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
Results 1-5 of 43
Page xi
... told the story ofthis gathering in Botany Bay: The Real Story (Black Inc., Melbourne, 2011). While this long process may reflect no particular merit except persistence, it is also true that such a study as this could not properly have ...
... told the story ofthis gathering in Botany Bay: The Real Story (Black Inc., Melbourne, 2011). While this long process may reflect no particular merit except persistence, it is also true that such a study as this could not properly have ...
Page 5
... told how he went to the Admiralty and the Public Record Office in search of information about Phillip's appointment, only to draw a complete blank. Mystifyingly, he therefore concluded, 'This all tends to show ... that Sir George Rose ...
... told how he went to the Admiralty and the Public Record Office in search of information about Phillip's appointment, only to draw a complete blank. Mystifyingly, he therefore concluded, 'This all tends to show ... that Sir George Rose ...
Page 12
... told him, 'I trust and hope that when any business of this kind is agitated again, 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 ...
... told him, 'I trust and hope that when any business of this kind is agitated again, 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 ...
Page 20
... 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. Nepean drafted and Sydney signed a letter to the Company ...
... 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. Nepean drafted and Sydney signed a letter to the Company ...
Page 21
... told Pitt that 'the whole interest of a certain set of gentlemen that are materially affected by its adoption, have been employed to thwart every means of its being obtained'; and a few days later, the Daily Universal Register advised ...
... told Pitt that 'the whole interest of a certain set of gentlemen that are materially affected by its adoption, have been employed to thwart every means of its being obtained'; and a few days later, the Daily Universal Register advised ...
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