Why was Botany Bay chosen for a convict settlement?
This traditional approach is also supported by Atkinson who believes that ‘Botany Bay was chosen for a convict settlement not because of, but in spite of the possibility that it might become a trading post.’ The idea of establishing a colony at Botany Bay started with the ‘Matra proposal’ in August 1783,...
Why did the British want Botany Bay?
If war broke out with Spain in the region, Botany Bay could be a place of refuge for British naval vessels. Another advocate, John Call, an engineer with the East India Company, saw the advantages of a secondary settlement on nearby Norfolk Island.
When did the idea of establishing a colony at Botany Bay begin?
The idea of establishing a colony at Botany Bay started with the ‘Matra proposal’ in August 1783, even before the end of the War of Independence between America and England. James Matra who travelled with Cook to the South Seas in 1770, spoke of New South Wales as having good soil, advantages of flax cultivation,...
Is Botany Bay the best site for a penal colony?
Botany Bay on the Australian coast, he contended, would be the best site for a penal colony since it had a Mediterranean climate and would be fertile. Banks added, too, that
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Why was Australia chosen for settlement?
Australia's mainland was thus settled because of its proximity to Norfolk Island, the island itself too small to be expected to produce enough grain and meat to feed a large population, its anchorage too cramped to produce a large supply of flax, and its coast too rocky and lacking a safe harbour.
What was Botany Bay used for?
Situated a few kilometres south of the central business district of Sydney, Botany Bay was the site of a landing by James Cook of the HMS Endeavour in 1770. Cook's landing here marked the beginning of Britain's interest in Australia and in the eventual colonisation of this new Southern continent.
When was the settlement at Botany Bay?
The first settlement, at Sydney, consisted of about 850 convicts and their Marine guards and officers, led by Governor Arthur Phillip. They arrived at Botany Bay in the "First Fleet" of 9 transport ships accompanied by 2 small warships, in January, 1788.
Why is Botany Bay significant in Australian history?
It was at Kamay (Botany Bay) that James Cook first set foot on the Australian continent. His landing was challenged by two men, from the Gweagal clan of the Dharawal nation, standing on the beach. For many Australians, this is one of Australia's foundational moments in history.
Why is it called Botany Bay?
Botany Bay, discovered on 29 April 1770 by Captain Cook, who first named it Stingray Bay, later Botanists' (Harbour and Bay), and finally Botany Bay in his journal, probably to honour the botanists aboard HMS Endeavour led by Sir Joseph Banks as well as to mark its floral novelties.
Why is Botany Bay a dark place in the history of the British Empire?
Death was obliterating the Native population, with diseases such as "smallpox, syphilis, typhoid, whooping cough, diphtheria, tuberculosis, measles, dysentery, and influenza." The British settlers' chauvinistic approach caused not only the death of vast numbers of the native population, but it also resulted in a sort ...
Who landed in Botany Bay?
James CookIn 1770, Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook landed at Botany Bay's Inscription Point. He and his Endeavour crew stayed in the area for eight days and had a dramatic impact on Australian history.
What were the reasons for settlement in Port Macquarie?
The Port Macquarie penal settlement was intended as a place of secondary punishment for those convicts who had committed further crimes in the colony. It was considered far enough away from other settlements in the colony so that convicts would be discouraged from trying to escape.
Who landed in Australia first?
explorer Willem JanszoonWhile Indigenous Australians have inhabited the continent for tens of thousands of years, and traded with nearby islanders, the first documented landing on Australia by a European was in 1606. The Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon landed on the western side of Cape York Peninsula and charted about 300 km of coastline.
What is the Aboriginal name for Botany Bay?
KamayBotany Bay (Aboriginal: Kamay), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 13 km (8 mi) south of the Sydney central business district.
What was Australia originally called?
New HollandAfter Dutch navigators charted the northern, western and southern coasts of Australia during the 17th Century this newly found continent became known as 'New Holland'. It was the English explorer Matthew Flinders who made the suggestion of the name we use today.
What Aboriginal land is Botany Bay?
The Dharawal people's lands are mostly confined to the area south of Botany Bay, extending as far south as the Nowra area, across to the Georges River in Sydney's west.
What happened to the trees at Botany Bay?
Erosion on Botany Bay Beach has left a 'boneyard' of dead trees along the sand, creating a unique coastline. This is a photographers paradise! You need to walk the 'boneyard' beach to really appreciate it. There are many shells on the beach, but you are not allowed to take them.
What made Africa an inappropriate to send convicts?
What made Africa an inappropriate place to send convicts? Convicts were dispatched to West Africa on the ships were out to pick up their human cargo in the Triangular Trade, but disease, starvation, desertion and mutiny took their toll on convicts and military personnel alike. The plan was a disastrous failure.
The next penal colony: let the search begin
Discussions about alternative penal colonies meshed with Britain’s larger strategic and commercial goals at the time. Many hoped a new convict settlement would provide a base for extending British power in the wake of the American debacle and be “ advantageous both to navigation and commerce ”.
Why Botany Bay?
The search for a penal settlement lost momentum during the war, but regained some sense of urgency with its end in 1783.
Another serious contender emerges
After Matra submitted his proposal, another House of Commons committee was established in 1785, chaired by Lord Beauchamp. Both Matra and Banks gave evidence in favour of Botany Bay, with Banks arguing,
A costly endeavour
Such a settlement demanded an unprecedented degree of state planning and financing.
A repository for convicts
And yet, in the end, the settlement at New South Wales did little to advance British strategic goals.
Why was Botany Bay colonized?
The traditionalist stands firm with the opinion that Botany Bay was only colonised to ‘rid the nation’s (Britain) prisons and hulks of convicts’. Frost believes the opposite is true. He has approached the Botany Bay debate by embracing the whole picture and the possible strategic plan with the Pitt Cabinet decision to set up a colony was for a number of motives; naval trade, supply of flax and naval timber from Norfolk Island and the fact the use of Britain’s excess convicts (labour) may well help serve in these purposes.
When was Botany Bay established?
The idea of establishing a colony at Botany Bay started with the ‘Matra proposal’ in August 1783, even before the end of the War of Independence between America and England. James Matra who travelled with Cook to the South Seas in 1770, spoke of New South Wales as having good soil, advantages of flax cultivation, trade with China and others, ...
What did Blainey believe?
Blainey believes of the logic behind the: British politicians (who) did not have to emphasise that flax and timber were vital to their country; it was too obvious to be spelled out. He accused Bolton of changing and misunderstanding the content and interpretation of his (Blainey’s) research and writings.
Why were tradesmen sent to New South Wales in 1792?
Yet contracted tradesmen were still being sent to New South Wales in 1792 to help with the colony at Norfolk Island and others. Sparse flax producing equipment was sent out with the First Fleet ‘which hardly indicates strong encouragement for any flax enterprise’ or faith in the success of the new venture.
What was Matra's idea of a colony?
Matra’s idea was the possible new colony could be used by ‘those Americans who had remained loyal to Britain in the War of Independence’ such as himself, this idea however was rejected. He failed to mention or consider convicts, but later amended the proposal to ‘include transportees (convicts) among the settlers but as cultivators in their own right rather than as forced labour’ after an interview with Lord Sydney, Secretary of State for Colonies. Sir Joseph Bank’s actually had earlier suggested Botany Bay as a possible site for a British Settlement whilst aboard the Endeavour in May 1770.
What did Governor Phillip request?
Governor Phillip soon after arriving in 1788 requested ‘carpenters, masons, bricklayers’ to help with the setting up of the colony along with many tools of the trades. Yet the proposal for the establishment of the new colony being ‘Heads of a Plan’ addressed the effective disposing of the convicts to the new colony, along with the cultivation of flax, required stores and provisions, clothing for convicts, how the objective of the convict colony overrides the costs involved, naval staff and such.
When did the first fleet arrive at Botany Bay?
As the First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay in January 1788, little did they know that historians in years to come would be disputing the real reasons for the British Government’s plans to establish a colony there. The Botany Bay debate commenced amongst historians in the 1960s after Blainey’s The Tyranny of Distance with his theory ...
Why Botany Bay?
The search for a penal settlement lost momentum during the war, but regained some sense of urgency with its end in 1783.
What was the purpose of the settlement of the Philippines?
the settlement could act as a strategic base to challenge the Dutch in the East Indies and the Spanish in the Philippines and even South America.
What was the problem that led to the colonization of Australia?
Britain’s defeat in that war brought forth an urgent problem that eventually led to the colonisation of Australia: what it saw as a need to dispose of convicts who were overflowing the available prisons at home.
Why was Australia drawn on the map?
After Captain Cook’s Endeavour voyage in 1770, the east coast of Australia was drawn on European maps of the globe for the first time. Yet, in terms of European contact with the continent, there was an 18-year lull in between Cook’s 1770 landings and the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. The main reason for this was Britain’s preoccupation ...
Why was the African coast unsuitable for colonization?
It concluded the site was unsuitable as it lacked an effective harbour and fertile land.
When did Captain Cook arrive in the Pacific?
Captain James Cook arrived in the Pacific 250 years ago , triggering British colonisation of the region. We’re asking researchers to reflect on what happened and how it shapes us today. You can see other stories in the series here, and an interactive here. After Captain Cook’s Endeavour voyage in 1770, the east coast of Australia was drawn on ...
Who was the prime minister of Botany Bay?
Such arguments eventually led Prime Minister William Pitt and his Cabinet to accept the proposal to establish the settlement at Botany Bay. A drawing by John Webber depicting the arrival of Cook’s ship in Nootka Sound in April 1778 on his search for the Northwest Passage. British Library.
Why was the North Atlantic coast more suitable for settlement?
Similarly, European migrants were willing to make the sea journey across the North Atlantic because the voyage was not unduly dangerous or long, nor was it seriously menaced by scurvy or fever.
Why was Australia chosen as the new location for its overseas prison?
The usual explanation is that with the American colonies revolting in 1776, Britain had been deprived of its outlet for the criminals that were overfilling its goals, and so Australia was chosen as the new location for its overseas prison. However, this explanation may be overly simplistic. Instead, one must look at the pressures on Britain to maintain its commercial empire and militaristic strength to fully understand decisions for settlement.
What is the spirit of reconciliation in Odyssey Traveller?
In the spirit of reconciliation Odyssey Traveller acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community.
Why was Australia not a colony?
Plus, neither did it boast the soil or climate to produce the natural commodities which Europe demanded. At the end of Cook’s second voyage in 1775 it was therefore apparent that it was not fit to serve as any type of colony. Australia had once again been shunned.
What was the impact of the events on the western side of the Atlantic?
It is widely argued that it was the events on the western side of the Atlantic that would alter the English perception of the need for an Australian colony. In 1795, as Cook sailed home up the English Channel, George Washington was leading the colonist’s army in the siege of the English held city of Boston. The colonists’ ultimate victory and the creation of the United States of America would have a huge impact.
What did James Cook discover?
It was a new Europe which the navigator James Cook left in August 1768 on the voyage which would discover the east coast of Australia. England had risen to be a dominant power, international commerce had rapidly increased, and the industrial revolution had begun. As such, with a rising interest in new lands and new sources of trade and commercial gain, England instructed Cook to search the South Pacific for the mysterious south land.
Where did the British ship go in the 1780s?
Around the same route and into halfway ports in Australia could come English ships bound for the Pacific coast of north-west America where commerce in sea otter skins was booming in the 1780s. And Botany Bay could also become a base for whaling ships that had begun venturing into the Indian and South Pacific oceans. Finally, it could be a base from which British ships quietly emerged to dabble in smuggling and privateering in the rich Spanish trade that linked the Philippines, Mexico and South America.