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Old 30-01-2008, 04:56 PM
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xstream (John)
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Location: "Where ever the wind blows".
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I'm proud to say I'm a descendant of one of the 564 male convicts (William Marriner) sentenced to 7 years for theft and arrived on the Alexander. His partner in crime Thomas Gearing sentenced to life for the same crime died on the journey out.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobj View Post
Today, 26th January, Australians celebrate the birth of our nation from the most humble of beginnings.
The First Fleet consisted of six convict ships, three store ships, two men -o-war ships with a total of 756 convicts (564 male, 192 female), 550 officers/marines/ship crew and their families.
The six convict ships were:

The Alexander
The Charlotte
The Lady Penrhyn
The Friendship
The Prince of Wales
The Scarborough

Other ships of the Fleet were:

H.M.S. Sirius
H.M.S. Supply
The Fishburn
The Borrowdale
The Golden Grove

The planning of Britain's colonisation of New South Wales was not the best. British gaols were overcrowded with petty criminals and convicts were no longer able to be sent to America as a result of the American War of Independence. It was decided to establish a Penal Colony in the lands of New South Wales which was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1770. The supply of women's clothing was left behind in Britain, which naturally caused problems until the colony was up and running.

The voyage itself also had it's own troubles. Some of the convicts on Scarborough attempted a mutiny which failed, there was also a second attempt of mutiny later in the voyage which failed. Captain Arthur Phillip, who was in charge of the Fleet on its 15,000 mile voyage, reported that there was only 23 deaths on the journey. (Phillip, the first Governor of NSW from 1788 - 1792).

It was these convicts, guilty of petty crimes that were the result of trying to survive the conditions of England at the time (eg stealing a loaf of bread), that were the pioneers who - through hard work and perserverence, made the colony survive and expand to the stage of self sufficiency.

Happy Birthday, Australia.
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