In 1836, at least nine ships in 1836 carried the first European settlers from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to the south coast of Australia for the establishment of the

City of Adelaide The City of Adelaide, also known as the Corporation of the City of Adelaide and Adelaide City Council is a local government area in the metropolitan area of greater Adelaide, South Australia and is legally defined as the capital city of South ...

and the province of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Although not all of the ships sailed together, they have been referred to as the "First Fleet of South Australia", as all were carrying the founding planners and administrators of the new colony as well as the first emigrants, and all were represented at the proclamation of the new province.

People

After a historic meeting at

Exeter Hall Exeter Hall was a large public meeting place on the north side of the Strand in central London, opposite where the Savoy Hotel now stands. From 1831 until 1907 Exeter Hall was the venue for many great gatherings by promoters of human bettermen ...

on 30 June 1834, where the principles, objects, plan and prospects of the new

Colony of South Australia In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

were explained to the public, hundreds of enquiries from prospective immigrants started to arrive at the South Australian Association's headquarters in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The ships that sailed in 1836 would carry prospective emigrants as well as staff employed by the

South Australian Company The South Australian Company, also referred to as the South Australia Company, was formed in London on 9 October 1835, after the '' South Australia (Foundation) Act 1834'' had established the new British Province of South Australia, with the S ...

, a private business enterprise, and various appointees of the British Government to set up the new British Province of South Australia. Under the emigration scheme, labouring classes received free passage. They had to be between 15 and 30 years of age, preferably married, and needed two references.

Steerage Steerage is a term for the lowest category of passenger accommodation in a ship. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century considerable numbers of persons travelled from their homeland to seek a new life elsewhere, in many cases North America ...

passengers paid £15-20, middle berth £35-40, and cabin class £70. Children under 14 years were charged £3 while those under 1 year were free.

Ships

In January 1836 four ships sailed from England on behalf of the South Australian Company, ahead of the planned expedition by the

South Australian Colonization Commission British colonisation of South Australia describes the planning and establishment of the colony of South Australia by the British government, covering the period from 1829, when the idea was raised by the then-imprisoned Edward Gibbon Wakefield ...

, the board set up under the

South Australia Act 1834 The ''South Australia Act 1834'', or ''Foundation Act 1834'' and also known as the ''South Australian Colonization Act'', was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provided for the settlement of a province or multiple province ...

. They developed a settlement at Kingscote on

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

, in July 1836, but when farming proved unviable, both the settlement and the Company's operations were moved to the mainland. Four of the ships were sent by the South Australian Company, three were chartered by the Colonization Commission, and the other two chartered privately. The ships began sailing from England in 1836 from January until about June, and arrived on the South Australian coast (all but one initially landing on

) from July to December that year, with the new province proclaimed on 28 December at Glenelg. It is difficult for scholars to arrive at a definitive list of pioneer ships given the lack of extant primary evidence due to poor record keeping and accidental loss of records. The following list is based on the best available records, ordered chronologically by date of arrival in South Australia.

People

Ships

Table notes

See also

References

Further reading

Passenger lists

Other