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 10
So the Admiralty needed to collect and file all the logs kept by the admirals, captains, commanders and lieutenants who served on its hundreds ofships, and all the correspondence to and from these officers. The Navy Board needed to know ...
So the Admiralty needed to collect and file all the logs kept by the admirals, captains, commanders and lieutenants who served on its hundreds ofships, and all the correspondence to and from these officers. The Navy Board needed to know ...
Page 20
The East India Company also needed to be told of the decision, as its royal charter gave it the exclusive monopoly of all British trade in the vast region between the Cape of Good Hope and the coasts of the Americas.
The East India Company also needed to be told of the decision, as its royal charter gave it the exclusive monopoly of all British trade in the vast region between the Cape of Good Hope and the coasts of the Americas.
Page 41
... commissions and instructions It was some years before the Pitt administration issued all the ancillary commissions and instruments needed to underwrite the wide-ranging powers it gave to the Botany Bay colony's first governor.
... commissions and instructions It was some years before the Pitt administration issued all the ancillary commissions and instruments needed to underwrite the wide-ranging powers it gave to the Botany Bay colony's first governor.
Page 42
... to Phillip a week later.34 Similarly, once the governor of New South Wales had been empowered to grant lands and to remit sentences, a Great Seal was needed to give legal effect to the instruments by which he did so.
... to Phillip a week later.34 Similarly, once the governor of New South Wales had been empowered to grant lands and to remit sentences, a Great Seal was needed to give legal effect to the instruments by which he did so.
Page 43
Offered to the masters of ships with needed cargoes, or to merchants in foreign ports, these might pass from one person to another before being presented for payment (sometimes years later) to the Treasury in London.
Offered to the masters of ships with needed cargoes, or to merchants in foreign ports, these might pass from one person to another before being presented for payment (sometimes years later) to the Treasury in London.
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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