Botany Bay became famous as the place in Australia to which English convicts were transported after captain James Cook had taken possession of the continent for Britain in 1770.
Cook sailed up to Botany Bay, near the site of the present city of Sydney, and named the continent New South Wales, because he thought its coastline resembled that of south Wales. Botany Bay was so called by Joseph Banks, a botanist in cook’s expedition, because of the bay’s rich plant life.
Until then Britain had transported most of her convicts to work on the American plantations. But when the North American colonies gained their independence in 1782, it was decided to send the convicts to Australia, chiefly because of the great distance.
In January 1788, a fleet of nine transports carrying 828 convicts, of whom 300 were women, and escorted by two warships, arrived in Botany Bay. Captain Arthur Philip (1738-1814) who was in charge of the expedition and was appointed governor, established a settlement which he called Sidney after Lord Sidney (1733-1800) who was British Colonial Secretary.
The colony became a dumping ground for the rejects of Britain but many of those transported were guilty only of small offences. Some free men also settled there, and the convicts worked as unpaid servants to the officials and free settlers. Even when they had served their sentences, most preferred to remain in Australia, where they were given grants of land, and helped to build a colony.
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