An Anchorage in the Wilderness

They were “selected by the best judges in England” and they “left their country for their country’s good.” Rejected by the country of their birth, and totally unfitted for the task they were set, fourteen hundred settlers endured the eight-month voyage in primitive conditions to start a new colony as far from England as it is possible to get. The land they found was wilder and harsher than anything they had ever experienced. With the specter of starvation haunting the settlement for years, in concert with real and imagined human foes, they yet transcended their limitations and created not just a settlement, but a new nation.This story is set in the first settlement of what is now Sydney, Australia. It is the story of very ordinary people, many of whom were from the poorest class in England. They found themselves in a totally alien environment that they had to master in order to survive. The military personnel who guarded the colony and maintained law and order were free to return to England, but only after completing their tour of duty. The remainder had to serve out sentences of seven years, fourteen, or life meted out by courts for crimes that would mostly be regarded as minor today. Even after serving their sentences they were unwelcome upon their return even if they found the means to pay for a passage back to England.