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 6-10 of 92
Page 7
... Botany Bay, is also unknown.27 On the face of things, then, it is extremely unlikely – look, given the sixteen-year gap, let me say impossible! – that Phillip and Rose were ever 'neighbours' near Lyndhurst; and therefore, in the sheer ...
... Botany Bay, is also unknown.27 On the face of things, then, it is extremely unlikely – look, given the sixteen-year gap, let me say impossible! – that Phillip and Rose were ever 'neighbours' near Lyndhurst; and therefore, in the sheer ...
Page 17
The Real Story Alan Frost. Announcing. the. Decision. As I explain in BotanyBay: TheReal Story, William Pitt's Cabinet met on Saturday, 19 August, and decided to establish a convict colony at Botany Bay, on the eastern coast of New South ...
The Real Story Alan Frost. Announcing. the. Decision. As I explain in BotanyBay: TheReal Story, William Pitt's Cabinet met on Saturday, 19 August, and decided to establish a convict colony at Botany Bay, on the eastern coast of New South ...
Page 18
... Botany Bay in New South Wales, together with the provisions, necessaries and implements for husbandry which are judged requisite for the use of them and the marines who are to go to the same place on duty, giving notice that one of the ...
... Botany Bay in New South Wales, together with the provisions, necessaries and implements for husbandry which are judged requisite for the use of them and the marines who are to go to the same place on duty, giving notice that one of the ...
Page 20
... Botany Bay, 'together with provisions and other supplies for their subsistence, as well as tools to enable them to erect habitations, and also implements for agriculture'. It requested that the Admiralty provide 'a ship of war of a ...
... Botany Bay, 'together with provisions and other supplies for their subsistence, as well as tools to enable them to erect habitations, and also implements for agriculture'. It requested that the Admiralty provide 'a ship of war of a ...
Page 21
... Botany Bay decision.9 On 19 September, for example,the PublicAdvertiser announced that it was 'the design of government to form a settlement at Botany, on the east side of New Holland, in the Indian seas, for the reception of male and ...
... Botany Bay decision.9 On 19 September, for example,the PublicAdvertiser announced that it was 'the design of government to form a settlement at Botany, on the east side of New Holland, in the Indian seas, for the reception of male and ...
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