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What I find interesting is, everyone gets out of shape about Australia day on the 26 January, they call it invasion day etc and want it moved, as it was the day in 1788 that the first fleet arrived.
When in actual fact the first fleet arrived on the 18, 19 and 20th of January 1788 at Botany Bay and made contact with the aboriginals.
Six days later two French ships arrived.
So obviously moving the date changes nothing, it only leaves cancelling the holiday altogether, as the only sensible answer. ?
On 21 January, Phillip and a party which included John Hunter, departed the Bay in three small boats to explore other bays to the north.[56] Phillip discovered that Port Jackson, about 12 kilometres to the north, was an excellent site for a colony with sheltered anchorages, fresh water and fertile soil.[56] Cook had seen and named the harbour, but had not entered it.[56] Phillip's impressions of the harbour were recorded in a letter he sent to England later: "the finest harbour in the world, in which a thousand sail of the line may ride in the most perfect security ...". The party returned to Botany Bay on 23 January.[56]
On the morning of 24 January, the party was startled when two French ships, the Astrolabe and the Boussole, were seen just outside Botany Bay. This was a scientific expedition led by Jean-François de La Pérouse. The French had expected to find a thriving colony where they could repair ships and restock supplies, not a newly arrived fleet of convicts considerably more poorly provisioned than themselves.[57] There was some cordial contact between the French and British officers, but Phillip and La Pérouse never met. The French ships remained until 10 March before setting sail on their return voyage. They were not seen again and were later discovered to have been shipwrecked off the coast of Vanikoro in the present-day Solomon Islands.[58]
On 26 January 1788, the Fleet weighed anchor and sailed to Port Jackson.[38] The site selected for the anchorage had deep water close to the shore, was sheltered, and had a small stream flowing into it. Phillip named it Sydney Cove, after Lord Sydney, the British Home Secretary.[56] This date is celebrated as Australia Day, marking the beginning of British settlement.[59] Contrary to popular belief, the British flag was NOT officially planted until 7 February 1788 when possession was formally proclaimed.[60] There was, as always, a British naval ensign erected at the site of the military encampment, and this had been performed on the evening of 25 January 1788[61] in a small ceremony conducted by Phillip and some officers and marines from Supply, with the remainder of Supply's crew and the convicts observing from on board ship. The remaining ships of the Fleet did not arrive at Sydney Cove until later that day.[62] Writer and art critic Robert Hughes popularized the idea in his 1986 book The Fatal Shore that an orgy occurred upon the unloading of the convicts, though more modern historians regard this as untrue, since the first reference to any such indiscretions is as recent as 1963.[63][6
Although the official policy of the British Government was to establish friendly relations with Aboriginal people,[55] and Arthur Phillip ordered that the Aboriginal people should be well treated, it was not long before conflict began. The colonists did not sign treaties with the original inhabitants of the land.[67] Between 1790 and 1810, Pemulwuy of the Bidjigal clan led the local people in a series of attacks against the colonists.[68]
When in actual fact the first fleet arrived on the 18, 19 and 20th of January 1788 at Botany Bay and made contact with the aboriginals.
Six days later two French ships arrived.
So obviously moving the date changes nothing, it only leaves cancelling the holiday altogether, as the only sensible answer. ?
Arrival in Australia
It was soon realised that Botany Bay did not live up to the glowing account that the explorer Captain James Cook had provided.[53] The bay was open and unprotected, the water was too shallow to allow the ships to anchor close to the shore, fresh water was scarce, and the soil was poor.[54] First contact was made with the local indigenous people, the Eora, who seemed curious but suspicious of the newcomers. The area was studded with enormously strong trees. When the convicts tried to cut them down, their tools broke and the tree trunks had to be blasted out of the ground with gunpowder. The primitive huts built for the officers and officials quickly collapsed in rainstorms. The marines had a habit of getting drunk and not guarding the convicts properly, whilst their commander, Major Robert Ross, drove Phillip to despair with his arrogant and lazy attitude. Crucially, Phillip worried that his fledgling colony was exposed to attack from those described as "Aborigines" or from foreign powers. Although his initial instructions were to establish the colony at Botany Bay, he was authorised to establish the colony elsewhere if necessary.[55]On 21 January, Phillip and a party which included John Hunter, departed the Bay in three small boats to explore other bays to the north.[56] Phillip discovered that Port Jackson, about 12 kilometres to the north, was an excellent site for a colony with sheltered anchorages, fresh water and fertile soil.[56] Cook had seen and named the harbour, but had not entered it.[56] Phillip's impressions of the harbour were recorded in a letter he sent to England later: "the finest harbour in the world, in which a thousand sail of the line may ride in the most perfect security ...". The party returned to Botany Bay on 23 January.[56]
On the morning of 24 January, the party was startled when two French ships, the Astrolabe and the Boussole, were seen just outside Botany Bay. This was a scientific expedition led by Jean-François de La Pérouse. The French had expected to find a thriving colony where they could repair ships and restock supplies, not a newly arrived fleet of convicts considerably more poorly provisioned than themselves.[57] There was some cordial contact between the French and British officers, but Phillip and La Pérouse never met. The French ships remained until 10 March before setting sail on their return voyage. They were not seen again and were later discovered to have been shipwrecked off the coast of Vanikoro in the present-day Solomon Islands.[58]
On 26 January 1788, the Fleet weighed anchor and sailed to Port Jackson.[38] The site selected for the anchorage had deep water close to the shore, was sheltered, and had a small stream flowing into it. Phillip named it Sydney Cove, after Lord Sydney, the British Home Secretary.[56] This date is celebrated as Australia Day, marking the beginning of British settlement.[59] Contrary to popular belief, the British flag was NOT officially planted until 7 February 1788 when possession was formally proclaimed.[60] There was, as always, a British naval ensign erected at the site of the military encampment, and this had been performed on the evening of 25 January 1788[61] in a small ceremony conducted by Phillip and some officers and marines from Supply, with the remainder of Supply's crew and the convicts observing from on board ship. The remaining ships of the Fleet did not arrive at Sydney Cove until later that day.[62] Writer and art critic Robert Hughes popularized the idea in his 1986 book The Fatal Shore that an orgy occurred upon the unloading of the convicts, though more modern historians regard this as untrue, since the first reference to any such indiscretions is as recent as 1963.[63][6
First contact
The First Fleet encountered Indigenous Australians when they landed at Botany Bay. The Cadigal people of the Botany Bay area witnessed the Fleet arrive and six days later the two ships of French explorer La Pérouse, the Astrolabe and the Boussole, sailed into the bay.[65] When the Fleet moved to Sydney Cove seeking better conditions for establishing the colony, they encountered the Eora people, including the Bidjigal clan. A number of the First Fleet journals record encounters with Aboriginal people.[66]Although the official policy of the British Government was to establish friendly relations with Aboriginal people,[55] and Arthur Phillip ordered that the Aboriginal people should be well treated, it was not long before conflict began. The colonists did not sign treaties with the original inhabitants of the land.[67] Between 1790 and 1810, Pemulwuy of the Bidjigal clan led the local people in a series of attacks against the colonists.[68]
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