nch, secure to the Honourable East
India Company the lion's share of the Eastern
trade, and at the same time furnish a suitably
remote dumping-ground for the denizens of the
hulks whose presence at home had embarrassed
successive governments for so long." (Ward 1992, 50)
The first governor of New South Wales, Captain Arthur Phillip, was charged with achieving these objectives for the Admiralty. As well, he was responsible for the practical governance of a huge domain, from the eastern coast to the 135th meridian in the west (Cartledge, 1). The British authorities were ridiculously under-prepared and ignorant of the challenges which would be faced by the colonials and their governor.
In the early years of settlement, food was in short supply. The Sydney governors failed miserably in their attempts to inspire the convicts to work the land, and led to dire shortages and subsequent food rations. All work had to be done by hand, as few farming implements were transported with the First Fleet. Despite being cheap workers, the convicts were mostly an unskilled and unwilling labour force. Fish and kangaroo meat were relied upon when other provisions failed. During this period, to be caught stealing food was punishable by execution, as John Barrett discovered on March 6, 1788 (Cartledge, 2).
In New South Wales, Governor Arthur Phillip relied on
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