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 i
The Saturday Age '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 ...
The Saturday Age '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 ...
Page 3
When the colonists were at last on land at Sydney, David Collins, the deputy judge-advocate, wrote: 'the high health which was apparent in every countenance was to be attributed not only to the refreshments we met with at Rio de Janeiro ...
When the colonists were at last on land at Sydney, David Collins, the deputy judge-advocate, wrote: 'the high health which was apparent in every countenance was to be attributed not only to the refreshments we met with at Rio de Janeiro ...
Page 20
As their service while on land would be 'entirely unconnected with maritime affairs', they were then to be responsible to the Home Office. The East India Company also needed to be told of the decision, as its royal charter gave it the ...
As their service while on land would be 'entirely unconnected with maritime affairs', they were then to be responsible to the Home Office. The East India Company also needed to be told of the decision, as its royal charter gave it the ...
Page 22
And, indeed, the Daily Universal Register advised the correct situation early in January 1787, when it said that the governor had 'discretionary power to land the convicts at Botany Bay, or Norfolk Island, or elsewhere, ...
And, indeed, the Daily Universal Register advised the correct situation early in January 1787, when it said that the governor had 'discretionary power to land the convicts at Botany Bay, or Norfolk Island, or elsewhere, ...
Page 24
We believe the first land that two-thirds of them will reach will be the bottom of the sea, there to make their final deposit in the bosom of the great deep; and probably there will be but a dark account of the remaining third part.23 ...
We believe the first land that two-thirds of them will reach will be the bottom of the sea, there to make their final deposit in the bosom of the great deep; and probably there will be but a dark account of the remaining third part.23 ...
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The First Fleet
User Review - Thorpe-Bowker and Contributors - Books+PublishingThe First Fleet: The Real Story is a companion volume to Alan Frost¿s earlier book, Botany Bay: The Real Story. It deals with the same subject as David Hill¿s 1788, but unlike Hill, Frost is an ... Read full review
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
Bibliographic information
| Title | The First Fleet: The Real Story |
| Author | Alan Frost |
| Publisher | Black Inc., 2012 |
| ISBN | 1921870575, 9781921870576 |
| Length | 288 pages |
| Subjects | › History / Australia & New Zealand |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |