Arthur Phillip
| Arthur Phillip | |
|---|---|
1786 portrait by Francis Wheatley
(National Portrait Gallery, London) |
|
| 1st Governor of New South Wales | |
|
In office 7 February 1788 – 10 December 1792 |
|
| Succeeded by | John Hunter |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
11 October 1738 London |
| Died | 31 August 1814 (aged 75) Bath, Somerset |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Service/branch |
 Royal Navy
|
| Rank | Admiral |
| Battles/wars | Australian Frontier Wars |
Admiral Arthur Phillip RN (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a Royal Navy officer and the first Governor of New South Wales who founded the British penal colony that later became the city of Sydney, Australia.
After much experience at sea, Phillip sailed with the First Fleet as Governor-designate of the proposed British penal colony of New South Wales. In January 1788, he selected its location to be Port Jackson (encompassing Sydney Harbour).
Phillip was a far-sighted governor who soon saw that New South Wales would need a civil administration and a system for emancipating the convicts. But his plan to bring skilled tradesmen on the voyage had been rejected, and he faced immense problems of labour, discipline and supply. His friendly attitude towards the aborigines was also sorely tested when they killed his gamekeeper, and he was not able to assert a clear policy about them.
The arrival of the Second and Third Fleets placed new pressures on the scarce local resources, but by the time Phillip sailed home in December 1792, the colony was taking shape, with official land-grants and systematic farming and water-supply.
Phillip retired in 1805, but continued to correspond with his friends in New South Wales and to promote the colony's interests.
Arthur Phillip was born on 11 October 1738, the younger of two children to Jacob Phillip and Elizabeth Breach. His father Jacob was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He was a languages teacher who may also have served in the Royal Navy as an able seaman and purser's steward. His mother Elizabeth was the widow of an ordinary seaman, John Herbert, who had served in Jamaica aboard HMS Tartar and died of disease on 13 August 1732. At the time of Arthur Phillip's birth, his family maintained a modest existence as tenants near Cheapside in the City of London.
There are no surviving records of Phillip's early childhood. His father Jacob died in 1739, after which the Phillip family may have fallen on hard times. On 22 June 1751 he was accepted into the Greenwich Hospital School, a charity school for the sons of indigent seafarers. In keeping with the school's curriculum, his education was focused on literacy, arithmetic and navigational skills, including cartography. He was a competent student and something of a perfectionist. His headmaster, Rev. Francis Swinden observed that in personality, Phillip was "unassuming, reasonable, business-like to the smallest degree in everything he undertakes".
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Wikipedia