John Easty () was a marine in the

New South Wales Marine Corps The New South Wales Marine Corps was a battalion-sized unit of the British Marine Forces created to guard convicts aboard the First Fleet to Australia, and to preserve "subordination and regularity" in the colony of New South Wales. Establi ...

who served in the

First Fleet The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...

that establish the British colony of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1788. Easty joined the marines no later than January 1784, and was appointed to Captain-Lieutenant Meredith's company on 4 November 1787. He arrived with the First Fleet on the ''

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, sub ...

'', Easty was the lowest ranking author of the surviving

journals of the First Fleet There are 20 known contemporary accounts of the First Fleet made by people sailing in the fleet, including journals (both manuscript and published) and letters. The eleven ships of the fleet, carrying over 1,000 convicts, soldiers and seamen, le ...

. He describes events on the voyage and in the colony in simple, irregular English. Incidents include accidents, crimes and punishments, and encounters with Aboriginal people. In March 1788 he received a flogging for bringing a female convict into the camp. Some of the journal is hearsay or was written later. Most of the events are reported in a matter of fact way, but Easty sometimes expresses his own strong opinions on matters such as the administration of the colony and religious beliefs. On 22 February 1790, he writes that he and a private in the

53rd Regiment of Foot The ''53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot was a British Army regiment, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 85th (King's Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot to form the King's Shropshire Light Infantry in 1881. History ...

, Thomas Brimage, signed and sealed their lasts wills and testaments to each other. Easty returned to England on the ''

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

'' in December 1792, with the last detachment of marines to leave Sydney. Arthur Philip also returned home on this voyage. Easty rejoined his division at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in May 1793. He left the marines and was employed by Waddington & Smith, grocers, in London in September 1794. In 1796 he petitioned the Admiralty for compensation promised for short rations in New South Wales. A transcription of John Easty's journal was published in 1965.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Easty, John 18th-century Australian people First Fleet