Colonial Beginnings
About 4,500 people set off on the First, Second, and Third Fleets from England to New South Wales between 1787 and 1791. They were mostly convicts and occasionally their children, accompanied by the ships’ crew members, marines, and their families. Colonial Beginnings examines how those who survived the journey 'remade' their lives in the infant colony. It also investigates how their children and grandchildren fared. This project is a collaboration between the National Centre of Biography at The Australian National University and the Fellowship of First Fleeters. It will add records for all ‘fleeters' and their families to the online biographical register People Australia.