Did you know?
British gaols in the late 1770s were getting overcrowded
with criminals and convicts for petty crimes
such as stealing a loaf of bread.
Did you know?
England use to send criminals to America but were unable to
because of the American War of Independence.
Did you know?
Earlier in 1770 Captain James Cook discovered New South Wales.
Australia at this time was populated by about 300,000 Aborigines.
The Aborigines had lived here for more than 10,000 years.
England did not recognise Australia as being inhabited
as the Aborigines did not cultivate the land.
Did you know?
The British decided to establish a penal colony in New South Wales.
Did you know?
Between 1788 & 1850 the English sent over
162,000 convicts to Australia in 806 ships.
The first eleven of these ships are today known as the First Fleet.
The first fleet carried 759 convicts.
They would be transported never to return to Britain.
The convicts & marines on these ships are now
acknowledged as the Founders of Australia.
Did you know?
The Fleet consisted of:
six convict ships,
three store ships,
two men o war ships
with a total of:
756 convicts (564 male, 192 female)
550 officers / marines / ship crew & their families.
Did you know?
The six convict ships were:
Alexander
Charlotte
Lady Penrhyn
Friendship
Prince of Wales
Scarborough
Other ships of the Fleet were:
H.M.S. Sirius
H.M.S. Supply
The Fishburn
The Borrowdale
The Golden Grove
Did you know?
The convicts first embarked on the ships at Portsmouth on 16th March 1787.
By the time they departed,
some convicts had been aboard these ships
for seven months.
Did you know?
The First Fleet left England on 13th May 1787 for Australia.
Their first stop was at Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro
& then later at Cape Town,
where food supplies were replenished.
The fleet arrived at Botany Bay between 18th & 20th January 1788.
Botany Bay was deemed to be unsuitable for settlement
due its lack of fresh water.
They moved north arriving at Port Jackson
on the Australian East coast on 26 January 1788.
Did you know?
Captain Arthur Phillip,
who was in charge of the Fleet on its 15,000 mile voyage,
reported that there was only 23 deaths on the journey.
Did you know?
Arthur Phillip was the first Governor of NSW from 1788 - 1792.
is today celebrated as Australia Day.
Botany Bay (Song)
Farewell to old England forever
Farewell to my rum sculls as well
Farewell to that well known Old Bailey
Where I once used to cut such a swell.
Chorus:
Singing too ral, li ooral, li addity
Singing too ral, li ooral, li ay
Singing too ral, li ooral, li addity
We're bound for Botany Bay.
There's the captain as is our commander
There's the bo'sun and all the ship's crew
There's the first & the second class passengers
Knows what we poor convicts go through.
Repeat Chorus...
'Taint leaving old England we cares about,
'Taint cos we misspells what we knows,
But because all we light fingered gentry
Hops around with a log on our toes.
Repeat Chorus...
For seven long years I'll been stayin' here
For seven long years & a day
Just for meeting a cove in an alley
And stealin' his ticker away.
Repeat Chorus...
Oh had I the wings of a turtle dove
I'd soar on my pinions so high
Slap bang to the arms of my Polly love
And in her sweet presence I'd die.
Repeat Chorus...
Now all you young Dookies and Dutchesses
Take warning from what I might say
Mind all is your own that you toucheses
Or you'll find us in Botany Bay.
