The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay

‘The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay’ is the single most important book to describe the journey to Botany Bay and the foundations of modern Australia. The work begins with the events from March 1787, just before the First Fleet sailed from the Isle of Wight, up to September 1788. There is a chapter dealing with the fauna of New South Wales, appendices detailing the routes of various ships to Botany Bay, from Botany Bay to Norfolk Island and from Port Jackson to various other ports, and finally a list of convicts sent to New South Wales. The book also contains some maps by John Hunter and William Dawes, including the first of the Sydney Cove settlement, which shows in detail the buildings and “progress” which had been made by July 1788.

This example is the first edition of Governor Arthur Phillip’s account of the convict settlement at Port Jackson, later named Sydney Cove in honour of his patron. Sydney’s involvement in the establishment of the penal colony was a hands-on affair. His speech to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury reveals the depth and complexity of the plan which was undertaken at enormous expense to the government. Sydney’s speech had concluded with a summary of the staff costs, including the considerable salary of £500 per annum awarded to the “naval commander to be appointed Governor”, soon nominated as Arthur Phillip.

Phillip’s prior experience with convict transports left him wary of the provisioning of the First Fleet in the weeks immediately prior to departure. In a letter dated March 12, 1787, Phillip had appealed to Lord Sydney for immediate assistance, lamenting the lack of flour and other essential supplies:

‘This must be fatal to many, and the more so as no anti-scorbutics are allowed aboard the transports for either marine or convict…the garrison are sent to the extremity of the globe as they would be sent to America – a six weeks’ passage.’

The letter closes with the dire prediction that half the garrison and convicts would be lost before they reached New South Wales. During the voyage, in June of 1787, Phillip reports to Sydney by dispatch from Tenerife that the situation is not so dire as predicted, ‘by the inclosed list your lordship will see that the convicts are not so sickly as when we sailed…’.

However, by this stage, vital supplies were found to be missing and Phillip asks Sydney to ensure that musket balls and cartridges, as well as clothing for the female convicts, be sent by the first supply ship to the infant colony (Historical Records of New South Wales, pp. 56, 106).