Listed on the manifest of the First Fleet were two bulls and five cows. These creatures were to form the basis of our cattle industry. Unfortunately only six months after arrival the herd escaped into the bush and were lost. It was to be another eleven years before the original herd was found grazing quietly at a site called Cowpasture.By 1878 the first set-back had well and truly been overcome and cattle numbers throughout the Australasian colonies exceeded seven million. Continue Reading »
Ship Hire
Nine of the eleven vessels which formed the First Fleet were hired at a cost of 10 shillings per ton per month. The merchant vessels hired by the Government were:Alexander, Lady Penrhyn, Charlotte, Scarborough, Friendship, Prince of Wales, Fishburn, Golden Grove and Borrowdale. The two naval vessels were, of course, Sirius and Supply. Continue Reading »
Ann Daly : John Seymour
Port Jackson November 1788, convict girls Ann Daly (Warburton) and Amelia Levy were sharing a hut together. A fire was kept lit between their hut and Ann Farmer; sometimes in the evenings John Ryan and Bartholomew Reardon took advantage of the warmth from the fire.During the evening of 11 November a man had come into the girl’s hut and taken some clothing. Ann claimed that she was lying awake in her hut when the door opened and a man came in. She thought the man had come in after Continue Reading »
Dorothy Handland / Gray
Dorothy Handland is claimed to be the oldest female convict to have sailed on the First Fleet and one of the most colourful. Arthur Bowes Smyth estimated Dorothy be 82 years old, but in Newgate Prison she was recorded as 60; another entry has her as 62, which is most likely correct. Bowes Smyth’s pen and ink side faced sketch of Mother Gray, depicts a woman with a very pointy nose and chin, wearing a bonnet. Shoemaker Robert Grey married Dorothy Coolley on 22 September 1766 Continue Reading »
Nancy Yates
Like many of his fellow officers, Captain David Collins who became the Colony’s Judge Advocate, took convict women as mistresses during his years in Sydney Cove and Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land.One of his mistresses was convict milliner Nancy / Ann Yates / Yeates. She was tried as a single-woman aged 17, at Yorkshire Summer Assizes held at York on 9 July 1785 with Jonathan Howard for burglary. Breaking and entering into the dwelling of John Strickland in the township of Milton Continue Reading »
Seamen
Seamen were are tough bunch of men. They crewed the First Fleet ships, fathered children to convict women, settled in the new colony, while others died on the inward and outward voyages. Life at sea during the age of sail was filled with dangers, even though these men were familiar with the discomfort and hardship of ship life. Seamen were separated from their homes and families for long periods at sea. They were crowded below decks in skimpy and cramped living conditions, Continue Reading »
Thomas Prior : Rebecca Davidson
In the Anglican Section of the Old Sydney (Devonshire/Sandhills) Burial Ground, was a very small headstone that marked the grave of Thomas Prior. The stone was embellished with several Masonic emblems and inscribed with the wording: Sacred to the memory of THOMAS PRIOR, who departed this Life, July 24th, 1836, Aged 88 Years, who Arrived in the first fleet 1788. Freemasonry has been associated with the British discovery and settlement of New South Wales from the beginning.Thomas Prior Continue Reading »
Jane Dundas
The Sydney Gazette 11 March 1806 listed Wearing Apparel and other property of the late Mrs J Dundas, to be sold at Auction by Mr David Bevan on 2 April. Jane Dundas had accumulated considerable personal effects in her 15 years as servant to the King household.From her trial at the Old Bailey, Jane Dundas at the end of her life, was given a public funeral at which His Excellency Governor King and family attended.Jane Dundas was in service as laundry maid to the Hon Sir John Skinner when Continue Reading »
Chapman Family
Robert Ross was Major of a detachment of four companies of marines that sailed on the First Fleet ships. Marines aboard the Prince of Wales were 2 lieutenants, 3 sergeants, 2 corporals, 1 drummer, 24 privates, some accompanied with wives and children.Private Marine Thomas Chapman was attached to the 60th (Plymouth Company). On 17 August 1787, Sergeant of Marines James Scott also on Prince of Wales wrote, Private Thomas Chapman was promoted to Corporal to stand in for one who had lost his Continue Reading »
Mary Fowles
Ann Fowles was indicated for feloniously stealing clothing on the 11 March 1785. Tried at the Old Bailey on 6 April, and found guilty, Ann received a sentence of seven years transportation. From the Old Bailey, Ann was held over in Newgate Prison for nearly two years, and it is presumed, her 2 year old daughter Mary Fowles stayed with her.9 January 1787, Captain Campbell on board Lady Penrhyn wrote, received from Newgate 6 women & 3 children Convicts for Botany Bay. Listed amongst Continue Reading »