1790 13 July. Number returned from the ships previous to their leaving England : Neptune Convicts received from the Guardian on board the different ships at the Cape : 14 July. New South Wales Corps. GOVERNOR PHILLIP TO THE RIGHT HON. W. W. GRENVILLE. Sir, Sydney, New South Wales, July 14th, 1790. The undermentioned persons* are those who have been represented in my former letters as being employed in the public service, and who you are pleased to say shall be recommended for a suitable compensation, if brought forward in my contingent I have, &c., account. A. PHILLIP. GOVERNOR PHILLIP TO THE RIGHT HON. W. W. Grenville. Sir, I shall, sir, by the next conveyance inform you of the steps which shall have been taken in consequence of his Majesty's having been pleased to permit me to recommend three officers of the marine detachment, holding the rank of captain, first lieutenant, and second lieutenant, whom I may judge most deserving The marines of his Majesty's favour, to be appointed to a company to be and the new raised here from amongst the marines, and to be incorporated in the new corps with the rank of captain, lieutenant, and ensign. corps. Major Marines to be relieved. The arrival of Major Grose‡ will enable me to answer the question put by those who are inclined to enlist, whether that allowance of spirits which has been issued to the marines is to be continued to the new corps, and whether they likewise are to have their rations gratis. No time shall be lost after Major Grose arrives in sending home the detachment intended to be relieved, and I presume that the *The names are not recorded. †The New South Wales Corps. This officer raised in England a special force, to which the name of the New South Wales Corps was given. He arrived at Sydney in February, 1792, in command of a detachment of the corps, with a commission appointing him Lieutenant-Governor of the colony. Administered the government from 11 December, 1792, to 12 December, 1794. The New South Wales Corps served in the colony until December, 1809, when it was replaced by the 73rd Regiment. The corps left Sydney for England, 10th April, 1810. corps now raised for the service of this country will be very competent for every service for which they may be wanted. Returns* are inclosed of those officers and privates who have arrived in the Surprize, Scarborough, and Neptune, as likewise of the marines in this settlement. 1790 14 July. India The directions relative to the ships chartered by the East The East India Company should have been complied with, and those ships Company. discharged from Government employ immediately after the convicts, stores, and provisions had been landed, but for the reasons pointed out in a former letter. The not having any vessel to carry provisions to Norfolk Island, in consequence of the loss of his Majesty's ship Sirius, and the Supply, tender, having been sent and to Batavia, obliges me to send the Justinian and Surprize on that Justinian service, but which will not be attended with the loss of much time, Surprize. as after landing the stores and provisions they will immediately proceed on their voyage for China. Island. You will, sir, please to take into consideration the state of Norfolk Island, where the number of convicts will increase, and Norfolk where at present no punishment can be inflicted beyond what a Justice of the Peace is authorized to direct. arrange The Lieutenant-Governor, on the loss of the Sirius, put the island under martial law, but against the continuing of which there will be, I presume, a strong objection, as the small military force to be employed there may throw the administration of justice into the hands of a few very young men. When Major Grose arrives one company will be sent to relieve the detachment Fresh now on duty there. The captain of the company will relieve ments. Major Ross until Mr. King returns, or untill I receive further directions; and I should hope that the power of the civil magistrate will be found quite sufficient to keep good order amongst the convicts untill I receive the necessary instructions on that head. I should gladly increase the civil power if I had the means, but which this colony does not afford me. King. The knowledge I have of Lieutenant King, whom his Majesty Lieutenant has been pleased to appoint Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island, leaves me no room to doubt but that he will endeavour to render himself worthy of that mark of his Majesty's bounty; and I hope his return to this country will not be prevented by the fear of losing an opportunity of attaining rank in the Navy. I have, sir, in a former letter observed that Norfolk Island Norfolk cannot well be made the seat of Government, not having a good harbour or roadstead, without which ships cannot deliver all their cargoes, having no place in which they can be secure while they take on board a necessary quantity of ballast. Island has no harbour. ment of the I presume the Admiralty will replace the Sirius, and one or Replacetwo small vessels are much wanted; they will be useful on many Sirius. occasions, and give me a necessary knowledge of the coast between * Post, p. 358. 1790 14 July. Small vessels. 17 July. this harbour and the South Cape. From what I saw when I came on the coast in the Supply, I make no doubt but that several good harbours will be found, and it would, sir, be a very unpleasant circumstance, after being settled on the coast for such a length of time, to have those harbours first made known by ships of a foreign nation. The circumstances which prevented the Sirius or Supply from having been employed on this service have been pointed out in my former letters. If the small vessels are sent out in frame, shipwrights must be sent out in them; and I see no reason why they may not [make] the voyage; they should be coppered, and I have written to the Admiralty for that I have, &c., purpose. [Enclosure.] A. PHILLIP. NEW SOUTH WALES CORPS, 24 JULY, 1790.* Captains-Nicholas Nepean, William Hill. Lieutenants:-Sydney, John McArthur, Edward Abbott ; Rose Hill, John Townson. Ensign :-John Thomas Prentice. Surgeon's Mate :-John Harris. Corporals:-Four. Drummers:-Four. Privates:-Ninety-three. Three privates had died since October 22nd, 1789. MARINES, 24 JULY, 1790. Captains: James Campbell and James Meredith. First Lieutenants: John Poulden, James Maitland Shairp, Second Lieutenant :-William Dawes. Adjutant Second Lieutenant:-John Long. Quarter-master Lieutenant :-James Furzer. Judge-Advocate:-David Collins. Also 8 serjeants, 8 corporals, 5 drummers, 96 privates. Sir, GOVERNOR PHILLIP TO THE RIGHT HON. W. W. GRENVILLE. Sydney, July 17th, 1790. Having answered all the letters with which you have honored me, I shall once more advert to the state of this settleState of the ment, in order to give, as fully as is in my power, the information required as to the time in which I suppose the colony may be able to support itself without any further supplies from Great Britain. settlement. * The covering despatch, dated the 14th July, was not sent until the 25th. form 1790 17 July. When will be self and My letters will, sir, inform you of the stores and provisions we have received by the different ships and of the miserable state in which the convicts were landed. To mark the time it may be supposed the colony will be able to support itself it will be neces- the colony sary to point out those circumstances which may advance or supporting? retard that period. It will depend on the numbers employed in agriculture, who by this labour are to provide for those who make no provision for themselves; those are the civil and military, those who are employed in buildings and other necessary works, the aged, and others who have been sent out incapable of providing for themselves, and the women and children. These people of the whole number in the settlement, and are the many who are to be provided for by the few. I do not reckon on the little labour which may be got from the women, tho' some The women are employed in the fields, and their numbers will be increased, children. as the greatest part will always find employment in making their own and the men's cloathing, and in the necessary attention to their children. The ground which the military may cultivate will be for their own convenience, and nothing from that quarter or from the officers in the civil department can be expected to be Nothing expected brought into the publick account. The providing houses and from barracks for the additional number of officers and soldiers, rebuild- officers. ing those temporary ones which were erected on our first arrival, and which must be done in the course of another year, as well as building more stone houses and huts for the convicts as they arrive, will employ a considerable number of people; and works of this kind will always be carrying on. Temporary buildings, when we Temporary first landed, were absolutely necessary; but they should be avoided should be in future, as after three or four years the whole work is to be begun avoided. again; and the want of lime greatly increases the labour in building with bricks, as we are obliged to increase the thickness of the walls, and cannot carry them to any height; at the same time if any heavy rains fall before they are covered in they are considerably damaged. buildings ments. The inclosed return* will show in what manner the convicts are Convict employed at present, and I have increased the number of those employ employed in clearing the land for cultivation, as far as it will be possible to do it before next January, except by convalescents, from whom little labour can be expected. Experience, sir, has taught me how difficult it is to make men Unpromisindustrious who have passed their lives in habits of vice and ing material. indolence. In some cases it has been found impossible; neither kindness nor severity have had any effect; and tho' I can say that the convicts in general behave well, there are many who dread punishment less than they fear labour; and those who have not been brought up to hard work, which are by far the greatest part, bear it badly. They shrink from it the moment of the overseer is turned from them. the eye * Post, p. 363. 1790 17 July. Rose Hill farm. The public farm at Rose Hill goes on well, but the loss of the Guardian, which obliged me to send many of the best men to Norfolk Island, and the little labour which could be drawn from those who remained, when on so reduced a ration, has prevented more than* acres of wheat, and* acres of barley being sowed this year. About* bushels of wheat and barley remain from our last year's crop, and I hope that next year a very considerable quantity of ground will be sown; but, sir, this settlement has never had more than one person to superintend superinten- the clearing and cultivating ground for the public benefit, or Only one dent a farmer. Two good husbandmen wanted who has ever been the means of bringing a single bushel of grain into the public granary. One or two others have been so employed for a short time, but removed as wanting either industry or probity; and should the person who has at present the entire management of all the convicts employed in clearing and cultivating the land be lost, there is not anyone in the settlement to replace him. Of the five superintendants sent out one only is a farmer. When he gets his health he will make a very useful man. I do not [wish] for many farmers to be sent out as superintendants, for few farmers will be found equal to the charge of a considerable number of convicts; but if two good men could be found, who, as well as being good husbandmen, had sufficient spirit to discharge the trust which must be reposed in them, they will be of great use. They will be necessary as the number of convicts increase, and the more so as the person who at present has that charge will not settle in the country. It was supposed that a sufficient number of good farmers might have been found amongst the convicts to have superintended the labours of the rest; and men have been found who answer the purpose of preventing their straggling from their work, but none of them are Inefficient equal to the charge of directing the labour of a number of convicts, supervisors with whom most of them are linked by crimes they would not wish to have brought forward, and very few of the convicts have been found to be good farmers. Convicts cannot be distributed. Clearing land arduous work. You will, sir, from what I have said, see how impossible it is for me to detach a body of convicts to any distance, as they must have a sufficient person to superintend and direct their labours, and a storekeeper to be charged with their provisions; nor do I at this moment see any necessity for it. The land at Rose Hill is very good, and in every respect well calculated for arable and pasture ground, though certainly loaded with timber, the removal of which requires great labour and time; but it is the same with the whole country as far as I have seen, particular spots excepted, and which, as they cannot at present be cultivated by us, for we cannot make detachments of convicts, I proposed giving to the first settlers who came out, as is mentioned in my Blank in MS. |
