Foundation Of Australia - Loftus Street, Eastern Side - Near Circular Quay

 Foundation Of Australia

Loftus Street, Eastern Side, Near Circular Quay

On The 18th August 1786, Lord Sydney Wrote To The Lords Of The Treasury, Saying That It Was The Kings Pleasure That Ships Be Provided For The Carriage Of 750 Convicts To Botany Bay, Together With Provisions & Necessaries Useful On Arrival. 

A Fleet Of 2 War Ships, 6 Transports, & 3 Supply Vessels, Commanded By Captain Arthur Phillip R.N. , Sailed From Portsmouth On The 12th May 1787 For The New Colony Of New South Wales.

Most Of The Fleet Dropped Anchor At Botany Bay On The 20th January 1788, After A Voyage Of 8 Months, In Which They’d Sailed 15,063 Miles. 

On The 22nd January 1788 Captain Arthur Phillip Headed A Boat Party To A Harbour 9 Miles North Of Botany Bay, Which Captain Cook Had Sighted & Named Port Jackson In May 1770 As He Mapped The East Coast Of Australia (New Holland) With Sir Joseph Banks On The HMAS Endeavour, After The Planetary Conjunction Of Venus In Tahiti Upon King George III’s Instructions. 

Captain Arthur Phillip Noted In The Official Journal That 

“He Had The Satisfaction To Find One Of The Finest Harbours In The World, In Which A Thousand Sail Of The Line Might Ride In Perfect Security.”

“The Fleet Up Anchored Fro

The Fleet Up Anchored From Botany Bay And After A Few Hours Were Safely Anchored And Moored In Sydney Cove. Arthur Phillip Wrote - “

Fwwgeg

First Fleet & The Colony Of New South Wales

Friday 18th January 1788 - 

This Was The Commencement Of The Fleet Entering Botany Bay. The "Supply" Arrived On Friday Afternoon. It Anchored On The Northern Side Of Botany Bat And Waited Fit All The Ither Ships To Arrive 

Saturday 19th January 1788 -

"The Alexander", "Scarborough" And "Friendship" Arrived In The Bay. 

50 - 60 Natives Were Seen On The Point Of Botany Bay 

Sunday 20th January 1788 - 

By 7am, The Other 7 Ships Had All Arrive In The Bay. 

Governor Phillip Didn't Find Botany Bay Suitable For The Establishmey If Na Colony Because The Soil Was Poor And Sandy, There Wasn't Enough Fresh Water, And Botany Bat Was Quite Shallow So Hils Couldn't Be Moored Near The Shore. Another Factor Was That Botany Bay Was Buffeted By Strong Winds From The Sea. 

Monday 21st January 1788 - 

A Fleet Of 2 Warships, six transports, and three supply vessels, commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip, Sailed From Portsmouth on the 12th May 1787 For New South Wales. After Visiting  Rio De Janiero And Cape Town, The First Fleet Circled The Cape Of Good Hope and, Sailing East Across The  Indian Ocean, safely rounded the stormy south coast of Van Diemans Land. Most of the Fleet dropped anchor at Botany Bay about the 20th January 1788 after a voyage of 8 months, during which they had sailed  15, 063 miles. A Survey was made of Botany Bay , but because of the scarcity og fresh water it was decided to seek a new site for a settlement. 

on the 22nd January 1788 Phillip headed a boat party to a harbour nine miles north of Botany Bay, which Cook Had Sighted  and named Port Jackson in 1770, Phillip noted in his journal  that he had had 'The Satisfaction To Find One Of The Finest Harbours In The World, In Which A Thousand Sail Of The Line Might Ride In Perfect Security. 

The Fleet Up Anchored from Botany Bay and after a few hours were safely moored in Sydney Cove. 

Phillip Wrote -

 "In The Evening Of The 26th January 1788, The Colours Were Displayed On Shore, And The Governor, With Several Of His Principle Officers And Others, Assembled Around The Flagstaff, Drank The Kings Health, And Success To The Settlement."

Today a replica of the original flag fliers from the mast on Loftus Street outside Customs House and a plaque on the wall of the building says - 

"This Flag Was Erected To Commemorate The Location At Which The First Ceremony Of Saluting The Flag By Captain Arthur Phillip R.N., And His Company Took Place To Mark The Foundation Of Australia On The 26th January 1788

It has been Stated, but there is no proof, that a huge She Oak tree benath which Governor Arthur Phillip Held The Foundation Ceremony was preserved until 1832. Liuetenant Phillip Gidley King, An Onlooker, later The Third Governor Of New South Wales Recorded That 

"The Marines And Convicts Are To Be Encamped On The West Side, And The Governor And Staff With His Guard On The East Side Of The Rivulet"

The First Picture Of Sydney, Drawn By Captain John Hunter. The Canvas House Erected For Governor Phillip Is Probably The Tent Like building With The Flagstaff. Today A Replica Flag Flies From The Mast In Loftus Street Next To Customs House & A Plaque Which Reads "This Flag Was Erected To Commemorate The Location At Which The First Ceremony Of Saluting The Flag By Captain Arthur Phillip R.N. And His Company Took Place To Mark The Foundation Of Australia On 26th January 1788."

It Has Been Stated, That A Huge She Oak Tree Beneath Which Governor Phillip Held The Foundation Ceremony Was Preserved Until 1832. lieutenant Phillip King, An Onlooker, Later The Third Governor of New South Wales, Recorded That The Marines & Convicts Are To Be Emcamped On The West Side, & The Governor & Staff Were on The East Side Of The Rivulet" Which Became The Tank Stream

Captain Arthur Phillip & The First Fleet Arriving At Botany Bay -January 1788

Captain Arthur Phillip & The First Fleet Arriving At Botany Bay - 18th January 1788 

Captain Arthur Phillip Was Aboard "The Sirius" Which Was The First Of The 12 Ships To Finally Arrive At The Shores Of New Holland.
No White Men Had Ventured Along The Eastern Coastline Since Captain James Cook Had Sailed And a Mapped The Coastline On An Exloration mission Aboard "The Endeavour" In 1770. 
Sir Joseph Banks Was Also Aboard "The Endeavour" With Captain Cook Recording All The New Flora And Fauna That They Came Across On Their Travels Of New Holland. 
Both Captain Cook And Joseph Banks Had Described The a Eastern Coastline  As Hospitable. 
When Captain Arthur Phillip Arrived On The Shores Of a Botany Bay 18 Years Later.... What He Found Was Something Completely  Different. The Soil Was Sandy And The a landscape Was Semi Arid. There Was No Source If Fresh Drinking Water Nearby. 
Phillip Was Disappointed With What He Found At Botany Bay. The a Water a Was a shallow, So Ships Couldn't Get Close To The   Shoreline, So Everything Would Have To Be Done By Long Boat......  To Begin With.... 

Captain Arthur Phillip.... With Disappointment... And Maybe Even With  A Little Despair.... After Sailing Halfway around The Known World With 12 Ships Fully Laden a With Convicts, Crew And Supplies To Set Up A New Colony.... And After 8 Months At Sea.... There Was No Returning To Portsmouth.... Or Anywhere Or Any Port In The Known British World.. 
Once All 12 Ships Had  Got The Westerly Winds To Push Them
Into Botany Bay, He Decided He Woukd Take A Small Expedition Crew With Him To Try And Locate A Better Spot To Set Up The New Penal Settlement. 
As He Sailed Up The Eastern Coast Approximately 4 Nautical Miles, He Came To The Heads Captain Cook Had Mapped ain 1770, And a which He Hsd Named Port Jackson, But Captain Cook Never Ventured In Between The Heads At The Time. 
Arthur Phillip And His Expedition Crew Sailed In Approximately Another 4 Nautical Miles When He Came To The Modern Day "Farm Cove" & "Sydney Cove" 
Here He Found A Fresh Source If Running Water, Which a Would a Then Go On To Be Named The Tank Stream, The Bay a Was a Almost Naturally Perfectly Circular, With Deep Harbour Waters, So Ships a Were Almost Aboe To Sail Right To a The Shoreline. 
David Collins Wrote In His Journal - 
"The Spot Chosen, Was At The Head Of The Cove, Near The Run Of Fresh Water, Which Stole Silently Through A Very Thick Wood; The Stillness Of Which Had Then, For The First Time Since Creation, Been Interrupted By The Rude Sound Of The Labourer's Axe... And The Downfall Of Its Ancient Inhabitants. A Stillness And Tranquility Which; From That Day Were To Surrender And Give Way To The Voice Of Labour... And The Confusion Of Camps And Towns..."