eighteen months, but he 

* HiBtorical Becords, toL ii, p. 808. 



2U GiBX^E AND TH£ JJlKDl 

17W iad apparently been unwilling or unable to bring the regu- 
lations as to convict labour into accord with the directions 
of the Home Office. A year later he received a despatch 
complaining of the heavy expenses which had been incurred 
in the colony from the Ist June to 31st August^ 1796, amount- 
mtdnudning ^? ^ £40,000. At this rate of expenditure the cost of main- 
convicts, taining the convicts in New South Wales, according to the 
Home Office calculations, without including that of the civil 
and military establishments of the colony, was ^' more than 
two-thirds of what they would have been kept for" in Eng- 
land. The main object with which the settlement had been 
founded — ^reUef from the large expenditure incurred in main- 
taining the prisoners in the English gaols — ^had, therefore, 
been defeated. 

The Duke of Portland informed Hunter that he was satis- 
fied the greater part of the expense to which he so strongly 
objected had arisen ''from not adverting to the original 
purpose for which this colony was established, and from the 
manner in which the convicts and public provisions are dis- 
posed of." It was pointed out that every convict supported 
co«t per for the benefit of individuals cost the Government £20 per 

■head. , * 

annum, '' and consequently the allowance of thirteen con- 
victs to each officer is an expense of £260 per annum to 
Government, which is to be multiplied according to the 
number of persons to whom that quota of convicts is 
allowed." It would appear, therefore, that in addition to 
the two convicts allowed by the instructions from White- 
•convict hall the officers had still the services of eleven each, one 

labourera ' ^ ^ ' 

offlwre *° T^ore than the number given by Grose in the first instance. 
Hunter was strictly enjoined to reduce the number to two, 
and some time after receiving the despatch he issued an 
order to that effect. He experienced considerable difficulty, 
however, in carrying out the instructions of the Govern- 
ment, and abolishing the system which Grose on his own 
responsibility had established. The circumstances under 
which the change was made, and the consequences resulting 
from it, will be dealt with at a later stage. 




JUDGE-ADVOCATE COLLINS. 



Beproduced by Heliotype from Collins's " Account of the English Colony in New South 
Walea."— Second edition. 




J JO<-.e -AO'.'OCATE COLLI r^^ 



Ji. . :..-■ ,. ,-.( ; ^ }{ ; . 



,,-, (',.;...,;. ;, N. A >..,aL 



265 



THE PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURK 

Oeose's despatches contain only information of a general 1708 
character concerning the progress of cultivation. We read ^^Jjj^ 
in them of the snccess of the Hawkesbury settlers, of the 
difficulties caused by drought, and of the production of 
sufficient maize and wheat to make the colony almost inde- 
pendent of outside sources for its supply of bread. But 
very little is to be found concerning the land in cultivation 
or the produce of the fields. The deficiency is supplied 
to a large extent by Collins, who sketches the progress of Acoonntsby 
agriculture in a desultory way. The prospects in 179&-94 ^ 
were alternately good and bad, owing to climatic conditions. 
The rain which fell in April, 1793, and which, followed a 
period of drought, was, according to Collins, '^ too late to 
save the Indian com."* Owing to this failure it was rashly 
assumed that maize was unprofitable. It was decided, 
therefore, to make wheat the priiicipal crop^ and as large a qq^ 
quantity of this grajn was sown as the resources of the whSt^ ^ 
settlement allowed.t It was soon discovered, however, that 
the consequences of a dry season were not to be overcome 
by a change of cereal. In August the wheat looked yellow 

• CoUiM, vol. i, p. 284. 

t '* The principallabonr in hand at Sydney at this time was what the build- 
ing of the barracks occasioned ; and at the other settlements the people were 
chiefly employed in getting into the ground the grain for the ensuing season, 
and in preparing for sowing the maize. This article of subsistence having 
in the late season proved very unprofitable, the average quantity being not 
more than six bushels per acre on the whole, the Lieutenant>Gx>vemor deter- 
mined to sow with wheat as much of the public grounds as he could ; and 
every settler who chose to apply was permitted to draw as much wheat from 
the public granary as his ground required, proper care being iaken to insure 
its being applied solely to that use." — lb., p. 287. 



266 



THE FROGEESS OF 



1793 

Climatio 
conditions. 



Hie rainy 
seaaon. 



Thebarrest. 



Twenty-two 
bushels to 
the acre. 



Crops 
poichaaed 
by Govern- 
ment. 



and parched^ and althongli rain fell towards the end of the 
month, it was concluded that, '^ there being no fixed period 
at which wet weather was to be expected in this country^ 
it might certainly be pronounced too dry for wheat/** It 
does not seem to have been known to Collins and the dis- 
appointed cultivators that maize required more moisture 
than wheat ; if this fact had been present in their minds, 
they must necessarily have decided that the climate was 
equally unsuitable for the growth of either maize or wheat. 
Proof was afforded very soon afterwards that the country, in 
ordinary seasons, would grow both wheat and Indian corn. 

Five months after the advent of the rainy weather, which 
was supposed to be '^ too late to save the Indian corn/* it was 
discovered that the settlers had not fared so ill as was feared, 
for, " after reserving a suflSciency for seed for the ensuing 
season and for domestic purposes, a few had raised enough to 
enable them to sell twelve hundred bushels to Government, 
who, on receiving it into the public stores, paid five shillings 
per bushel to the bringer."t At the same time the wheat 
" wore the most flattering aspect, giving every promise of a 
plenteous harvest." J The wheat ripened in November, and 
the estimate of the yield was twenty-two bushels to the 
acre.§ Unfortunately, owing to the previous failure, only 
ninety acres of public land had been sown with this kind of 
grain, so that although the crop turned out well the quantity 
of grain harvested was small. The settlers began, at the 
same time, to reap their wheat crop, and they were offered 
by the Government as much as ten shillings per bushel for 

* Collins, Tol. i, p. 808. According to this authority, the quantity of wheat 
sown by " individoals " in July, 1793, was 1,881 bushels. 

t lb., p. 809. t lb., p. 314. 

§ This estimate was probably in excess of the actual yield. Twenty -two 
bushels of wheat to the acre would now be regarded as a very exceptionally 
good harvest. The average per acre for the thirty years ending March, 189S, 
was 13 '2 bushels. The highest for any season during that period being 17*4, 
obtained during 1886-7. In other parts of the world much heavier yields are 
obt-ained — Denmark heads the list with 81*1 bushels per acre, and the United 
Kingdom and Norway come next with 26*9 and 25*1 respectively. — Coghlan'a 
Wealth and Progress of New South Wales, 1898, pp. 657 and 662. 



AGBICIJLTUKB. 267 

their produce.* Authentic returns of the yields were not 1^®* 
obtained, but Collins states that the settlers' farms produced 
nearly seven thousand bushels ; in some cases the yield had 
been as much as thirtyfold.t 

In April, 1794, four hundred acres were sown with wheat 
for the Govemment,t and it was discovered at the same 
time that the Indian corn, which had been regarded as an indiwioonu 
unprofitable crop, had turned out remarkably well. One 
of the officers of the New South Wales Corps — ^probably 
Macarthur, who had already become a prosperous farmer — 
obtained as much as fifty bushels per acre.§ A month 
later the Commissary had purchased from the settlers 6,163 J 
bushels of maize, at five shillings per bushel. Grose had 
every reason to complain of the selfishness of these people, s^* 
On various pretexts, such as unfavourable seasons, and the 
reduced ration, they had been allowed provisions from 
the public stores for more than twelve months beyond the 
time allowed under the conditions of settlement. I| For this 
indulgence some return was expected, and when their land, 
which had been freely granted to them, and on which 
they had been supported for two years and a half, yielded 
abundantly, they were asked to assist the Government in 
procuring food for the convicts, not by giving up their corn 
for nothing, but by selling it to the Commissary at a fair 
price. But it was more profitable to use it for brewing or 

• Collins, Tol. i, p. 324. 

t " No regular account had been obtained of What these farms had produced ; 
but it Tras pretty well ascertained, that their crops had yielded at the least 
nearly seren thousand bushels of wheat. Of the different districts, that of 
Prospect Hill proved to be the most productive ; some grounds there returned 
thirtv bushels of wheat for one. Next to the district of Prospect Hill, the 
Northern Boundary farms were the best % but many of the settlers at the 
other districts ascribed their miscarriage more to the late periods at which 
their grounds were sown, than to any poverty in the soil, ana seemed to have 
no doubt, 16 they could procure seed wheat in proper time (that is, to be in 
the ground in April) and the season were favourable, of being repaid the 
expenses which they had been at, and of being enabled to supply themselves 
and families with grain sufficient for their sustenance without any aid from 
the public stores." — lb., p. 899. 

:t lb., p. 865. §Ib. il lb., p. 858, 



26B TSE PBOGvBSBB jOF 

'^^^ distilling— eyeryone was aHowed at {hat time to keep a stiH 
Private — ^and the Goyenunent could obtain from the settlers only 
a few hundred bushels.* Appeals were made to them with- 
out effect ; and as they continued to refuse to sell their com, 
although they were being supported from the Goyemment 
stores, sixty-three of them were struck off the provision list; 
a just punishment, Collins obseryes, for their selfishness. 

Agricultural The couditiou of the i^ricultural industry in 1794 fully 
justified the confident tone of the despatches which Grose 
wrote at that time. On the 10th December, a few days before 
he left the colony, he stated in a despatch to Dundas : — 
" Our wheat harvest is oyer:; the produce is considerable, 
and the Indian corn, at prefient, has the appearance of 
plenty."t In a letter which he left for Hunter, whose 
appointment to the Goyemorship had been announced, and 

reSaroB to '^'^^se arrival was daily expected, J he said . — ^^ The colony 

Engriand. jg ^t this time in so flourishing a state, and the officer I 
leave in command§ every way so capable of the duty of 
it, that no evil consequences can possibly attend my going 
away .^'11 This favourable account is borne out by Collins, 
who described the condition of the settlement several months 
before that as very flourishing indeed. The improvement 

^iffiut which had taken place was not known in England, where, 
according to reports brought by the William and other 
vessels, the general impression seemed to be that the colony 
was a sterile waste, destitute of native vegetation, and 

* " It was found that the settlen, notwithstanding the plentiful crops 
which in general they might be said to hare gathered, gare no assistance to 
Government hy sending any into store. Some small quantity (about one 
hundred and sixty bushels) indeed had been reoeired ; but nothing equal 
either to the wants or expectations of GoTornment. They appeared to be 
most sedulously endeayounng to get rid of their grain in any way they could; 
Fome by brewing and distilling it ; some by baking it into bread, and indulg- 
ing their own propensities in eating ; others by paying debts contracted by 
gaming. Even the farms themselves were pledged and lost in this way; 
tDose very iarms which undoubtedly were capable of furnishing them with 
an honest comfortable maintenance for life." — Collins, vol. i, p. 338. 

t Historical Becords, vol. ii, p. 276. 

X Hunt«r did not arrive until September, 1796; 

§ Captain Paterson. || lb., p. 274. 



AGEICtTLTUBE. 269 

incapable of cultivation. In the latter part of 1794 agri- ^''^ 
culture had been established on a firm foundation.* There 
could be no question that the colony, as regarded the culti- 
vation of the land, had entered upon a season of prosperity. 
If its condition from a social point of view had been equally 
satisfactory, there would have been little ground for com- 
plaint. 

* " Among other articles of information receired bv the William we were ' 
assured, that it had been industrioualj' circulated in England that there was 
not in this country either grass for graminivorous animals, or vegetables for 
the use of man. This report was, bowevei^ rather forcibly contradicted by 
the abundant increase of all descriptions of live slock at this time in the 
colony, and by the plenty which was to be found in every garden, whether 
cultivated by the oflicer or by the convict. A. striking instaDce of this plenty 
occurred at Parramatta a few days before the arrival of the storeship, when 
six tons and two hundredweight of potatoes were gathered as theproduce 
of only three-quarters of an acre of ground." — Collins, p. 360. " The ships 
which had lately arrived from England were fraught with the dismal and ill- 
founded accounts, which through some evil design continued to be insidiously 
propagated, of the wretched unprofitable soil of New South Wales. It wsa 
hoped, however, that when the present appearance and state of the colony 
should reach England, every attempt to mislead the public would cease ; and 
such encouragement be held out as would induce individuals to settle in the 

country The supercargo of the Halcyon, Mr. W. Megee, " on 

seeing the Toongabbe hills covered with a most promising crop of wheat, 
declared that he had never seen better in America, even at Rhode Island, the 
Garden of America ; and on being shown some Indian com of last year's 
growth, gave it as his opinion, that we wanted nothing but large herds of 
grazing cattle to be a thriving, prosperous, and great colony, possessing within 
itself all the essential articles of life." — lb., p. S75. 



270 



THE TRAFFIC IN SPIRITS. 

1791-2 Considering the materials of which the community was 
rtimdArdof ^^^^^7 composed — convicts of both sexes, but principally 
morality, male, and soldiers who were no better than the bulk of the 
British army as it existed a hundred years ago — a high 
standard of morality was not to be expected ; but the course 
pursued by Grose, in more than one direction, was not 
calculated to produce the best results. One of the grarest 
faults of his administration was the removal of the restric- 
o?riritft^^° tions on the introduction and consumption of spirits which 
existed under the rule of his predecessor. Foreseeing the 
consequences that would follow if strong drink in consider- 
able quantities became accessible to the people, Phillip did 
his best to prevent its importation. In a despatch of 18th 
November, 1791, he informed Nepean that "the landing of 
spirits without having a permit has been prohibited in the 
port orders, in order to prevent the convicts procuring 
Pbiii^J*' any "; but he suggested that a duty would more effectually 
answer the purpose. To this communication he received 
the reply that the port orders were considered sufficient to 
meet the case. Probably, it was thought that the settlement 
was not ripe for the establishment of Customs duties. Ten 
years went by before a duty was placed upon spirits, and by 
that time the evils Phillip apprehended had come to pass. 
SpoBition S^ strongly did he feel on the subject that he would have 
J^*£^ liked to retain the whole liquor supply in the hands of the 
Government. Replying, on the 11th of October, 1792, to 
a despatch, in which he was informed that " an allowance 
of rum for the non-commissioned officers and privates'* was 



archosed 



THE TEAFFIC IN SPIRITS. 271 

about to be sent out, he made the warning remark : — ^^ The ^'^^ 
permitting of spirits among the civil and military may be 
necessary, but it wiU certainly be a great evil."* The 
prediction was only too well founded. 

Grose had not been in office a fortnight when he took the oroec's 
first step which ultimately resulted in a complete reversal 
of the salutary system established by his predecessor. The 
American ship, the Hope, which arrived on the 24th of 
December, 1792, had on board a cargo of provisions and 
a quantity of spirits, which were ofEered for sale. As the spirits 

. pure*"*"' 

master refused to sell one part of the cargo without the fron 

American 

other, the spirits had to be purchased, a circumstance for captain, 
which Grose expressed regret; but as he inferred from 
the despatch sent from Whitehall on the 15th May that it 
was intended to issue spirits to the soldiers, he observed that 
he had on that account " the less reluctantly consented." 
Not being certain, from the terms of the despatch, whether 
the liquor was to be served as an allowance, or whether a 
deduction was to be made from the pay of those who received 
it, he issued the spirits, making stoppages from the pay of 
those to whom it was supplied, and retaining the money until 
he had received fresh instructions on the subject.f In dis- Distributed 
posing of the spirits in this way there was no particular harm, soidiew. 
The quantity which the soldiers were able to purchase out of 
their pay was inconsiderable ; and although some of them 
violated the regulations and disposed of their liquor to the 
convicts, who gave their rations in return, the evil that ensued 
was slight compared with the consequences that followed 
soon after from the establishment of a promiscuous traffic in 
strong drink. 

Most of the vessels that came to the colony on voyages of 
speculation brought spirits, and if the liquor was not required 
by the Government it was purchased by the civil and military Purchased 
officers, who were apparently allowed to purchase through oiHceiu 

* Historical Kecordt , toI. i, part 2, p. 663. 

t He was afterwards informed that the spirita were to be paid for. 



S72 THE^ TEAMIC 

l^fW the GoTGrmnent dtores as much as they chose, at prime cost. 
The o£Scers were also allowed to introduce from India and 
the Cape shipments of spirits ordered specially by them. It 
soon became apparent that the liquor was finding its way 
among the settlers and convicts. The former neglected their 

S?monS?° farms and squandered their means ; the latter sold their &)od 

communit • ^^^ drink, and robbed the settlers' gardens to make up for 
the loss of their rations. Among both classes gambling was 
common. The practice of buying food from the convicts 
with spirits was not unknown in Phillip's time, but stringent 
regulations were made with the object of putting a stop to 
it.* These regulations were in force in Grrose's time, but 
it seems to have been difficult, if not impossible, to make 
them efPective.t A quantity of spirits having been found 

A aeizure. in the couvicts^ huts, it was seized and given to the watchmen 
and the guard who made the discovery, ^^ as a stimulus to 
future vigilance." But when there were so many eager to 
buy, and others willing to sell, the most stringent regulations 
were of little avail. Collins says '^ the passion for liquor 
operated like a mania." The spirits obtainable at the time 
were of very bad quality; it seems to have been a doubtful 

Rum from point which was the worse — the rum brought from America, 
or the brandy received from the Cape. The fondness of tihe 
convicts for the "pernicious American spirit," the same 
authority teUs us, was " incredible"; they would do anything 
to obtain it, and " while spirits were to be had those who 
did any extra labour refused to be paid in money, or any 
other article than spirits." 

* Ante, p. 204. 

t " The Lieutenant-Governor having directed the Conunisniy to dispow 
of the spirits purchased from the American to the military and civil officers 
of the colony, in -which were included the superintendents, and some othen in 
that line, it was found t))at it had been purcnafled by many individuals of the 
latter description with the particular view of retailing it among the convicts. 
He, therefore^ found it necessai^ to declare in public orders ' that it was his 
intention to make frequent inquiries on the subject ; and it might be relied 
upon that, if it ever appeared that a convict -was possessed of any of fbe 
liquor so supplied by the Commissary, the conduct of those who liad thought 
proper to abuse what was designed as an aocommodation to the officers of the 
garrison -would not be passed over mmoticed.' "*— Collins, vol. i, p. 259. 



IN SPIBITS. 273 

In tliese circumstances it was manifestly the duty of the 17M 
Governor to do all in his power to check the consumption 
of liquor^ but Grose adopted a coarse which encouraged 
the practice. The officers desiring to bring into cultivation^ 
as speedily as possible^ the land which had been granted to 
them^ employed not only the convicts who had been assigned 
to them but others who were allowed to work on their own 
account on certain days. Taking advantage of the fatal 
passion for liquor, the officers paid these men with spirits, 'Wages wdd 
and thus had no difficulty in obtaining the extra labour they 
required.* The consequences may be imagined. Instead of 
consuming liquor in small quantities, the convicts drank to 
excess^ and, as the pages of Collins show, work in the fields 
was too often the prelude to an orgy of intoxication. 

While the soldiers and petty officials were prohibited from 
selling liquor to convicts, no matter how small the quantity 
might be, the commissioned officers were allowed to purchase 
labour with spirits, which thus became the recomised medium a medium 

, ofezchuig[6. 

of exchange between the proprietors of the land and a class 
of people that it was important in the highest degree to keep 
from the influence of liquor. The arrangement was a very 
profitable one for the officers, for they sold the liquor — that 
is to say, they exchanged it for labour — ^at a much higher 
rate than that at which they had purchased it. Grose 
was desirous of giving the officers every possible facility 
for cultivating their holdings, and although he may have 
had some misgivings on the subject, he probably thought 

• ** Not being reetrained from paying for labour with spirits, they [the 
officers] got a great deal of work done at their several farms (on those days 
when the conTictsdid not work for the public) by hiring the different gangs/' 
— Collins, Tol. i, p. 268. " Spirituous liquors was the most general article and 
mode of payment for such extra labour, and hence in the eyening the whole 
camp has been nothing else, often, but a scene of intoxication, riots, disturb- 
ances, &c. Qaming was no less preyalent at the same time [the period of 
Orose's Gorernorship]. Many of them I have myself detected at this work, 
both as I have gone to and returned from church. Sixteen were at. one time 
detected by one of the constables within a hundred yards of the church, and 
at the time I was preaching. Numbers of them have gamed away the clothes 
off their backs, and the yerj proyisions served them &om the public stores, 
for weeks or months before these became due." — ^The Bey. B. Johnson to 
GoTemor Hunter, 5th July, 1798» 

VOL. II. — S 



«BW THE TSAFFiG 

^^V^ that the end justified the means. The course pnrsned was 
An an unfortunate one. It prodnced serions evils, and estab- 

system. lished a yicions traffic in spirits, which was not effectually 

checked until Eling, ten years afterwards, had nearly worn 

himself out in the effort to put it down. 

Another phase of the liquor question which it is difficult 
to understand, was the toleration shown to settlers who 
PiBtuiatioii. by distillation converted their grain into spirit. Every 
bushel of wheat grown was wanted as food for the people, 
and yet the settlers were allowed to waste their produce by 
turning it into an article that was useless.'^ If Grose had 
chosen he could, have stopped the practice, but he did not 
interfere. It was prohibited by Hunter by Greneral Order 
in March, 1796, but in the meantime a great deal of mischief 
had been done. 

Unfortunately, the records of this period of our history, 
particularly the despatches of Lieutenant-Governor Grose, 
are almost silent concerning the effect of Grose's govern- 

Morals of the mcut upou the morals of the community. It was not until 
some years after Grose had returned to England that any 
mention was made in official papers of this aspect of the 

Macarthur'8 quostiou. In September, 1796, Captain Macarthur, writing 
to the Duke of Portland, alluded to the great cost of main- 
taining the settlement, and to the profligacy of the people 
—openly insinuating that Hunter was responsible for both 
evils. The Duke of Portland did not answer the letter, but 
sent it out to Hunter for his report. It was thus nearly 
two years after Macarthur made his charges before Hunter 
had an opportunity of replying to them. This he did in a 
despatch dated 27th July, 1798, with which he forwarded 

* " Webb, the lettler near Puramatta, having procured a amall sdll from 
England, found it more adrantageoiM to draw an ardent diabolical apint 
from his wheat, than to send it to the store and receire ten shilling! per 
traahel from the Ccaamiaaarj. From one bushel of wheat he obtained nearij 
£▼0 quarto of ^rit, which he sold or paid in exchange for labour at Ar9 
•and six shillings per qnaii."'-'GoUin8, rol. i, p. 827. Webb was not tiie onlj 
distiller. Other settlers followed his ezamplet, 



IK SPIRITS. 275 

corroborative reports from the Rev. Richard Johnson, the ^^ 
Rev. Samuel Marsden, and Mr. Surgeon Arndell. 

Hunter admitted the existence of the evils complained of ^jj^^' 
by Macarthur ; but attributed them to the policy pursued 
by Grose in giving so much power to the military officers, 
and in allowing the establishment of a system of trade in 
spirits. Conscious that his statements would lose force by 
the fact that he had not any personal knowledge of the 
colony during Grose's administration. Hunter called upon 
the Chaplains and Surgeon, who had been eye-witnesses. Aooounts o« 
If the reports of these gentlemen are to be credited, the witneasos. 
state of affairs was shocking even for a convict settlement. 
The people were given up to drunkenness, gambling, and 
licentiousness ; disorder and riot prevailed ; robberies and 
crimes of a still more serious nature were common ; the 
people had no respect for either God or man; and so little 
control was kept over the criminal population that it was 
not safe, according to Mr. Arndell, for a civilian to pass The 
from one part of the town to the other. vSSoo?' 

Johnson and his coadjutor employed equally strong The 

1 Chaplain's. 

language. 

It must not be overlooked that the reports are ex parte. 
They were written nearly four years after Grose left the 
colony, and there is nothing to show that they were brought 
under his notice ; at all events, no reply from him has been 
found in the Records. The reports must, therefore, be taken 
as a statement of the case from one point of view only. 
They are, however, conJBrmed in many important points 
by Collins, whose pages contain numerous allusions to the 
drunkenness, gambling, profligacy, and crime which pre* 
vailed in the years 1793-1795. 



276 



RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION UNDER GROSK 

17M At the foundation of the colony but slight provision had 

been made for the religious instruction of the community, 

The ^ and the labours of the single chaplain (Rev. R. Johnson) were 

relations performed under difficulties which the circumstances ren- 

wlth Phillip ^ 

wid Grose, dercd unavoidable. Having to deal with an intractable com- 
munity, consisting as it did chiefly of convicts and soldiers, 
he required all the countenance and support which those 
in authority could give him. In Phillip's time, although his 
work was done under very trying conditions, he received 
the countenance and assistance of the Governor; but from 
Grose he met with obstruction and contumely. 

Before considering the treatment he received, it will be as 
well to point out the circumstances in which the Chaplain 
was placed when Grose took charge. He was the only 

JjhiSii. minister of religion in a colony of about four thousand 
inhabitants, distributed over three settlements — Sydney, 
Parramatta,and Toongabbie. The people were soill-disposed 
to profit by the Chaplain's ministrations that Phillip had 
found it necessary to issue an order by which the Commis- 
sary was instructed to stop a certain quantity of flour from 

Kegieotof the ration of any convict who neglected to attend divine 

tmulic __ 

worship service without sufficient reason. When Grose took charge, 
the disinclination on the part of the people to take part in 
the services had become conspicuous. Although the colony 
had been founded for nearly five years, no place of worship 
had been erected, nor had any serious steps been taken in 
that direction. It is true that in the spring of 1791 the 



P -fr-ri 



■-m^- 



RELIGIOUS INSTEUCTION UNDER GROSE. 277 

fonndation of a church had been laid at Parramatta, but '^'^^^ 
before it was finished it was converted into a lock-up house, The church 
and afterwards used as a granary.* At Sydney, as well Pwrnunatto. 
as at Parramatta, the Chaplain had generally to perform 
service in the open air. The difficulties he had to contend 
with are described in a letter to the Governor, dated 
29th February, 1792, in which he pointed out that at 
times not one-quarter of the convicts were present, andofflcewand 

* •*• convicts 

that he had received frequent excuses from officers— civil, »?«»n*, 

* ' themaelves. 

military, and naval — whose sole reason for non-attendance 
was the absence of proper accommodation. He declared that 
those who desired to attend public worship were in a much 
better position to do so when the first tent was pitched at 
Sydney Cove, four years before, for then the trees afforded §f^*"*^ 
them some shelter. He himself had suffered so much from 
exposure that he did not wonder that others attended so 
seldom and so reluctantly.t 

In a letter written a few weeks later, Mr. Johnson referred 
to the absence of any place of worship or of any prospect 
of such being provided at Parramatta and Toongabbie, and 
mentioned that on the then ensuing Sunday service was to 
be held at Sydney in an old boathouse — ''not fit or safe and in an old 
for ^ stable or cowhouse.^t This state of things continued 
throughout Phillip's Governorship, greatly, no doubt, to his 
regret. That he valued religious observances is shown by 
the order he issued with the object of enforcing the attend- 
ance of the convicts. Phillip will perhaps be blamed in some 
quarters for omitting to erect buildings for public worship. Delay in 
but it must be remembered that he was in circumstances of ohurchf 
peculiar difficulty. It was as much as he could do to find 
food and shelter for the people. It is not likely that he 
would have turned the proposed church into a lock-up, and 
afterwards into a granary, had it been possible to avoid 
doing so. Not until eight months after Phillip's departure 

* Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 603. 
t lb., p. 69i. J lb., p. 602. 



278 



BELKHOUS IKSTBTTCnON 



TheflxaA 
church* 



Ereotod 
by the 
ChapUln. 



Groseand 
JohniOD. 



was service Held in al)iiilding deToted specially to religions 
purposes. The church was a temporary one, constrncted 
of wood, out of the Chaplain's privafce funds, at a cost of 
£67 128. ll^d.^ It appears from Mr. Johnson's letter to 
Dundas, 3rd September, 1793, that the erection of the build- 
ing was commenced on the 10th June, and that it had only 
just been finished at the time he wrotct It afEorded aocom> 
modation for five hundred people. 

Although Johnson did not ask in so many words tiiat 
his expenses might be reimbursed, it may be seen from the 
fact that he sent in to the Lieutenant-Governor a detailed 
statement of the expenditure, and from the letters he sub- 
sequently sent to the Secretary of State, that he expected 
to have the cost made good. But of this Grose by no means 
approved. He forwarded the Chaplain's letter to Dundas, 
but instead of recommending that he should be repaid 
for the money he had laid out, he informed Dundas that he 
could not allow the matter to pass without observing that 
the Chaplain was a very troublesome and discontented char- 
acter, the cost was, he thought, extravagantly high, and he 
was much surprised that any claim at all was made, as he had 
been given to understand by Johnson that the building was 

* " The clorgyman, who sufEered as much inconyemence as other people fioin 
the want of a proper place for the performanoe of diyine semce, himself 
undertook to remove the evil, on finding that, from the pressure of other 
works, it was not easy to foresee when a church would be erected. He 
accordingly began one under his own inspection, and chose the situation for 
it at the back of the huts on the east side of the cove. The front was seventy- 
three feet by fifteen ; and at right angles with the centre projected another 
building forty feet by fifteen. The edifice was constructed ox strong posts, 
wattles, and plaster, and was to be thatched. Much credit was due to the 
Bev. Mr. Joonson for his personal exertions on this occasion." — Collins, 
▼ol. i, p. 299. The absence of churches in New South Wales had been brought 
under the notice of the ecclesiastical authorities in Kngland. In a letter of 
8th June, 1793, to Under Secretary Nepean, the Archbishop of Oanteibuiy 
■aid: — "I should be obliged to you for a hint of information whether any 
measure is taken in respect to a place or places of worship at Botany Bay, the 
want of which was so apparent from the letters which I communioi^wi to yoa 
for Mr. Dundafl's inspeiotion." — Historical Beoords, voL ii, p. 46. 

t Collins states (vol. i, p. 807) that the work was not begun untU July* 
1798, and that the building was used for the fixat time on Sunday, 25th 
August, of the same year. 



UKSEK OBOSE. 27B 

being erected at his own cost^ and on this understanding he ^^^ 
had generally been accommodated witb a variety of articles 
free of charge from the pnblic stores.'^ 

It is evident from this letter that Grose had taken a strong 
dislike to the Chaplain, who does not seem to have been 
aware at the time that he had incurred the displeasure of 
his superior officer, for that was the relation in which the Their 
Lieutenant-Governor stood to the Chaplain of the settle- reiatioM. 
mentj who, like himself, held a Commission from the Crown. 
Whether Grose thought sixty-seven pounds was too large a 
sum to pay for the erection of a church, or whether he meant 
to convey that the building constructed by Johnson ought 
to have been put up for less money, is not clear. On this 
point the ambiguity of his language leaves a good deal to 
conjecture. 

Had Grose maturely considered the question whether the 
church should have been built by the Government, which The 
had labour and material at its command, or by the Chaplain, «**• 
whose allowance was ten shillings, a day, he would have 
been obliged to confess that the responsibility rested with 
the Government, and not with Mr. Johnson. 

What was the cause of Grose's enmity there is no inde- The cause of 
pendent evidence to show; but reading Johnson's letters to enmity. 
Dundas, in connection with those sent by him to friends in 
England, and with the reports made by both the Chaplain 
and his assistant to Governor Hunter,t the conclusion can 
scarcely be avoided that Johnson incurred Grose's dis- 
pleasure because, in the exercise of his office, he protested 
against the neglect of religious observances and against a 
number of abuses which the Lieutenant-Governor took no 
steps to remove. Johnson had reason to complain of his m-tfeat- 

, /»' TT' . mentofthe 

treatment by Grose almost from the first. His convenience cbapiahi. 
was not consulted, his requests for necessary assistance were 

* Historical Becords, tqL ii« p. 64. 
' .'fAntto^p. ^76. 



260 BELIGI0TJ8 IKBT&UCTION 

17M refused, and He complained that on one occasion he was 
treated with gross disrespect while conducting service. 
The circumstances as related by Johnson himself were as 
follows : — One morning while performing divine service 
(which by Grose's order was held at 6 a.m.) an interruption 
was made by two soldiers ; this, as if by a preconcerted aign, 
was followed by beat of drum, and the soldiers, falling into 
An line, unceremoniously marched to their barracks. The 

ooMT©. service, Johnson remarked, had then lasted barely three- 
quarters of an hour, and he was about halfway through his 
discourse. Johnson, writing five years afterwards,* referred 
to the incident at greater length. From this letter it appears 
that he was aware, at the time, that it was intended to confine 
the service to forty-five minutes, and that the tattoo for reliev- 
ing the guard would sound, as usual, at a quarter to seven. 
Furthermore, when he began the service he heard the drum- 
major order *Hwo drummers to beat off at ten minutes or a 
Johnson's quarter before seven, as usual." Johnson was very indisr- 

indignation. ^ ' -i , 

nant ; his astonishment and concern were so great that he 
could not continue to address the few convicts who remained, 
and returned home greatly distressed at '' such barefaced 
profanation and infidelity." He immediately wrote to the 
Lieutenant-Governor complaining of the treatment he had 
received. The letter has, unfortunately, not been preserved. 
In a letter from Johnson to Dundas, dated 8th April, 1794, 
he declared that this complaint was the first of his acts 
which gave offence to Grose.t 

He went on to say that he had made application soon 
after the church was built for the appointment of a sexton 

rofows to ^^^ ^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ *'^® ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ after the church ; but this 

a^sMton" request, which is properly described as both reasonable and 

necessary, was denied. There was no person whose regular 

business it was to make preparation for burials; and it 

often happened that the Chaplain had to wait in the burying- 

* Johnson to Hunter, 6tb Julj, 1798. 

t Historical Becords, toI. ii, p. 201 ; CoIUds, toI. i, p. 261. 



UKBEE GBOS£« 281 

ground wlifle graves were altered — sometimes while they ^'^^ 
were being made. Having recounted these disadvantages^ 
Mr. Johnson went on to explain his position :— 

^*From these different circumstances you may judges sir, whether * 



I have not sufficient reason to be discontented. The soldier, it grierMioes. 
seems, is properly supplied with his regimentals ; the surgeon has 
an hospital provided for his patients, and is supplied wi^ medi- 
cines. Persons bearing other offices are furnished with what is 
needful for them to do their duty; and, for the same reason, I do 
not see why a clergyman should be denied what is necessary for 
him in the discharge of his duty. But such has been all along my 
situation, and I have had neither church, nor clerk (except my own 
free servant, who fills up his place at Sydney), nor sexton, for 
want of which conveniences and assistance I have seen it needful 
to complain. 

*<It was this last circumstance that gave rise to an unhappy 
difference that has taken place between the Lieutenant-Governor 
and myself. When refused this request, so just, reasonable, and 
necessary, I could not forbear signifying that I conceived myself 
extremely slighted, and that as chaplain to the colony I had 
reason to expect greater support. This occasioned some warm 
dL<3pute and altercation, when some ill-natured and ill-founded An 
reflections were thrown out upon me, which I trust and flatter 
myself my general mode of conduct has not merited." 

Grose said nothing in his letters about any dispute or 
altercation ; but he complained in a despatch written on 
the 29th April, 1794,* of Johnson's behaviour, which he Grose state 

. bis case. 

described as " disorderly " (although he did not state of what 
the disorder consisted), adding that he had received from 
him "treatment very unbecoming his character as a clergy- 
man to offer, and not very consistent with my situation to 
put up with." He accounted for his previous silence on the 
subject by stating that he had refrained from making any 
representations '^ in pity to a large family." It is worthy 
of remark that Grose made these statements when replying to 
a despatch informing him of the appointment of Johnson's 

* Historical Becordi, toI. ii, p. 209. 



2S2 BELiaiOUS UTBTEXTCTIOK 

^'^^ assistant (the Bey. Sambel Marsden)^ in whicli his atten- 
tion had been drawn to the imp{»rtance--^in a settlement 
like New South Wales— of the clerical station and character 
being treated with respect. Grose was careful to declare 
AnxioQs that BO far as he was concerned it had been his wish to make 

to maKo 

ooSortobie. ^^® clergyman as comfortable as possible. If Johnson's 
letters can be relied npon^ he was singularly nnsnccessfnl. 

The Chaplain had other grounds for dissatisfaction. After 
referring to his quarrel with Grose, he complained that the 
treatment he had afterwards met with was " very uncivil 
and severe/' He described the incivility and severily at 
Jghnwn'* some length.* The chief complaint was that, while the 
oompWnt civil and military officers were allowed ten or more convict 
labourers to help them to cultivate their ground, he could 
only obtain the services of two. He was therefore obliged 
to pay men at the rate ef forty shillings per week, aad his 
com was " exposed to perpetual depredsitions for want of 
proper assistance to protect it.'* 

It appears from Johnson's statement that Phillip shortly 
before he sailed for England had^ in obedience to instruct 

Church tions,t Set apart four hundred acres as church land, which 
Johnson had commenced to clear with the aid of two or three 
convicts. Finding that ten -convicts, were allowed to the 
officers as farm labourers, he applied for seven more, but 
could only obtain them on condition of giving up the four 

Convict hundred acres and takinir in lieu thereof the area allowed 

labourers ° 

johSiwn*^ to the officers — ^namely, one hundred acres* This he did in 
March, 1 793. In the following November all his farm labour- 
ers except two were taken from him without a moments 
notice; but no diminution was made in the number allowed 
to the officers. No reason is assigned for this arbitrary 
act on the part of Grose in substituting one hundred for 
four hundred acres of land. It is possible that Grose 

• See hiB letter to Bnndai, 8th April, 1^4.— Hiatodiml BecDadi» -ral. n, p. 
201. 
t Historical Beoords, toL i, puet ja, p. 259. 




"^ ►^ E P •■ » ■' • 'A V .-. u V' 







The Rev. Samuel Marsden. 



Beprodaoed bj Heliotype from <* Memoin of the Life and Labours of the Ber. Samaal ICartden, 

London, 1858." 



^"\^ 




]f r^ 


\ '■ " 




JiTy 




J - 


• .\ ^ 



mmBB. GBOBIS. 283^ 

desfreJ to prevent Jolmson from efltablifiliiiig a proprietary" ^'^ 
claim to the larger area. His precautions were, however, . 



unnecessary; the land was set apart for the maintenance of trustee; 
a minister, not as the property of an individual, and what- 
ever advantage the Chaplain might have derived from it 
during his enjoyment of the position, the ownership of the 
land would have remained with the State. 

The correspondence, on the part of Johnson, was con- 
tinued at some length. He concluded his letter of the 8th 
April hj informing Dundas that he had written to the 
Bishop of London, asking him to make application for the 
papers sent to the Home Office, so that his Lordship might 
be able to form some judgment as to whether his conduct be appeds 
merited the " severe treatment '' he had received, and ex- Biahop, 
pressing his willingness to abide by the decision at which 
the Secretary .of State and the Bishop might arrive. He 
followed this up by a letter written on the 7th August, 
which was sent, apparently, because he discovered that 
Grose had written disapproving of his action in asking to 
be repaid the money he had expended in building the 
temporary church. He mentioned in this communication 
that he had forwarded a full statement of the case to his 
"honoured friend, Mr. Wilberforce,*' and expressed regret and writes to 
that "differences'* had arisen, stating that, although he 
had made application, if it should be thought he had acted 
improperly, he did not desire to receive any compensation 
for what he had done. 

On the 24th November he again wrote to Dundas, repeat- 
ing that if it should be considered that his action in erecting 
a place of worship was considered in any way unnecessary 
or improper he would cheerfully take the burden upon offentopay 
himself.* It has been remarked that, although Grose in the cbuich. 
his correspondence with the Home Department did not hesi-' 
t^»te to abuse Johnsa£L^ he did not point to any specific act 

, ■* After Hunter's report liad- been xeoeiTed* the Home Department g»Te 
authority, January, 1797, for the payment of Che aooount.— Dundas to Huntei^ 
January, 1797. 



284 RELIGIOUS IN8TEUCTI0K 

l'** in support of his cliarges. He certainly stated that lie had 
Grose nukes refrained from reporting Johnson's " disorderly behaviour " 
charge. f rom motivcs of pity ; but having allowed benevolence to 
get the better of his judgment^ it was clearly his duty, 
not only to Johnson, but to the British Government, to set 
forth in what the disorderly behaviour consisted. In the 
absence of any such information it was quite impossible 
for the authorities in England to decide whether Johnson 
was, or was not, fitted for the post. 

Johnson, on the contrary^ as soon as he learned that he 

had been attacked, opened a correspondence with the Home 

deuoied ' Department, in which he made a full statement of his case ; 

™*° supporting his accusation of unfair treatment on the part of 

the Lieutenant-Governor with details, by an examination 

of which the truth or otherwise of his complaint could be 

tested. He also wrote letters to the Bishop of London, Mr. 

William Wilberf orce, the philanthropist, and the Rev. John 

A irtter Newton.* A letter, addressed to the Archbishop of Canter- 

Awhbishop. bury, in which a copy of a sermon was enclosed, was also 

sent to Mr. Newton, but it was decided after consultation 

with friends that the letter should not be presented to the 

Archbishop, '^ as it seemed improbable that a copy of the 

sermon had been sent to him, and if not it was not necessary 

that he should see it."t It would appear from this that 

Johnson had delivered a sermon to which exception had 

been taken, possibly by Grose. 

friends^n Johnsou had influential friends in England, where he 
England, enjoyed a good reputation. One of them was Wilberforce, 
whose knowledge of his character and readiness to serve 
him stood the Chaplain in good stead. By the same vessel 
that took to England Grose's letter disapproving of Hie 
application which had been made for reimbursement of the 
money expended on the temporary church, Johnson sent a 

* Extracts from the replies of the Bev. John Kewton will be found in the 
Historical Records, rol. ii. 

t Historical Becords, toI. ii, p. 79. 



ITNPEB GBOSl!. 285 

letter to Wilberforce asking him to use his good offices with ^"^^ 
the Secretary of State. Wilberforce, who was a personal wuberforoe. 
friend of Dundas, had no hesitation in complying with the 
reqnest, and he gave Johnson at the same time a very high 
character i-^ 

" When I tell you he is one of the worthiest men breathing, 
the most active, the most humble, and at the same time very little 
acquainted with the world, I have said enough to excuse the steps 
he has taken and to obtain his reimbursement. In truth, £67 for 
a church is rather a more moderate charge than Government, I 
believe, is used to, and I know from his private letters that he 
worked very hard with his own hands, and often by night as well 
as by day."* 

Other people who had opportunities of judging of his 
character expressed their confidence in him. Wilberforce 
regarded him as ^'one of the worthiest men breathing"; 
Phillip made him a magistrate ; and Hunter, who held the Pbiiiip and 
office of Governor for five years after the departure of Grose ^ 
and Paterson, placed the most implicit confidence in him. 
King, who succeeded Hunter, had the means of obtaining p. a. King, 
trustworthy information, and we find him writing to the 
Under Secretary of the Home Department, when Johnson 
had resigned his appointment and was about to return to 
England, that he, Johnson, had ^' met with much persecution 
from Grose when he commanded here."t The letter in 
which this sentence occurs was a private one, and King 
was, therefore, able to write with freedom, *' Persecution " Penecuted 

. byOroee, 

was a strong word to use, but it was not rashly employed. 
King^s information, obtained on the spot, evidently sup- 
ported the statements made by Johnson in his letters to the 
Secretary of State and to his friends. 

There is another point. If Grose^s representations had 
been taken seriously by the Home Department, Johnson 

• Hittorical Records^ toI. ii, p. 245. 

t GoTcrnor King to Under Secretary King, 3rd May, 1800. In another 
letter, dated 13th October, 1800, of which Johnson was the bearer. King 
wrote to the Under Secretary : — " He [Johnson] has met w^ith much obstruc- 
tion formerly in the execution of his duty. I believe him to be a very honest 
man, and I think has been ill-used in this colony by those in it.'* 



it9i EELLOiOIIE INBTBOtTriON 

^"^ would Ixare been deprired of Ins appointment, ioBtead of 

which he kept it for six years aiter Grose returned to 

England, when the state of his health obliged him to 

Con- relinquish it. The contempt with which religion and tihosie 

sequences of '• x^ o 

thequarreL who Were charged with the teaching of it were treated. 
during the administration of Grose exerted an inftuence'for 
evil which was felt for many years. 

One good result followed the unpleasant relations which 

existed between Grose and the Chaplain. Writing to 

Dundas on the 5th July, 1794, Grose informed him that he 

a c^rSr*" ^*^ erected a church capable of containing three hundred 

people. He made a special mention of the fact because : — 

'' I am given to understand that the Revd. Mr. Johnson, who 
is really a most troublesome character, has endeavoured to per- 
suade the Archbishop of Canterbury that ecclesiastical matters 
are not at all attended to> and that there is no place for public 
worship excepting a building pat up at his own expence."* 

Johnson's letter, which was never delivered to the Arch- 
bishop, may have contained the statement referred to by 
Grose; but if it did it was strictly correct, for it was written 
before steps had been taken by Government for the erection 
Johnson of a church. If Johnson had informed the Archbishop 

defended* '^ 

that ecclesiastical matters were '^ not at all attended to," 
he exaggerated a little ; but that they were very badly 
attended to is shown by the fact, stated by Grose himself, 
that the only effort to provide a place of public worship, 
after six years, was the erection of a church which would 
accommodate no more than three hundred persons. 

Upon one important point the charges made by Johnson 

and Marsden,t concerning Grose's connivance at the neglect 

Contra- of public worship, are not borne out by Collias,t according 

coiuns. ^ to whom, special orders were issued by Grose to secure 

the attendance of the convicts at divine service. Johnson's 

account is that he seldom preached to more than ten or 

* Historical Becords, toI. ii, p. 238. 
. t Ante, p^ 275. t Collizm, toI. i, p. 291. 



TJNBEB OIU3SE. 287 

twenty convicts, sometimes only to those who were in his ^^^ 
own employment ; while Marsden asserts that ^' all, without 
exception, however infamous and abandoned, were allowed 
by those in authority to absent themselves from public 
worship, and to spend the Sabbath as their different passions 
and interests operated upon them." The latter relates a 
circumstance which shows that the convicts had express 
permission towork on Sundays if they chose. One Sunday, Desecration 
while he was conducting service at Sydney, he was *' much sabiMUii. 
interrupted by some of the prisoners breaking up ground 
near the church." When service was over he remonstrated • 
with the men, and threatened to have them locked up if they 
went on with work in the evening. No attention was paid 
to him, however, and work was continued in the evening. 
After the service had closed he applied to Johnson, who was 
a civil magistrate, to have the men taken into custody for 
'^ open violation of the Sabbath, and contempt of me as a 
clergyman and one of his Majesty's officers." On Johnson's 
order they were committed to prison, but their commitment Tolerated by 
was no sooner reported to the Lieutenant-Governor, Marsden 
says, than he sent the captain of the guard to know the 
cause, and, not satisfied with Marsden's explanation, ordered 
them to be liberated, and requested the clergyman not to 
interfere again with the internal government of the colony. 

Knowing that his superior had failed, and that the efforts 
he had made had rather aggravated the situation than 
improved it, the Assistant Chaplain probably came to the 
conclusion that inaction, so far as making representations 
to the chief authority was concerned, was the best policy. 

If these reports are to be relied upon, the social condition 
of the colony in Grose's time was lamentable in the extreme. 
The evil, of course, did not end there. The same system Grose's 
prevailed during lieutenant-Govemor Paterson's short SSSSDned 
term of office, and although, a radical change was made ^^^***™*"' 
after Hunter took command aa Governor in 1795, the evil 
consequences endured for many years* 



288 



1793^ 

Chanires 
effected by 
Groec. 



Moral 
welfare. 



Material 
prosperity. 



CHANGES EFFECTED BY GROSE, 

Grose directed the affairs of the colony for only two years, 
but in that short space of time great changes were brought 
about. The Government, as already indicated, had been 
deprived of its civil character and placed on a military basis, 
a new class of proprietors had been placed on the soil, and 
cultivation had so progressed that the settlement was almost 
independent of the mother country, so far, at all events, 
as the supply of grain was concerned. 

It was in these matters, principally, that Grose, working 
evidently with a settled design, had produced such a remark- 
able transformation in the appearance of the country. 

The changes effected in the social condition of the settle- 
ment, by relaxing the stringent rules of Phillip in regard 
to the importation of spirits, and by discountenancing the 
efforts of the Chaplain, were less obvious at the time, and 
appear to have been the result of want of foresight on the 
part of Grose, rather than of any settled policy. 

There can be no question that the colony when Grose left 
it was in a highly prosperous condition. Eight months 
before his departure he wrote to Dundas informing him 
that the settlement required no more than a few months' 
supply of flour ; after that only salt meat need be sent from 
England. He seemed to think that the favourable account 
of affairs which he was giving might be attributed to enthu- 
siasm, for he went on to say :— 

*< I am perfectly aware of the consequences that might ensue if 
our wants were at all disguised or concealed, and any wishes of 



CHANaSS EFFECTED BY GEOSE. 289 

mine to see the colony in a thriving condition will not induce me 1792-4 
to describe it in a more flourishing state than it i& The great 
assistance I have received from the civil and military officers has 
enabled me to do much more than could be expected. 

'^ I am particular in stating what has been done since the 
departure of the Governor, not because I wish to arrogate any 
consequence or merit to myself, for very little is due to me, but 
because I wish to represent in the most favourable point of view 
the officers serving in the colony, to whose great exertions the Sj^®*^"" *^' 
promising appearance of it may be entirely attributed."* 

Writing on the 8th December, a few days before his 
departure, Grose spoke of the " flourishing state " of the 
colony, and no doubt its condition was as he represented 
it to be, so far as productiveness was concerned ; but the 
prosperity was that of a class rather than of the community Progperity 
as a whole. The small settlers on tHe banks of the Hawkes- 
bury were doing well, and so were those at Parramatta and 
Toongabbie; but it was only the officers, who had been 
supplied with convict labour on a liberal scale, who were 
obtaining large returns. The advantages enjoyed by this 
class, as well as the prosperous state of the colony, may be 
seen from the letter of Captain Macarthur to his brother, 
written in August, 1794 : — 

"The changes we have undergone since the departure of 
Governor Phillip are so great and extraordinary that to recite them 
all might create some suspicion of their truth. From a state of 
desponding poverty and threatened famine, that this settlement 
should be raised to its present aspect in so short a time is scarcely 
credible. As to myself, I have a farm containing 250 acres, of Maoarthur** 
which upwards of 100 are under cultivation, and the greater 
part of the remainder is cleared of the timber which gi-ows upon it 
Of this year's produce I have sold £400 worth, and I have now 
remaining in my granaries upwards of 1,800 bushels of com. I 
have at this moment 20 acres of very fine wheat growing, and 80 
acres prepared for Indian com and potatoes, with which it will be 
planted in less than a montL"f 

* Historical Becords, vol. ii, p. 208. 
t lb., p. 608. 

VOL. II. — T 



290 



CHANGES EFFECTEB 



PhUUp's 
difficulties. 



l79»-4 Other officers had similar opportaniiieB^ though not per- 
^ifjoyed?y ^^-P* ^^ g^od, foF Macarthur, as inspector of works, was 
*^*™* entitled to an extra grant, and had other special advantage?. 

Macarthur expressed astonishment at the marvellons change 
which had taken place since the departure of Grovemor 
Phillip a year and a half before ; but great as the change 
was, it need have excited no surprise. Phillip struggled 
against exceptionally adverse circumstances. He had been 
called upon to provide for batch after batch of sick convicts, 
who were a heavy burden ; and after the first year or two, 
when the strength of the settlement had to be employed 
chiefly in the erection of buildings, the supply of provisions 
was so short and so precarious that the convicts were too 
weak to cultivate the land with any chance of success. Grose 
occasionally experienced difficulties of a similar nature, but 
during the greater part of his term the supply of. food from 
England was plentiful. 

The correspondence which took place between Governor 
Hunter and the Home Department shows in what manner 
Grose's system, adopted entirely on. his own responsibility, 
worked. In a letter to Under Secretary King, 1st June, 
1797, two years after his return to the colony as Governor, 
Hunter had no difficulty in explaining why the settlement 
up to that time had been a disappointment to the British 
Government. The letter was a private one, but it does not 
lose importance on that account ; on the contrary, its value 
is enhanced by the circumstance that it was written with a 
freedom that could not be looked for in the official despatches. 
Hunter said : — 

" When you oome to examine the expences of this settlement 
since its numbers became considerably or since 1792, you will say 
that it has not answer'd the expectation of Government. But, 
sir, I feel no difficulty in declanng it to be my opinion tliat such 
disappointment has not proceeded from the nature of the country, 
but from other causes. There has not been any land cleared on 
the public account since the above period,* the people had been 

* This statement is -at rarianoe with that madid by the Surreyor-Qeneral — 
Augustus Alt — on 26th April, 1794 (Historical Becoids, toI. ii, p. 210), 



Hunter's 
comments 
on Grose's 
policy. 



BT aROBB. 291 

otherwise disposed of, and ^ib best land now in cnltivation is the 1708^ 
property of individuals. I have already, said what were the p^^^^n 
advantages derived to the colony by the aid aflforded from the "JJiJiJi^g 
public servants to officers upon their farms ; the labourers were 
better looked after, and the live stock was preserved. But there 
were at the same time considerable numbers of convicts dispers'd 
about in various ways, so as to have been completely lost to the 
public. Had those who had been so improperly disposed of been 
employ'd on Government's land already cleared, and in clearing at the 
more for the benefit of the public, I do not hesitate to say there the Ctovern- 
would not now have been the occasion to purchase so much grain ^^^ 
as we find at this time unavoidable ; but had that been the case, 
it wou'd have ruin'd the expectation of officers and settlers, whose 
interest appears to have been more considered." 

This statement mnst be read in connection with Grose's 
congratulatory report on the progress made during his 
term of office. It shows that while there were grounds for 
satisfaction at the development which had taken place in A^cniture 

* -T under OroBe 

agriculture, the results, to which the Lieutenant-Governor and Phiiiip 
pointed with so much pride^ had been obtained by a sacrifice 
of the public interest. Having at his disposal a larger 
number of workers than Phillip possessed, not men who were 
fainting with hunger and little capable of labour, but welU 
fed convicts, with strength to handle the hoe and spade, he 
disposed of them, according to Hunter's account, in such a 
way that the advantage which should have accrued to the 
Government was reaped by the officers. It is also to be noted 
that the best of the land then discovered had, according to The pick of 
Hunter's report, passed into the hands of the individuals. 
If no Crown reservations were made, this was the inevitable 
result of the system adopted, for those who took up land 
with a view to cultivating it would naturally select the spots 
that were considered best adapted for the purpose. 

according to whom the area of land cleared since the departure of Governor 
Phillip was as follows : — By ciyil and military officers, 9b2 acres ; by Govem- 
ment and yarions settlers, l,980i acres. CoUins states (toI. i, p. 865) that 
in the month of April, 1794, nearly 400 acres were sown with wheat on 
GoYemment account. 



292 CHANGES EFFECTED BY GROSE. 



1792-4 It ig hq^ probable that Grose would have admitted that 
oroee's he was doing wrong. Having deliberately adopted a policy, 
lie acted upon it with thoroughness. Knowing how difficult 
it was to obtain satisfactory results from conyict labour in 
the fields^ and being aware of a desire on the part of the 
officers to try their hands at farming, he ventured to give 
them an opportunity of showing what they could do. His 
despatches show that the steps he took in this matter were 
the result of a set purpose, and that as soon as he had made 
up his mind to turn the current into one direction he ceased 
to think of doing anything further to bring the land into 
^uerJ** cultivation for public purposes. The officers, he informed 
Dundas, were "the only description of settlers on whom 
reliance can be placed," and he should therefore " encourage 
their pursuit '' as much as was in his power.* 

* Historical Becords, vol. ii, p. 15. 




GOVERNOR KING. 



Beproduced by Heliotype from an origioal oil painting in the possession of the 
Hon. P. G. King, M.L.C. 



293 



GROSE^S TREATMENT OF KING. 

One of the blots on Grose's administration was his unjnst 1788-94 
treatment of Philip Gidley King, the Lieutenant-Governor Kinj at 
of Norfolk Island. King, who, in the first instance, was island, 
appointed Commandant by Phillip, planted a settlement on 
the island early in March, 1788, less than two months after 
the arrival of the First Fleet in Port Jackson ; and for two 
years he managed the affairs of the young colony to the 
satisfaction of the Gx)vernor-in-Chief and the authorities in 
England. In March, 1 790, Phillip placed Ross in charge, and g"*g?!j^ 
sent King home with despatches, at the same time strongly 
commending him to the Secretary of State for the Home 
Department and to the Lords of the Admiralty. The result 
was that he was promoted from the rank of lieutenant in the 
Navy to that of commander, and was honoured with a 
Commission appointing him Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk 
Island. He resumed the government in November, 1791, 
and at the time when he came into collision with Grose he 
had been more than two years in his second term of govern- 
ment, which he had conducted so successfully that Norfolk ^^''JF'Jl 
Island was almost able to support itself with animal food, 
and had produced so much corn that it was in a position to 
give help to the elder settlement. A large part of the land 
was under cultivation by settlers, consisting of men from 
the Marine Force, sailors who had been discharged from the 
Sirius, and convicts who had either been emancipated or had 
served their sentences. The island settlement was in fact 
in a most thriving condition until 1793-94, when a series of 
events occurred which provoked the interference o{ Grose. 



294 gross's TSEATMEKT 

17M King, in his capacity as Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk 

Disputes. Island, gave o£Pence to Grose in three ways — ^First, his depar- 
ture from the island on a trip to New Zealand without having 
obtained leave from head-quarters ; second, the appointment 
of Captain Nepean to the command during his absence ; and 
third, the course he pursued in suppressing a mutiny of the 
soldiers who formed the garrison. 

Taking the subjects in order, we have first of all King's 
unauthorised departure. He left Norfolk Island for an im- 
portant purpose, as it seemed to him — ^namely, to retnm two 
£S\5r**"** ^^^ Zealand natives to their homes. He was not absent 
for more than ten days, and affairs, during his absence, 
were in competent hands. It did not occur to him to ask 
permission from the Lieutenant-Governor of New South 
wnvej'B Wales, under whose authority he was. Had King waited 
thSf homes, f^r permission to leave the island he would have been 
unable to accompany the New Zealanders to their homes. 
Possibly he had in his mind the course taken by Phillip, 
who left Sydney to return to England without having 
received formal authority to do so.* But the two cases are 
not parallel. When Phillip left New South Wales there was 
a Lieutenant-Governor, whose Commission authorised him 
to take charge of the colony, in the absence or death of the 
Governor ; at Norfolk Island there was no one to take the 
place of the Lieutenant-Governor, by virtue of any Order 
or Commission; and without the permission of Grose, King 
was not at liberty to leave his post. 

<J^^- The natives of New Zealand had been captured, under 

Se^*were*^^ instructions received from the Secretary of State, for the 

captured, purpose of affording information to the convicts and settlers 

at Norfolk Island concerning the manufacture of cordage 

and clothing from the flax-plant. At first the captives 

were sullen and dejected, and refused to communicate what 

* Groie also gare up the G-OTemment of Kew South Wal« and sat sail for 
England without permission, but he excused himself on the ground of 
neoeflflity. 



OF KIN& r296 

little knowledge they poSBeB£sed. It was soon discovered^ '^'^ 
however^ that their refusal was not due to ill-will^ but to 
<the apprehension that if they disclosed their knowledge 
of the subject they would be compelled to work at the unwuiing to 
flax-making. When it had been es^lained to them^ how- 
ever^ that labour would not be exacted &om them^ and 
that if they would teach what they knew they should be 
sent back to their homes at the earliest opportunity^ they 
rreadily complied^ and became more reconciled to their situa- 
tion. One of them, however, was a priest, and the other a a pHort and 
chief, and it was soon found that they possessed only a 
general knowledge of flax-manu&cture, and not the skill of 
experts, the thing that was particularly required. Accord- 
ing to King, all the information they possessed was extracted 
from them in an hour.* King treated them with great 
kindness, lodging them in his own house, and having them 
at his own table, and they becaane much attached to him. Kindly 

^ , „ . , . treated by 

But they were naturally anxious to return to their country King, 
and their friends, and having performed their part of the 
compact, they implored Eling to carry out his promise and 
send them back to New Zealand. They had been twice 
disappointed, when favourable opportunities for their return 
had occurred. 

Early in November, 1793, the storeship Britannia arrived 
at Norfolk Island on her way to Calcutta, whither she had 
.been despatched for supplies. The wind being unfavour- 
able for continuing the voyage, and likely to remain so for 
some time. King resolved to employ her in returning the King visits 
New Zealanders to their country, and to go with them in the 
himself. Grose could not see why the Lieutenant-Governor 
of the settlement should leave his post to escort two savages 
to their homes; but King had substantial reasons. The 
New 2iealanders were influential men in their own coun- 
try, and had been trepanned under circumstances which 
must have produced a very strong feeling of anger among 

• Sing to XhmdaHi^ 19tli NoTembex, 1708. 



296 GEOSE's TBEATMENT 

I'^W the people of the Bay of Islands against white men^ and 

particularly those of the English race. The only way to 

condUiatinff rcmove that impression, and to obtain the friendship of the 

the lUttiVQSt r»iT» 1 * It "3 

New Zealand natives, was to treat the captives well and 
to return them to their homes. Although the master of 
the Britannia, Captain Raven, was a man in whom full 
confidence could be placed, yet King seems to have been 
nervously apprehensive that some evil might befall his 
friends if he did not keep them under his protection to 
the very last. The natives had been treated by King so 
well during their enforced residence on the island that he 
had no difficulty in managing them ; but it was possible that 
if they were sent on board a vessel among people to whom 
they were not accustomed, some unpleasantness, if nothing 
worse, might arise. Besides, in landing the men in New 

Tribal wan. Zealand, caution was required, for some of the tribes were 
at war, and if any mistake was made the consequences would 
have been fatal to the captives. 

Apart from considerations of this sort. King was intensely 
anxious to make a favourable impresaion on the natives of 
New Zealand, a country which he thought would be a valu- 
able acquisition to the British Crown. Unlike Collins, who 

The first entertained a poor opinion of the place, based upon the 

reports on j. x: x ^ ^ x 

New report made by the master of the Francis,* King was con- 

fident that New Zealand was a valuable country, and he 
lost no opportunity of urging the propriety of colonising it. 
He kept the subject under the notice of the Government in 
his despatches, which show that he had a strong desire to 
become the founder of a settlement in New Zealand. But 
he received no encouragement, and many years elapsed 
before any steps were taken to add New Zealand to the 
list of occupied British possessions.t 

• The Francis was launched in July, 1793, and was sent hy Groee to Dusky 
Bay soon afterwards to spy out the land. — Collins, toI. i, pp. 807, 821. 

t In a private letter to Nepean, 19th November, 1793. King says :— "I api 
confident much publick good would result to the commerce of G-reat Britain 
and these colonies if a settlement was made at the Bay of Islands on the riyer 



OP KING* 297 

King explained to Dundas at some length in Us de- ^^M 
spatches of tlie 19th November, 1793, and lOth March, Kinp 
1794, the reasons which induced him to leave Norfolk Smidaa, 
Island and escort the New Zealand natives, in person, to 
their homes.* 

They were received by a number of friends with great 
demonstrations of joy, and some pleasant intercourse took 
place between the New Zealand natives and the people on 
board the Britannia.f After making a thoroughly good Jjjj^'^^"^ 
impression on the natives, and promising to visit them natives, 
again, King returned to Norfolk Island, where he arrived 
after an absence of ten days. He had the satisfaction of 
finding that during his absence everything had been 
conducted with the greatest propriety. 

The closing passage of his letter of the 19th November, 
1793, addressed to Dundas, shows that Eing was somewhat 
doubtful whether the Secretary of State would altogether 
approve of the trip to New Zealand. " Should any part of f^ g^?® 
my conduct not be approved of in the proceedings which I ***«°ce. 
have had the honour to state," he wrote, " I hope my zeal for 
wishing to forward his Majesty^ s service and to convey 
useful information will offer some excuse in my favour.^J 
Although he was severely censured by Grose for this and ^^^ 
for other steps which he took at about the same time, yet ^*°^- 
his voyage to New Zealand and back, taken without the 

Thames. , • • Since my return from that country I am more confirmed 
in its apparent utility." Ketuming to the subject at the close of the letter, 
he irrole : — *' If N.Z. should be seriously thought on, would it not be advisable 
for some person to examine the country before any people are sent there ? 
I should bare no objection to performing that seryice, which might be com- 
pleted in two months on sailing from hence." In another letter to Nepean, 
written about the same time, King says : — '* If it should be thought necessary 
to settle K.Z., and I should happen to be the person fixed on, I hope my 
family, which is now growing numerous, will be considered." — ^Historical 
Hecords, vol. ii, pp. 79, 96. 

• lb., pp. 87, 164. 

t King took with him on this trip the Bev. Jas. Bain, assistant chaplain, 
Mr. Thomas Jamieson, surgeon, Mr. W. N. Chapman, storekeeper, two non- 
commissioned officers of the Kew South Wales Corps, and twelve privates. 

X Historical Beoords, vol. ii, p. 92. . . 



gross's TEIULTMEKT 

1W8 fkuthority'of the Govemor-in-Oliief, was the only part of 
King's condnot wiiich the Home Department considered 
open to qnestion.'^ So £ar aa can be gathered from the 
Records, King had no idea that his condnot, either in this 
or in other matters, would have excited the displeaBnie of 
Grose ; the avalanche of censure which he brought down on 
his head astonished as well as grieyed him. 

As regards King's absence from the colony withont 
having first obtained permission, Grose's displeasure^ as 
already suggested, was caused not so much by the act itself 
as by the choice of a substitute. Grose's view was that the 

5?*uSto officer in charge of the detachment of the New South Wales 
Corps, Lieutenant Abbott, should have been selected; and 
no doubt that was th^ appointment which in ordinary circum- 
stances would have been made. Lieutenant Abbott, of the 
garrison in Norfolk Island, was next in authority to King, 
and the control of affairs in case of the death of the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor would have devolved upon him. But King 
had reasons for not giving the command to Abbott. In the 
first place, as he explained in his letter to Dundas, the only 

offloerB of officers of the corps stationed on the island were subalterns, 

marines at . *^ ^ ' 

Nojjoik three in number, and if Abbott had been appointed acting 
Lieutenant-Governor, no Court-martial could have been held. 
This can hardly be regarded as a very serious obstacle, 
inasmuch as King did not propose to be absent more than 
a few days. But for an accident, however, he would have 
been obliged to appoint Abbott, or abandon his New Zealand 
trip. The Britannia, which was employed to convey the New 

§^^ Zealanders to their homes, brought from Sydney Captain 
Nepean, the senior captain of the Corps,t who was on his 
way to England, having obtained leave of absence on the 
ground of ill-health. Being on leave. Captain Nepean was 
not liable, under ordinary circumstances, to be called upon 
for duty of any sort, but King regarded the case as one of 

• Pott, p. 816. 
t Ante, p. 96. . . 



Got UNA. (299 

emergency, and he therefore requested Nepean to take his "^^^ 
place while he was absent. Nepean raised no objection, placed 
•and the appointment was made in an Order in which it during 
was stated that Nepean was called upon to undertake this abseooo. 
duty because it was " necessary that a sufficient number 
of officers belonging to the New South Wales Corps should 
remain on the island to order and compose regimental 
Courts-martial/^ TSlng stated these reasons formally in a 
despatch to Dundas.* But they were not the only ones 
which influenced him in the choice of a hcum tenens. In a 
private letter to the Under Secretary of the Home Depart- 
ment (Eyan Nepean) ,t King stated that Lieutenant Abbott 
had some months before taken an active part in certain 
quarrels between the soldiers and settlers, and was not, Jvc«on 

T- ' ^ between 

therefore, a desirable man to be entrusted with the com- 8olS«» w»d 
mand. In addition, the subaltern next in rank below Abbott 
was alleged to be addicted to habits of intemperance, and, 
therefore, ineligible to take Abbott's place. Lieutenant 
Abbott was not disposed to give way to Captain Nepean ad obstinate 
without a protest. He contemptuously declared his inten- ** ^' 
tion of refusing to take any notice of King's Order, and 
alleged that he did so not in his own name only, but in that 
of the subaltern's as well. J 

This occurred the night before King's departure for 
New Zealand. If Abbott had persisted, other steps would 
tave been necessary, but having slept on the matter, he 
adopted a more prudent course. He went to King the 
Tiext morning, and told him that " he should not retard Abbott's 

attitude 

the service by continuing a disobedience to the Order, but towards 
that he should represent the oppression that he laboured 

♦ Historical Becords, vol. ii, p. 87. f lb., p. 97. 

X Abbott ofterirards aoknowledgad that he had no authority to use the 
names of these officers. King told Nepean that be " receiTed a letter from 
Ensign Piper denying that he had ever given Lieut. Abbott the least 
reason to make use of his name (in refusing to obey the order), as Lient. 
Abbott had not even spoken to him on Uiis business previous to his (Lieut. 
A.) coming to me, and making use 4if both the officers' names. The other 
Bub*n was so much intoxicated irith liquor that he was incapable of giving 
any opinion.'' 



300 GEOSS'S TREATMENT 

X794 under." In saying that he should represent the ^' oppres- 
sion" he suffered, he meant, no doubt, that he would report 
it to his commanding officer in Sydney, as well as to the 
War Office, and there can be little doubt that Abbotfs 
representation of the case had a great deal to do with the 
anger which the proceedings excited in Grose's mind. 

King's For some reason, which is not explained. King did not 

letters to -.^ i.ii., 

oroee. send to Groso a separate statement of the reasons which 
induced him to go to New Zealand, and to appoint Nepean 
instead of Abbott, to take charge in his absence. Instead 
of doing that, he left open his despatch to Dundas, to 
which Grose was referred for information. This, in itself^ 
may have been regarded as a want of respect. 

On the 30th January, when the Francis was abont to 
return to Port Jackson, King wrote to Grose a long account 

ttS w&iere. ^^ niatters of far greater consequence — the mutinous conduct 
of a portion of the detachment, and the measures he had 
taken to protect the settlers and convicts. Grose's reply, 
written on the 25th February, 1794,* was ip. form an official 
despatch ; in substance it was an outburst of unreasonable 

oroee'8 anger and petulance : it dealt with King's action in regard 
to the return of the New Zealand natives, and also with 
the steps taken to subdue the mutinous soldiers. In regard 
to the former. King's action was declared to be an attempt 
to lessen the importance of Grose's office. The appoint- 
ment of Captain Nepean would, Grose alleged, have afforded 
Lieutenant Abbott good grounds for resisting King's orders 5 
and the detention of the Britannia was unjustifiable and 
deserving of the highest censure. 

Grose makes it appear in this despatch that the chief 
causes of his displeasure were King's departure from 

hjB dis- Norfolk Island without permission, and the return of the 

pleasure. ■*■ 

New Zealanders before his intentions regarding them had 
been ascertained. But it is evident, from the little atten- 

* Historical Becords, vol. ii, p. 125. 



OP KING^ SOI 

tion that is bestowed on these points in the subsequent ^''^ 
correspondence^ that these were not the real causes. 

Grose seems to have thought that as the New Zealand ^^[^ ^^^ 
natives had been delivered to him by Lieutenant Hanson^ SiKsuwed 
and been forwarded by him to Norfolk Island, therefore, 
when they were no longer required there, they should have 
been sent back to Sydney. King himself intended in the 
first instance to take this course,* but there was no ship 
going to Port Jackson, and he adopted the readiest way of 
returning the captives to their homes. Apart from ques- 
tions of etiquette and official rule. King did right. To send King's 
the natives back to Port Jackson, so that the Lieutenant- defended. 
Governor there might forward them to New Zealand in 
his own way, would have served no useful purpose. More- 
over, King had given his word to the natives that if they 
would communicate the information they possessed they 
should be returned to their homes by the first ship. Under 
this promise they gave the information, and claimed the 
fulfilment of the undertaking. They had been '' thrice dis- 
appointed," and were making "hourly lamentations" because 
they were still detained on Norfolk Island. King went out 
of his way to restore the captives to their homes, from 
motives of humanity and policy, not with the object of 
invading the authority or position of his superior officer. 
If Grose really thought that this had been done, the 
explanation given by King in his letter of the 19th March, 
1794, ought to have amply satisfied him. 

Eang^s appointment of Captain Nepean as his substitute. Real caiue 
instead of Lieutenant Abbott, appears to have been the real anger. 
cause of Grose^s anger. He had determined that military 
rule should prevail in the settlements. Almost the first 
step he took on assuming the government was to destroy 
the civil authority in New South Wales, and establish a 
military autocracy. With the arrangements of Norfolk 

* King to Grose, 19th March, 1794.— Historical Becords, vol. ii, p. 178. 



302 



geosb's TBFATMENT 



1794 

Military 
tTernu civil 
authori^. 



An 
imaginary 

sUght. 



The mutiny 
at Norfolk 
Island. 



King's 
narrative. 



Origin of the 
mutiny. 



Island he did not then interfere, apparently because no 
qnestion as to the status of the military had arisen. Bnt 
King's action in appointing Nepean, and afterwards in 
suppressing a mutiny among the soldiers^ raised the question 
in a very pointed manner. The Nepean appointment and ihe 
mutiny had nothing to do with each other, but information 
concerning the whole of the ^ansactions — the visit to New 
Zealand, the appointment of Captain Nepean, the conse- 
quent difficulty with Lieutenant Abbott, and the suppression 
of the mutiny — reached Grose at one and the same time, and 
were considered together. King's proceedings throughout 
appear to have been regarded by Grose as a deliberate design, 
not only to flout his authority, but to belittle the military 
power which it was his determination to make paramount. 
Grose's extravagant condemnation of King was not endorsed 
by the authorities at Whitehall.* Before adverting to the 
extreme measures which Grose took to disparage Ki n g and 
propugn the military, it is necessary to relate the leading 
circumstances of the mutiny and its suppression. The affair 
was the subject of numerous despatches and reports. A full 
and consecutive narrative will bo found in King's despatch 
to Dundas of the 10th March, 1794.t This account was 
written by King with the view of setting himself right 
with the English authorities. It was transmitted through 
Grose, who was asked to read it and forward it to the 
Secretary of State with whatever observations he thought 
it desirable to make. When Grose wrote his covering letter 
(eight months after the events had transpired) his resent- 
ment appears to have moderated, for he informed the Duke 
of Portland that the facts were 'Wery fairly and exactly 
stated " by King. The narrative may be regarded, there* 
fore, as an impartial and accurate statement of the facts. 

King, in stating his case, traced the origin of the 
mutinous disturbance to the intimacy which had sprung up 
between the soldiers and the convicts; a practice which he 

* Post, p. 316. t HUigriciil Becoida, vol. ii, p. 186. 



OS* KTSGt, 30a 

imsnccessfully endeavonred to prevent, although seconded, ^^^ 
bnt not Tory actively, by the officers. At first the two classes 
were on the best of terms, bnt they began to drink and 
gamble together, and the natural consequences followed. 
Quarrels arose, which at first were merely personal, but as 
the convicts and soldiers, when their disputes brought them 
under the notice of the authorities, were not dealt with 
alike, the two classes became hostile to each other, andciAM 

antipathies. 

a very bitter feeling was engendered. The quarrel was 
aggravated by the licentiousness of some of the soldiers, 
who intrigued with the wives of the convict settlers, and 
continued their improper conduct affcer they had been 
ordered by their officers to desist. A soldier named 
Windsor, who had seduced a settler's wife and had been 
forbidden to go near the place, enticed the woman from her 
home, and the husband met the two together. In his anger 
he struck the soldier, who made a complaint. The settler. The settler 
a man named Dring,* whose sentence as a convict had tidier? 
expired, was brought before the Justices, who fined him 
twenty shillings. As the defendant had not the means of 
payment. King allowed the fine to stand over until he had 
got in his crops. He was also required to give securifcy for 
good behaviour towards Windsor for twelve months. The 
soldiers, who had placed themselves upon a level with the 
convict population by voluntarily associating with them, con- 
sidered it a heinous offence for one of that class to strike a 
member of the Corps, and an outcry arose both against the 
levity of the sentence and its suspension by the Lieutenant- 
Governor. A settler named Smith, who was a friend of 
Dring and became his surety, was drawn into the quarrel. 
Other disputes followed. The parties complained of each open 

* -I . rupture. 

other to the magistrates, who ordered in one instance a 
hundred lashes to a convict named Cooper for striking a 
soldier, but the punishment was remitted by King at the 
request of the soldier and his comrades. 

* Dring wBB empiojrd as coxBwain of tiie boati, and vrat described by 
King as a yerj useful man. — Historical Beeords, yoL ii, p. X(yk, 



304 GBOSEl's TEBATMENT 

1794 TUngB were brought to a crisis on one Saturday evening, 

A playhouse the 18th January, when a play was being performed by the 
freed men* and convicts, with the permission of the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, who was present at the entertainment.f 
It is clear from what followed that the soldiers had made 
mStetod ^P *^®^^ mind to create a disturbance. Some time before 
dteturbanoe. the performance commenced, one of the non-commissioned 
officers of the detachment. Sergeant Whittle, entered the 
theatre, and insisted on occupying a seat which had been 
reserved for the Lieutenant-Governor's servants. He was 
remonstrated with by a discharged convict, named Crowder, 
who was a constable as well as one of the managers of the 
entertainment. Whittle refused to give way, and a scuffle 
ensued, in which he received a blow from Crowder. The 
disturbance which resulted was over before King entered 
Soldiers the the place. He noticed, however, that a number of the 

aggressors. •*■ 

soldiers had come into the playhouse ill-dressed and dirty, 
and with a demeanour that indicated their temper- After 
the performance a collision between the soldiers and their 
opponents took place, which wore a serious aspect from the 
fact that the soldiers, who were very excited, had, in defiance 
of orders, armed themselves with bayonets. King, whose 
house stood not more than twenty yards from the place of 
King quells entertainment, heard the tumult and ran out. Seizing the 
disturbance, first man he could get hold of, a soldier named Bannister, 

* Men Trho had been conTicts, but had become settlers upon the expintion 
of their sentences or by emancipation. 

t King, in his Journal, explains his reasons for sanctioning the plaj : — 
" A short time ago one of the magistrates informed me that some of the free 
men and couTicts had applied to him to request mj permitting them to got 
up a play, and to allow them to perform it on Saturdays, when thej were 
perfect in their respective parts. As indulsing them in this request did not 
interfere with the publick work, and as such amusements (when unattended 
with licentious behariour) tend to unbend and divert the mind, I very readily 
gave my consent, on condition that the magistrate who made Uie application 
would see it conducted with decency and propriety. With some little 
assistance the scenery, &c., was well arranged, and two plays were performed 
during this month, in which the actors acquitted themselves with great pro> 

griety, and the utmost regularity and decency was observed." This was in 
eptember, 1798, three months before the disturbance occurred. Theatrical 
performances were afterwards prohibited. 



or ETNTG. i66 

who was rushing about with a bayonet in his hand and '^'^^ 
using violent threats^ he handed him over to the guards 
and ordered the people to disperse. The order was at once 
obeyed. But from this point the affair took a serious turn. 
The soldiers, excited though they were at the time, did not 
venture to resist King^s authority, but they called upon 
Lieutenant Abbott to give Bannister his liberty. Lieu- 
tenant Abbott refused their request, and advised them to 
retire to their barracks. This they did ; but, from a statement 
made to Lieutenant Abbott by a drummer named Coulston, 
it appeared that they had formed a determination to release a mutinous 

detachment 

their comrade, Bannister, by force if their request was not 
complied with by the oflScers. On the following day. Lieu- 
tenant Abbott, having heard something of what was going 
on, ^^ read to the detachment the oath of fidelity, and spoke 
to them, saying that he would support his authority while on 
this island.^' When the men got into the barracks the ques- 
tion was discussed, and one of the number, a private named 
Cardell, said that " they must support their authority too> 
and that no men of the detachment should ever be punished 
on this island on account of a prisoner, which was said like- 
wise by Wilkinson, and the men all consented to."* 

Although, as it turned out, only a portion of the detach- }^?^^ ^, 
ment was seriously disaffected, it was apparent to King *^*^®- 
that a dangerous mutiny was on foot. The position was one 
of gravity, and immediate action was necessary. If the 
mutineers chose to carry their intention into effect, there 
Was no force to stop them. They had possession of arms, 
and, if they acted together, the settlement was at their 
mercy. King, after mature consideration, made up his 
mind that the best course to pursue was to deprive the 
mutineers of their arms, to appeal to the loyalty of the The soidiera 
well-disposed, and to enrol as a militia the men of the 
marines who had taken up land as settlers, and were 
thus interested in the preservation of order. The plan was^ 

♦ Historical Becordd, vol. ii, p. 190. - 

VOL. II. — U 



806 geose's teeatmekt 

1794 carried out, but not on the Lieutenant-Governor's own 
responsibility. King was well aware that such a step would 
be a reflection on the detachment, and that it was not likely 
to be regarded with satisfaction by the Commandant at 
Sydney. Before taking action, therefore, he determined to 
suitationoc consult all the officers in the settlement, both civil and 
military, and as it would have been impossible to assemble 
the military officers at his quarters without exciting the 
suspicion of the soldiers and so jeopardising the scheme, he 
wrote out an Order, and had it laid before the officers in 
detail. His views commended themselves to the judgment 
of the whole staff, both civil and military, and the action 
which followed was the result of an unanimous decision, to 
which the officers of the Corps subscribed as readily as those 
who belonged to the civil departments. It is important to 
bear this in mind in considering the attitude assumed by 
Grose, who threw the whole responsibility upon King. 

The disarming of the detachment having been decided 
upon, the next question was how to bring it about. If the 
men had been openly required to give up their arms they 
would probably have refused, in which case disastrous con- 

SbtoiSS'by sequences would have ensued. It was accordingly resolved 

Btrategy ^^ resort to stratagem. 

Early on the morning of the 22nd January, a large body 
of the soldiers was sent to Phillip Island for the purpose of 
collecting wild-fowl feathers, and at the same time another 
portion was ordered on duty to Queenborough, one of the 
out settlements. The soldiers left at head-quarters were 
believed to be well affected, although under the influence of 
the mutineers. At nine o^clock, a number of settlers having 
been previously assembled in the Lieutenant-Governor's 
iLOuse, Lieutenant Abbott, with Ensign Piper and Mr. 
Grimes, Deputy Surveyor-General, took possession of the 
arms belonging to the guard on duty. They were then 
joined by Lieutenant Beckwith^ who, with some of the 



OF KING. 307 

settlers, took the arms out of the barracks, without any I''®* 
opposition except that offered by the sergeant on duty, 
wbo^ on seeing Lieoteiisnt Abbott, desisted at once. 
On the return of the men from Phillip Island and Queen- 
borough, the ringleaders, twenty in number, nearly one- Arrest of the 
third of the detachment, were arrested and placed in ™* *"* 
confinement.* 

Having assembled the people, King read a proclamation, 
which set forth the reasons which had led to the disarming 
of the detachment, and the determination of himself and 
the officers of the settlement to maintain order. He took 
advantage of the occasion to remove the impression which 
appeared to have existed — quite unfounded, as the facts 
prove — that he had shown partiality to the convicts in their 
disputes with the soldiers. He denounced the person or King 
persons who had circulated the false report, and declared the 
that he would ''as zealously protect^' the soldiers "from 
injustice or detraction '* as he would exert himself to " pre- 
serve good order and to defend the liberty of the subject 
from all unlawful oppression." Those members of the 
detachment who " had a just sense of the iniquity of their 
refractory comrades" were assured that there was no in- 
tention of attributing any blame to them. The result of 
the proceedings was that the whole of the detachment, except 
the mutineers, took the oath of fidelity, and order was re- 
established. As a precaution, however, against further Re»toration 
aggression. King decided to embody as a mihtia the marine ®'°'^^- 
and seamen settlers, forty-four in number. They were de- 
scribed by King as '' very steady men, and good soldiers," 
The Government schooner Francis opportunely arrived not 
many hours after order had been restored, and King resolved 
to send the mutineers to Sydney for triah As the little 
vessel could not conveniently carry twenty prisoners, ten 
of the number were pardoned. Lieutenant Beckwith, four 
non-commissioned officers, and two privates were sent as a 

* Hifltorioal Becords, toI. ii, p. 148. 



30&^ GUOSE'a TREATMENT 

^^^ guard, and Beckwith was instruoted to give to Grose a fuD 
account of the mutiny and its result. 

King, being anxious to get rid of the mutineers, and to 
^tincen ^®'^® intelligence of the disturbance conveyed to Sydney, 
g^jjj^^ despatched the Francis as soon as- possible, and was, there- 
fore, unable to write a full account of the affair to his 
superior. This was an unfortunate circumstance. It was 
not at an probable that Grose would have received tie 
intelligence with equanimity even if the unwelcome nefws 
had been accompanied by a complete explanation, but King 
would certainly have done more justice to himself and the 
officers who acted with him, if he had sent at once the 
fullest possible statement, instead of leaving Gk>ose to obtain 
information from Lieutenant Beckwith and the fragmentary 
reports of which he was the bearer. 
a^Dti a Upon the arrival of the Francis at Sydney, Grose directed 
in<S^! ^6 whole of the officers of the Corps then on duty at head- 
quarters to form themselves into a Court of Inquiry to 
investigate the circumstances of the mutiny. Grose's letter 
calling the Court together was decidedly antagonistic to 
Eang. It concluded with a direction to igndeavour to dis* 
cover if there was not some excuse or reason for the mutinous 
conduct of the soldiers, and to ascertain whether King's 
action in disarming the detachment was justified.* 

The The evidence on which the Court was expected to decide 

evidence. ^ 

consisted of the meagre account contained in King's letter 
of 30th January, 1794jt the depositions and General Orders 
which accompanied it ; an extract from a private letter from 
King to Grose; and the viva voce testimony of the accused 
and their guards, 
nie flndinfir The finding of the Court, which was tnost adverse to 

of the Court. o ^ ' 

King, can only be explained on the assumption that the 
officers who were sent as guards and witnesses, particalarly 
Lieutenant Beckwith, withheld from the Court a great deal- 

* HiBtoricil Beooids^ yo\. ii, p. 127* t Tbk, p. 103. 



severe 
censure on 



OF Kma. (309 

of importaait information. In no single particular was ^'^^ 
•King's action approved of. Wtile admitting that the 
conduct of the soldiers was ^^ highly reprehensible," and 
"certainly mutinous/', the Court was of opinion that 
they ought to have been absolved from blame by reason 
of the provocation and insult they had received. In 
fact, it so far condoned their crime as to express its belief 
that they had been forced to mutiny by the *' licentious 
behaviour " of the convicts. The extreme measure of dis- 
arming the detachment was declared to have been quite 
unnecessary. The Court animadverted in the most severe a 
terms upon the policy of King in regard to the disputes SiS! 
between the soldiers and convicts, and expressed its belief 
that the general conduct of the soldiers on the island 
would not have discredited any regiment in his Majesty's 
service. 

The finding of the Court was sent to King by Grose on arose 
the 25th February, 1794, with a very angry and intemper- toding. 
ately-worded despatch, and a General Order regulating the 
procedure to be observed in subsequent disputes between 
the soldiers and convicts.* 

. In the despatch Grose expressed his astonishment and 
mortification at what he termed King's " ill-judged and 
unwarrantable proceedings." His opinions coincided in 
every point with those of the Court, and in giving expression 
to them he made no effort to conceal his anger and resent- 
ment beneatii the courteous forms of official correspondence. 
fie declared that the manner in which the convicts had been He npbnuds 
allowed by King to act towards the-soldiers was "sufficient "^' 
to provoke the most obedient to out;rage," and directed him 
to immediately disband the militia he had formed, and to send 
i^eir arma to -Sydney. Lieutenant To wnson was sent to take 
command of the detachment, and King was referred to him 
for all instructions conoeming the control of the military. 

'*^Histonfifki:B^cbrd8,y(>l.ii, p. liBOi 



310 6E0S£ S TEEATMENT 

^^^ It is only just to Grose and his officers, however, to 

assume, as King did, that Lieutenant Beckwith had not com- 
municated all he knew, and that therefore the decision was 
^idenoe arrived at on incomplete evidence. In regard to King's 
Imperfect, actiou in disarming the detachment, the evidence brought 
forward by him in his despatch to Dundas of 10th March, 
1794,* and in his letters to Grose, shows that when the 
decision was arrived at the men had got completely beyond 
control. They had not only committed an act of mutiny in 
arming themselves and attacking the convicts, they had 
distinctly refused to obey the orders of the officer in com- 
mand, and had announced their intention of refusing to 
submit to any discipline in cases where the convicts were 
l^g*^ concerned. They had practically thrown ofiE authority. King 
Justified, -^as fully Warranted in informing Dundas that, had a less 
effective step been taken, the whole detachment would have 
risked the consequences of resisting the authority of their 
officers. 

In a letter to Grose, of the 19th March, 1794,t King 
further explained that it was not simple refractoriness on 
the part of the soldiers that led to the serious step of 
disarming them. He called attention to the threats of 
violence made by the soldiers against the settlers and con- 
victs, as testified to by Coulston the drummer, Spencer a 
marine settler, and DoUis a convict of "general good 
character,^' and the alarm felt among the people that the 
SidSon threats would be made good. He also pointed to the fact 
Bet&ient. ^^^^ ^^^ soldiers had made known their determination to 
prevent the execution of the sentence of a Court-martial on 
one of their number for an offence against a convict. But 
for these circumstances, " no steps of the kind which weie 
taken would ever have been thought of." King assured 
Grose that he had acted from a sense of duty, and had 
taken the only course which seemed likely to be effective. 
He saw that Grose and the officers who constituted the 

* Historical Records, toI. ii, p. 185. f lb., p. 178. 



OP KING. 311 

Court of Inquiry had taken offence because, as it seemed ^^^ 
to them, an unnecessary reflection had been cast upon the 
Corps. He did his best to convince Grose that he had dis- 
armed the detachment with extreme reluctance and under the 
pressure of necessity, and that he had no desire to cast any 
reflection upon those who were orderly and well disposed. 

Grose's General Order* for the future government of the General 

*-' Ordera of 

island, which accompanied his letter of the 25th February, oroae. 
1794, was a most remarkable document. It practically 
placed the soldier beyond the reach of the established Court sowior 
of Justice. In case any assault, however aggravated, was convict 
committed by a convict or expiree upon a member of the 
Corps, the General Order directed the accused ^'imme- 
diately to be given up to commanding officer," who was 
empowered to order him to be flogged by the drummers of 
the detachment — even though he had received the greatest 
provocation or had acted in self-defence. The Order, it will 
be observed, was to apply not only to convicts but to those 
who, having completed their period of transportation, were 
free men. Similarly, the soldier was, if charged with any 
irregularities, to be called before his officers, who would 
adjudicate, and whose decision was to have the effect of a 
verdict of the Bench of Magistrates. On no account what- 
ever was a convict constable to interfere with a soldier, even 
though engaged in the commission of a crime. The system 
thus introduced indicates how determined Grose was that 
military forms and procedure should dominate the settle- Ascendancy 
ment at Norfolk Island, as they did at Sydney. miutary. 

The clause which directed that convict constables (i.e., 
men who had been chosen as constables after they had served 
their sentences, or had been emancipated) were not on 
any pretence to stop or seize a soldier, recalls the dispute 
between Phillip and Ross as to the powers of the convict 
night- watch.t Phillip, for the sake of peace and quietness, a historic 
withdrew a regulation which empowered the watch to detain 

* Historical Beoorcb, vol. ii, p. 130, + See Vol. i, pp. 113, 118. 



ii3 gross's teeathent 

^^^ «oldiers and sailors who were found straggling at night. 
•Grose, who was Governor at Sydney, as well as conxmander 
txf the Corps, went farther. He ordered that the constables 
were not to interfere with a soldier, '^although he should 
be detected in an unlawful act/^ Interpreting this Order 
J"«°i»ityo' strictly, a soldier might have been found robbing the 
fromarreit Government stores or committing a murder, but the con- 
stables were not to take any steps to restrain the offender; 
they were to ^^ endeavour to make themselves acquainted 
with his person,^' and then give information to the military 
authorities. This rule was emphasised in another Order, 
which directed that all complaints against soldiers were to 
be laid before the commanding officer of the detachment, 
^' who will never suffer the soldier to be given to the custody 
of a convict constable/' On the other hand, any soldier, 
whether an officer or a private, was on his own responsibility 
to apprehend any convict who misbehaved. It was necessary 
to give the soldiers this power, of course ; and there would 
have been no objection to the Order had it not been accom- 
panied by others, which placed the soldiers beyond the 
reach of any authority but that of their officers. 

Grose's While these Orders were injurious in themselves^ ther 

of King. were degrading to the Lieutenant-Governor of the island, 
who found his position lowered and his authority contemned. 
The wrong was more grievous by reason of the harsh lan- 
guage in which the instructions were communicated. 

While he did not for a moment dispute Grose's right to 

make these extraordinary changes in the government of the 

island, nor forget for a moment the respect due to his official 

King's superior, Kiag made a vigorous protest to Dundas against 

Dundfts. the unjust and degrading treatment he had received.* He 

pointed out that Grose's order was an implied accusation of 

Hed«niM leniency on his part towards the convict settlers as against 

chMgeS!^ the soldiers. He indignantly denied the charge, pointing 

' * Historioal Beoords, vol. ii, p. 169. 



OV KIN€k 313 

out that wbdnever Gompladzts of ihis sort had been made ^^ 
the accused persous had been brought before the Justices 
and dealt with. The Magistrates in those oases had inflicted 
fines^ a punishment which Grose cousidered ridiculouslj 
inadequate to the ofEence ; nothing short of a floggings in 
his view, would meet offences of this enormity. But the a point ot 

' -^ law. 

Magistrates, aided by Eang and Biaokstone, had come to 
the conclusion that they could not, under the laws of 
England, which they were supposed to follow, order the 
lash to be applied to free men, even for assaulting a soldier. 
Grose met this difficulty by depriving the Magistrates of 
-their authority, and placing the Governor of the island 
below the lieutenant who had charge of the detachment. 

Grose's instructions — the main part of them at all events oroae's 

. -I t . rn t Instructions 

— -were mimediatety earned out. Lieutenant Townson took compuod 
-the place of Lieutenant Abbott, who was recalled, the Orders 
were promulgated, and Norfolk Island, like New South 
■Wales, was brought under military rule. The militia, 5^«°j9|"* 
consisting of men who had served in Ross's detachment of 
marines, was disbanded, and the arms with which the men 
had been supplied were taken away from them, though not 
without a protest on their part. It seems that these settlers, 
when they took up land at Norfolk Island, had been pro- 
mised by Phillip firearms for the protection of their lives 
and property. In a petition to Grose, 10th March, 1794,* 
they pointed out that they had always considered their arms 
as their own property during their residence on the island, 
and that they were rendered -necessary by the fact that 
numbers of them had been repeatedly robbed and insulted 
on their own property. 

Ideatenant Townson established himself in the house of ueutenant 
the Chaplain. Under Grose's autiiority, he chose for his own 
use and that of the officers of the department some land 
^whioh had been cultivated by .officers and overseers, who had 

* Hirtorioal Beo^cdf, yoLii, p. 190. 



314 gross's TEEATHENT 

^'^ enjoyed a permissive occupancy. Determined, apparently^ 
to liaye the same privileges as his brother-officers in Sydney 
and Parramatta, be applied at once for the labour of ten 
convicts, and five for each of his subalterns. Hitherto the 
SSoar* number of convicts assigned for the whole detachment was 
only twelve. When Townson made the application there 
was a pressing demand for labour to get in the crops and 
prepare the Government ground for seed, and as King had 
not received any instructions from head-quarters on this 
point, he did not comply with the request, but wrote for 
fuller instructions. 
obSSSence -^^^ *^® chaugos directed to be made by Grose were loyally 
orderaT ' Carried out by King, notwithstanding the humiliation which 
his compliance involved. He was rewarded by a confession 
on the part of Grose that he had written hastily and unjustly, 
and by the approval of the Secretary of State. In forward- 
ing King's account of the disturbances at Norfolk Island to 
Dundas, Grose wrote, under date the 80th August, 1794; — 
arose " As whatever has happened is very fairly and exactly stated by 

him. this officer, I shall not myself say anything on the subject, excepting 

that I am well assured he will be much mortified should it appear 
to you he has acted improperly ; and as my letter to Lieutenant- 
Governor King, of which you receive from him the copy, was 
written at a time when the situation of the colony did not wear 
the most pleasing aspect, it may, in some degree, account for my 
having expressed myself in such severe terms to an officer of whom 
I should be exceedingly sorry if any unfavourable conclusions were 
drawn from anything I felt it my duty at that time to say."* 

In this letter Grose relieved King from blame, and at the 
same time accused himself of harshness and injustice. But, 
considering that in the despatch which King sent to Dundas, 
Grose's action was elaborately criticised, it seems strange 
that the latter had nothing to say on the subject. 
oroee'8 Before these transactions came under the notice of the 

return to 

Secretary of State, Grose had left the colony, and if there was 
* Historical Beoords, vol. ii, p. 252. 



■^.^ '^ Rap' 

C- THt 

UNIVERSITY 





THE DUKE OF PORTLAND. 



Reproduced by Heliotype from aa orij^nal oil pointinir* 



f 



OP KING. 315 

any correspondence between him and the Government on the ^''^ 
subject^ it must have taken place after his retnm to England. 
The communication^ if any, was probably verbal. The 
Records, at all events, do not show that any official letters 
passed between Grose and the Home Department with regard 
to his treatment of King. King obtained from Grose's 
successor a copy of the minutes of the Court of Inquiry, and Minutes of 

•^■^ . . . the Court ol 

discovered from them that Lieutenant Beckwith had with- inquiiy. 
held most material information; and that Sergeant Ikins 
and Private Bannister had misled the Court by false evi- 
dence. Some light is thrown on this matter by a passage in 
the manuscript journal of Lieutenant-Governor King (July, 
1794), in which he expressed disappointment and concern 
that Grose had not thought proper to make any other 
reply to his long letter of the 19th March, 1794,* than by 
sending hiTn a copy of his letter to Dundas, in which he 
confessed that he had been in the wrong. f "I also," 
Bang went on to say, " received a private intimation that 
Governor Grose was ready to suppress it (King's letter of 
explanation and remonstrance) altogether. This proposal 
I could not hesitate agreeing to, on condition of the Court 
of Inquiry revising their decision, or some act exculpating 
me from the unjust censure that has been heaped on me/* 
So far as can be ascertained from the Eecords, the Court 
did not revise its decision, nor was anything done to justify 
King's conduct until it received the formal approval of the ^^^^^ 
authorities in a despatch sent to Governor Hunter soon ®^**°*******°' 
after he had taken command at Sydney. Previous to that 
event a change had taken place in the personnel of the 
British Government, which, probably, accounts for the fact 
that King's long letter to the Secretary of State was un- 
answered. On the 11th July, 1794, Dundas retired from 
the Home Department, and his place was taken by the 
Duke of Portland. "Writing to Hunter on the 10th June, 
1795, when the new Governor was on his way to Sydney, 

* HiBtorical Becords, toI. ii, p. 173* f Ante, p. 314. 



'3J6 



GKOSfiVs TREATMENT 



17to 

Portland's 
despatch. 



King's 
action 
endoned. 



Portland's 
opinion 
eonoerninfi: 
the mutinj. 



Dispntes 
between 
soldiers and 
setilen. 



Grose's 
Orders. 



Procednre 
in future 



the Duke of Portland intimated that he had received -tiie 
despatches of Grose from April to August^ 1794^ tog'ether 
with two letters from King. Having, considered this cor- 
respondence^ the Duke of Portland gave his decision^ which, 
on the whole^ was an approval of King's conduct. The only 
exception was the trip to New Zealand s — 

'' I have maturely considered the statement made by lientemsnt- 
Grovemor King of the transactions in Norfolk Island r^erred to 
in Lieut.-Governor Grose's letter of the 30th August, and I am 
.far from imputing to Lieut.-Govemor King any degree of blame 
which calls for serious reprehension. What I most object to is his 
quitting bis government and departing with the New Zealanders 
in the Britannia without previous communication with lieut.- 
Governor Grose. 

" With respect to the mutinous detachment that was sent from 
the island, I am truly sorry to observe that their conduct was 
such as to merit much severer treatment than it met with. The 
source of their disorderly conduct and of their disobedience clearly 
arose from their having been improperly permitted to mix and 
interfere with the other inhabitants, but particularly with tJie 
convicts^ from whom, as their situation ctnd their duties are per- 
fectly separate and distinct, so should their conversation and 
connections. The best proof I can receive that both the one and 
the other are properly governed will be that matters of dispute 
seldom arise between them, and for this plain reason, because 
they should neither of them ever be in the way of it. But when- 
ever such disputes do arise, strict and impartial justice must decide 
between the parties, for whoever misconducts himself must be 
considered as losing all title to preference or distinction from 
being of a different class or description. 

" I have thought it necessary to express my sentiments more 
fuUy on this subject, because I am inclined to think that the 
General Orders of lieut^ -Governor Grose, dated 25th Eebruary, 
1794, transmitted to Lieut^Gk>vernor King, must have been hastily- 
conceived on the pressure of the moment, and without due atten- 
tion to the principle I have above mentioned, and which in the 
distribution of justice should never be lost sight of. 
' - " I am of opinion it would be better, whenever such disputes 
arise, which I. trust Will be veryirarely, that the complaint in the 



OB KTSQt. ^ 31T, 

first instance should always be guided by and follow the natoie ^^Wl 
and description of the person. 

** Thus, if a oonvic^ or any civil person, is complained of, the 
complaint shoidd be to the Governor or the nearest magistrate ; 
if a military person, to the Commander-in-Chief, or nearest offioor, 
as the case may require." 

Practically, this despatch is a vindioation of "King, and a 
condemnation of the military authorities as represented by 
Grose. 

The Dake of Portland expressed the opinion that if the ^^"^^^'ng 
settlement was properly governed — ^that is to say, if the two dtocuased. 
classes were kept apart — disputes would seldom arise ; but 
if disputes did occur he was particular in stating that ^' strict 
and impartial justice must decide between the parties." 
This was the wholesome principle that a Minister of the 
Crown might have been expected to lay down ; but it would 
be difficult to find any trace of it in Grose's Orders, which 
distinctly favoured the soldier, and placed the rest of the 
people at a disadvantage. As the Duke of Portland was 
writing to a third person, he could not have censured Grose 
in this despatch ; but it is clear that in the estimation of the 
Secretary of State a mistake had been made. Practically, 
the instructions contained in the despatch to Hunter abro- 
gated Grose's Orders, and restored the government of the 
island to the footing which it had previously enjoyed. 

The restoration took place in April, 1796, when King, Rertoration 
authorised by Letters Patent from the Crown, cancelled ^we^^ ^ 
Grose's Orders, and substituted others embodying the 
principles laid down in the Duke of Portland's despatch, 
King, in making the change, showed a consideration for 
the feelings of others which was in striking contrast with 
the harsh treatment he had received from Grose and the 
officers of the New South Wales Corps. Writing to the 
Duke of Portland on the 30th May, 1796, he said :— 

"As I have ever considered an obedience to orders as indispen- 
sable, I have not hitherto allowed a deviation of Lieut-Gov'r 



318 GEOSE*S TKEATMEKT OF KING. 

1704 Grose's Orders of 26th FeVy, 1794, until now, when it has been 
done in such a manner as not to hurt the feelings of anyone pre- 
sent or absent, which I hope will be obvious from the tenour of 
the enclosed Proclamation made publick on the day the patent wu 
read." 

gjjje^« The Proclamation in question annulled certain Orders 

abrogated, and Confirmed others. Those issued by Grrose in Febmaiy, 
1794, which conflicted with the directions received from 
the Home Department, were abrogated; those iw-hicli did 
not conflict were retained. In this Eang^s kindly disposi^ 
tion showed itself. A man of less generous mind would 
have given effect to his instructions without tronbling 
himself about the feelings of others. 



APPENDICES. 



321 



APPENDIX A. 



SERVICES OF BREVET-MAJOR ROBERT ROSS. 
[Compiled from the Secords of the Rojal Marines.] 



Bank. 



Captain- 
Lieut. 



Captain, 

18 Aug., 

1776. 



Brevet- 

Majop, 

MApril, 

1788. 



Where Serving. 



From— 



PreyiouB Benrices not tzaceabk. 



Plymouth Dtrision .... 

H.M.S. Albion 

Plymouth Dirision ... 

H.M.S. Boyne 

Plymouth Division ... 

H.M.S. Somerset, and 
North America 

Plymouth Diyision ... 

Becruiting, Ireland ... 

Plymouth Division . . . 

H.M.S. Ardent 

Plymouth Division ... 

Becruiting, Tiverton ... 

Plymouth Division ... 

H.M.S. Poudroyant ... 

Plymouth Division ... 

Botany Bay 

Command, London ... 

Plymouth Division ... 

Appointed Chatham Division, 
but did not join. 

Ordered recruiting, St. Albani 

Beeruiting, Brentford 

„ Ipswich ... 



18 Mar., 1778 
16 May, 1778 
16 July, 1778 
22 Feb., 1774 

8 April, 1774 

11 Oct., 1774 

25 July, 1777 

12 Aug., 1777 
16 April, 1779 
15 June, 1779 
10 Feb., 1780 
18 Mar., 1780 
12 Jan., 1781 

9 Feb., 1781 
7 Mar., 1788 
9 Mar., 1787 

80 June, 1792 

26 Aug., 1792 
22 Nov., 1792 



Td- 



15 May, 1773 
15 July, 1778 
21 Feb., 1774 

7 April, 1774 

10 Oct., 1774 

24 July, 1777 

11 Aug., 1777 
15 April, 1779 
14 June, 1779 

9 Feb., 1780 

17 Mar., 1780 
11 Jan., 1781 

8 Feb., 1781 
6 Mar., 1783 
8 Map., 1787 

29 June, 1792 

25 Aug., 1792 
21 Nov., 1792 

18 Deo., 1792 



14 Dec, 1792 26 Jan., 1798 
27 Jan., 1798 24 Aug., 1798 
25 Aug., 1798 9 June, 1794 

Died whilst borne on the Becruiting Service, Ipswich, on the 9th June, 1794. 
VOL. II. — X 



1778-94 



922 



APPENDIX B. 



1789 

Equipment 
of the 
Guardian. 



An icebeix 
sighted. 



Ueplenish- 
ing the 
water 
supply. 



H.M.S. GUARDIAN. 

ACX30UNT OP THE DISASTER THAT BEFELL HiS MaJESTY^S ShIP 

Guardian, Lieutenant Riou, Commander.* 

This ship was fitted out in a most expensive manner, and fur- 
nished with all sorts of stores and provisions for the new settlement 
at Botany Bay ; and had a very prosperous voyage till she arrived 
at the Cape of Good Hope, where she recruited her provisions, 
and increased the number of her live stock beyond any former 
precedent. 

On the 24th of December, 1789, being in lat W S. and 
long. 41° 30' E. of London, the weather extremely foggy, we 
saw an island of ice about three miles to the S.W. Lieutenant 
Riou gave directions to stand towards it, in order to collect 
lumps of ice to supply the ship with water. This proceeding 
was judged highly expedient, as the daily demand of water was 
prodigious, owing to the great quantity of cattle on board. As 
the ship approached the island, the boats were hoisted out and 
manned, and several lumps collected. During this time the ship 
lay-to ; and on the supply of water being brought on board, she 
attempted to stand away. Very little apprehension was at this 
time entertained of her safety, although the monstrous bulk of 
the island occasioned an unfavourable current, and, in some 
measure, gave a partial direction to the wind. 

On a sudden the base of the island, which projected under 
water considerably beyond the limits of the visible part^ struck 
the bow of the ship ; she instantly swung round, and her head 

* Beprinted from the Annual Register, toI. xxxii, pp. 254-262. 



DISASTER TO H.M.S. GUARDIAN. 323 

cleared ; but her stem, coming on the shoal, struck repeatedly, 178^ 
and the sea being very heavy, her rudder broke away, and all her The vessel 
works abaft were shivered. The ship in this situation became in iceberg 
a degree embayed under the terrific bulk of ice, the height of 
which was twice that of the mainmast of a ship of the line. 

At this critical moment the captain and officers retaining their 
spirit, their example and vigorous exertion led the people to their 
duty ; but it was with difficulty they were prevailed on to over- 
come the first panic and lend their assistance to trim and fill the 
sails. This being at last effiscted, and the f oretopgallant-sail and a critical 
staysails between the fore and main masts being set on the ship, 
she began to forge off, and the same instant struck with greater 
force, if possible, than before, nearly abreast of the main-chains, 
kept crashing for some time along the ice under her, and at last 
shot entirely clear of it. The weather continued very foggy, and 
the wind blowing strong, we soon lost sight of the ice. Our spirits 
then gained new vigour, and served to supply fresh strength, and 
to support us under the afflictions which were yet in embryo. 

From the commencement of these misfortunes to this short 
interval of better hope includes about the space of half an hour ; 
and the cheering prospect again vanished as a flash of lightning. 

At about a quarter past eight the carpenter came up from A mpidiy- 
sounding the well, and reported two feet water in the hold, and iSS!" "^ 
that it was increasing very fast. The pumps were ordered to be 
rigged and got to work, and all the officers and people joined in a 
diligent and spirited compliance therewith. The chain-pumps were 
at first found to be much out of order, which caused some delay. 
Meantime all the hands that could be spared were set to work to 
clear the deck of the cattle, &c., holding themselves in readiness, 
however, to man the pumps, which about nine o'clock were all 
at work ; and three or four of the people were left between decks 
to hoist up and heave overboard whatever they could manage. 
The water had at this time increased to three feet and a half, and 
was still gaining on all the pumps. The few hands left between 
decks did almost more than their strength could be expected to 
effect : In the course of half an hour they got up and hove over- The cargo 
board most of the bags of flour, pease, wheat, barley, &c., received ^® ^" 
at the Cape of Good Hope, besides two hogsheads of tobacco. At 
about ten, water had increased to five feet. 



324 DISASTER 1X> 

1789 Sinoe the fint of oar misfortimeB there had not been an < 

or man nnemplojed. It was, howerer, imposflible that the few 
hands we had could hold out mnch longer, if employed togetiMr ; 

Di^on of a reservation was therefore made by dividing the whole of the 
officers, seamen, oonvijcts, <&e., into two watches, to relieve alter- 
nately. About half-past ten, the first division went to the pomps. 
At this time the captain ordered refreshments to be allotted to 
each man, taking particular care that the grog should not be 
made too strong. Every man received a dram for the first supply, 
with biscuit and cheese, which seemed to give them fresh spirits. 

sumuiuita. The rum above was soon nearly exp^ided; but the captain tbooi^t 
it would be extremely dangerous to open the hold to get at more, 
for fear of the men's getting at it. Wine and water was accord- 
ingly given in lieu. 

Leaic At midnight the water had increased to six feet, and it was 

then blowing a very strong gale. At daybreak a few hands wete 
set about filling one of the lower studding sails with oaknin, and 
the off watch were ordered to get it under the ship's bottom, 
which was found to be extremely difficult. The leak, however, 
gained upon us near a foot of water during this application. By 
unwearied exertions at the pumps it became reduced, and continued 

5t»ep . ^, diminishing till near eleven o'clock, when the water was reduced 

diminiahing. , . . i 

to only nineteen inches. 

Leak aj?ain At half -past eleven we were, however, unhappily informed that 
ncreaaing. ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ again gained upon us some inches, and continued to 
do so, more or less, for a short time. Another sail was then 
prepared for a second fothering, which again encouraged our 
hopes. At noon the water was twenty-seven inches, the ship's 
head about W,, the wind blowing very hard 

Rough Dec. 25. — It still continued to blow a strong gale, the sea 

weather, running extremely high, often breaking over the ship with great 

violence. Between one and three in the afternoon, the second 

fothering was got under the ship's bottom. About this time 

Crew several of the crew became almost unable to perform any duty. 

UtoSr The weather was likewise unc(munonly piercing. At four the 

water again gained on us, when Mr. Clements went down by the 

way of the rudder into the gun-room, and from thence into tiie 

Efforts to bread and spirit nooma, to endeavour to discover the leak, but 

i^"" without effect. It was then thought fit to endeavour to eoatile 



H.M.S. GXTAKDIAN. 325 

the deck close t£t, which, being oat of the roll of the water, would ^7^ 
enable as to get up and heave overboard some more of the cargo. 

Accordingly, the captain, the chaplain, the purser, and two men 
were employed in this business, but unfortunately endeavouring 
to heave up a cask, it fell back on ihe captain, and braised his Captain 
hand in so shocking a manner as to disable him from giving any 
farther assistance. This endeavour was then given up, and all 
hands were again set to the pumps. 

At five the water increased to four feet, and at midnight to jjoak 
four feet and a half. At this time the starboard pump became ^ 
disabled, from the wrench breaking ; and the leak from that time 
gained upon us very fast. 

At four in the morning the water was reported to have increased 
to six feet, and at six to seven feet. About this time the people 
began to break off occasionally from the pumps, and to secrete DdreUction 
themselves, and could only be kept to their duty by threatening to ^ 
have them thrown overboard. During the night, the fore and 
maintop sails were shivered by the violence of the wind, and the 
ship left entirely at the mercy of a most tremendous sea, the 
dreadful prospect being rendered still more dismal by the thick, 
black, stormy clouds, which appeared as if collected to hide our 
misfortunes from the compassionate eye of Providence. 

The people till now had been kept unacquainted with the true 
state of the ship, which had hitherto been reported favourable, 
when one of the carpenters stationed to sound the well, came up, LeaknpkUy 
and reported that the water was as high as the hallop-deck, and ^^^'^^^ °^' 
gaining above a foot every half-hour. The officers could not 
possibly suppress this report ; and many of the people; who were 
really unable to bear the fatigue any longer, immediately desponded, gr ew^ 
and gave themselves up to perish with the ship^ A part of those 
who had got any strength left, seeing that their utmost efforts to 
aave the ship were likely to be in vain, applied to the officers for 
the boats, which were promised .to be got in readiness for them, Prenuinff 
and the boatswain was directly ordered to put the masts, sails, 
and compass in each. The cooper was also set to work to fill a 
few quarter-casks of water out of some of the butts on deck, and 
provisions and other necessaries were got up from the hold. 

Many hours previous to this, Lieutenant Riou had privately 
declared to his officers that he saw the final loss of the ship was 



326 



DISASTEE TO 



1789 

Captain 
remains 
with the 
ship. 



His calm 
demeanour. 



Condition 
of the vessel. 



Captain's 
letter to 
Admiralty. 



BoUdtude 
for mother 
and sister. 



Launching 
the boats. 



inevitable, and could not help regretting the loss of so many braTe 
fellow& <* As for me," said he, '' I have determined to remain in 
the ship, and shall endeavour to make my presence useful as lomg 
as there is any occetsion for it." 

He was entreated, and even supplicated, to give up this fatal 
resolution, and try for safety in the boats. It was even hinted to 
him how highly criminal it was to persevere in such a detennina- 
tion ; but he was not to be moved by any entreaties. 

He was, notwithstanding, as active in providing for the safety 
of the boats as if he intended to take the opportunity of securing 
his own escape. He was throughout as calm and collected as in 
the happier moments of his life. 

At seven o'clock she had settled considerably abaft, and the 
water was coming in at the rudder-case in great quantities. At 
half-^ast seven the water in the hold obliged the people below to 
come upon deck ; the ship appeared to be in a sinking state, and 
settling bodily down ; it was, therefore, almost immediately agreed 
to have recourse to the boats. While engaged in consultation 
on this melancholy business, Mr. Riou wrote a letter to the 
Admiralty, which he delivered to Mr. Clements. It was as 
follows : — 

"H.M.S. Guardian, 

" Dec. 25, 1789. 

" If any part of the officers or crew of the Guardian should 
ever survive to get home, I have only to say their conduct, after 
the fatal stroke against an island of ice, was admirable and 
wonderful in everything that relates to their duty, considered 
either as private men, or in his Majesty's service. 

'* As there seems to be no possibility of my remaining many 
hours in this world, I beg leave to recommend to the consideration 
of the Admiralty a sister, who, if my conduct or service should be 
found deserving any memory, their favour might be shown to, 
together with a widowed mother. I am, &c., 

" Phil. Stephens, Esq." " E. Riou. 

He then ordered the boats to be hoisted out, in order to afford 
a chance of safety to as many as he could with propriety. The 
people who were able were accordingly collected together, and the 
cutter hoisted out on the lee-side, and afterwards the other boats 
on the booms. They were, fortunately, all got into the wat» 



H.M.S. GTrABa)IAN. 327 

with very little damage ; but the sea running immensely high, it ^'^^ 
was with difficulty they were kept from being stove alongsida a hazanious 
The launch being forced to drop on the quarter, to make room for op®™^®"- 
the two cutters, was nearly drawn under the quarter and sunk, 
and at last obliged to cast adrift from the ship, with only seven 
or eight men on board, and without any provision or water. A 
coil of rope was then handed from the quarter-gallery, and passed 
over to Mr. Somerville, the gunner, in the jolly-boat, which hung 
over the stern. This boat, on being lowered down, was drawn The joUy- 
under and sunk. As soon as the launch had again rowed a little ^!^ped. 
nearer to the ship, one of the people in her caught hold of a rope, 
until the cutters brought them provisions, c&a, and veered to a 
good distance astern. A small quantity of biscuit, and an eigh teen- 
gallon cask of water, was then let down between the main and 
mizen-chains into the small cutter, which was the last thing taken 
in. The purser then got into the main-chains, and from thence ouitting 
leaped into her 3 Mr. Wadman and Mr. Tremlett likewise, f ortu- * ® *^^' 
nately, got into the boat from the mizen-chains. It was with 
groat difficulty rowed clear of the ship, and steered for the launch. 

The agitation of mind on this melancholy occasion may be better 
imagined than described. Mr. Riou was at this moment walking Fortitude 
the quarter-deck, and seemed happy the boat had got safe from ^ptaL. 
alongside The ship was drifting astern, and gradually sinking 
in the water. Mr. Clements began to be afraid she would drive 
upon the launch ; he therefore called to the crew to cut the tow- 
rope, and row out of the ship's wake. 

Mr. Somerville, the gunner, who was looking over the ship's 
stem, hearing the order, prayed them to hold fast a moment, and 
he would jump overboard and swim to them ; he did so, and was 
followed by John Spearman, seaman, who were both received safe, 
and the boat then cut, and rowed out of the ship's track. About The cutter 
three-quarters past eight we got alongside the cutter, and Mr. return for 
Clements, Mr. Wadman, Mr. Tremlett, and the purser, with one *"pp"®^ 
or two more of the men, went on board, and took two bags of 
biscuit and a cask of water. The crew were ordered back to the 
ship for further supplies, and to receive as many of the people as 
could with safety be taken on board. 

They were notj however, to be prevailed on to return, but rowed The order 
oflf to some distance, and lay-by to observe our motions. The Rev. **'^®*^ 



328 



lOaASTBB. TO 



1780 



Probable 
fate of those 
on the 
joUy-boot 



Provisions 
on the 



'tX'' 



The lannch 
leaves the 
ship. 



The Jolly- 
boat 

disappears. 



Mr. Orowther left the ahip in the cattery and got an opportonlt j 
of joining the launch wlule making the exchange. There were 
then left on board ihe cutter, Mr. Brady, midAhipmany Mr. Hetdber, 
captain's clerk, and £ve fsieamen. 

Bj this time the jolly-boat had nearly come within hail, and 
we lay-by till informed of her situation ; she brought with ber 
neither provision, water, compass, or quadrant. Hence we were 
reduced to the sad medium of consulting our safety alone ; and 
perhaps never did the human mind struggle under greater diffi- 
culties than we experienced in being obliged to leave so many 
behind, in all probability to perish ; but it was evident that more 
people could not with propriety be received on board the launch, 
from our quantity of provisions, viz., two bags of biscuit of about 
100 9>. each, two mutton hams of five pounds each, a gooee, two 
fowls, about twelve pounds of butter, a cheese, a small k^ of rum 
containing about four gallons, and a small rum-cask of water, 
marked on the head twenty gallons. This was a very inadequate 
sustenance for fifteen souls already in the boat, who had to traverse 
the vast distance of 411 leagues in a boisterous ocean, without 
any means of relief 

There being yet a spare compass and quadrant in the launch, 
they were, by Mr. Clements' direction, handed into the jofly-boat 
At this time one of the convicts attempted to get on board us, but 
was opposed by all, and pushed into the sea. The fellow in the 
struggle caught hold of Mr. Clements, who was with difficulty 
saved from being pulled out of the boat along with him. The 
people in the jolly-boat picked the man up again, and then took 
to their oars, and rowed close upon our quarter, as if determined 
to board us by force. To prevent, therefore, any scuffle, it was 
immediately agreed to make sail ; and we took our final departure 
from this scene of misery and distress at about nine o'clock, lie 
ship at this time appeared sunk down to her upper-deck ports. 
The large cutter, which was watching our motions, immediately 
made sail after us, but in a short time fell mudh to leeward. Mr. 
Clements thought they intended making for Prince Edward's or 
Marien's and Crozef s Idand. Tlte small cutter remained hang^g 
on at a distance from the ship. They also stepped their masts in 
the jolly-boat, and made sail after us ; but, disappearing almost 
at the same moment,, we IJunk the boat filled and went down. 



H.MJ9. QTJABDI^N. 329 

At ten o'clock we bad a hard squall o£ wind, with a heavy fall 1780 
of rain ; at half-past deven lost sight of the ship and small cutter, weather and 
At nocm observed the latitude to be 44 deg. 7 min. S. ; the boat ^^^^ 
was kept as mncb to the northward as the sea would allow. The 
wind at this time was about N.W. 

Bee 26. — Strong gales, squally and cloudy weather, with remark- 
ably high seas. We were this night very much numbed and chilled 
with cold, and could get no sleep. In the morning the weather 
became more moderate. At four o'clock shifted the fore-mast to 
its proper place, stepped the main-mast, and set the fore and main 
sails ; at eight the people were employed to make a maintop-sail 
out of some sheets, and a yard out of one of the boat's thwarts ; 
the hand of a broken oar was converted into a top-mast. A small 
tobaoco-eannister was cut up to make a measure for the distribu- serving out 
tion of the water, rather less than a jill, two of which it was agreed ^ ® ^ • 
to allow eadi man a day. 

Dec. 27. — First part, moderate breezes and cloudy weather. At 
onep.m., having boiled all our poultry, and cut up the goose, which 
was but small, into fifteen equal parts, one of the men forward ^^J^^^^ 
was then blindfolded, and directed to call each person by name, 
and another was appointed to serve out the morsel by lots. Not- 
withstanding we had now fasted above thirty hours, all were 
perfectly satisfied with the small morsel ; and some had so little 
appetite that they reserved a part of it for a future occasion. But 
the very scanty measure of water received afterwards by no means 
allayed the universal craving for drink, evidently occasioned by Excessive 
the excessive heat and feverish state of our bodies. We did not 
dare, however, to take one drop more than the prescribed allowanca 
We therefor^ through necessity, became philosophers, and sub- 
mitted with becoming resoluticm to the ezigendes of the moment. 
At seven we received our seccHid measure of water, which, being 
succeeded by the coldness of the night, administered greatly to The 
our relief. At midnight it blew a fresh gale, with dark, cloudy, 
and remarkably cold weather. The launch was at this time brought 
under her main-sail only, and the weather continuing much the 
same, no alteration was made throughout the day. 

Dee. 28. — ^Ihe first part fresh gales and cloudy weather, middle 
more moderate. About noon we had one of the fowls cut up, and Birision of 
divided amongst us, as on the preceding day, and then received '^'^ 



330 



DIBASTEB TO 



Salt-water 
to allay 
thirst. 



8ea.birdfl 
plentiful. 



1789 our jill of water. The heat and fever of our bodies increased, and 
our lips began to break out in watery and ulcerous blisters. This 
day one of the crew, being afraid of famishing, requested his whole 
quantity of water for the day at one serving, which Mr. Clemonts 
opposed. He therefore had recourse to salt-water, of which he 
drank freely. At five in the morning got the top-mast up, and 
set the top-sail ; at ten fresh gales, lowered and took in the top- 
sail. In these seas are constantly vast numbers of sea-fowl flying 
about ; and had we been fortunate enough to have had a fowling- 
piece we could not have been much at a loss for provisions- 
Powder and shot we had in store, and two brace of pistols, but 
were unable to do any execution with them. 

Dec. 29. — ^This day cut up and divided our last fowl, and shared 
our water as before. At daybreak strong gales, with flying showans 
Slight rain, of rain, from which we endeavoured to benefit as much as possible 
by facing the weather with our mouths open and handkerchiefs 
spread out ; but the drifting moisture was so thin and light that 
we were barely able to catch sufficient to wet our lips. This 
morning we received a small thimbleful of rum each, whidi was 
occasionally allowed. 

Dec. 30. — We were this day reduced to a very low ebb indeed, 
and could not eat the smallest crumb till supplied with an addi- 
tional measure of water to moisten our lips, which were almost held 
together by a tough viscid phlegm that could not be expectorated 
but with the greatest difficulty. On this occasion we dipped our 
bit of biscuit in the water ; and afterwards supped a little of it 
with each mouthful to force it down. The butter, cheese, and 
hams were left free for the use of everyone, for they were found to 
occasion greater thirst, and therefore remained almost untouched. 
Several of the crew had again recourse to the salt-water, which 
appeared not to have any bad effect. 

Dec. 31. — We again suffered greatly this day from the burning 
heat of the sun, and the parched state of our bodies, and were 
allowed an additional measure of water, with a larger portion of 
rum than usual, in which we soaked our bit of biscuit^ and made 
our meal of it. About four in the afternoon the clouds began to 
shew for rain, and we made preparations accordingly ; but were so 
unfortunate as to see it fall in heavy showers all around us, and 
had barely as much over the boat as would wet our handkerchi^. 



strength 
failing. 



Drinkine 
salt-water. 



Excessive 
heat 



Rain. 



H.M.S, 6FABBIAK* 331 

The people this day appeared to be in a more hopeless state ^"^ 
than ever, and discovered signs of disrespect to their officers, which 
was, however, happily checked in time by the spirited conduct of insubordi- 
the gunner, who chastised the leader in the face of the whole crew, "**^<>°- 
and restored discipline. Many of the people this day drank their 
own urine, and others tried the salt-water. The weather was this 
day more warm and sultry than at any time since our misfortunes. 

Jan. 1. — We dined this day as on the preceding, and in general Better 
appeared in better spirits, which we considered, on account of its 
being the first day of the new year, a happy presage of our safety. 

Jan. 2. — Clear weather till about 4 in the afternoon, when it 
became overcast and blew a fresh gale. We had before this dined a fresh gale. 
on our usual fare of biscuit and water, with half a measure of rum, 
and were all in tolerable spirits ; but the gale increasing during 
the night, and the sea running immensely high, brought us again 
into great danger, which, with the disappointment of not seeing 
land in the morning, as expected, i^uced us to our former miser- 
able state of despondency. At eight in the evening the fore-sail 
was shifted to the main-mast, and the boat sailed under it reefed 
till about six in the morning, when the mizen was set on the 
foremast, to give her greater steerage-way. At noon the latitude Position, 
was by observation 33 deg. 19 min., and supposed longitude E. of 
Greenwich 34 deg. 15 min. 

Jan. 3 — About seven in the evening the clouds put on the appear- 
ance of a very heavy rain, but unfortunately broke over in a most 
dreadful storm of thunder and lightning, attended with gusts of Heavy 
wind and very little rain, succeeded by a violent gale of several 
hours from the S.W., in which we were near perishing. On 
this occasion the master and the gunner succeeded each other at 
the helm, and by their experience and judgment in the manage- Abie 
ment of the boat, we were this night enabled to traverse in safety 
on ocean of such fierce and tremendous seas, in different directions, 
as we could scarcely allow ourselves the hope of escaping. 

At daybreak the guimer, who was then at the helm, discovered 
a ship at a little distance from us la3dng under her bare poles, a ship. 
Our joy at this sight was great beyond expression, and, anxious 
to secure so favourable an occasion, we immediately made more 
Bail, and between five and six o'clock passed close under her, and 



3S2 



DISASTBB TO HJCS. aUABDIAK. 



i7aa 



The 



Kind 
attentions. 



Land At 
Ibble Bay. 



Fate of the 
Guardian. 



inlonned her people of oar distceaaes. We then Teered aboat^ «nd 
pat alongside her on the other tack. 

The people on board her crowded immediately to oar assistance, 
and reoeired us in the most friendly manner. As soon as we were 
alongside, several of them jomped in, and assisted in keeping the 
boat from being stove. 

This ship was named the Viscountess of Britannie, a French 
merchantman; Martin Doree, master, with part of Walsh's or 95th 
Regiment, from the Isle of France, to touch at the Cape ci Good 
Hope for a supply of water and provisions, on her way to Europe. 
The officers of this corps were unbounded in their friendship and 
attention towards us, a£Ebrding us every possible comfort, and even 
giving up their beds for our use. 

Jan. 18. — ^Ajt noon anchored in Table Bay, Cape of Grood 'H.ope, 

But to return to the ship. She continued some days in the same 
state as at the departure of the boats, at the money of the winds 
and waves, without a rudder, and every instant in danger of being 
swallowed up in the abyss. Attempts, however, were made by the 
crew occasionally to reduce the water, when their strength per- 
mitted, and thus, by wonderful exertions, was the Guardian k^ 
afloat till a Butch packet-boat from the Spice Islands and Batavia, 
providentially steering a high southerly latitude, fell in with her, 
afforded her aid of men and materials, and enabled her to make 
good her way back to the Cape of Good Hope, and kept her 
company during her course. The Guardian was full 400 leagues 
from the Cape when she fell in with the island of ice,. 



383 



APPENDIX C. 



GROUND IN CULTIVATION, 16th OCTOBER, 1792. 



AtBrnunatte ^ ^ ^ .. 


Acres 

in 
Wheat 


Acres 

in 
Barley. 


Acres 

in 
Maise. 


Garden 
Oroand. 


Qroond 

cleared 
of 

Timber. 


Total 
Number 

of 
Acres. 


1 


7i 


806 






816J 


▲tuid]«wUngtoTooDgabbe .. 
Totiapabttcgnnmd - 


171* 


14 


5U 


.... 


.... 


eB6i 


mj 


a* 


819 


.... 


.... 


1^121 


Belonging to aettlen and otben- 














AtFurnmatta .. ^ .. .. 


— 


•• 


— 


1 


.... 


.... 


TbeCtovemor^flguden 


• 


k 


2 


8 vines 


.... 


6* 


Gaiden-gToand belonging to different 
people, including convicts' gaideas . . 


., 


•« 


„ 


104 


.... 


104 


At Parrunattft,! settler 


8 


•• 


18 


1 


7 


29 


wwtmd of PvramettA, 18 aettleni. . 


ni 


,, 


84 


.... 


• a •• 


«ii 


At The Ponds, two mUee to the north- 

eMt of Partunatta, 16 aettlerB 


m 


H 


68 


H 


Uft 


9H 


At the northern boondaiy fanni, two 
milce from Pammatta, 6 settlers .. 


8 


^ 


86 


n 


11 


611 


At the Field of Ifars, on the north shore, 
to Panamatta, 8 settlers (marines) . . 


A 




i*k 


2 


81 


81i 




- 


•• 


Mh 


.... 


12i 


68 


•etUers .. .. .. .. .. 


^ 


^^ 


801 


4 


28 


mj 


In eoltlvation by the civil and military 
rtSydniqr ^ 

Ztolal ^ 


- 


•• 


•• 


.... 


m 


m 


M8ft 


^ 


Ul»k 


mj 


j« 


1.708 



1792 



834 



APPENDIX D. 



c. 56. 



XTgo 30 Geo. Ill, cap. 47. 

Ak Act for enabling his Majesty to authorize his Governor or 
Lieutenant-Governor of such places beyond the seas to which 
felons or other offenders may be transported to remit the 
sentences of such offenders. 

Whereas by several Orders made by his Majesty, by and with 
the advice of his* Privy Council, in pursuance* of authority given 
to his Majesty in that behalf by an Act passed in the twenty- 
24 Geo. Ill, fourth year of his Majesty's reign, intituled, " An Act for the 
effectual transportation of felons and other offenders, and to 
authorize the« removal of prisoners in certain cases, and for other 
purposes therein mentioned," his Majesty hath declared and 
appointed, by and with the Udvice aforesaid, th&t the eastern coast 
of New South Wales, and the islands thereto adjacent, should 
be the place or places beyond sea to which certain felons and 
other offenders should be conveyed and transported : And whereas 
several felons and other offenders have, in pursuance of the said 
Act, been conveyed and transported to the eastern coast of New 
South Wales, or the islands thereunto adjacent, there to remain 
during the terms or times for which they were so respectively 
sentenced to be transported by the Courts in which they were 
convicted : And whereas his Majesty, by and with the advice of 
his Privy Council, may hereafter declare and appoint the place 
or places aforesaid, or some other place or places beyond the sea, 
to be the place or places to which' other felons and offenders shall 
hereafter be conveyed andl transported : And such felons and 
offenders may be so transported accordingly : And whereas it 
would greatly advance the design of such sentences so carried into 
execution as aforesaid, or which may hereafter be passed and carried 
into execution, that the Governor, or (in case of his death or 
absence) the Lieutenant-Governor for the time being, of such the 



ENABLING ACT — HEMISSION OF SENTENCES. 335 

place or places as aforesaid should have power and authority to 1790 
remit or shorten the time or term for which felons and offenders 
as aforesaid have been or shall hereafter be transported, in cases 
where it shall appear that such felons or other offenders are proper 
objects of the Royal Mercy. Be it therefore enacted by the King's His Majeaty 
Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of authorize 
the Lords, spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present L?euteium^' 
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that it ^mft™*^'^ ^ 
shall be lawful for his Majesty, his heirs and successors, at all sentences, 
times, by his or their Commission, under the Great Seal of Great 
Britain, to authorize and empower the Grovernor or the Lieutenant- 
Governor for the time being of such place or places as aforesaid, 
or of any of them, by an instrument in writing under the Seal of 
the Government in which the place or places as aforesaid are or 
shall be situated, to remit, either absolutely or conditionally, the 
whole or any part of the time or term for which any such felons 
or other offenders aforesaid shall have been or shall hereafter be 
respectively conveyed and transported to such place or places as 
aforesaid ; and that such instrument or instruments shall have 
the like force and effect to all intents and purposes as if his 
Majesty, his heirs and successors, had in such cases respectively 
signified his or their Royal intention of mercy under his or their 
Sign-manual. 

II. And be it further enacted : That such Governor or Lieu- Duplicates 
tenant-Governor as aforesaid shall, by the first opportunity, mentetobe 
transmit to one of his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, a tTsocreto^- 
duplicate, under the Seal of the Government, of each and every °' ^^^' 
instrument as aforesaid, by which the time or term of transporta- 
tion of any such felons or other offenders as aforesaid hath been 
remitted or shortened, and that the names of such felons and other 
offenders respectively which shall be contained in such duplicates 
as aforesaid shall be inserted in the next General Pardon which 
shall pass under the Great Seal of Great Britain, after the receipt 
of such duplicate or duplicates by one of his Majesty's Principal 
Secretaries of State. 



836 



APPENDIX E. 



FORM OF ABSOLUTE PARDON. 

Whereas his Most Exeellent Majesty King George the Third, 
by a CkMnmission under the Great Seal of Great Britain, by his 
Majesty's Royal SignHmanual, bearing date the eighth day of 
November, in the thirty-first year of his Mi^esty'a reign, h&th 
been graciously pleased to give and grant full power and authority 
The to the Governor (or in case of his death or absence, the lieutenant- 

empowered Governor) for the time being of his Majesty's ierritcMy of the 
emancipate eastern coast of New South Wales and the islands thereunto 
oonvictB. adjacent, by an instrument or instruments in writing under the 
Seal of the Government of the said territory, or as he or they 
respectively shall think fit and convenient for his Majesty's 
service, to remit, either absolutely or conditionally, the whole or 
any part of the term or time for which such persons convicted of 
felony, misdemeanour, or other offences amenable to the laws of 
Great Britain shall have been or shall hereafter be respectively 
conveyed or transported to New South Wales, or the islands 
thereunto adjacent. 

The form in By virtue of Buch power and authority so vested as aforesaid, 

blank. j^ ^ Captain-General and Govemor-in- 

Chief in and over the territory of New South Wales and its 

dependencies, taking into consideration, 



do hereby absolutely remit the remainder of the term or tune 
which is yet to come and unexpired of the original sentence or 



FORM OF ABSOLUTE PARDON. 337 

order of transportation passed on the aforesaid 

on the day of , in the year of our Lord 

one thousand 

Given under my Hand and the Seal of the Territory, at 
Government House, Sydney, in New South "Wales, this 

day of. , in the year of our Lord 

one thousand * 



Registered in the Secretary's Office. 



Descbiftion. 

Name, 

Native Place, 

Trade or Calling, 

Age, 

Height, 

Complexion, 

Hair, 

Eyes, , 

General Remarks, 



VOL. II. — ^T 



338 



APPENDIX F. 



FORM OF CONDITIONAL PABDOK 

Whereas his Most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, 
by a Commission under the Great Seal of Great Britain, by his 
Majesty's Royal Sign-manual, bearing date the eighth day of 
November, in the thirty-first year of his Majesty's reign, hath 
J^« been graciously pleased to give and grant full power and authority 

empowered to the Govemor (or in the case of his death or absence, the 
emancipate Lieutenant-Govemor) for the time being of his Majesty's terri- 
tory of the eastern coast of New South Wales and the islands 
thereunto adjacent, by an instrument or instruments in writing 
under the Seal of the said territory, or as he or they respectively 
shall think fit and convenient for his Majesty's service, to remit, 
either absolutely or conditionally, the whole or any part of the term 
or time for which persons convicted of felony, misdemeanour, 
or other offences amenable to the laws of Great Britain, shall hare 
been, or shall hereafter be, respectively conveyed or transported to 
New South Wales, or the islands thereunto adjacent. 

The fonn In By virtue of such power and authority so vested as aforesaid, 

I, , Captain-General and Govemor-in- 

Chief in and over the territory of New South Wales and its 
dependencies, taking into consideration the good conduct of 

do hereby conditionaUy remit the 

remainder of the term or time which is yet to come and unexpired 
of the original sentence or order of trlEinsportation passed on the 
said 

Provided always, and on condition that the said 

continue to reside within the limits of this 

Government for and during the space of original 



FORM OF CONMMONAL PARDON. 339 

sentence or order of transportation : Otherwise, the said 

shall be subject to all the pains and penalties 

of re-appearing in Great Britain or Ireland, for and during the 
term of. original sentence or order of transporta- 
tion ; or, as if this remissicin had never been granted. 

Given under my Hand and Official Seal, at Government 

House, in New South Wales, this : 

day of .in the year of our Lord, 

one thousand 1 



Registered in the Secretary's Office. 



Desceiptiok'. 



Name, 

Native Place, 

Trade or CalHng, .. 

Age, 

Height, 

Complexion, 

Hair, 

Eyes, 

General Remarks, . 



340 



APPENDIX G. 



FORM OF TICKET-OF-LEAVE. 

Secretary's Office, Sjdnej. 
Tiie form in It is his Excellency the Governor's pleasure to dispense with the 

attendance at Government work of , tried at 

, convict for , arrived per ship 

, master, in the year , 

and to permit to employ self (off the Govern- 
ment stores) in any lawful occupation, within the district oi 

, for own advantage during good behaviour, 

or until his Excellency's further pleasure shall he made known. 

By Command of his Excellency. 



Description (at the back of above). 

Name, 

Native Place, 

Trade or Calling, 

Age, 

Height, 

Complexion, 

Eyes, 

Hair, 

General Bemarks, 



INDEX, 



Abbott, lientenant 
at Norfolk Island, 208, 2d0, 906. 
suoceeded by Lieutenant Townson, 313. 

Active, The 
ill-treatment of convicts on, 176 and note, 
improper conduct of captain of, 179. 

Agricaltnre 

at RosehUl, 16, 74. 

the first harvest, 20. 

field labourers, 20. 

by officers, 20, 21, 266, 261, 289, 292. 

a laborious process, 26. 

at Sydney and Norfolk Island compared, 26, 159. 

seed grain given up for food, 34. 

a necessary preliminary to permanent settle- 
ment, 73. 

obstacles to, 73. 

at Parramatta, 73. 

slow progress of, expliuned, 74, 163 and note, 
210. 

the first gardens, 74. 

discouraging condition of, 76. 

attention paid to cultivation, 136. 

non-productive, 137. 

convicts' aversion to, 139, 150. 

suffering from drought, 141. 

progress in 1791, 142 ; in 1794, 265, 268, 269 and 
note ; in 1792, 231, 2S8, 333. 

Phillip's instructions regarding, 155. 

erroneous opinion respecting, 166. 

" Experiment Farm," 167. 

its locality, 157. 

and history, 167, 158 and note. 

bright prospects of, 169 and note, 166, 261, 288 

effects of drought, 167. 

area cultivated, 231, 232. 265. 

Macarthur's efforts in, 262, 253, 264 and note. 

at liberty Plains, 269. 

wheat in lieu of com, 265 and note, 266. 



Albemarle, The 
attempted seizure of, by convicts, 173 and note, 
mortality of convicts on, 175. 
improper conduct of captain of, 179. 

Alley, Surgeon 
on the Lady Juliana and Royal Admiral, 55. 

Alt, Angnstas 
Sur\'eyor-General and J. P., 287. 

America 
transportation to, cessation of, 76. 

Amdell, Surgeon 
remarks of, on morals of colonists, 275. 

Arthnr, The 
arrival of, with stores, 247. 

Assignment System 
inauguration of, 81, 114, 125, 126. 

Atkins, Richard 
Registrar Vice-Admiralty Court and J.P., 287 
and note. 

Atlantic, The 
one of the Third Fleet, 172. 
stores for Norfolk Island by, 180. 
arrival from India with stores, 214, 220. 
sails for England with PhUlip, 230. 

Bain, Sev. James 
appointed chaplain of N.S.W. Corps, 92. 
goes with King to New Zealand, 297 (note). 

Balmain, Assistant-Surgeon 
goes to Norfolk Island, 180. 

Bannister 
soldier at Norfolk Island, 304, 306. 
perjury committed by, 316. 

Barrington, The Admiral 
improper conduct of captain of, 179. 



342 



IJSfDEX. 



Beckwith, Lientexiant 
with King at Norfolk Island, 806. 
takes Norfolk Island mutineers to Sydney, 807, 

808. 
suppresses material information at inquiry, 810, 

815. 

Bellona, The 
arrival of, with stores, 244, 245. 
free settlers by, 266. 

Bennilong 
character and manners of, 32. 
his capture, 82. 
and escape, 33. 
he returns voluntarily, 83. 
his attachment to PhiUip, 83. 
resides at Bennilong Point (Fort Maoquarie), 
198 and note. 

Boats 

want of, 187. 

BoddingtonB, The 
voyage of, 67. 
contract with owners, 60. 
arrival of, with convicts, 246b 

Bowen, George 
successfully resists attempted seism of the 
Albemarle, 178. 

Bowen, Richard 
discovers Jervis Bay, 172 (note). 

Bradley, Identenant 
sent to Batavia for supplies of food, 88. 

Britaimia, The 
health of convicts by, 176. 
hired by Grose, 217 and note, 218 and note, 222, 

246 and note, 
arrival of, «ith stores, 220, 221 and note, 260 and 

note, 
takes King to New Zealand, 296. 

Broady, or Brody, Walter 
appointed master-blacksmith, 257. 

BnUding 
progress of, li4 and note, 282 and note, 266 and 

note, 
unbumt bricks, 146. 
want of lime limits height of walls, 146. 
at Parramatta, 232, 233 and note, 
of a church, 278 and notes, 279, 286. 

Burke, Edmuid 
speecdi of, on tranqportatiou, 76 (note). 

Burton, Superintendent 
report on land at Parramatta, 166, 269. 

CampheU, Captain 
a partisan of Roes, 9. 

Caravancee 
an article of food, 162 (note). 



CardeU 
soldier at Norfolk Island, 806. 

Chalmers, Captain 
of the Boddingtons, 246. 

Chaplain, Assistant 
Rev. John Crowther, 47. 
diflBculty in obtaining, 49. 
Rev. 8. Marsden, 282. 

Charlotte, The 
deserters from Supply and Siriua on board, 146. 

Church 
land reserved for, 132, 282, 288. 
want of, 276, 277. 
ereofilon of, 278 and notes, 286. 

Collins 
Ross's complaints concerning, 1, 2. 
circumstuices of the case, 2, 3l 
differs from Phillip on agricultural progiwi, lOOi 
his opinion of settlers, 160, 276. 
on condition of convicts by the Third Fleet, 175, 

177 and note, 
on food supply, 248. 
on agriculture, 286. 
portrait of, 266. 

Concord 
settlement on Parramatta Blver, 258 and note. 

Convicts 
rations supplied to, 17. 
improvidence of, 18, 10. 
destruction of live stock by, 19. 
overseers of, 10, 73. 
a burden to the Government, 20, 264. 
employed in agriculture, 20, 21. 
allowed to officers, 21, 22, 81, 114. 126, 126. Sftl, 

282. 
sent to Norfolk Island. 34, 25, 162. 
gardens of, 26. 
weakened by famine, 27. 
driven to crime by hunger, 88, 210. 
mortality amongst, 82, 87 (note), 67, 62. 66, 151, 

154, 174-177, 219, 220, 224. 
perishing of hunger, 87 (note), 219. 
on board the Guardian, 44, 87. 
female, on Kitty and I^dy Juliana. 66. 
by the Second Fleet, 67, 77. 
deaths from overcrowding, 67, 62. 
inhuman treatment of, 68, 68, 60, 67. 178. 
hospitals crowded with, 63. 
captain of transport prosecuted for ill limUnuut 

of, 60, 65. 
attacked by scurvy, 66. 
health of, 67, 186, 167, 177 and note, 178. 
on the Boddingtons, 67. 
transportation of, the system improved, 67, 68, 

69. 
on the Queen, iU-treatment of, 69, 176 and note, 

178, 179, 219. 
necessity for restricting tnxu^rtatfon of, 72, 76L 



INDEX 



343 



GonyictB 
unfitted for agricultural labonr, 73, 76. 
arttfloen required, 73. 
and fannen, 74. 
English ifools crowded with, 76. 
Howard's account of English gaols, 77 (note)L 
the assignment system, 81, 114, 125, 126. 
recruits for the Army drawn from, 09, 100. 
proposal U> enlist in Indian army, 09. 
Hunter opposes the scheme, 09. 
enlisted in N.S.W. Corps, 100, lOL 
useless without settlen, 115. 
employment of, ISO. 
inutility of, 136. 

return of number employed, 137. 
repugnance to worlc, 139, 150 and note, 
daily task as farm labooxinrs, 142. 
ill-fed, 143, 144. 

absconding, 145 and note, 140 and note, 147-16L 
stowaways, 146. 
preventive measures, 146. 
their success, 147. 
escape from Rose Hill, 147, 148. 
refuge with the natives, 148 and note, 
geographical ignorance of, 149, 150. 
a successful attempt at escape, 140 and note, 
escapees new arrivals, 150. 
rislcsand penalties, 151. 
absoonding diminishing, 15L 
Ruse, James, first land grantee, 155. 
additional giant, 358 and note, 
expirees as setUers, 160, 161, 162, 163. 
by the Third Fleet, 172, 178. 
attempt to seize the Albemarle, 178 and note. 
Third Fleet arrived with, 174. 
mortality on voyocre, 174, 175. 
old and infirm, 175 and note, 
an incumbrance, 176, 176 and note, 
deaths after landing, 176. 
continued ill-health of, 177. 
excessive mortality of, 177. 
accommodation for, 184, 185 and note, 
illegally emancipated, 192 and note, 198 and 

note, 
expirees reluctant to stay, 194. 
practically life exiles, 195. 
detention illsgal, 195. 
no assistance to return, 195. 
life in colony unsatisfactory, 196. 
expirees work thehr passages to England, 18& 
outrage on natives by, 90O. 
reprisals on, 201. 
speared by natives, 202. 

rations of, purchased by Lieutenant Dawei, 204. 
ills resulting from, VA and note, 
sick convicts a burden, 209. 
clotMng for, 209 and note, 
labour of, 200 and notes, 
thefts by, 210. 
punishment of, 210, 211 and note. 



Convicts 
ofTenders new arrivals, 211 and note, 212. 
early release motive for good bdiaviour, 211. 
forbidden to congregate, 212. 
arrivals by the Pitt, 212 and note, 
arrivals by the Royal Admiral, 223, 224. 
employed in building, 232, 233 and notes, 
rations issued to, 241, 242. 
arrived by the Boddingtons, 246 and note, 
attempt to seize the Sugar-cane, 246, 247. 
rations of, exchanged for spirits, 271, 272. 
spirits paid to, instead of wages, 273. 
absent from public worship, 277, 286, 287. 
allowed to Rev. R. Johnson, 282. 
expirees as Norfolk Island settlers, 203. 
conflict with soldiers at Norfolk Island, 803. 

304. 
and the drama, 304. 
Grose's General Order respecting, 311. 

Corn, Indian 
the harvest at Rose Hill, 20. 
mills to grind, 181 and note, 
ready for reaping, 244, 245. 
sown at Petersham, 258. 
failiu-e of crop of, 265. 
yield per acre, 267. 

Conlston 
drummer at Norfolk Island, 305, 310. 

Conrt-martial 
on Private Hunt, 10, 11. 
arrest of members of, IL 
on Meredith, 14. 
at Norfolk island, 298, 290. 

Crime 

committed to procure the necessaries of life, 210. 

Crops 
affected by drought, 141 and note, 14& 
Ruse's, first grantee, 156. 
harvest in 1791, 164 and note, 245 and note, 
maize, wheat, and barley, 165 and note, 
abundant, 231, 284. 
faUure of, 257, 265. 

Crowder 
constable at Norfolk Island (see WhitUe), 804 

Crown Seserves 
areas of, 132 and note, 133, 201. 

Crowther,BeT. 
on boaid the Guardian, 47. 

Currency 
dollars and notes, 226, 227 and note, 
spirite as medium of exchange, 204, 273. 

Dadalns, The 
to ship live stock at Calcutta, 169. 
disastrous TpysfPS of, 170. 



344 



INDEX. 



Darey, Ideiitenaiit 
placed under arrest by Roei, 10 (note^. 
return of, to En^rland, 230. 

Dawes, Llentenant Wm. 
retained as engineer, 203. 
quarrel with Phillip, 203. 
grounds of, 208. 

purchasing convicts* rations, 204. 
evil consequences of, 201 and note, 
explanation of the business, 204, 206. 
Phillip's comments on, 206. 
refusal of,.to proceed against natives, 200. 
religious scruples, 200. 
he eventually consents, 206 and note, 
iomibordination of, 206. 
unofBcerllke behaviour of, 207. 
leaves for England, 206. 

Deaths 

of convicts, 32, 87 (note), 57. 62, 66, 161, 154, 

174-177, 219, 220, 224. 
of soldiers and seamen on the Pitt, 106. 

Despatches 

from England, 71 et seq, 
from Phillip, 1701, 144. 

DhoU 
an article of food, 220. 

Dodd,H.E. 
sole overseer, 19 (note). 

Dollis 
convict at Norfolk Island, 310. 

Dring 
expiree at Norfolk Island (see Windsor), 808 and 
note. 

Drought 
duration of, 141 and notes, 167. 
severitj- of, 163 and note. 

Dundasy Henry 
portrait of, 209. 
succeeds Lord Grenville, 71 (note). 

East India Co. 
privileges of, 217. 

Edgar, Lieutenant 
naval agent on the Lady Juliana, 64. 

Emancipation 
le^l signiflcance of, 189, 191. 
power to, an incommunicable pren^ative, 189. 
different from pardon, 190. 
Phillip's instructions concemuig, 19a 
an enabling Act passed by British Parliament, 

the case of Bullock v. Dodds, 191. 

cases of illegal, 192. 

conditional, on residence within the colony, 193. 



Emancipists 
land grants to, 112, US. 
prerogative of pardon respecting, 189, 19a 
status of, 191 and notes, 192, 194 and note, 
expiree classed as an, 198. 
conditions imposed on, 193. 

Expirees 
land grants to, 118. 
detention in colony illegal, 195, 
no assistance to return, 196. 
dissatisfied with Golonial proqjwots, 196. 
ship as sailors, 196. 

famine 
the summer of 1789-90, ld-87. 
reduced rations, 17, 28, 143, 162, 186, 218, 846. 
convicts' recklessness, 19. 
condition of the food supplies, February, 1790, 

24,25. 
eiTectfl of, on labouring convicts, 27, 37 (note), 
attempts to obtain fish and game, 29, 219. 
convicts and soldiers ill-clothed and starving, SL 
scarcity of food in the year 1792, 218 ef ieq. 

Farming 
convicts with knowledge of, required, 73, 74. 
" Experiment Fsrm,** 157. 
Captain Macarthur's, 165 and note, 
want of implements, 209, 226, 245. 
at Parramatta, 231. 

by mUitary officers, 20, 21. 255, 261, 280. 292. 
See also "Agriculture." 

Field of Mars 
land for settlers at, 231 and note. 

First Fleet 
vessels of, return to England, 71. 
convicts of, safely landed, 72. 

Fish 
the ration supplemented by, 30 and note, 219. 

Flax 
New Zealand natives and, 294, 295. 

Floods 
on the Hawkesbury, 260 and note. 

Food Supplies 
the famine of 1789-90. 16 €t teq. 
and of 1792, 218 et seq. 
at Sydney and Norfolk Island, 25. 
vegeUbles at Rose Hill, 28. 
ration reduced, 17, 28. 
attempts to obtain fish and game, 29, 219. 
a vessel sent to Batavia for, SSL 
convicts perishing from hunger, 37 (noteX 210. 
Grose's remarks on, 24a 
Grose's alterations in, 241. 
fresh pork issued, 260 and note. 



INDEX 



345 



Poreanx, Lieatenant 
flervices of, 96. 
magisterial powers delegated to, 288. 

Prancis, The 
first vessel launched, 187 and notes, 188. 
takes Norfolk Island mutineers to Sydney, 807, 
808. 

Gaols 
overcrowded in England, 78. 
Howard's aooonnt of, 77 (notsX 

Gorgon, The 
live stock by, 168, 182 and note, 
as store and convict ship, 17S and note, 
live stook landed from, 188. 
leaves for England, 208. 

Chrants 

See "Land." 

Grenvllle, Lord 
censures of, on Boss and Campbell, 0. 
portrait of, 71. 

depatches from, to Phillip, 71 et teq, 
succeeds Lord Sydney, 71 (note), 
ignores Phillip's recommendations, 72, 73, 76, 

78,116. 
urges economy upon Phillip, 85. 
his apathy towards the colony, 116. 
ignorance on the land question, 136. 

Grimes, Bepnty Surveyor-General 
with Klnsr at Norfolk Island, 306. 

Grose, Hajor 
instructed to raise N.S.W. Corps, 89, 91. 
remuneration for recruiting, 00, 92, 93. 
appointed Lieutenant-Governor, 93, 96. 
satisfied with the character of Corps, 04, 98. 
his status in the Army, 95. 
services of. 96. 
at Bunker's Hill, 96. 
recruits the Corps from convicts, 100. 
sails from England, 105. 
voyage out in the Pitt, 106. 
nuses two new companies, 108. 
issues land grants to oflicers, 125, 253 et seq., 

291. 
hires the Shah Hormuzear to bring stock from 

India, 170. 
launches the Francis, 187, 188. 
arrival in the Pitt, 212. 
impressions of colony, 216. 
they change quickly, 216. 
Britannia hired by, 217 and note, 218 and note, 

216 and note, 
assumes command, 236 and note, 
establishes a military form of Government, 236, 

801. 
innovations introduced by, 237, 238, 280. 



Grose, Hi^or 
deviates from Commission, 239, 240. 
and the food supply, 240, 241, 245, 247. 
policy of, in regard to rations, 241, 242. 
neglect of convicts, 242, *243. 
progress of colony under, 251, 256, 261, 268, 288 

etseq. 
land grants issued by, 252, 253. 
impartiality In issuing, 253, 261. 
his plan of settlement, 257. 
meagre despatches of, 258, 265. 
convict labour allowed by, 261, 262 et geq.^ 282. 
and the spirit traffic, 270, 271, 273, 274. 
treatment of Rev. R. Johnson by, 276, 280^ seq. 
opposes his claim, 278, 279. 
and Phillip, their policies compared, 291, 292. 
his unjust treatment of King, 293, 297, 300, 312. 
motives for, 801. 

Court of Inquiry convened by, 308, 315. 
which condemns King's conduct, 309. 
concurs with finding of the Court, 309. 
King to disband the militia, 309, 813. 
General Order re Norfolk Island, 311. 
solicitude for soldiers at Norfolk Island, 311. 
repents severity towards King, 314. 
leaves the colony, 314. 
militarism of, condemned by Home Govern* 

ment. 817. 
orders of, cancelled by King, 317, 318. 

Gnardian, The 

wreck of, 88-51, 322-332. 
token to Table Bay, 38, 40, 41. 
dismantled and abandoned, 39, 43, 44. 
cargo of, 39, 41 and note, 46. 
sailing qualities of, 39 and note, 
sinking at her anchor, 42. 
the boatswain's account of the wreck of, 42. 
conduct of the convicts on board of, 44. 
they receive a conditional pardon, 44. 
effect of wreck of, in retarding colony, 86. 
live stock lost In, 167. 

Halcyon, The 
arrival of, with stores, 251. 

Harvest 
at Rose Hill in 1780, 20. 
of 1790, 141. 
Ruse's, 156. 
of 1791, 164. 
of 1792, 231, 333. 
of 1793, 245. 
of 1794, 266 and note. 

Hawkesbnry, The 
settlement at, 234, 258, 259, 260 and note, 
floods of, 260. 
progress of, 265. 
prosperity of settlers at, 289. 



346 



INDEX. 



HUl, Captain 
his account of iU-ti«atm«it of ooovieti, 68 

(DOteX 69. 
aenrloes of, 97. 
death of, 97 (noteX 
aooouDt of bod and scanty piovimons, 143. 

Hope, The 
arrival of, with provisions, £44, 251. 
spirits purchased from, 271. 

Eovse, William 
oomuunder of the Frands, U8. 

Howard, John 
efforts of, as prison refoimor, 7C (note). 

Howe, Lord 
instructions of, to Phillip, 6, 

Hunt, Joseph 
court-martiallod, 10. 

Hunter 
Slacarthur's charges against, S75. 
his vindicaiioo, 276. 
uommenting on Grose's policy, 290 and note, £91. 

Ikins, Serflreant 
perjury committed by, 816. 

India 

convict recruits for, 09. 
provisions from, 171, 213, 214, 22a 
live stock from, 170. 

Indispensable, The 
arrival of, with stores, 260. 

Instructions 
ambiguity of, 184. 
omission in, 100, 191. 

Jenris Bay 

discovery of, 172 (note). 

Johnson, Fev.B. 

Newton's letters to, 47, 48. 

difBculty in obtaining an assistant to, 40. 

labouring under disadvantages, 60, 278, 277. 

his account of ill-treatment of convicts, 60. 

appointment of, 92. 

best farmer in country, 142. 

goes to Norfolk Island, 180. 

a Justice of the Peace, 237. 

remarks on morals of colonists, 276. 

portrait of, 276. 

bad treatment of, by Grose, 276, 280 et aeq, 

church built by, 278 and notes. 

asks reimbursement of exjienses, 278, 279, 288 
and note. 

protests against non-observanoe of religion, 279, 
236. 

complains of soldiers' behaviour at publio wor- 
ship, 280. 

WUberforce's opinion of, 286. 



Johnston, Captain Qeoige 
commands auxiliary company <tf N.8.WOoips, 

107. 
promotion of, 107. 
portrait of, 230. 

major commanding N.S. W. Oorpt, IQO. 
femaias in colony, 230. 

Justinian, The 
one of the Second Fleet, 62. 
anri^'al of, 66. 
takes stores to Norfolk Island, 182. 

Eellow, Lieutenant 
placed under arrest by Boas, 10 (note). 

Kent, Surgeon, 
in charge of convicts on vqyage out, 87. 



Ite 



King, P. G. 
Ross succeeds him at Norfolk Island, 2S. 
deviates from instructions, 133 and nob 

and note, 178, 180 et aeq. 
on conduct of captains of Third Flast, 179. 
plants, ^, obtained by, 181. 
live stook purehaaed by, 181 and note, 1B2 and 

note. 
Justifying action in, 182, 183. 
interest in expirees, 196. 
on Rev. R. Johnson's treatment by Qxoae, 235 

and note, 
portrait of, 293. 
returns to Norfolk Island ae Lteotsnant- 

Govemor, 293. 
treatment of, by Grose, 293, SllL 
Phillip's favourable opinion of, 29a. 
naval promotion of, 293. 
goes to New Zealand, 294 et teq, 
appoints Nepean Commandant pro tem., 294, 

298. 
mutiny suppressed by, 298, SCO, 902 et «eg. 
kind treatment of New Zealand natives I7, 295, 

301. 
Lieutenant Abbott's differenoe with, SM. 
consults with ofBcers re mutiny, 806. 
seizes mutineers' fireanus, 306. 
and arrests ringleaders, 807. 
his impartiality, 807. 
TCstores order, 307. 
establishes a militia, 307. 
sends mutineers to Sydney in the Rnads, 306. 
conduct of, condemned by Ooort of Inquiry, 

309, 315. 
ordered by Grose to disband the milttla, 309, 

813. 
and relieved of military command, SQ6L 
aotion of, re mutiny, i^iproved by HeBM< 

ment, 310, 310. 
Justifies his conduct, 810, 812, SlflL 
Orose exonerates him, 314. 
cancels Grose's orders, 317, 318. 
generous nature of, 8U. 



.ixnxx. 



347 



Kitty, The 
lengthy Yoygo of, 66. 
female oonvicts on board of, 50. 
stoTes shipped on, 288. 
flbur on board of, damaged, 226. 
oonaigiiment of dollazs on, 228. 
tools and atenflUs on, 226 and notes. 

Labour 

convicts ureakened by hiani^, 27. 

hours of, shortened, 28. 

convict servants allowed to offiosn, 21, 22, 81, 

114, 126, 261 «t M9., 282. 
and settlers, 81, US, U4, 118, 125, 126, 261. 
tho assignment system, 81, 114, 125, 126. 

Lady Juliana, The 
one of the Second Fleet, 52. 
convicts on board of, 52, 66, 77. 
a oaifiro of women, 52, 56, 77. 
lengthy passage of, 54, 55 and note, 66. 

Land 

cultiration in 1789, 20, 78. 

nants to officers, 21, 118 et uq., 119, 120, 121, 

122, 123, 125, 127, 252 et aeq,, 265 (note), 20L 
alienation of, 112. 
grants to emancipists, 112, 118. 
Phillip's poliey In regard to settlers on, 112. 
his instructions oonoeming land grants, 112 et 

8eq., 252, 258. 
improper use made of grants by settlers, 124. 
leases granted by Phillip, 124. 
military settlers seUing grants and lif« stock to 

officers, 126. 
grants conditional on bond-fide settiemeDt, 125 

(notoX 
fees chargeable upon grants of, 128. 
maximum area of grants, 128. 
proposal to send f amiUes as setUers, 129 (note), 
proposals for taking up, 129. 
Quaker settlerB, 129. 
oondltioDS, 129. 
not carried out, 180. 
impartial division of, 182. 
area reserved to the Crown, 182 and note, 188, 

201. 
lading out of towns, 182. 
reserved for church and school, 182, 282, 288. 
isolated grants of, 182. 
instructions for Norfolk Idand impractioable, 

183. 
held by oonvicto on sufferance, 14a 
earliest land grant, 166. 
date of issue, 157. 
history of> 157, 158 and note, 
forfeited grants, 162 and note, 
opinion of expert oonoeming, 166 and note, 
cleared during Grosses administntion, 266 and 

note. 

See also "Agrloaltnre." 



Liberty Plains 
origin of the name, 257. 
free settlers located at, 257 and note, 
not suooessf ul as farmers, 259. 

Live Stock 

destroyed by convicts, 19, 26. 

carried by the Guardian, 89, 47. 

soldbysetUox8,124,125. 

deficiency in, 167, 168, 209, 232. 

definite plan for procuring, 168, 169. 

from India, 170. 

inferior breed, 170. 

mortality on voyage, 171. 

sheep small but protiflc, 171. 

purchased by King, 181 and note, 182 and note. 

sheep for breeding, 232 and note. 

increase of, 256. 

Macarthnr, John 
portrait of, 98. 

lieutenant in N.S.W. Corps, 98. 
voyage of, in Neptune, 108. 
fights a duel in England, 108 (note), 
his dispute with Nepoon, 104. 
Mrs., on the harvest, 142. 
his farm, ,165 and note, 
land granted to, 253, 254 and note, 
appointed inspector of works, 253^ 
success as a farmer, 259, 267, 289. 
remarks on morals of colonists, 274. 
on progress of the colony, 289, 290. 

KagiBtrates 
Grose's attitude towards, 287 et m^., 312. 

Manly 
Phillip speaied by natives at, 235. 

Marines 
replaced by N.S.W. Corps, 10. 
officers of, anxious to return to England, 121, 

122. 
return from Norfolk Island, 180. 
recall of, 203. 
leave for England, 208. 
obstructive tactics of, 233. 
as Norfolk Island settlers, 298. 
as a militia, 305. 

Marsden, Sev. S. 
assistant chaplain, arrival of, 60. 
remarks on morals of colonists, 275, 287. 
appointed Johnson's assistant, 282. 
portrait of, 282. 

Hary Ann, The 
female oonvicts by, 174. 

Meredlih, Captain 
his dispute with Boss, 10, 18, 14. 
exonerated by Court-martial, 14, 15. 



348 



JITDSX. 



ICmtary 
Mi^or Ross, 1-10. 

dissensions amongst the officers, 10-15. 
officers as farmers, 20, 21, 255, 266, 289, 291, 202. 
barefooted guards, 81. 
officers' opinions on the colony, 85. 
soldiers ill with scurvy, 66. 
recruiting in olden times, 91. 
73rd Regiment relieve N.S.W. Corps, 109. 
78rd Regiment, strength of, 110. 
land grants to officers and men, 113 et aeq., 254. 
undesirable, as settlers, 159. 
to act against natives, 206. 
demeanour of, towards Phillip, 208. 
administration of Justice placed in the hands of, 

236 and note, 23a 
ration issued to, 242. 
spirits bought by, 271. 
non-observance of religion by, 280. 
mutiny of, at Norfolk Island, 294, 800, 802. 
King's account of, 300 et seq, 
conflict with Norfollc Island convicts, 303, 304. 
disarming of mutineers at Norfolk Island, 306, 

807, 310. 
Grose's extreme solicitude for, 31L 

See also •' N. S.W. Corps" and " Officers." 

MUUjCom 
for grinding com, 181 and note, 
inefficiency of, 248, 249 and note, 250. 

Mutiny 
attempted seizure of the Albemarle, 173 and 

note, 
and the Sugar-cane, 247. 
at Norfolk Island, 293, 300, 302-316. 

Katiyes 
Bennilong, 32, 38, 108 and note, 
danger from attacks of, 133. 
various dialects, 149. 
Phillip's treatment of, 197. 
hostile disposition of, 197. 
their code of honour, 197. 
Phillip speared by, 197, 235. 
amicable relations established with, 196 and 

note, 
thievish propensities of, 199. 
hostilities resumed, 199. 
severe measures imavoidable, 190 and note, 
revengeful character of, 200. 
origin of hostilities, 201. 
convicts the aggressors, 201. 
ill effect of quarrels, 201. 
convict speared, 202. 
soldiers sent against, 206. 
go with Phillip to England, 230 and note, 
of New Zealand at Norfolk Island, 294, 297 and 

note, 300, 301. 

Naval Agents 
poweiB of, 67. 



Hepeaa, Captain Nicholas 
senior captain in N.S. W. Corps, 96. 
services of, 96, 97. 

returns to England on sick leave, 97. 
and Macarthur, 104. 

appointed Commandant at Norfolk Island pro 
tern., 293, 294, 298, 290. 

Keptnne, The 
one of the Second Fleet, 52. 
master of, prosecuted, 60, 65. 
convicts secreted on, 146. 
arrival of Wentworth by, 153. 
wrecked with cattle from Bombay, 170. 
dok and dying convicts on, 188. 
mortality on, 224. 

Newgate Gaol 
overcrowded with felons, 76. 

New Sonth Wales 
population of, 25. 

unfavourable reports concerning, 35. 
object of Government in settling, 75. 
Phillip's views oonceming, 75. 
dependent on supplies from England, 75, 78, 86. 
attitude of English politicians towards, 76, 116, 
117. 

New Sonth Wales Corps 
raised in England, 89. 
strength of, 89, 92, 93, 94. 107, 108, 109. 
its status in the Army, 89, 90. 
arrangements for recruiting, 90, 91, 93. 
originally composed of four companies, 91. 
recruiting in olden times, 91. 
nominating officers of, 92. 
augmentation of, 92, 93, 94, 107, 108, lOOi 
auxiliary company formed from marines, M, 107. 
reputation of, 94. 

equal to the average British regiment, 94. 
recruits from the Savoy prison, 94, 95. 
officers of, their status and servioes, 05-93. 
recruiting from convicts by Grose, 100. 
conveyed to colony as guards on transports, 102, 

105, 106, 108. 
deaths of soldiers on the -Pitt, 106, 107. 
two new companies raised, 109, 109. 
concerned in arrest of Bligh, 109. 
and recalled in consequence, 100. 
relieved by the 73rd Raiment, 100. 
name changed to 102nd Regiment, 109 and note, 
history of, after its recall, 110, 111. 
bounty money to marine% enlisting in, 114. 
land grants to officers of, 21, 113, 119 et seg., 123, 

127, 263 et aeq., 255 and note, 291. 
detachment of, for Norfolk Island, 180l 
detachment arrives by the Pitt, 212. 
treatment of, 216. 
officers of, as magistrates, 287. 
mutiny of detachment of, at Norfolk Idsod, SB8; 

300, 802-816. 

Beealso^lfaiteiy.'' 



INDEX. 



S49 



Kewton, Bey. John 
letters of, 47. 
B«T. R. Johnson's friend, 281. 

New Zealand 
daUtss of, at Norfolk Island, 294, 297 and note, 

800, 301, 818. 
King's desire to annex, 296 and notes. 

ITorfolk IslaiLd 
convicts sent from Sydney to, 24, 25. 
food supplies at, 26. 
population of, 26. 
asjiculture at, 26. 

preferred to Port Jackson by Grenville, 72. 
Phillip's oi^nlon of, 83, 84. 
unsuited for principal settlement, 88, 84. 
land grant instructions unworkable, 138. 
receives surplus population, 152. 
reduced ration at, 152 and note, 
officials for, 153. 

Wentworth, assistant surgeon at, 153. 
preferred by settiers to Rose HUl, 160. 
number of settlers at, 160. 
stores for, 180 and note, 
settlement at, 284. 
King, Lieutenant-Governor of, 29a. 
succeeded by Boss, 293. 
marine settlers at, 298. 
Nepean, Commandant jw) tern., 294. 
in place of Lieutenant Abbott, 298. 
mutiny at, 802-816. 
conflict between soldiers and convicts at, 808, 

304 and notes, 
the drama at, 804. 

setUera at, enroUed as a militia, 806, 807. 
mutineers' firearms seised, 806. 
and ringleaders arrested, 807. 
order restored, 807. 
militia at, to be disbanded, 809. 
Grose's General Order respecting, 811. 
military rule established at, 818. 
restoration of civil power at, 817. 

Officers 
placed under arrest by Ross, 10, 11, 12. 
farming by, 20, 21, 256, 256, 261, 289, 291. 292. 
land grants to, 21, 113, 119 «t aeq., 125, 127, 258 

ei seq.t 255 and note, 201. 
convict hkbour allowed to, 21, 22, 81, 114, 126, 

261 et aeq., 282. 
their damaging accounts of tbe colony, 85. 
property of, lost hi wreck of Guardian, 47, 
of N.8.W. Corps, nominated by Grose, 99L 
embulc for the colony, 102, 108. 
recalled, 109. 

anxious to return to England, 121, 122. 
as magistrates, 287. 
enterprise of, 25L 
areas of kmd grants to, 268. 
spirits purchased by, 271, 272. 
demoralisation caused by, 272. 



Officers 
pay wages in spirits, 278 and note, 
absent from publio worship, 277. 
praise of, from Grose, 289, 292. 
granted the choicest land, 291. 

Officiftls 
for Norfolk Island, 158. 
as magistrates, 237. 
praise of, from Grose, 289. 

Orerseers 
Phillip unable to obtain, 19. 
deficiency of, 166. 



Pardon 



See " Emancipation.' 



Parramatta 
preferred to Sydney as site for settlement, 5.] 
the son at, 78. 
importance of, 85. 
foundation of, 187. 
design of, 187 and note, 
buildings at, 187, 232, 283 and notes, 
destiny of, 188. 

incorporated with Rose HiU, 188. 
definite naming of, 188 and note, 
a contrast, 139 and note. 
Phillip's hitentions regarding, 140. 
plan showing first farms at, 162. 
progress of agriculture at, 168, 164 and note, 
increase in number of settlers at, 166. 
land for settlers at, 281. 
settlers at, prospering, 281, 289. 
magistrates at, 238. 

Macarthur's farm at, 253, 254 and note, 250. 
site of setUementon river, 258 and note, 
foundation of church laid at, 277. 
See also "Rose HiU." 

Paterson, Captain William 
services of, 97, 98. 
an African traveller, 97 and note, 
accompanies King to Norfolk Island, 180. 

Petersham 
convicts employed at, 267. 
cultivation at, 258. 

Philadelphia, The 
stores purchased from, 223 and note. 

PhUUp 
hie relationi with RoUy 1-15. 
self-control of, 1, 7. 
Ross states his grievances to, 2, 5. 
PhUlip repUes, 8. 

and informs Nepean of the facts, 4, 7, 8. 
labours of, as an explorer, 4. 
discretionary power of, in determining site of 

the settlement, 6, 82, 88. 
attempts of, to pacUy Ross, 6, 7. 



360 



IFDEX. 



9,10,70, 



PldUip 
his conduct •ipprovvd bj 

72. 

his cheerfulnen under diflksoltlM, 16, 19, 88. 
the famine qf 1789-4^0, 10-87. 
sends the Sirios to the Cape for food, 17. 
reduces the ration, 17. 
to guard against accidents, 18. 
an instance of his humanity, 18 (noteX 
unable to procure overseers, 19, 78. 
his private servant, 10 (note), 
report of, on the harvest of 1789, 20. 
gives up his private stock of flour, 20. 
policy of, in regard to convict labour, 21, 82. 
erects a signal-station at South Head, 28. 

sends a number of convicts to Norfolk (Island, 

24,26. 
efforts of, to preserve live stock, 20. 
relations with the native Bennilong, 82, 88. 
sends the Supplf to Beta via for food, 88. 
orders the seed grain to be served as food, 8A. 
warns the authorities against unfavourable 

reports, 84. 
the Second Fleet, 6&-70. 
his requests ignored by the Government, 58, 72, 

73,76,115,110. 
oomplalns of ill-treatment of oonvioti on the 

voyage out, 58. 
holds an inquiiy into the case of the Queen, 

transport, 60. 
unable to punish the owners, 69. 
deepatcheefrcm England, 71-88. 
his despatohes to England, 71. 
his first letter from the Oovenmient, 71. 
results achieved by, 72. 
obstacles surmounted by, 72, 73, 80. 
advocates temponuy oearation of transportation, 

78. 
anxious for airival of free settlera, 74, 75, 116 

eteeq. 
his views concerning the future of the colouy, 

75. 
instructed to make the colony self-supporting, 

77. 
asks tor rsgular snppUes of provisions, 78. 
embarrassed by action of Home Office, 72, 78. 
he explains the slow progress of colony, 80. 
compares Sydney and Norfblk Island, 88. 
urged by Grenville to economise, 85. 
he replies, 80. 

disposal qf Crwcn lands, lU-135. 
his policy in regard to alienation of land, 112. 
his instructions concerning land grants, 112 

et seq. 
unable to grant land to officer^ 121. 
deviates from instructions, 188. 
exertions in clearing land, 186. 
solicitude for convicts, ISO. 
his foresight, 141. 
his optimism, 142. 

building difBcultles lonnounted by, 145^ 
his ubiquity, 14fi. 



Phillip 
efforts of, to prevent oonvicts 
140. 



1«. 



roasten of transporto asrist absoonden, 146s 

note. 
MHoess of Us efforts, 1^. 
warns convicts of resulto of attenpti 

151 andnotei 
his clemency, 151. 
beneficial effect, 151. 
settlers on the soil, 166-171. 
instructions regarding agrienltors, 166. 
doubta respecting success of, 156. 
issues firat land grant, 157. 
its locality, 167. 
its history, 157, 158 and note, 
opinion of settters, 166, 160^ 
diffen from Ck>nin8 on piogw w made, 100. 
settlera with means wanted, 160. 
opinion of productiveness of the soU, 166 and 

note, 
ban to progress, 167. 
plan for obtaining live stock, 166. 
the Third Fleet, 172-188. 
on health of convicts, 175. 
contraband goods, no power to selaa, 179l 
Home Government would have exoaeiated, 18 

and note, 
its faith in, 188. 
his adaptohiUty, 186, 288. 
advocacy for naval protection, IfiOL 
emancipation, 189-196. 

power conferred by Commission, 189, 180, 191. 
illegal emadpations by, 192 and note, 188. 
asks for instructions concerning eiq>inei» 19& 
Grenville's reply, 196. 
and the natives, 197-202. 
humane treatment of natives by, 197. 
speared by one at Uanly, 197. 
conflicte between natives and oonvfcts, 200, 2 1 
the convicts the aggressors, 20L 
reprisals by the natives, 201. 
efforts to secura hannonj, 201, 202 and noia. 
quarrel with LietUenant Dawes, 208, 206. 
charges.against Dawes, 203. 
bujing convicts' rations, 204. 
ill effect of, 204 and note. 
Dawes's refutation, 204, 205. 
remarks thereon, 205. 
proposal to chastise the natives* 206w 
Dawes's religious scruples, 206. 
he eventually consents, 206 and note, 
charges Dawes with insubordination, 206L 
and unofflcerlike behaviour, 207. 
instance of treatment of difiicultiss» 90& 
strained ratotions with ndlitair, 208. 
staU qf the settlement in ITSf, 209-8S& 
difficulties of the period, 200. 
oonvicte too feeble to work, 800. 
starvation and crime, 210. 
scarcity of provirions, 214. 



INDEX. 



351 



Phillip 
population, Hftich, 1702» 214. 
privmia taradiiiff by masten of transports, 215. 
disapprove of private faira of storesUp, 217, 218 

ana note, 
mortality in Msrdi, 1798, 219. 
his last despatch, 223. 
rttigneaxim of, 22^235. 
wishes to return, 220. 
failing: health, 229, 286. 
sails for England, 2S9, 280. 
takee natives with him, 290 and note, 
his meritorious services, 280, 288, 284. 
state of the colony at his departure, 280, 231. 
a^coltural progress, 281. 
live stock in colony, 282. 
public building erected, 282, 2S8L 
gives sheep to settlers, 232 and note, 
energy of, 233. 
promotion of, 235 and note, 
and death, 235. 

his administnitian of Jostioe, 287. 
impartial ration, distribution by, 241. 
no power to grant land to ofltoers, 252, 258. 
and the spirit traffic, 270, 271. 
efforts of, to aid religion, 270, 277. 
policy of, and Grose's compared, 291. 
recommendation of King, 293. 
and relations between civil and military, 811, 812. 

PMUip Island 
adjacent to Norfolk Island, 806b 

Piper, Enflign 
with King at Norfolk Island, 806. 

Pitt, The 

voyage of, 106. 

deaths of soldiers and seamen on board of, 106. 

arrival of, 212. 

provisions by, 212 and note, 218. 

cargo of, 215 and note. 

Population 
of Sydney and Norfolk Island, 25. 
increase of, 151, 1S2. 
mortality hi 1790, 15&. 
health of, 177. 

census, 19th March, 1792, 214 and note, 
in Phillip's time, 284 and note, 
depravity of, 275. 

Portland, Duke of 

succeeds Dundas, 816. 
portrait of, 315. 

^onUen, Lieutenant 

placed under arrest by Boas, 10. 
returns to England, 230. 

Prospect Hill 
plan showing first farms at, 162. 
land for settlers at, 28L 



Providence, H.M.S. 
aRiTaiot,187. 

ProvisionB 

scarcity during 1789-90, 16-87. 

supplies from Batavia, 38, 250 and note. 

stock of, April, 1790, 33. 

cargo of the Goardian, 89, 41 and note, 46. 

for two years necessary, 74. 

the colony dependent upon supplies from Eng- 
land, 77, 78. 

scarcity of fresh, 140. 

uncertainty of arrival from England, 148, 184, 
209, 244. 

inferior quaUty, 143, 222. 

birds at Norfolk Island, 158 and note. 

stores for Norfolk Island, 180 and note. 

irregular and inadequate supplies of, 184, 214, 
215. 

on board the Pitt, 212 and note, 218. 

proposal to obtain, from India, 213. 

received from India, 214. 

received by the Atlantic and Britannia, 220 and 
notes. 

necessity for suitable, 227, 228. 

Qrose*s remarks on, 240. 

as distributed by Orose and Phillip, 24L 

arrived from England, 244. 

providential arrival of, 245 et seq, 

no flour, 248, 249 and note. 

abundant, 25L 

from America, 251. 

See also " Bations." 

Quaker Settlers 

proposals and conditions of, 129, 180. 
plan abandoned, 180. 

Queen, The 
ill-treatment of conviets on board of, 60, 176 and 

note, 178, 179. 
takes detachment of Corps to Norfolk Island, 

180. 
mortality of convicts from, 219. 

Queenborougbi 
out-settlement on Norfolk Island, 806. 

Bations 
reduction of, 17, 186 and note, 218. 
issued semi-weekly, 18. 
further reduction of, 28, 143. 
convicts perishing from hunger, 32, 87 (note), 

219. 
full ration restored, 56 and note, 185 and note, 

225. 
inferior quality of, 143, 222. 
reduction of, at Norfolk Island, 152. 
purchased by Lieutenant Dawes from oonviets, 

203, 204 and note, 
starvation allowance, 218 Bt teq. 
supplemented by game and fish, 20, 219. 
rice issued in lieu of iknir, 225. 
importance of suitable, 227, V&, 
as distribntsd brOran and FhiOip S41. 



352 



INDEX. 



SatiOBS 
distinctions between oonvicto and toldien, 241, 

242. 
nngroond wheat as, 249 and note, 
flour 8up]dy exhausted, 249 and note, 
fresh pork issued as, 250 and note, 
exchanged for spirits, 271, 272 and note. 

laven, William 
commander of the Britannia, 246 and note, 296. 

Seliance, H.M.S. 

arrival of, 187. 

Beliglon 
PhiUip's efforts to aid, 276, 277. 
Grose's obstructive tactics, 276, 280. 
neglect of public worship, 276, 277, 279, 286, 287. 
services hold in boathouse, 277. 
erection of churches, 278, 2t6. 
contempt for, by soldiers, 280. 

Bic]iard,WlUiam 
contract with, for transporting convicts, 69. 

Biou, lieutenant 
his heroic conduct, 88, 40. 
killed at the battle of Copenhagen, 88 (note)u 
his letter to the Admiralty, 40. 
refuses to abandon the Guardian, 40. 
injuries received by, 42. 
forced to haul the Guardian ashore, 48. 
praised by the Admiralty, 46. 

BoBeHill 
agriculture at, 16, 74. 
the han-est at, 20. 
capitalists proposed to settle at, 131. 
convalescent convicts sent to, 186 and note, 
number employed at, 137, 160. 
progress of sgriculture at, 142. 
barracks at, 144. 
convicts escape from, 147. 
preference given by settlers to Norfolk Island, 
159. 

See also " Parramatta." 

ROBB 
his relations with Phillip, 1-16, 208. 
complaints of, concerning Oollins, 1, 2. 
disposition of, 1, 6, 7. 
he states his grievances, 2, 8. 
Phillip's reply, 8. 
charges of, denied by Phillip, 4. 
considers himself slighted, 5. 
Phillip's attempts to pacify, 6. 
and the convicts, 7. 
gives offence to Hunter and GoUins, 7. 
recall of, 8, 10. 

his conduct disapproved, 9, 15. 
places members of Court-martial under arrest, 

10, U. 
charged with oppression by Tench, 18. 
his dispute with Meredith, 14, 16. 
takes command at Korfotk Island, 25i. 



Boss 

his opinion of the colony, 85l 
" not a worse country In the worid,** S6L 
relieved, returns to England, 104, 2C8. 
returns from Norfolk Island, 180. 
suooeeded King at Norfolk Island, 293. 
services and death of, 821. 

Bowley, Lieatenant 
arrival of, in the Pitt, 212. 

Boyal Admiral, The 
stores shipped on, 228. 
con\icts by, 228, 224. 
employed as transport, 224, 225 and note. 

Bubo, James 
first land grantee, 155. 
promises made to him by Phillip, 156. 
his harvest, 166. 
mode of cultivation, 156. 
his antecedents, 157. 
successful efforts of, 167 and note, 
date of land grant to, 157. 
" Experiment Farm,*' 157 and note. 
its history, 157, 158 and note, 
additional grant, 158 and note, 
beneficial results of success, 169. 

Salamander, The 
health of convicts on, 176. 

Scarborongli, The 
one of the Second Fleet, 62. 
arrival of, at Sydnej*, 57. 
sick and dying convicts on board of, 18S. 
mortality on, 224. 

School 
land reserved for, 132. 

Scnrvy 
soldiers and convicts suffer from, 66. 

Second Fleet 
vessels comprising, 52. 
convicts transported by, 52, 77. 
arrival of, at Sydney, 52, 80. 
inhuman treatment of convicts, 57 at 9eq. 
deaths during the voyage, 57. 
and after arrival, 57, 154. 
contractors for vessels of, 61, 64 and note, 
master of Neptune prosecuted, 60, 66. 
naval agent in chaiire of, 62, 65, 66. 
arrivals by, 234 (noteX 

SetUers 
from the military class, 21, 113 e< ssf ., IfiOi 
Phillip advocates the immigration of, 74, 75, 81» 

115 et flsg. 
necessary to the colony's success, 74, 7Si. 
to be supported by Govenunent, 82, 112, 114, 

127. 
land grants to emandpists, 112. 
no inducements to inunigrate, lli. 



INDEX. 



353 



86ttlcr8 
anxious to leave the colony, 124. 
Qoaker funiliee, 129. 
extent of land grant to, 129. 
propoeala by oapitalitte, ISl. 
not entertained, ISL 
expoeed to attacks from natives, 183. 
" Experiment Farm," 167, 168 and notes, 
successful if industrioos, 168. 
the wrong class, 168. 
prospects improving, 160. 
approximate date of grants, 169. 
at Rose HiU and Norfolk Island, 160, 160. 
those with capital wanted, 160. 
delay in arrival <rf, 161. 
date of arrival of, 161. 
conditions accepted by, 161 and note, 
location of farms of, 162. 
not Ixmdjidet 162. 
industry necessary to success, 162. 
expirees unwilling to become, 162, 163. 
at Parramatta, 166. 

state of the settlement in 1799, 200-22& 
prosperous, 281, 280, 200. 
improvident, 282 and note, 
arrived by the Bellona, 266. 
inexpert formers, 267. 
at the Hawkfisbury, 268 et seq. 
prices obtained for wheat by, 266. 
selfishness of, 267. 
distillation by, 274. 
depravity of, 276. 

Shah Honimsear« The 
chartered to carry live stock, 170. 
arrival of, with stores, 246 and note. 

Shapoote, Ideatenant 
naval agent in charge of Second Fleet, 6! 

note, 66, 66. 
deeithof,62(note), 
his instructions, 66. 



See "Livestock." 

Sirius 
sent to the Cape for food, 17. 
wrecked at Norfolk Island, 29, 186. 
deserters from, 146. 
wreck of, saved from fire, 103. 

Soldiers 

See " MlUtary." 

Soiree 
an artide of food, 220 and nota 

South Head 
signal-station erected at, 22, 23. 
VOL. II. — Z 



Southwell, Daniel 
letters of, from Sydney, 22 (note^ 
placed in charge of signal-station, 22. 
located at Watson's Bay, 28. 
his garden, 24. 

Speedy, The 
arrival of, with stores, 260. 

Spencer 
settier at Norfolk Island, 810. 

Spirits 
purchasing rations with, 204, 272. 
distilled by settlers, 268 and note, 274. 
Phillip's and Grose's policies relative to, 270, 271. 
purohased by ofllcers, 271, 272. 
demoralising effects of, 272. 
seizure of, 272. 
craving of convicts for, 272. 
wages paid in, 278 and note, 274. 

Stills 
kept by settiers, 268 and note, 274 and note. 

Stores 

See " Provisions. " also " Bations." 

Sugar-cane, The 
comicts on board of, healthy, 67 (note), 
arrival oi, with stores and convicts, 246 and note, 
attempted seizure of, by convicts, 247. 

Superrlsion 
of convicts, 19, 78, 87, 140. 

Supply, The 
sent to fiatavia for food, 88. 
returns to Sydney, 84. 
deserter from, 146. 
as a brig, 186. 

Supply, H.K.S. 
purchase and arrival of, 187. 

Surprise, The 
one of tiie Second fleet, 62. 
arrival of, at Sydney, 67. 
takes convicts to Norfolk Island, 162. 
sick and dying convicts by, 188. 
mortality on, 224. 

Sydney 
PhiUip selects site of, 6. 
East and West, 6. 

compared with Norfolk Island, 88, 84. 
and Parramatta, 84, 86. 
in 1701, 86. 
oonstmotion of a water-tank at, 288. 

Tench, Captain 
placed in arrest by Boss, 10 (note), 
charges Boss with tyranny and oppression, 13. 
account of Bose Hill settiement by, 142. 



354 



INPEX. 



Third Flaet 
tmiBports oooiposing, 106 (noteX ITS and note, 

178. 
arrival of, 174. 

mortality of convicts on voyage, 174. 
after landing, 178, 177. 
fnudulent oonduot of captains of, 179. 
arrivals by, 284 (note). 

Thorpe 
engaged as millwright, 2M. 

TiminB, Liratenaiit 
placed under arrest by Ross, 10 (noteX 
retoms to England, 280. 

Toongabble 
area cultivated at, 166. 
setUement at, 284. 
no ofauroh at, 277. 
prosperity of settlers at, 280. 

Townaon, lieutexiaiit 
relieves King of militaiy command at Norfolk 

bland, 809. 
succeeds Lieutenant Abbott, 818. 
applies for oonviot labour, 814. 

Trail, Captain 
prosecuted for Ul-treating convicts, 00, 66. 

Tranaportatioxi 
system of contracting with shipowners, 64 and 

note, 67, 68, 69. 
a new system of, introduced, 60. 
the case of the Queen, transport, 69, 70. . 
temporary cessation of, advocated by Phillip, 

caused by overcrowded gaols in England, 76. 
speech of Edmund Burke upon, 76 (note), 
to Africa, 76 (note), 
half-yearly scheme, 184 and note. 

Vancouyer, Captain 
efforts in procuring live stock, 169. 
short of provisions, 170. 



Veteran Company 
formed from New South Wales Corps, 111. 

Waakiamhejd 
hired at Batavia, 84. 

Watson's Bay 
cottages erected at, 28. 
a garden at, 28, 24. 
site of the cottages, 24. 

Wentworth, D'Arey. 
arrival by the Neptune, 168. 
appointed assistant4Rirgeon at Norfolk 

168. 
appointments at Sydney, 164. 

Wheat 
the harvest at Rose HUl, 20. 
issued unground as rations, 210 and note, 
hiopportune sowing of, 267. 
in lieu of com, 266 and note, 266. 
prices sold at, 266. 
yield of, 266, 267 and notes. 

Whittle, Sergeant 
stationed at Norfolk Isfamd, 80«. 
See also " Orowder.** ^ 

Wilberforce 
Rev. E. Johnson's friend, 288, 284. 

Wilkinson 
soldier at Norfolk Island, 806w 

William, The 
arrival of, with stores, 247, 26a 
despatches by, 269. 

William and Ann, The 
health of convicts on, 176. 

Windsor 
soldier at Norfolk Island (see Diing), 80a. 

Woodriir, Ideatenant. 
naval agent on the Kitty, 6a 
services of, 66 (noteX 






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