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 2
... all too scanty clothing'.9 This false assertion is based on something Governor Arthur Phillip wrote: 'the situation in which the magistrates sent the women on board the Lady Penrhyn stamps them with infamy – though almost naked, ...
... all too scanty clothing'.9 This false assertion is based on something Governor Arthur Phillip wrote: 'the situation in which the magistrates sent the women on board the Lady Penrhyn stamps them with infamy – though almost naked, ...
Page 3
Shaw, too, comprehensively panned the organization of the venture: 'No farmers were sent out, no skilled craftsmen or mechanics, no person “knowledgeable in flax-dressing” ... no anti-scorbutics ... insufficient surgical supplies, ...
Shaw, too, comprehensively panned the organization of the venture: 'No farmers were sent out, no skilled craftsmen or mechanics, no person “knowledgeable in flax-dressing” ... no anti-scorbutics ... insufficient surgical supplies, ...
Page 9
Sometimes, original papers sent from one government department to another were returned, without copies having been taken. Attachments became separated from their covering letters. It was by no means uncommon for senior administrators ...
Sometimes, original papers sent from one government department to another were returned, without copies having been taken. Attachments became separated from their covering letters. It was by no means uncommon for senior administrators ...
Page 11
And, at moments of need, he sent agents fluent in European languages into these countries to obtain particular information – as in 1784–85, when he had Arthur Phillip report on activity in the French dockyards.33 In 1790, ...
And, at moments of need, he sent agents fluent in European languages into these countries to obtain particular information – as in 1784–85, when he had Arthur Phillip report on activity in the French dockyards.33 In 1790, ...
Page 12
... that I may have some notice ofit before it is sent officially'; and in March 1787, when Phillip was insistent, both that the convicts on board the ships at Portsmouth should be fed fresh food while they waited to depart, ...
... that I may have some notice ofit before it is sent officially'; and in March 1787, when Phillip was insistent, both that the convicts on board the ships at Portsmouth should be fed fresh food while they waited to depart, ...
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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 |