When did the English first arrive in Australia?

Answer 1

The British did not discover Australia.

It is believed that the Portuguese were the first to sight the Australian continent, but there are no records within Portugal itself to substantiate the claim. The source for this claim are the Dieppe Maps, which date between 1542 and 1587, and which were drawn up by a group of French cartographers using a Portuguese source. These maps name a large land mass believed to be the Australian continent as Java-la-Grande. There is some speculation that the maps, not being to scale, actually represent an exaggerated western Java, possibly even Vietnam.

Willem Jansz/Janszoon was a Dutchman who was seeking new trade routes and trade associates. Commanding the Duyfken, he became the first recorded European to step foot on Australia's shores on the western shore of Cape York Peninsula, on 26 February 1606.

The first Englishman to visit Australia was William Dampier, in 1688.

James Cook (not yet a captain) charted the eastern coast of Australia and claimed it in the name of Great Britain in 1770, calling it New South Wales. He charted the east coast between April and August of that year. For this reason, Cook is often wrongly credited with discovering Australia.

Answer 2

It should be noted that the English did not discover Australia. However, the first Englishman to set foot on Australia's shores was William Dampier. On 4 January 1688, Dampier's ship the 'Cygnet' was beached on the northwest coast of Australia (then known as New Holland), at King Sound near Buccaneer Archipelago on the north-west coast of Australia. While the ship was being repaired Dampier made notes on the fauna and flora he found there.

Dampier was unimpressed by the dry, barren landscape, the lack of water and what he described as the "miserablest people in the world" - the native population. His negative reports led to the delay of England's colonisation of what is now Australia. It was not until 1770 that Captain James Cook reported positively on the green, fertile countryside of New South Wales, and England sought to colonise the previously unknown continent.

Answer 3

The first Englishman to come to Australia was William Dampier, who reached the northwestern coast in 1688, and promptly dismissed the area as completely undesirable for habitation. In 1770 Captain James Cook reached Australia and claimed it for Great Britain. Australia was then colonised by convicts and officers with the arrival of the First Fleet on 26 January 1788.

Answer 4

The first Englishman to step foot on Australia was William Dampier in 1688, about 82 years after the first European, Dutchman Willem Janszoon, discovered it. The east coast of Australia was mapped by James Cook in 1770, and shortly after a fleet of ships arrived to set up a penal colony, which was formally established in 1788.

Answer 5

The first British citizen to land in Australia was William Dampier.

In January 1688, William Dampier's ship the 'Cygnet' was beached on the northwest coast of Australia, at King Sound near Buccaneer Archipelago on the north-west coast of Australia. In July 1699, Dampier returned, reaching Dirk Hartog Island near Shark Bay in Western Australia. Searching for water, he followed the coast northwards, reaching the Dampier Archipelago and then Roebuck Bay.

James Cook was the next to land in Australia, exploring botany Bay on the east coast and making his way up the coast, charting island, inlets and main points along the way until he was wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef. He then came in to land at the Endeavour River in far north Queensland.

When the first British settlers arrived, they landed first in Botany Bay, but discovered the bay was not suitable for settlement. The First Fleet then continued north to Port Jackson, which is where the first colony was established.

Answer 6

In: Australian History