first fleet convict voyage

HISTORIC ARTICLE

May 13, 1787 ce: 'first fleet' sets sail for australia.

On May 13, 1787, the “First Fleet” of military leaders, sailors, and convicts set sail from Portsmouth, England, to found the first European colony in Australia, Botany Bay.

Geography, Social Studies, World History

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On May 13, 1787, a group of over 1,400 people in 11 ships set sail from Portsmouth, England. Their destination was a vaguely described bay in the continent of Australia, newly discovered to Europeans. In a stunning feat of planning and navigation , nearly all of the voyagers survived and arrived in Botany Bay several months later.

A wide variety of people made up this legendary “First Fleet .” Military and government officials, along with their wives and children, led the group. Sailors, cooks, masons, and other workers hoped to establish new lives in the new colony .

Perhaps most famously, the First Fleet included more than 700 convicts . The settlement at Botany Bay was intended to be a penal colony . The convicts of the First Fleet included both men and women. Most were British, but a few were American, French, and even African. Their crimes ranged from theft to assault. Most convicts were sentenced to seven years’ “transportation” (the term for the sending of prisoners to a usually far-off penal colony ).

The First Fleet departed from Portsmouth, then briefly docked in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. The ships then crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where they took on huge stores of supplies. Then the fleet sailed back across the Atlantic to Cape Town, South Africa, where they took on even more food, including livestock . The main portion of the journey was across the entire Indian Ocean, from Cape Town to Botany Bay —they traveled about 24,000 kilometers (15,000 miles) throughout the entire journey.

Botany Bay was not as hospitable as the group had hoped. The bay was shallow, there was not a large supply of freshwater, and the land was not fertile . Nearby, however, officers of the First Fleet discovered a beautiful harbor with all those qualities. They named it after the British Home Secretary, Lord Sydney. The day the First Fleet discovered Sydney Harbor is celebrated as Australia’s national holiday , Australia Day.

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Last Updated

October 19, 2023

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware this website contains images, voices and names of people who have died.

Exile or opportunity?

1788: Captain Arthur Phillip establishes a convict settlement at Sydney Cove

Colonial Australia

Indigenous Australia

Learning area

Use the following additional activities and discussion questions to encourage students (in small groups or as a whole class) to think more deeply about this defining moment.

Questions for discussion

1. What, if any, have been the long-term effects of convict transportation on Australian society?

2. Do you agree with the National Museum of Australia that the arrival of the First Fleet is a defining moment in Australian history? Explain your answer.

Image activities

1. Look carefully at all the images for this defining moment. Tell this story in pictures by placing them in whatever order you think works best. Write a short caption under each image.

2. Which 3 images do you think are the most important for telling this story? Why?

3. If you could pick only one image to represent this story, which one would you choose? Why?

Finding out more

1. What else would you like to know about this defining moment? Write a list of questions and then share these with your classmates. As a group, create a final list of 3 questions and conduct some research to find the answers.

In a snapshot

The arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in January of 1788 marked the beginning of the European colonisation of Australia. The fleet was made up of 11 ships carrying convicts from Britain to Australia. Their arrival changed forever the lives of the Eora people, the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land in the Sydney area, and began waves of convict transportation that lasted until 1868.

‘Sketch & description of the settlement at Sydney Cove Port Jackson in the County of Cumberland.’ Drawn by Francis Fowkes.

National Library of Australia, MAP NK 276

Can you find out?

1. Who were Australia’s first convicts? Why were they transported to Australia?

2. How did Governor Arthur Phillip manage the colony of New South Wales?

3. What were the main ways Aboriginal people were affected by the arrival of Phillip and the First Fleet?

Colour publication printed for the 150th Anniversary Celebrations of Australia, 1938. Captain Arthur Phillip is featured.

National Museum of Australia

Why was a convict colony set up in Australia?

Britain used transportation to distant lands as a way of getting rid of prisoners. After Britain lost its American colonies in 1783 the jails of England were full. The British decided to begin transporting prisoners to Australia, which had recently been claimed for the British Crown by Lieutenant James Cook. 

Prisoners (also known as convicts) were transported for many reasons but mainly for crimes that we might consider to be minor today, such as stealing. Convicts who were transported were usually poor, often from the large industrial cities and were mostly from England (with a large minority from Ireland and Scotland).

The First Fleet of 11 ships, commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip, set up a convict settlement at Sydney Cove (now Circular Quay) on 26 January 1788. This was the beginning of convict settlement in Australia.

A colour engraving of a family of four travelling in the Port Jackson area

Who was Australia’s first governor?

Captain Arthur Phillip was an experienced naval officer who became first governor of the colony of New South Wales. He faced many challenges in the early years of settlement. He was prepared to punish people who broke the rules, but also rewarded convicts and free settlers who behaved well.

Almost straight away, the new colony faced starvation. The first crops failed because of the lack of skilled farmers, spoilt seed brought from England, poor local soils, an unfamiliar climate and bad tools. Phillip insisted that food be shared between convicts and free settlers. The British Officers didn’t like this, nor the fact that Phillip gave land to trustworthy convicts. But both actions meant that the colony survived, and they began an attitude of fairness that is still prized in Australia today.

Research task

Research the sorts of people who travelled on the 11 ships that made up the First Fleet. How many convicts (male and female), free settlers, crew, marines, officials and children were on board?

‘A Family of New South Wales’, based on a sketch by Captain Philip Gidley King, 1793

What effect did the First Fleet have on Australia’s first peoples?

The arrival of the First Fleet immediately affected the Eora nation, the traditional Aboriginal owners of the Sydney area. Violence between settlers and the Eora people started as soon as the colony was set up. The Eora people, particularly the warrior Pemulwuy, fought the colonisers. This conflict was mainly over land and food.

Phillip was speared during a meeting with Eora at Manly in 1790, but he recovered and continued as the colony’s first governor for two more years. He returned to England in 1792 with two Indigenous men: Bennelong, who later returned to Australia, and Yemmerrawannie, who died in England.

Thousands of Eora people died as a result of European diseases like smallpox.

The founding of Australia by Capt. Arthur Phillip R.N. Sydney Cove, Jan. 26th 1788 , by Algernon Talmage, 1937

This map attempts to represent the language, social or nation groups of Aboriginal Australia. It shows only the general locations of larger groupings of people which may include clans, dialects or individual languages in a group. It used published resources from 1988-1994 and is not intended to be exact, nor the boundaries fixed. It is not suitable for native title or other land claims.

The First Fleet entering Port Jackson, January 26, 1788 , by E Le Bihan, drawn in 1888

Captain Arthur Phillip, painted by Francis Wheatley

Port Jackson Harbour , by John Eyre and engraved by Walter Preston, 1812

Convict leg irons

An engraving believed to be the only known depiction of Pemulwuy

Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, FL3141725

David R Horton (creator), AIATSIS, 1996. No reproduction without permission. To purchase a print version visit: www.aiatsis.ashop.com.au/

State Library of New South Wales FL3268277

Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales a928087

Convict love token, 1792

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

State Library of New South Wales Q80/18

What were the long-term effects of the First Fleet?

The First Fleet was the beginning of convict transportation to Australia and was followed by many other fleets of convict ships. When this ended in 1868, over 150,000 convicts had been transported to New South Wales and other Australian colonies. Most convicts stayed in Australia after serving their sentences, and some became well-known, important people within the Australian colonies.

Convict settlement continued to have devastating effects on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the decades after 1788. Thousands died in conflicts with settlers and from diseases, and many more suffered from the loss of cultural traditions and languages.

Read a longer version of this Defining Moment on the National Museum of Australia’s website . 

What did you learn?

Related resources, australian journey episode 06: captivity narratives, 1.2 convicts sent to australia: ‘when prisoners walked the land’, convict punishment, collection highlights: convict love tokens.

Convict transportation peaks

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First Fleet convicts

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Key to library resources

The First Fleet, consisting of 11 vessels, was the largest single contingent of ships to sail into the Pacific Ocean. Its purpose was to find a convict settlement on the east coast of Australia, at Botany Bay.

The First Fleet sailed from England on 13 May 1787 and arrived at Botany Bay eight months later, on 18 January 1788. Governor Arthur Phillip rejected Botany Bay choosing instead Port Jackson, to the north, as the site for the new colony; they arrived there on 26 January 1788.

The number of convicts transported in the First Fleet is unclear; there were between 750-780 convicts and around 550 crew, soldiers and family members.

Reference Flannery, T 1999,  The birth of Sydney , Text Publishing, Melbourne.

Ships of the First Fleet

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Preserving Australia's Naval History

The Marines of the First Fleet

Potter, John · Sep 18, 1998 · Print This Page

In the early morning of Saturday 12 May 1787, a small fleet of eleven ships prepared to leave Portsmouth’s Mother Bank in the UK to found a penal colony halfway around the world. This motley collection of small convict transports and storeships now known as the First Fleet, carried on board the first troops to serve in Australia, consisting of four companies of the British Marine Corps. The now Royal Marines trace their origins back to the reign of Charles II when on the 28th October 1664, a new regiment, “The Duke of York and Albany’s Maritime Regiment of Foote” was raised. The intention was to produce a unit which would be seasoned to sea travel and therefore be able to withstand the disabling effects of seasickness after long sea voyages. Over the ensuing years, these early Marines saw extensive service in theatres of operation as far afield as North America, India and the Caribbean. They fought successfully in a wide range of conditions, and were instrumental in adding a number of important new territories to the empire including Gibraltar, Nova Scotia and Canada.

By the conclusion of the American War of Independence in 1783, the Marine Corps had established a reputation for steadfastness and loyalty not often matched by their army counterparts. This was highlighted by their highly disciplined behaviour during the army riots of the same year. Unfortunately, in spite of their excellent service, the Marine Corps was still considered by most military men as being the poor cousin to the army, particularly as Marine Officers could not even rise to command their own Corps. This position had always been held by a naval officer. As a result, many senior Marine Officers were seeking a means of proving the worth of the Corps and establishing at least an equal place in the military hierarchy.

Also in 1783, Mr. James Matra first sent his “Proposal for Establishing a Settlement in New South Wales” to the British government suggesting that the new southern colony would provide a useful commerce base and a home for dispossessed American loyalists. In his later discussions with the Secretary of State, Lord Sydney, it was observed that establishing Botany Bay as a penal colony would also alleviate some of the chronic overcrowding in Britain’s goals. Matra had recommended using Marines rather than soldiers, probably due to their previous experience at sea and in guarding convicts on board prison hulks. Small detachments of British Marines had also previously accompanied Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook and others on voyages of discovery between 1770 and 1779 and proven their worth as soldiers and their flexibility in a variety of other situations. When finalised the NSW Marine Corps Detachment consisted of approximately 20 Officers, 24 NCO’s and 168 men under the command of Major Robert Ross. The Marines were placed on each transport to guard the convicts during the voyage and, once ashore in NSW, formed a military establishment for the dual purpose of maintaining law and order and defending the colony from external attack. The lack of any formal orders requiring Marines to guard convicts ashore was to be the source of considerable tension between Ross and the Governor and in part led to the establishment of a unit raised especially for this purpose.

The Marines remained as the first garrison of Sydney Town between 1788 and 1792 when they were at last relieved by this specially formed army unit – the NSW Corps. Unlike the NSW Corps, the Marines of the First Fleet were all hand picked volunteers, lured by offers of discharge and land grants in the new colony after 3 years service. As a result, they were well disciplined and well behaved throughout their service, earning the trust and respect of convicts and indigenous Australians, and the praise of the Governor, Captain Arthur Phillip, RN. They shared most of the privations and fears of the convicts they guarded, particularly when famine threatened to extinguish the fledgling colony throughout 1789 and into 1790, however they never became oppressive or tyrannical. Their many expeditions into the hinterland also opened up much of the Sydney plain for further settlement.

Many of the First Fleet Marines were former tradesmen displaced by the Industrial Revolution, and their skills helped to build the young colony. Some thirty married men were permitted to bring their wives and children with them and other Marines and Officers took convict wives and mistresses for the duration of their time in Sydney. The last detachment of First Fleet Marines left Sydney in December 1792. Some remained behind, having discharged and become free settlers and at least 38 transferred to the NSW Corps. One Officer, one NCO and 25 Privates had died in Australia. In recognition of their excellent service, both in Australia and in other theatres of operation, the British Corps of Marines was granted the title of Royal Marines in 1802.

The hobby of historical re-enactment has come a long way since its earliest beginnings in Britain in the late 1960s. There are now many groups in Australia representing all periods from the Roman Legions to the Second World War. Australian Colonial Marine Enactments (ACME) was formed in 1994 to recreate the Marines, Royal Navy and NSW Corps of early colonial Australia. Our aim is to both educate and entertain the general public about this early period of Australian history and to enjoy ourselves doing it!

We predominantly wear period Marine uniforms consisting of white shirt and `small clothes’ (waistcoat and trousers or breeches), black canvas or wool gaiters with pewter buttons, brick red swallow tailed coat with white cuffs and collar (known as facings), a black leather or felt `stock’ around the neck and headgear consisting of a black bicorn with an extended front. The correct weapon for Marines is the sea service version of the famous Brown Bess musket complete with its seventeen inch bayonet. This musket was different from the various land pattern versions in service with the army in that it was slightly shorter and had a wooden ramrod to counteract the effects of rust from seawater. We use full working replica Brown Bess muskets manufactured for the world re-enactment fraternity by the Italian company Pedersoli. Crossbelts complete the uniform by providing a stowage for cartridges and bayonet. If worn, the pack is the same pattern of goatskin knapsack then in use by the army, however Marines were generally not expected to be ashore for extended periods of time.

Rank is indicated by means of various items on the uniform and in some cases even by the weapons used! Corporals wore a braided or worsted `knot’ on their left shoulder – a deviation from the days of matchlock muskets when the corporal kept a spare matchcord to reignite the matchcords of his men should they blow out. Sergeants also wore a knot on the left shoulder and were further distinguished by a scarlet sash with a central 12 mm white stripe worn around the waist, silver lace around the bicorn, a hangar or small sword and the use of a halberd rather than a musket. A halberd is a type of polearm with an axe head and was a useful tool in checking the dressing of the men and as a means of encouraging the less courageous men in the rear ranks! Officers were identifiable from their tailored uniforms, a magenta sash worn around the waist, the silver braiding on their bicorns and from the silver bullion epaulettes on their shoulders. Lieutenants and below wearing one on the right shoulder, Captains and above wearing two. Officers were also the only men to carry swords. Drummers were easily identifiable by their reversed colour jackets (ie. white with red facings) and tall mitre caps.

Australian Colonial Marine Enactments parade regularly at Old Sydney Town and at historic houses and festivals throughout Sydney. We can provide period drill and musket firing displays, honour guards, period encampments and cannon firings with our original 8 pound naval carronade.

Acknowledgments/Book List `The First Fleet Marines 1786- 1792′ by John Moore, University of Qld Press 1987 `Nelson’s Navy’ by Philip Haythornthwaite, Osprey Publishing Ltd 1993

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Most Perfectly Safe: the convict shipwreck disaters 1833 - 1842

Allen Mawer's lively account of the convict trade in the 1830s and the shipwrecks that plunged it into crisis is the first full-scale account of the experiences of the convicts (both men and women), the guards and crew, the civil servants who ran the system and the businessmen who profited from it.

Convict journals and diaries

Convict journals provide a glimpse of convict life on the voyage to Australia, and sometimes accounts of colonial life. There are very few convict journals which have survived. Search our collection for convict diaries using our  online catalogue .

Trove's digitised newspapers

Information about a convict ship's voyage and arrival was often published in Australian newspapers, and you can search many early Australian newspapers through  Trove . Newspapers might also mention the number of individuals on a convict ship, the health of the passengers and the standards of cleanliness aboard a ship.

Try searching  Trove's digitised newspapers  for the ship's name and narrowing the dates as much as you can. 

You may also find information about a convict ship or voyage published in a historic overseas newspapers. Registered readers can access a number of overseas historic newspapers through our  eResources ; or try searching the catalogue for a newspaper title or newspapers published in a particular region. See our  Newspapers research guide  for hints and tips on searching for newspapers using the catalogue. If you don't have a Library login, you can  apply online .

Surgeons' journals

Surgeons' journals may contain information of convicts that have become ill and received treatment, or who have died on the voyage. They might also contain information about the voyage, conditions aboard the ship and the behaviour of convicts individually or as a group. 

Australian Joint Copying Project

Surgeons' journals for convict ships can be freely accessed online via Trove, where digitised journals are arranged alphabetically:  Registers. Medical journals, Subseries Convict Ships, 1816 - 1856 .  

Many surgeons' journals for convict ships can also be accessed online via Ancestry. Search the card catalogue on Ancestry for the following record sets:

• UK, Royal Navy Medical Journals, 1817-1857
• UK Surgeon Superintendents' Journals of Convict Ships, 1858-1867

N.B.   Ancestry Library edition can be accessed for free on any PC in the National Library building - visit our  eResources portal  and search for this database under the Browse eResources tab. Ancestry can also be freely accessed at many public libraries throughout Australia. 

Microfilmed and other material

Ships' official logbooks often contain information about daily sailing conditions such as wind, coordinates, repairs to the vessel and the ship's provisions. Ships' logs sometimes contain information about individuals aboard a ship in extraordinary circumstances.

The best place to find out if there is an existing ship's log is in the  Log of Logs . The Log of Logs is a three volume index in hardcopy book format. It provides information relating to ships travelling to Australia and New Zealand between 1788 and 1990, including convict ships. If you know the name of the ship a convict travelled on, check the Log of Logs to see what sources of information are available for that particular ship or voyage.  

The Log of Logs volumes 1-3 are available on open access in the Library's  Newspaper and Family History zone .

Ships' logs & Surgeons' journals

Many ships' logs and surgeon journals have been microfilmed as part of the  Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) .  The Log of Logs  entry for a voyage should state if there is a ship's log or surgeon's journal for a particular voyage, and where it may be accessed.

The diary of John Ward, 1841-1844  (available online)

John Ward, a native of Yorkshire, was convicted of theft in England, imprisoned at Portsmouth on the hulk "York" and transported on the "Mangles" to Norfolk Island. His diary describes events leading to his conviction, his imprisonment at Portsmouth on the prison hulk "York", his shipment from England to Norfolk Island and his life there.

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The Voyage: A history game that is a museum about convict voyages

By Jeff Fletcher

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The Voyage is a free online game created by the Australian National Maritime Museum. The game, based on historical records, is about the transportation of convicts from Britain to the penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land around 1830. Are you up to the challenge?

The year is 1830. You are the Surgeon Superintendent aboard a convict vessel transporting its human cargo from Britain to the farthest reaches of the known world – Van Diemen’s Land.

You are charged with delivering several hundred convicts to the colony in good health and in the shortest time possible, with minimum loss of life. This is the way to make money and further your reputation and position.

Are you up to the challenge?

Who am I and where am I going?

The Voyage is based on historical records about the transportation of convicts from Britain to the penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land (modern Tasmania) around 1830.

Traversing the globe by ship in the 1800s was dangerous, sometimes terrifying and often just plain boring!

The ship’s Surgeon Superintendent was responsible for the convicts onboard and had to make decisions constantly. Do we stop for provisions or keep going? How do we improve the mood of the convicts? How do we keep them in good health?

So, in this game you will take their place and your decisions will affect the lives of everyone onboard!

Manage life onboard the ship

There’s a lot to organise before you even leave port! What ships are available? What do I know about the convicts? What’s my budget and what provisions will I need?

Once underway, players oversee many different aspects of the voyage, and a wise player keeps an ever-watchful eye. Pop-up scenarios demand your attention and the challenge is to make the right decision, as whatever you do will affect what happens next.

It’s not all serious, though. Humour is a very important component of The Voyage and breakout games like culling the rats or organising convict dances are fun but they also have a point. If you don’t kill enough rats they can spread disease and eat your food!

Can students learn by playing games?

Games in education have been around for a long time, from board games to electronic games and now online games. Benefits include improving skills in group dynamics; literacy and numeracy; critical thinking; strategy; empathy; collaboration; and engagement with curriculum content.

Well-designed games provide students with a comfortable “buy-in” and give them a stake in the progression through the levels. Learning from mistakes and repetition becomes a challenge rather than a consequence, and both content and skills are delivered through a medium that is relevant in everyday life.

Our trials with both Year 9 and Year 5 also showed that a measure of serendipitous learning — engaging with the unexpected — took place, and this was appealing and stimulating for players.

In his article on  gaming in education , researcher Richard Halverson asks school leaders to look at the “compelling nature of gameplay”. He talks about how core learning structures are built into the design of successful games as inspiration to embrace a different way of learning. This is the inherent challenge for teachers: to explore gaming as a legitimate educational tool that sits comfortably within their teaching framework.

Museums expand their horizons

Today’s  museums are reinventing themselves  to reach more people through multimedia platforms in effective and engaging ways. Digital displays, virtual excursions and online exhibitions couple with existing museum practices to create a broader experience for visitors, both on- and off-site.

My confidence in this project was buoyed by our partnership with ROAR films, the University of Tasmania and Screen Australia and the fact that primary sources — such as Ship Surgeon’s documents from British National archives, convict records from our State archives and  Old Bailey  transcripts — were the foundation of the game.

To me The Voyage is a museum in a game! It utilises primary sources, has a level of interpretation but doesn’t dictate, offers multiple pathways to information and encourages players to explore more for themselves.

We encourage you to take up the challenge!

Play The Voyage and download the teacher notes from the Australia National Maritime Museum.

Jeff Fletcher has been an educator for more than thirty years. He is experienced in specialty museum education and has developed numerous innovative programs K–12 across many curriculum areas. Jeff has a keen interest in bringing the museum’s collection to life in a way that stimulates and engages students through a variety of learning approaches.

First published 6 July 2017, reposted 13 July 2022

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Voyage Game

Players make decisions, solve problems and deal with conflicts on a perilous journey across the globe.

This year is 1830. You’re the Surgeon Superintendent aboard a convict vessel transporting its human cargo from Britain to the far reaches of the known world – Van Diemen’s Land. You’re charged with delivering several hundred convicts to the colony in the shortest time with minimum loss of life. This is the way to make money and further your reputation and position. Are you up to the task?

The Voyage is an online game based on real convict voyages. Sign on for your voyage here!

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