The First Fleet: The Real Story“Alan Frost is the myth-buster of Australian history...His work should be studied not only by students but anyone interested in the birth of a nation.” — the Age In 1787 a convoy of eleven ships, carrying about 1400 people, set out from England for Botany Bay. According to the conventional account, it was a shambolic affair: under-prepared, poorly equipped and ill-disciplined. Robert Hughes condemned the organisers’ “muddle and lack of foresight”, while Manning Clark described scenes of “indescribable misery and confusion”. In The First Fleet: The Real Story, Alan Frost draws on previously forgotten records to debunk these persistent myths. He shows that the voyage was in fact meticulously planned – reflecting its importance to the British government’s secret ambitions for imperial expansion. He examines the ships and supplies, passengers and behind-the-scenes discussions. In the process, he reveals the hopes and schemes of those who planned the voyage, and the experiences of those who made it. ‘It is almost certain that Frost knows more than anybody else about the early maritime history of this land ... This book will surely alter the way Sydney sees its history.’ — Geoffrey Blainey, The Weekend Australian |
From inside the book
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Page xi
... Navy Board, and First Fleet officers such as Arthur Phillip (governor) and John White (chief surgeon). Also, numbers of the documents that were created are now lost to history. But while some aspects of the venture remain obscure (e.g. ...
... Navy Board, and First Fleet officers such as Arthur Phillip (governor) and John White (chief surgeon). Also, numbers of the documents that were created are now lost to history. But while some aspects of the venture remain obscure (e.g. ...
Page xii
... Boards simply as Treasury and Admiralty, but retain the full titles for the Navy Board and Board of Trade. Introduction The First Fleet carrying the Botany Baycolony's officials,marines, convicts, xii The First Fleet: The Real Story.
... Boards simply as Treasury and Admiralty, but retain the full titles for the Navy Board and Board of Trade. Introduction The First Fleet carrying the Botany Baycolony's officials,marines, convicts, xii The First Fleet: The Real Story.
Page 5
... Navy. (Wrong. Lord Howe was the First Lord of the Admiralty, and Philip Stephens Secretary of the Admiralty Board. Rose was Secretary of the Treasury.) After citing Howe's unfavourable response to Sydney's advice that Phillip was to be ...
... Navy. (Wrong. Lord Howe was the First Lord of the Admiralty, and Philip Stephens Secretary of the Admiralty Board. Rose was Secretary of the Treasury.) After citing Howe's unfavourable response to Sydney's advice that Phillip was to be ...
Page 9
... Navy Board procedures, but which was never intended to be more than a conference paper. In essence, the documents I have gathered have allowed me largely to reconstitute original series which have become scattered over more than two ...
... Navy Board procedures, but which was never intended to be more than a conference paper. In essence, the documents I have gathered have allowed me largely to reconstitute original series which have become scattered over more than two ...
Page 10
... Navy Board served under a series of administrations.) Again, as the sphere of operations of the Royal Navy progressively enlarged, the Admiralty and Navy Board needed to have to hand details of ships, men, supplies and finance, not only ...
... Navy Board served under a series of administrations.) Again, as the sphere of operations of the Royal Navy progressively enlarged, the Admiralty and Navy Board needed to have to hand details of ships, men, supplies and finance, not only ...
Contents
17 | |
27 | |
Officials and Officers | 49 |
Ships Crews Marines Convicts | 64 |
The Ships | 81 |
Equipping the Colonists | 95 |
Loading the Ships and Embarking the People | 114 |
AtPortsmouth | 129 |
Preparing Bodiesfor the Voyage | 140 |
Leaving the World | 159 |
No CheaperMode? | 181 |
Conclusion | 198 |
Acknowledgments | 217 |
Select Bibliography | 250 |
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Common terms and phrases
24 October 28 February administration’s Admiralty advised Alexander appointed April arrival Arthur Phillip asked August Botany Bay Campbell Cape Chronicle clothing Collins colonists colony’s command commission cost court crew December Deptford Officers embarked England establishment Evan Nepean expedition expense February female convicts Fleet fresh foods governor Home Office HRNSW Hunter Island January Lady Penrhyn land Lieutenant London March marine officers marines and convicts Memorandum Middleton to Nepean Minute naval Navy Board necessary needed Nepean to Middleton November Ocean Officers to Navy ofthe Phillip to Nepean Phillip to Sydney Pitt administration Plymouth port Portsmouth Privy Council provisions Real Story Record group Rio de Janeiro Ross Royal Navy sailed Scarborough scurvy sent September 1786 settlement ship’s ships Shortland sick Sirius Sirius and Supply SLNSW South Wales Steele surgeon Teer to Navy Tench Tenerife told Treasury USNA Victualling voyage wine women wrote