Major Robert Ross (c.17409 June 1794) was the officer in charge of the First Fleet garrison of

marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

, and Lieutenant-Governor of the

convict settlement A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer t ...

of Norfolk Island.

Life and career

Ross was born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, and joined the marines in June 1756, being present at the siege of Louisburg and the capture of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

(1756–63). Promoted to captain, he saw action at Bunker Hill in June 1775 during the American War of Independence. He was aboard in August 1779 when it was captured and he was taken prisoner by the French. In 1786 he volunteered for the newly formed

New South Wales Marine Corps The New South Wales Marine Corps (1786–1792) was an ad hoc volunteer unit that the British Royal Navy created to guard the convicts aboard the First Fleet to Australia, and to preserve "subordination and regularity" in the penal colony in New ...

and was designated its commander with the brevet rank of major. Accompanied by his eight-year-old son, he sailed to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

on , transferring to ''

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

'' during the voyage. From the start of his time in New South Wales Ross was in conflict with the governor Arthur Phillip and other officers. David Collins claimed an "inexpressible hatred" for him, and Ralph Clark described him at the time as "without exception the most disagreeable commanding officer I ever knew". He refused to allow the marines to supervise the convicts at work, or to allow marine officers to sit as members of the criminal court, attitudes which some of his own officers disagreed with. He criticised Phillip for not building fortifications, and missed no opportunity to embarrass and hinder the governor. His actions made Phillip's task of administering the fledgling colony more difficult. Probably to prevent open conflict, Phillip sent Ross to Norfolk Island in March 1790. Here, following the wreck of ''Sirius'' and the stranding of its crew on the island, Ross proclaimed martial law for four months. His attempts to clear more land so that the convicts could grow most of their own food increased their discontent at the additional heavy work. He quarrelled with his officers here as vigorously as he had at

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea ...

and was relieved, returning to Sydney in December 1791.

Life in Sydney

Back in Sydney Ross immediately quarrelled and fought a duel with an officer of the newly arrived

New South Wales Corps The New South Wales Corps (sometimes called The Rum Corps) was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment of the British Army to relieve the New South Wales Marine Corps, who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia, in fortifying th ...

, neither party being injured. On 18 December he, and most of the marines, departed on ''HMS Gorgon''. Ross never adapted to life in the colony and had no faith in its future, stating that "in the whole world there is not a worse country than what we have yet seen of this. … it may with truth be said, here Nature is reversed." He also claimed that "every person … who came out with a desire for remaining … are now most earnestly wishing to get away from it." On his return to England, Ross resumed his military career. His brevet rank of major was not confirmed, and he was relegated to

captain-lieutenant Captain lieutenant or captain-lieutenant is a military rank, used in a number of navies worldwide and formerly in the British Army. Northern Europe Denmark, Norway and Finland The same rank is used in the navies of Denmark (), Norway () and Finl ...

and removed from active command. From 1792 to 1794 he served as Marines recruitment officer in the provincial centre of St Albans. He died on 9 June 1794. Gillen says that he can be commended for his conscientious adherence to his principles, but appears to have been "narrow minded, censorious, self-important and almost totally humourless".

Literary references

Ross appears as a significant character in the

Timberlake Wertenbaker Timberlake Wertenbaker is a British-based playwright, screenplay writer, and translator who has written plays for the Royal Court, the Royal Shakespeare Company and others. She has been described in ''The Washington Post'' as "the doyenne of po ...

play, ''

Our Country's Good ''Our Country's Good'' is a 1988 play written by British playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker, adapted from the Thomas Keneally novel '' The Playmaker''. The story concerns a group of Royal Marines and convicts in a penal colony in New South Wales ...

''. In a sense, he appears as the main villain of the piece, sporting an outraged attitude towards Ralph Clark's proposal to the play, and exhibiting near sadism in his treatment of the convicts. Ross is also portrayed in

Jimmy McGovern James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He als ...

's TV series ''

Banished Banished may refer to: * ''Banished'' (TV series), a 2015 drama television series * ''Banished'' (film), a 2007 documentary * ''Banished'' (video game), a city-building strategy game by Shining Rock Software * Banished (Halo), an alien faction ...

'', again in a negative manner. He is played by

Joseph Millson Joseph Millson (born 27 April 1974) is an English actor and singer. He trained at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in Sidcup, London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Eng ...

Life and career

Life in Sydney

Literary references

References

Bibliography

Further reading