In May 1787 a fleet of ships carrying convicts left England bound for Botany Bay, New South Wales, where they were to establish a settlement. One of the crew on board the Charlotte was Watkin Tench (c.1758 1833), who wrote about the voyage of what was later known as the First Fleet. He remained in New South Wales, living in Port Jackson (part of present-day Sydney) from 1788 to 1791, and in this work, published in 1793, he gives a vivid, first-hand account of the early years of British settlement. The chapters are chronologically organised and discuss the many challenges settlers in the...

Watkin Tench (1758 1833) was a British Marine officer who was held prisoner from 1794 to 1795 in Brittany, at the height of the French Revolution. During his imprisonment he wrote a series of letters to a friend in London (it is not clear whether this was genuine correspondence or a genre narrative), which was published in 1796. In them we learn of the adverse conditions he experienced on two convict hulks in Brest harbour, and his later period of parole in private lodgings in Quimper, which he recalls more favourably, as he was allowed to roam the countryside within a three-mile radius of...

"A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson" from Watkin Tench. British marine officer (1758-1833).

"A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay" from Watkin Tench. British marine officer (1758-1833).