The Third Fleet comprised 11 ships that set sail from the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, wh ...

in February, March and April 1791, bound for the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

penal settlement, with more than 2,000 convicts aboard. The passengers comprised convicts, military personnel and notable people sent to fill high positions in the colony. More important for the fledgling colony was that the ships also carried provisions. The first ship to arrive in Sydney was the ''Mary Ann'' with its cargo of female convicts and provisions on 9 July 1791. ''Mary Ann'' had sailed on her own to

Sydney Cove Sydney Cove (Eora: ) is a bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, one of several harbours in Port Jackson, on the coast of Sydney, New South Wales. Sydney Cove is a focal point for community celebrations, due to its central Sydney locatio ...

, and there is some argument about whether she was the last ship of the Second Fleet, or the first ship of the Third Fleet, or simply sailing independently, as was HMS ''Gorgon''. The vessels that unambiguously belong to the third fleet all left together. The ships that make up each fleet, however, are decided from the viewpoint of the settlers in Sydney Cove. For them, the second set of ships arrived in 1790 (June), and the third set of ships arrived in 1791 (July–October). The ''Mary Ann'' was a 1791 arrival. The next ship to arrive just over three weeks later, on 1 August 1791, was . With ''Matilda'' came news that there were another nine ships making their way for Sydney, and which were expected to arrive shortly. The final vessel, ''Admiral Barrington'', did not arrive until 16 October, nearly 11 weeks after ''Matilda'', and 14 weeks after ''Mary Ann''.

Ships of the Third Fleet

''Atlantic'', ''Salamander'', and ''William and Ann'' departed from

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

; their naval agent was Lieutenant Richard Bowen. ''Albemarle'', ''Active'', ''Admiral Barrington'', ''Britannia'', and ''Matilda'' departed from

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

; their naval agent was Lieutenant Robert Parry Young. ''Queen'' departed from

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Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

; she had her own naval agent, Lieutenant Samuel Blow. After having delivered their convicts, ''Active'', ''Admiral Barrington'', ''Albemarle'', and ''Queen'' sailed for India. French privateers captured ''Active'' and ''Albemarle'' as they were almost home. Pirates murdered most of ''Admiral Barrington''s crew near

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, but she was apparently recovered. A French privateer captured her in 1797. ''Britannia'', ''Mary Ann'', ''Matilda'', ''Salamander'', and ''William and Ann'' went whaling. ''Britannia'' was wrecked off the coast of New South Wales some years later, in 1806. ''Matilda'' was wrecked on a shoal in February 1792.

People of the Third Fleet

From the above table it can be seen that 173 male

convicts A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former conv ...

and 9 female convicts died during this voyage. Though this death rate was high, it was nowhere near as high as that which occurred on the Second Fleet. Convict arrivals on the Third Fleet included: *

Simeon Lord Simeon Lord ( – 29 January 1840) was a pioneer merchant and a magistrate in Australia. He became a prominent trader in Sydney, buying and selling ship cargoes. Despite being an emancipist Lord was made a magistrate by Governor Lachlan Mac ...

pioneer merchant and

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

Isaac Nichols Isaac Nichols (29 July 1770 – 18 November 1819) was an English born Australian farmer, shipowner and public servant who was a convict transported to New South Wales on the Third Fleet, on the Admiral Barrington. He was transported for seven ...

first

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

(1810) * Joseph Luker police officer * James Underwood shipbuilder

References

External sources

* Bateson, Charles, ''The Convict Ships, 1787-1868'', Sydney, 1974. * Hughes, Robert, ''The Fatal Shore, London'', Pan, 1988 * Keneally, Thomas (2006), ''A Commonwealth of Thieves'', Sydney, Random House, Convictism in Australia History of New South Wales History of immigration to Australia Maritime history of Australia {{British-Empire-stub

Ships of the Third Fleet

People of the Third Fleet

See also

References

External sources