Australia's First Fleet Capt. Arthur Phillip, R.N. was commissioned as the first Governor of New South Wales. He set sail on May 13th, 1787 from Portsmouth with 11 vessels. He arrived in N.S.W. with 717 convicts of whom 180 were women, guarded by 191 marines under 19 officers. Note: The incorrect spellings of some place names is how they appeared in the newspaper. Some of those listed did not arrive in Australia as they either did not embark or died en route From the "LONDON GAZETTE", October 1788 CONVICTS TRANSPORTED TO THE NEW COLONY Your Correspondent looks to our Readers and has ascertained as far as possible the names of those who have been convicted of crimes in the Country of England since 1783 and have been sentenced by His Majesty's Judges to be sent to that part of New Holland known as New South Wales Your Correspondent looks to our Readers for their indulgence to involuntary errors and omissions, and trust general attention will secure us from trespassing on their kindness too often. http://www.pcug.org.au/~pdownes/dps/1stflt.htm