First Fleet Initials on Garden Island Earliest White Man And Only Remaining Relic Of Sydney 1788

On the northern hill of Garden Island, three sets of initials — FM, IR and WB — with the date 1788 are cut into sandstone. They’re widely accepted as among the earliest surviving European markings in the Sydney area, made when HMS Sirius, flagship of the First Fleet, used the island for a ship’s garden (Governor Phillip authorised the garden in February 1788; parties were landed to clear and plant, which is how the island got its English name).

Traditional attributions link WB to First Lieutenant William Bradley of Sirius, FM to Frederic (Frederick) Meredith, and IR to a marine usually identified as Private Joseph Radford (older popular accounts wander on spellings). Documentary proof tying each letter to a named carver is incomplete — Naval Historical Society researchers stress conjecture based on Sirius muster and survey parties — but the 1788 date and First Fleet association are long established in naval heritage writing. Glass covers have been used at times to cut weathering.

Garden Island remains a working naval base (Fleet Base East); public access to the carving site is restricted. The initials are a rare in-situ trace of the harbour’s first months of British occupation, not a claim that no other 1788 archaeological evidence exists elsewhere in Sydney. Images here show the rock cuttings and Garden Island context.