Hubbard First Fleet

William Hubbard was convicted of theft in London in 1783 and was due to be transported to the American colonies for seven years however the American War of Independence put an end to this and he was instead gaoled in England. He spent nearly five years in gaols and on convict hulks anchored in the River Thames before being transferred onto the transport ship Scarborough in February 1787.

With the flagship HMS Sirius and nine other ships, Scarborough formed up into what has become known as the First Fleet, sailing to Botany Bay in far off New South Wales to establish a penal colony in the area of New Holland first documented by Lieutenant James Cook in his remarkable voyage of discovery in 1770. The fleet left Portsmouth on Sunday 13 May 1787.

After a voyage of eight months, the ships arrived at Botany Bay but the absence of good water ashore forced the commander Captain Arthur Phillip, to try a different harbour known as Port Jackson, a little way up the coast . James Cook had recorded but not entered this harbour and Phillip found it to be far superior to Botany Bay. A good water stream was located at what was to become Sydney Cove (above) and the fleet disembarked on the afternoon of 26 January 1788.

The painting above shows a rather romantic view of the first landing in Sydney Cove and the flag-raising ceremony which followed the proclamation by Captain Arthur Phillip (1738 - 1814) now the first Governor of the Colony of New South Wales. It was painted in 1937 to mark the year of Australia's sesquicentenary, 1938.