First Fleet Timeline of Events

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First Fleet

The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain Arthur Phillip...

Timeline of Events

1787

5.13.1787

Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth, England, with eleven ships full of convicts (the "First Fleet") to establish a penal colony in Australia.

1788

1.18.1788

The first elements of the First Fleet carrying 736 convicts from England to Australia arrives at Botany Bay.

1.19.1788

The second group of ships of the First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay.

1.20.1788

The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides that Botany Bay is unsuitable for the location of a penal colony, and decides to move to Port Jackson.

1.26.1788

The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on the continent. Commemorated as Australia Day

3.6.1788

The First Fleet arrives at Norfolk Island in order to found a convict settlement.