The First British Colonies in Australia
Contrary to popular belief, it was not Captain James Cook who discovered Australia. The Portuguese were possibly the first to sight the Terra Australis Incognita (“Unknown Southern Land”), and the Dutch explored the coastal regions as early as the 1640s. The first colonies and settlement, however, were indeed British.
The East Coast
Captain James Cook (then Lieutenant James Cook) arrived at the eastern coast of Australia in 1770 on the HM Barque Endeavour. Under the instruction of King George III he claimed the east coast on August 22nd of the same year and named it New South Wales.
Botany Bay
Botany Bay (formerly known as Stingray Harbour, so named by Captain James Cook) is today situated in the south eastern suburbs of Sidney and always had a rich water supply, which made the area ideal for settlement. It was here that the first Australian penal colony was established.
The First Fleet
Between the 18th and 20th of January 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip arrived with the First Fleet, which comprised approximately 1,350 people on eleven ships, in Botany Bay. These ships were mainly bringing over convicts and mariners with their wives. There was one big problem though: the farms around the fertile areas had yet to be built and worked on to supply enough food for everyone, as the supplies brought over on the ships were scarce. Trading with the Aboriginal peoples from the area helped, but did not solve the problem. All hope was set on the Second Fleet.
The Second Fleet
The Second Fleet was also known as the “Death Fleet” – 278 convicts and crew died on the voyage before arriving in Botany Bay in 1790 with food and other supplies which were badly needed. Most of the convicts who had survived up until then were near death or in a very poor condition, so less than useless to the new colony.
From Penal Colony to Settlement
Officially, New South Wales was a penal colony from 1788 until 1823. However, free settlers started to come there as early as 1793 to build up a new life. Especially after 1830, the number of free immigrant rose dramatically. While the lives of most convicts looked rather bleak when first arriving in Australia to serve their sentences, many of them went on to live comfortably down under. The best examples for this are Andrew Byrne and Edward Redmond, both transported for life to Australia because of their part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. After serving their sentences, they were granted land on which they first cut down trees to sell the timber and then went on to raise horses and farm the land. Collecting oyster shells on the banks of Cook River, they were also able to produce lime for building which they sold.
== The West Coast ==
In the name of King George III, George Vancouver claimed the Albany region on the western coast of Australia for Britain in the winter of 1791.
Interesting Trivia:
In the early years of settlement, there was a serious scarcity of women in the colonies, which caused problems – there were four men for every woman on the southern continent.
Sources:
http://www.botanybay.nsw.gov.au/city/history.htm