The Third Fleet comprised 11 ships that set sail from the

Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain, also known as the Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in Western Europe from 1707 to the end of 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingd ...

in February, March and April 1791, bound for the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

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 language, 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 ...

, 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 Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

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

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 ...

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

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

; 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 ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

, 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 Guilt (law), guilty of a crime and Sentence (law), 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 commo ...

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, 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 judi ...

* Isaac Nichols, 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