First+Fleet

=The First Fleet= All the links below are from the HTAA (History Teachers Association of Australia) AC History Units, Year 4 The First Fleet. Teachers, see Teachers, also see the PDFs which can be downloaded. (MPPS staff, find them on the staff server in the First Fleet folder).
 * the overview
 * [|the learning program].
 * learning sequences 1-4
 * learning sequences 5-8

Conditions in England in the 18th century (1700-1799)
The case of John Walker, convicted for stealing onions (A bushel is about 36 litres). A list of convicts transported to the colonies including NSW (Check out the ages of the convicts). Find out about Henry Catlin, aged 14, transported to Tasmania in 1842 for stealing 17 ½ pence. (He was __not__ on the First Fleet, but his story shows you how poor people got involved in crime). Learn about the hulks where the prisoners were kept.

Preparations for the Journey

 * a letter written by Duncan Campbell, overseer of the convicts on the River Thames
 * packing the provisions

The First Fleeters
See here for the names of the ships and who was on them. Search for First Fleeters at this database

First Contact between the First Fleeters and the Aborigines
Use this map to find the name of the Aborigines who owned the land where the First Fleeters landed. Read The Diary of Lieutenant William Bradley View these video clips from the ABC Series The First Australians.
 * Life Before Contact
 * They Have Come to Stay

Survival in a New Land
View the diary of William Bradley See the list of rations for marines and convicts, (the women and children got less), and compare it with this painting of the Aborigines fishing in the same area.