1792 hence with three or four thousand pounds, I could wish for years such an extent of country as to make it an object of attention to 21 Jan. me; ten or twenty thousand acres-two or three hundred acres A capitalist's between Rose Hill and Sydney Cove, or on the opposite shore proposal. between Rose Hill and the mouth of the harbour (where, I understand, there are no settlers), and the remainder in a direct line towards Broken Bay. I shall allow my settlers money to purchase such articles at the Cape as may be thought necessary to begin with, and an annual supply for progressive improvements. Supplies. Government will perhaps not think me presumptious or unworthy their attention on this occasion when they are inform'd that I have inclos'd fourteen hundred acres of waste land in England, which I purpose intirely planting. You will greatly oblige me, sir, if you can procure me an speedy answer, as I wish to prepare the farmer to go by the first ship. I am, &c., G. MATCHAM. * THE CLERK OF THE PRIVY COUNCIL TO UNDER SECRETARY KING. Council Office, Whitehall, 22 January, 1792. 22 Jan. Sir, Mr. Secretary Dundas having transmitted to the Lord President the two inclosed lists, the one of convicts sentenced to be transported from England to parts beyond the seas, the other of convicts sentenced to be banished from Scotland,† in order to be laid before his Majesty in Council, I am directed by his lordship to transmit the said letter and lists to you, and to request that you will be pleased forthwith to prepare the draughts of two Orders-of-Council, appoint'g the eastern coast of New South New South Wales, or some one or other of the islands adjacent, to be the place for place to which the said convicts shall be conveyed. In the hope of saving you some trouble, I have made out the draught of an order for the convicts sentenced in England, from a similar order issued in June last,† and herewith enclose the same for your perusal and correction. The act relative to offenders in Scotland was passed in the 25th of his Majesty's, cap. 46, and as no order has hitherto issued appointing the place to which persons sentenced to be banished from Scotland shall be transported, I am to desire that you will be pleased to recite as much of the act above referred to as you may judge necessary for the order to be issued on this occasion, as I do not find upon the slight examination I have been able to Imake that this Act has been continued in force in the same manner as the Act for the transportation of offenders from England has been. I beg leave to draw your attention to this circumstance. W. FAWKENER. Wales as a convicts. Offenders 1792 10 Feb. Stores. Convicts. Settlers. Powers of the Governor. THE RIGHT HON. HENRY DUNDAS TO GOVERNOR PHILLIP. Sir, Whitehall, 10th February, 1792. Having written so fully to you by the Britannia, I have at present nothing further to add than that you will receive with this letter by the ship Kitty the several articles specified in the inclosed bills of lading, numbered 1 and 2. There will sail at the same time in the Kitty the male and female convicts particularised in the list No. 3, wherein the respective occupations of the former arc inserted opposite to their names. Such further articles as you have particularly required, together with a year's cloathing for the settlement, will be forwarded to you by a ship which I expect will be despatched in about six weeks, and on board which such settlers as have determined to go will embark, with a master miller and carpenter. What the number of the settlers may amount to I cannot at present ascertain, but I think it will fall short of that stated in my last letter, No. 2, as having made proposals to Government.† I also inclose you a copy of the Order-in-Council (No. 4) respecting all the convicts now sent (those from Ireland excepted), and concerning whom the Orders-in-Council have not yet been transmitted to me from that kingdom. I have, &c., THE FIRST LAND GRANT.‡ HENRY DUNDAS. By his Excellency Arthur Phillip, Esq., Captain-General and 22 February. WHEREAS full power and authority for granting lands in the Territory of New South Wales to such persons as may be desirous of becoming settlers therein is vested in me, his Majesty's Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief over the said territory and its dependencies, by his Majesty's instructions under the Royal Sign Manual, bearing date respectively the twenty-fifth day of April, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and the twentieth day of August, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine. In pursuance of the power and authority vested in me as aforesaid, I do by these presents give and grant unto James Ruse, James Ruse. his heirs and assigns, to have and to hold for ever, thirty acres of land, in one lot, to be known by the name of Experiment Farm, laying on the south of the Ponds, at Parramatta, the said thirty acres of land to be had and held by him, the said James Ruse, his heirs and assigns, free from all fees, taxes, quit-rents, and other acknowledgments, for the space of ten years from the date of these presents. Provided that the said James Ruse, his † Ante, p. 589. Grant to Not recorded. A certified copy of the original deed of grant in the Registry of Deeds Office, Sydney. 1792 22 Feb. heirs or assigns, shall reside within the same, and proceed to the improvement and cultivation thereof, such timber as may be growing or to grow hereafter upon the said land which may be deemed fit for naval purposes to be reserved for the use of the Crown, and paying an annual quit-rent of one shilling after the expiration Quit rent. of the term or time of ten years before mentioned. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and the Calcutta, February 28th, 1792. 28 Feb. from India. Sir, Tho' circumstances that Mr. Bowen may perhaps take an opportunity of explaining to your Excellency have prevented me from taking any part in the supply of provisions at present Provisions shipping for the colony under your command, I have by no means given up my intention of offering my services to you and his Majesty's ministers at home. By the letter which you did me the honour to write me in conjunction with Messrs. Lambert and Ross, I considered the Atlantic as consigned to us, as did those gentlemen also; the affair took another turn, and after much consultation and speculation on the subject an offer was made by Messrs. Lambert and Ross, entirely unknown to me, which has been accepted. The present supply is so small an object that I mention it for no other reason than to give me an opportunity of observing that my exclusion has not been voluntary, as the business upon the grounds it has been concluded was never made known to me. Had it been so I should have taken my part in it under the expectation that it would have been continued to more favourable times. I beg, therefore, to tender my services to your Excellency Offer of and the colony, and it is my intention to offer them to his Majesty's ministers in Europe, being now about to return there. services. The offer I have now the honour to make is on my own account, and on the same terms as my joint offer with Messrs. Lambert and Terms. Ross, and any orders in consequence which your Excellency may 1792 28 Feb. please to address to me in Calcutta will be duly attended to by my attornies, Messrs. King and Johnson, who are regularly authorized to act for me in such cases during my absence. I beg leave to trouble your Excellency with an explanation of one part of my conduct, which may perhaps be construed to exclude me from any future claim, "that I refused to enter into any An explana- warrantee." Delivering the articles required at prices to be certified by the commanding officer, I certainly did so, as did likewise Messrs. Lambert and Ross; but as the terms of the original offer was never suggested to me, I hope it will not be supposed that I have declined adhering to them. tion. Samples forwarded. 29 Feb. Neglect of public worship. Service in the open air. Injury to health. Mr. Bowen does me the favour to carry a sample of cloathing of various kinds, which I will deliver at New South Wales at the following rates, viz. :-Shirts, 1s. 44d. (one shilling and fourpence half-penny); trowsers, 3s. 5d. (three shillings and fivepence); shoes, 3s. 6d. (three shillings and sixpence); frocks, 4s. (four shillings). I have, &c., ROBT. BIDDUlph. THE REV. R. JOHNSON TO GOVERNOR PHILLIP. Extract from a letter received from the Rev. Richard Johnson, chaplain at Botany Bay. Dated, Sydney, Feb. 29, 1792. THERE is another thing which I beg leave to relate to your Excellency, and that is the manner in which the holy Sabbath is observed. I have often lamented, and not seldom complained, of the thinness of the congregation; sometimes not one-half, onethird, and sometimes one-fourth of the convicts (especially the women) present. Many of the officers, both civil and military, and I may add of the naval and merchant line, too, have frequently apologised for their non-attendance, and have assigned as the cause the want of a convenient place of worship. We have been here now above four years, and the first time we had public service at Port Jackson I found things much more comfortable for myself and for the congregation (for whom I would ever feel as for myself in such circumstances) than I did last Sunday, for then we had the advantage of the trees to shelter us from the sun; but now we were wholly exposed to the weather; first to the rain, which I was fearful would have made me dismiss the people, and afterwards to the wind and sun. On this account, sir, it cannot be wondered at that persons, whether of higher or lower rank, come so seldom and so reluctantly to public worship. I have, not seldom, found very great inconveniences attending it myself. I have, which I must in a great degree attribute to this, contracted a deafness which I am very apprehensive I shall never get the better of, and repeatedly for a day or two after I have been thus exposed I have been very unwell, and quite unfit and unable to attend to my duty. 1792 29 Feb. Churches I neither wish or mean to interfere with any thing that does not concern myself; but as the clergyman of the colony, and as intrusted with the spiritual charge of those unhappy people around us, I submit it to your Excellency's own consideration whether, should be before the approaching winter, some place should not be thought of and built both here and at the new settlement for the purpose of carrying on public worship. GOVERNOR PHILLIP TO THE RIGHT HON. HENRY DUNDAS. built. 19 March. Sir, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter marked No. 1, and dated the 5th of July, '91,* by the Pitt, in which ship Major Grose arrived with the company of the New Arrival of South Wales Corps. The Pitt arrived here the 14th of last Major Grose. month, had been very sickly on the passage, and buried thirteen soldiers, seven seamen, twenty male convicts, and nine women. convicts. One hundred and twenty male convicts were sick when landed, Sick but I have the satisfaction of finding those who have been received from the Pitt less emaciated, and in appearance fitter for labour, than most of those who have been hitherto received. In proceeding to answer your letter, I have, sir, to beg leave to refer to mine by the Supply, armed tender, and by his Majesty's ship Gorgon; they will show the state of the colony, the necessary State of the articles of which we stand in need, my reasons for sending the colony. Supply to England, and the Atlantic, store-ship, to Calcutta; also what may be expected from this settlement respecting the raising a sufficient quantity of flour and maize for the support of its inhabitants. The great necessity of sending out a proper person to be charged with the culture of the ground and with the grain which is raised, until it is deliver'd to the Commissary, has also been mentioned in those letters, there not being any person in this settlement properly qualified for that charge. Returns have been made by the Commissary of what provisions Provisions have been rec'd from the different ships and from Batavia; but received. none have ever been received from Calcutta, and from the length of time since a supply from that quarter was mentioned, I had given up all expectation of it before the Atlantic was sent from hence. for the The vessel sent out in frames has been landed, and I hope that small vessel we shall be able to set her up; but for doing which we have only station. three or four ordinary shipwrights, and it is much to be regretted that the Navy Board did not judge it necessary to send out one or two good shipwrights; and all vessels intended to remain for any time in this country should be coppered, as wooden bottoms will be destroyed by the wormes in less than two years. When this vessel is set up, she must remain until proper people No crew, can be found to man her. I have, sir, in my former letters given * Ante, p. 496. |