First Fleet journal
May 1787 – March 1791
Manuscript
Bequest of Sir William Dixson, 1952
DLMS 164
By February 1790, the colony was struggling to survive, and the Sirius was again ordered to set sail for supplies, this time to China. The journey, however, was delayed so the ship could take more convicts to Norfolk Island in an effort to reduce the strain on the dwindling supplies in Sydney. On 19 February 1790 the Sirius was wrecked off Norfolk Island and the colony was left with just one ship, the Supply.
Hunter returned to England on the Waaksamheid in March 1791. In England he was court martialled for the loss of the Sirius but was honourably acquitted. A year after his return to England, Hunter published his journal under the title An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island.
In February 1795 Hunter was appointed governor of NSW to succeed Arthur Phillip, but did not return to the colony to take up the post until September of that year.
In February 1795 John Hunter was
appointed governor of NSW though he did not return to the colony to take up his
new position until September of that year. Phillip left NSW in December 1792 to
return to England for medical attention, and formally resigned as governor on
23 July 1793. His recommendation to authorities for Philip Gidley King to be
appointed his successor was turned down.
Shortly after the First Fleet’s arrival in Port Jackson, Governor Phillip sent a party of 23, including 15 convicts, to Norfolk Island to establish a second penal colony, under the command of Philip Gidley King. The land there was pronounced more fertile than Sydney Cove and the timber of better quality, but the rocky cliffs surrounding the island meant that the timber could not be loaded on ships for transport to Sydney Cove.
Hunter’s journal was purchased by Sir William Dixson
from Angus & Robertson in December 1918 for £1000.
The Hunter River and Hunter Valley north of Sydney are both named after Governor John Hunter, as are the suburb of Hunters Hill in Sydney and the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle. In 1986 a postage stamp with his portrait was issued in his honour.
In preparation for the First Fleet’s departure, Lord Howe, the first lord of the admiralty, arranged for Hunter to be promoted to post-captain on 15 December 1786 and for him to command HMS Sirius. The fleet was under the overall command of Arthur Phillip, who was to take up the post as governor of the new colony of NSW. Hunter carried a dormant commission as successor to Phillip if he were to die or be absent.
When the platypus was first discovered by Europeans in 1798, a pelt and sketch were sent back to the United Kingdom by John Hunter.
The State Library holds the world's largest collection of original First Fleet journals and correspondence. Of the 11 known journal manuscripts, the Library holds nine.
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