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Botany Bay and the First Fleet: The Real Story
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
670 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 3, 2019
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16 people want to read
About the author
Alan Frost
36 books7 followersAlan Frost is emeritus professor of history at La Trobe University. His books include Convicts and Empire, The Voyage of the Endeavour and The Global Reach of Empire. His latest work, Botany Bay: The Real Story, was
published in 2011.
published in 2011.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 14, 2020
Botany Bay and the First Fleet' is Australian historian Alan Frost's definitive rebuttal of the traditional view that modern Australia was founded primarily as a dumping ground for English convicts. It also implicitly rejects the 'black armband' assessment of Australian history.
The book combines in one volume two separate histories previously published by Frost (Botany Bay in the 1990s, and The First Fleet in 2011). Both books are the culmination of extensive research into government cabinet papers, briefings, and other primary sources in England relating to the settlement of Australia.
Frost demonstrates conclusively that previous histories of Australia's European settlement have not had regard to the full suite of documents available, and in many instances where sources were reviewed, the attention often was rudimentary, the conclusions sometimes superficial, and occasionally directly opposite to the considerations undertaken and the events as they occurred.
The British decision to settle Australia was motivated by a number of factors. Pacific trade was increasingly important, to protect the spice trade, break the Dutch monopoly, and counter the increasing influence of the French.
The loss of the American colonies had removed a convenient Atlantic base for convict transportation. The Thames river hulks to house and work convicts were problematic, being frequently overcrowded and a source of disease.
The supply of important naval materials such as timber, flax, and hemp was increasingly threatened by shortages in Eastern Europe, and by the risk of strategic withholding of materials by antagonistic countries. Evidence from Cook's 1770 mapping voyage had demonstrated that Australia (and Norfolk Island timber and flax) could be an alternate source of these then highly important raw materials.
The British at first considered establishing a base on the east coast of Africa. That location would have been especially useful in servicing the growing shipping trade with India. However, no available site proved to be amenable.
Consideration therefore turned to the east coast of Australia. By the mid 1780s, settlement at Botany Bay had been agreed by the British Cabinet, and attention turned to the resources that would be needed to establish a strong base that could develop self sufficiency reasonably quickly, and become a remunerative source of materials and strategic support for British interests in the Pacific.
The governance arrangements for the new colony and the resourcing of the First Fleet were remarkable for the times, with the total expense more than quadrupling the cost of keeping the convicts on the hulks in England.
Extensive civil law and related authorisations were developed to provide the colony with a sound judicial and administrative base, well beyond the military law that would normally be applied to a conventional penal settlement. Captain Arthur Phillip was to selected to lead the fleet and be the colony's first governor. He had been a distinguished naval officer and had extensive experience in secret service work related to European political developments.
The First Fleet comprised six convict transports, three store ships, and two RN vessels. Phillip ensured that all supplies needed to found the colony were provided, and that the convicts were well fed and provided for prior to departure. Loss of life during the voyage was remarkably low for the times, over a nine month voyage that went via Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, and then the virtually uncharted waters of the Southern Ocean, rounding Tasmania and sailing up to Botany Bay, before eventually settling at Port Jackson.
The British government's intentions and commitments for the new colony meant that the convicts were to be the property of the government, rather than traded to merchants and land developers, as had been the case in North America. Free settlers were to follow, which, with convict emancipation, would lead relatively swiftly to the development of a prosperous and expansive colony, one that in the nineteenth century developed control over all of the Australian continent, and resulted in eventual nationhood in 1901.
The settlement of Australia was a remarkable feat. What could have been a divided continent shared by Dutch, British and French interests, with a primary focus on temporary resource exploitation, became instead a stable and flourishing democracy of increasingly strategic importance in Oceania.
Frost has shown that the somewhat acerbic accounts of the founding of Australia by historians such as Manning Clark and AGL Shaw, and the melodramatic 'gulag' descriptions of the first colony by Robert Hughes and others, need to be balanced by more sober and evidenced chronicles of a well resourced plan to develop a country which has progressed positively well beyond even the most optimistic hopes of a strategically sophisticated and enlightened eighteenth century British government.
The book combines in one volume two separate histories previously published by Frost (Botany Bay in the 1990s, and The First Fleet in 2011). Both books are the culmination of extensive research into government cabinet papers, briefings, and other primary sources in England relating to the settlement of Australia.
Frost demonstrates conclusively that previous histories of Australia's European settlement have not had regard to the full suite of documents available, and in many instances where sources were reviewed, the attention often was rudimentary, the conclusions sometimes superficial, and occasionally directly opposite to the considerations undertaken and the events as they occurred.
The British decision to settle Australia was motivated by a number of factors. Pacific trade was increasingly important, to protect the spice trade, break the Dutch monopoly, and counter the increasing influence of the French.
The loss of the American colonies had removed a convenient Atlantic base for convict transportation. The Thames river hulks to house and work convicts were problematic, being frequently overcrowded and a source of disease.
The supply of important naval materials such as timber, flax, and hemp was increasingly threatened by shortages in Eastern Europe, and by the risk of strategic withholding of materials by antagonistic countries. Evidence from Cook's 1770 mapping voyage had demonstrated that Australia (and Norfolk Island timber and flax) could be an alternate source of these then highly important raw materials.
The British at first considered establishing a base on the east coast of Africa. That location would have been especially useful in servicing the growing shipping trade with India. However, no available site proved to be amenable.
Consideration therefore turned to the east coast of Australia. By the mid 1780s, settlement at Botany Bay had been agreed by the British Cabinet, and attention turned to the resources that would be needed to establish a strong base that could develop self sufficiency reasonably quickly, and become a remunerative source of materials and strategic support for British interests in the Pacific.
The governance arrangements for the new colony and the resourcing of the First Fleet were remarkable for the times, with the total expense more than quadrupling the cost of keeping the convicts on the hulks in England.
Extensive civil law and related authorisations were developed to provide the colony with a sound judicial and administrative base, well beyond the military law that would normally be applied to a conventional penal settlement. Captain Arthur Phillip was to selected to lead the fleet and be the colony's first governor. He had been a distinguished naval officer and had extensive experience in secret service work related to European political developments.
The First Fleet comprised six convict transports, three store ships, and two RN vessels. Phillip ensured that all supplies needed to found the colony were provided, and that the convicts were well fed and provided for prior to departure. Loss of life during the voyage was remarkably low for the times, over a nine month voyage that went via Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, and then the virtually uncharted waters of the Southern Ocean, rounding Tasmania and sailing up to Botany Bay, before eventually settling at Port Jackson.
The British government's intentions and commitments for the new colony meant that the convicts were to be the property of the government, rather than traded to merchants and land developers, as had been the case in North America. Free settlers were to follow, which, with convict emancipation, would lead relatively swiftly to the development of a prosperous and expansive colony, one that in the nineteenth century developed control over all of the Australian continent, and resulted in eventual nationhood in 1901.
The settlement of Australia was a remarkable feat. What could have been a divided continent shared by Dutch, British and French interests, with a primary focus on temporary resource exploitation, became instead a stable and flourishing democracy of increasingly strategic importance in Oceania.
Frost has shown that the somewhat acerbic accounts of the founding of Australia by historians such as Manning Clark and AGL Shaw, and the melodramatic 'gulag' descriptions of the first colony by Robert Hughes and others, need to be balanced by more sober and evidenced chronicles of a well resourced plan to develop a country which has progressed positively well beyond even the most optimistic hopes of a strategically sophisticated and enlightened eighteenth century British government.
September 10, 2024
"Botany Bay and the First Fleet" is Alan Frost's account of the decision to colonise Australia. Frost challenges the common held view that Australia was colonised for the purpose of being a dumping ground for English convicts.
Frost argues that the decision to colonise Australia was a strategic decision. It was a political decision to have a port around the Indian Ocean at a time when tensions were rising with the Dutch and French. It was an economic decision because of the need to source essential resources such as timber at a time when those resources were becoming scarce.
Frost challenges the idea that the First Fleet was a poorly organised plan and that instead it was quite the opposite. Very few convicts and members of the crew died in comparison to other expeditions that happened at the time.
Really enjoyed this book. Lots of content and great way to get some basic fundamental understanding of Australian history. Some times a bit rant-y and some chapters can be skimmed through.
Frost argues that the decision to colonise Australia was a strategic decision. It was a political decision to have a port around the Indian Ocean at a time when tensions were rising with the Dutch and French. It was an economic decision because of the need to source essential resources such as timber at a time when those resources were becoming scarce.
Frost challenges the idea that the First Fleet was a poorly organised plan and that instead it was quite the opposite. Very few convicts and members of the crew died in comparison to other expeditions that happened at the time.
Really enjoyed this book. Lots of content and great way to get some basic fundamental understanding of Australian history. Some times a bit rant-y and some chapters can be skimmed through.
January 31, 2025
Alan Frost’s "Botany Bay and the First Fleet: The Real Story strips away the myths to reveal the sheer scale of what was achieved. Establishing a colony on the far side of the world, with a cargo of convicts and limited resources, was an undertaking of staggering complexity—yet it was carried out with remarkable competence. Frost captures the vision of Pitt, who saw strategic potential where others saw a dumping ground; the tireless industry of Nepean, who orchestrated the logistical nightmare into a functioning plan; and the brilliance of Arthur Phillip, a leader whose success should have secured him a far greater place in history. With 35 years of research behind him, Frost doesn’t just set the record straight—he restores these men to the place they deserve, not just as the right men for the job, but as underappreciated architects of a nation.
October 8, 2022
Very thorough but readable account of the history of the decision to colonise Australia, and then the fitting and sailing of the First Fleet. Revisionist but not sensationist. Makes you rethink what you believe you know of colonial Australia's history
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews