When did the First Fleet arrive in Australia?

The First Fleet arrived in Australia on January 18^th, 1788 – not January 26^th. The date now called Australia Day was when the First Fleet disembarked in Sydney Cove.

When the First Fleet arrived in Australia, the continent changed forever. What was previously a patchwork of Aboriginal clans was about to be forged into a series of British colonies, then a single nation.

What was the First Fleet?

The First Fleet was the first convoy of British ships to arrive in Australia with the purposes of setting up a colony. Most on board were convicts, sentenced to transportation overseas for various crimes, some of them really petty.

There were eleven ships in the fleet, which left from Portsmouth in May 1787. A total of 1,373 people arrived in Australia the next year, 20 of whom had been born during the journey.

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When did the First Fleet arrive in Botany Bay?

The First Fleet arrived in Australia on January 18^th, 1788. It arrived in Botany Bay, which had been earmarked as a good spot for settlement by Lt James Cook when he charted Australia’s east coast in 1770.

This is not the date most Australians associate with the First Fleet’s arrival. Ask most Australians, and they’ll say the First Fleet arrived on January 26^th. This is the date controversially celebrated as Australia Day.

The date is controversial as many Aboriginal Australians regard Australia Day as commemorating the invasion of their land. There are well-supported campaigns in Australia to have the date of Australia Day moved.

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Why is January 26^th Australia Day?

January 26^th, 1788, was a significant day. This was when the First Fleet entered Port Jackson (now better known as Sydney Harbour) and disembarked at Sydney Cove.

Captain Arthur Phillip had decided that Botany Bay didn’t have enough fresh water to be the settlement site, and scouted up the coast for a better option.

When did the First Fleet first see Australian land?

However, you could argue that the First Fleet arrived in Australia before January 18^th, 1788. Land was first sighted on January 4^th, 1788. This was when the Friendship, one of the eleven ships in the fleet, sighted Van Diemen’s Land, now known as Tasmania.