Arthur Phillip

Admiral Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British naval officer, governor of the first European settlement in Australia and founder of the city of Sydney.

Stabilising the colony

By 1790 the situation had stabilised. The population of about 2,000 was adequately housed and fresh food was being grown. Phillip assigned a convict, James Ruse, land at Rose Hill (now Parramatta) to establish proper farming, and when Ruse succeeded others followed. But in June 1790 the Second Fleet arrived with hundreds more convicts, most of them too sick to work. Sirius was wrecked in March 1790, depriving Phillip of vital supplies. In an attempt to relieve the overcrowding, Phillip established a satellite settlement at Norfolk Island, which later developed a terrible reputation as a place of severe punishment.

Related Topics:
1790 - James Ruse - Parramatta - March - Norfolk Island

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By December 1790 Phillip was ready to return to England, but the colony had largely been forgotten in London and no instructions reached him, so he carried on. In 1791 he was advised that the government would send out two convoys of convicts annually, plus adequate supplies. But July, when the vessels of the Third Fleet began to arrive, with 2,000 more convicts, food again ran short, and he had to send a ship to Calcutta for supplies.

Related Topics:
1790 - 1791 - Calcutta

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By 1792 the colony was well-established, though Sydney remained an unplanned huddle of wooden huts and tents. The whaling industry was established, ships were visiting Sydney to trade, and convicts whose sentences had expired were taking up farming. John Macarthur and other officers were importing sheep and beginning to grow wool. The colony was still very short of skilled farmers, craftsmen and tradesmen, and the convicts continued to work as little as possible, even though they were working mainly to grow their own food.

Related Topics:
1792 - John Macarthur

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In late 1792 Phillip, whose health was suffering from the poor diet, at last received permission to leave, and on 11 December 1792 he sailed in the ship Atlantic, taking with him Bennelong and many specimens of plants and animals. The European population of New South Wales at his departure was 4,221, of whom 3,099 were convicts. The early years of the colony had been years of struggle and hardship, but the worst was over, and there were no further famines in New South Wales. Phillip arrived in London in May 1793. He tendered his formal resignation and was granted a pension of 500 pounds a year.

Related Topics:
1792 - 11 December - 1793

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