New South Wales Corps
| New South Wales Corps (102nd Regiment of Foot) |
|
|---|---|
| Active | 1789–1810 |
| Country |
 United Kingdom |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Line Infantry |
| Size | One battalion |
| Nickname(s) | Rum Corps, Botany Bay Rangers, Rum Puncheon Corps, The Condemned. |
| Colours | Yellow Facings, White Braided Lace |
| Engagements |
Battle of Vinegar Hill (1804) Rum Rebellion (1808) Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars (1790–1816) Battle of Richmond Hill (1795) Battle of Parramatta (1797) |
The New South Wales Corps (a.k.a. The Rum Corps) was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment to relieve the New South Wales Marine Corps, who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia. The regiment, led by Major Francis Grose, consisted of three companies.
Due to the remoteness and unpopularity of the posting, the New South Wales Corps were composed of officers on half pay, troublemakers, soldiers paroled from military prisons, and those with few prospects who were gambling on making a life for themselves in the new colony. The regiment began arriving as guards on the Second Fleet in 1790. Major Grose arrived in Sydney in 1792 to take command and assume role of Lieutenant-Governor of the colony. A fourth company was raised from those Marines wishing to remain in NSW under Captain George Johnston, who had been Governor Phillip's aide-de-camp.
When Governor Phillip returned to England for respite in December 1792, Major Francis Grose was left in charge. Grose immediately abandoned Phillip's plans for governing the colony. A staunch military man, he established military rule and set out to secure the authority of the Corps. He abolished the civilian courts and transferred the magistrates to the authority of Captain Joseph Foveaux. After the poor crops of 1793 he cut the rations of the convicts but not those of the Corps, overturning Phillip’s policy of equal rations for all.
In a connived attempt to improve agricultural production and make the colony more self-sufficient, Grose turned away from collective farming and made generous land grants to officers of the Corps. They were also provided with government-fed and clothed convicts as farm labour, whose products they would sell to the government store at a good profit.
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