EXPANSION OF THE COLONY: FIRST DECADES

The Napoleonic Wars had consumed most of Britain's energies throughout the early years of the nineteenth century, and – as the failure of the publishing projects of Banks, Brown and Bauer testify – the natural sciences now had a lower priority. The infant colony at Sydney received little attention from London and grew only slowly under a succession of naval governors – Arthur Phillip, John Hunter, Philip Gidley King and William Bligh – all of whom experienced considerable difficulties with the army officers and senior public officials. Both of those groups sought extensive privileges and large grants of land with the intention of recreating the social structure of the mother country, establishing themselves as a colonial aristocracy and using the transported convicts as a serving class.

All four governors sought to administer wisely and evenhandedly, but were hampered by lack of real legislative authority and were glad to leave the colony, especially Bligh who had done his best to correct the many abuses – trafficking in rum and the indiscipline of the New South Wales Corps – and to resist the growing demands of the privileged sector. When Lachlan Macquarie arrived in 1810 with his own trustworthy highland regiment the colony began a slow upward climb to stability and development, characterised by expansion of the settlement across the adjoining Sydney plain and exploration of the regions beyond, a task becoming particularly urgent since the water supply in Sydney Town was inadequate and unpredictable.