LibGuides: Mount Sion iCentre: First Fleet

First Fleet

The First Fleet was a group of eleven ships that brought convicts to New South Wales in 1788. Before this England had sent convicts to colonies in North America. When the colonies in North America became an independent nation, the United States of America, the British Government needed to find a new place to send its convicts. They decided to send them to Botany Bay in New South Wales and set up a penal colony.

Introductory ABC video about First Fleet from BTN

Australia in the 1780s Good general information about the First Fleet and conditions in Australia from My Place website.

Overview of the First Fleet

First Fleet Facts

First Fleet Timeline Trace the journey of the First Fleet.

Stories from the First Fleet Read the stories of people from the First Fleet.

Convict ships of the First Fleet Find out the names of convicts on the First Fleet.

Provisions on the ships in the First Fleet Find out what they brought with them on the ships.

Ships of the First Fleet A list of the ships in the First Fleet.

Tales from the First Fleet Search the State Library of New South Wales First Fleet Collection for journals, letters, drawings, maps and charts created by those who actually travelled with the First Fleet.

First Fleet

In the 1780's there were no cameras, so the only way to make an image was to draw or paint it.

So the way we can tell what Sydney looked like to the people from the First Fleet, is by looking carefully at the paintings and drawings they made.

Click on a painting below to go to the Natural History Museum with lots of scenes of early Sydney as well as drawings of the indigenous people living there at the time and strange animals and plants that we know, but look a bit odd because the artist was seeing them for the first time.

ABC Education

Mary Ann Friend was the wife of Matthew Friend, who captained the Wanstead. She wrote about the Swan River Colony during her visit in 1831.

In this video, State Library of WA Battye historian Dr Kate Gregory talks about Mary Ann Friend’s humorous accounts of life as a female in the early colony – she describes Fremantle as a "circus town" and curses the sandflies.

Discover the real life stories of some of the child convicts on the First Fleet. Produced by BTN.

Life in 18th Century Britain

Living and Working Conditions
from the BBC

Interactives

The Voyage to Van Diemen's Land
Play this interactive game, as a convict on the First Fleet!
Map Activity

Videos

Bound for Botany Bay

The story of the first fleet, under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip.

It begins in England with the British government desperate to alleviate their overcrowded prisons by establishing a new colony at Botany Bay. With the hardships faced by the fleet, it was one of the greatest maritime expeditions ever.

Filmed on location in Portsmouth and at the fleet's ports of call. Written and presented by historian Dr Jonathan King in 1988

Aboriginal Life before Colonisation

The following video clips are from the series My Place.

Catching yabbies Hunting for food.

Dance off An Aboriginal camp.

Snakebite How to survive snakebite and how to make a spear.

Fishing Hunting for food.

Water Collecting water and taking it back to camp.

Convicts

Convict hulks
Information from the Hyde Park Barracks Museum about the ships that convicts lived on.
A convict story
What did convicts wear?

Historical Fiction

One of the best (and most fun) ways of learning history is to read historical fiction. Check out these titles.

The Little Wooden Horse Elizabeth and Tom are two of the first convict children to be sent to Australia. Set in Georgian England in 1787, their story tells of the circumstances that lead to their imprisonment and deportation to Botany Bay. The little wooden horse also tells us of the triumphs, trials and tragedies of the epic journey of the First Fleet. by Mark Wilson
Call Number: PB WIL
Surviving Sydney Cove Lizzie Harvey is a convict, sent to Sydney Cove with the First Fleet. Starving and overworked, she can barely find time to dream about the way things used to be, let alone write in her diary. But write she must, in the hope that she will one day be able to share her story with the family she has left behind. by Goldie Alexander
Call Number: JF MYS
Tom Appleby, Convict Boy At the tender age of eight, chimney sweep Tom Appleby is convicted of stealing and sentenced to deportation to Botany Bay. As he sails out with the First Fleet, Tom sadly realises that he will never set foot again on English ground.

Tom faces the challenges of the new land: how to build a hut, farm the soil and learn from the Aboriginal Eora people how to harvest the land's wealth. But too many convicts and marines are unwilling to even grow their food. Tools are wearing out, supplies are low, and with no news from England, the marines' discontent is growing. And then plague strikes the Eora people…
Can the desperate colony survive?
Jackie French weaves Tom's story together with the history of the colony, and dispels the myths that have grown up about the First Fleet and those early years. She tells of a land that despite its naturall abundance cannot offer what the colonists want - familiarity. by Jackie French
Call Number: MF FRE
Beth: The Story of a Child Convict by Mark Wilson
Call Number: PB WIL
Barney and the Secret of the French Spies In 1798 orphaned Barney Bean now has a flourishing farm in the New South Wales colony and everything he ever dreamed of...except his childhood friend Elsie. But when Elsie falls ill and Barney rushes to be by her side, he finally learns the deadly secret she has been hiding. Who is this strange and beautiful girl who will not speak? And could France ever attack the isolated colony? by Jackie French
Call Number: JF FRE
Barney and the Secret of the Whales What is the sailor's secret about the treasure of Australia's colony? This book explores the little-known history about Australia's fascinating past. Barney Bean is keen to make his fortune and he hears a secret; a sailor's secret about the treasure of the colony. But how can chasing whales make you rich? Is adventure at sea worth leaving everything he loves? by Jackie French
Call Number: JF FRE
Birrung, the Secret Friend Birrung, a young indigenous girl, befriends orphaned Barney and his friend Elsie. Birrung is living with Mr Johnson, chaplain to the Australian colony in 1790, and his family. Generous in spirit, the Johnson family also take in Barney and Elsie who have only just been surviving on their meagre daily rations. Despite living with the Johnsons, Birrung's connection to her people remains strong, and when Mr and Mrs Johnson see how Barney's feeling for Birrung are growing, they gently explain that his friendship with a 'native' girl and all that she taught him about her language and lore must remain a secret - forever. Based on the true story of Birrung and the Johnsons. by Jackie French
Call Number: JF FRE
The Secret of the Black Bushranger By the 1790s, orphaned Barney Bean finally has his own farm in the early NSW colony. All his dreams are coming true! Black Caesar claims he is an ex-slave who vowed to be free. Or is he a laughing villain, a trickster who plans to terrorise the colony? Should Barney help him? Or does he risk losing everything - including his life? In this third title in The Secret Histories series, award-winning author and Children's Laureate Jackie French has researched the life of little-known John Black Caesar, who was Australia's first recorded bushranger. by Jackie French
Call Number: JF FRE
The Secret of the Youngest Rebel The whisper in the darkness is: rebellion! Frog is an orphan, a pickpocket, starving on the streets of Parramatta in 1804. But when the tall, commanding Irish rebel Mr Cunningham talks of freedom from tyranny and the lash, Frog creeps out to join the rebels, the 10,000 convicts who will take over the colony and proclaim the Republic of New Ireland. Will farmers like Barney and Elsie Bean join the battle against the corrupt New South Wales Corps? For the fate of the colony, and Australia, will be decided at Castle Hill. Based on eyewitness accounts, this fifth title in The Secret Histories series uncovers the secrets that the colonial government hid for over 200 years. by Jackie French
Call Number: JF FRE
Nanberry: Black Brother White It's 1789, and as the new colony in Sydney Cove is established, Surgeon John White defies convention and adopts Nanberry, an Aboriginal boy, to raise as his son. Nanberry is clever and uses his unique gifts as an interpreter to bridge the two worlds he lives in. With his white brother, Andrew, he witnesses the struggles of the colonists to keep their precarious grip on a hostile wilderness. And yet he is haunted by the memories of the Cadigal warriors who will one day come to claim him as one of their own. This true story follows the brothers as they make their way in the world - one as a sailor, serving in the Royal Navy, the other a hero of the Battle of Waterloo. No less incredible is the enduring love between the gentleman surgeon and the convict girl, saved from the death penalty, to become a great lady in her own right by Jackie French
Call Number: MF FRE
Convict Girl by Chrissie Michaels
Call Number: MF MIC

ISBN: 9781743620151

For Teachers

First Fleet Dataset

The dataset provides information about 780 of the convicts transported to Australia on the First Fleet ships 'Alexander', 'Charlotte', 'Lady Penrhyn', 'Friendship', 'Prince of Wales' and 'Scarborough' in 1788. The dataset includes information on items such as the convict's name, occupation, crime, date of trial and term of transportation.

1788: Was life the same for everyone?
A literature-based unit of work.

55,000 Years and Counting: Celebrating our shared history

This resource is a sequenced series of teaching/learning activities about the Aboriginal history of Australia before British colonisation and the shared Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal history after colonisation.

First Fleet
a unit of work developed by the Australian History Teachers' Association
Year 4 History sample assessment - First contacts: A First Fleet story
Female Convicts in the First Fleet
activities based on primary sources from the State Library of NSW

The First Fleet to Australia

worksheets from Blake Education
Bound for Botany Bay: A unit of work

from Education Services Australia

Discovering History: Middle Primary by Jennifer Lawless
Call Number: 907 LAW
18th Century 12 copies by Liz Flaherty
Call Number: 994.01 FLA
First Fleeters 12 copies by Liz Flaherty
Call Number: 994.02 FLA
Life in 18th Century England 12 copies by Liz Flaherty
Call Number: 941.07 FLA
Life in the Colony 6 copies by Liz Flaherty
Call Number: 994.402 FLA
The Voyage 15 copies by Liz Flaherty
Call Number: 994.02 FLA
First Contacts by R.I.C. Publications
Call Number: 994.0076 FIR

ISBN: 1922116416
A Hunger for Land by Adrian Osterley
Call Number: 994.02 OST

ISBN: 1742456723

Weblinks to information

First Fleet Online	A database of all the convicts who were transported to Australia in 1787. Click on *Stories* in the left hand menu for more information about the First Fleet and the conditions.
Convict Records	Search for a convict by surname, year of transportation or ship. Basic information about convicts.
The First Fleet	This short interactive shows you the voyage of the First Fleet.
Timeline	A brief time line showing the events leading to the First Fleet departing England and its journey.
A Convict Story	Find information about the journey, the convicts, at the barracks and convict artefacts.
A Day in the life of a convict	Scroll down to find information about work, food, clothes, tattoos, punishments and escape.

Children on the First Fleet

First Fleet movie

Did you know that when the British colonised Australia, they established a penal colony? In 1787, Captain Arthur Phillip left England with the first group of prisoners on the First Fleet. They arrived in Sydney Cove in 1788. Watch this clip to find out the stories of some of these convicts.