Rose Hill Sources (text version)

Mouseover text

Hotspot 1

Letter from Newton Fowell to his family, 31 July 1790. Fowell was a promising sailor who wrote much about the early settlement. He died, aged just 22, four weeks after writing this letter.

Transcript: A Settlement had been made at the Head of the Harbour and about 40 Acres of Ground Cleared, it is called Rose Hill, The Greatest Part of it this last Year was Sown in Grain & Yielded about 4 Fold, The Ground thereabout is much clearer of Wood, & the soil much richer than about Sydney Cove Good Garden have been made thire, & Vegetables grow very fine. Cabbages grow to a large Size, for on the Kings Birth Day 1789 A Cabbage was Cut & Sent to the Govonor which weighed 27 Lbs Several have been cut Weighing from 15 to 20 Lbs, but it is a general opinion Potatoes Degenerate very much. Melons Pumkins thrive astonishly

Hotspot 2

William Bradley served in the Royal Navy for 42 years. When the First Fleet arrived in 1788 he was a First Lieutenant later promoted to Master and Commander.

Transcript: Towards the upper part of Port Jackson the Country opens & is cover'd with long grass growing under the trees, there are some spots of clear ground round P Jackson but none of considerable extent until near the head of it, from which, along by the flats & creeks it improves & near the fresh water at the top of the creek it is a fine open Country & good soil, to this part which is called Rose Hill & is about 12 Miles above Sydney Cove, it is intended early in the present Month to detach a Capt & Company of Marines with a proportion of Convicts for the purpose of clearing & cultivating that part of the Country, which will no doubt be of great use to the Settlement.

Hotspot 3

Journal from William Bradley, March 1789. Bradley was a keen surveyor and wrote extensively on Aboriginal peoples and natural history.

Transcript: Brown Bark'd Gum Tree, exceeding good Timber for large uses, grows in the Kanguroo Ground & about Rose Hill, to the height of 80 to 100 feet without a branch, some have been cut which were 9 or 10 inches diameter at about 80 feet from the base & quite sound, if is fit for very large beams &c. boards for flooring, door frames & for every use in common

Hotspot 4

Journal from John Hunter, late 1790. He refers to a voyage he has just led to Capetown in South Africa to pick up emergency supplies for Sydney Cove.

Transcript: When we returnd from our Voyage, I went up to see what progress had been made at this Farm, which had been Nam`d Rose Hill; It certainly very much exceeded My expectations, the quantity of ground prepard for receiving grain … was considerable, a Number of Hutts Built – Gardens in tollerable appearance and altogether every prospect of, in due time a very extensive farm, We now know, that if we had people enough, to labour, it might be carried at least twenty Miles to the W:ward and every foot of the ground apparently as good as that on which they are now at Work.

Note: rollovers do not function in text only version.