In 1770 James Cook spent eight days at Kamay, on the southern edge of today's Sydney. Eighteen years later the First Fleet arrived and Britain founded a convict colony on Eora Country. Here is what happened, why it is still debated, and where you can see this history for yourself.
Did Captain Cook discover Australia?
No. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had lived here for at least 65,000 years, based on dating at Madjedbebe on Mirarr Country in Kakadu, and Cook was not even the first European. In 1606 the Dutch ship Duyfken, under Willem Janszoon, made the first recorded European contact on the west coast of Cape York.
What Cook did, in 1770, was chart the east coast for Britain. On 22 August 1770, on the island he called Possession Island, Cook claimed the east coast for the British Crown. The island has older names, including Bedanug and Bedhan Lag, and is part of the lands of the Kaurareg and other clan groups. For the deeper story, read our short history of Australia.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Feb–Mar 1606 | Duyfken makes the first recorded European contact, on Cape York |
| 29 April 1770 | Cook's Endeavour anchors at Kamay; encounter with Gweagal men |
| 22 August 1770 | Cook claims the east coast at Possession Island |
| 13 May 1787 | First Fleet leaves the Solent off Portsmouth |
| 18–20 January 1788 | The 11 ships reach Botany Bay |
| 26 January 1788 | Fleet moves to Sydney Cove; British flag raised |
| 7 February 1788 | Colony of New South Wales formally proclaimed |
| April 1789 | Smallpox breaks out among Sydney's Aboriginal people |
| 2 June 1802 | Pemulwuy is shot and killed |
| 3 June 1992 | High Court decides Mabo v Queensland (No 2) |
What happened at Kamay Botany Bay in 1770?
Cook's first landing on the Australian mainland was contested. On 29 April 1770 HMB Endeavour anchored at Kamay, and two Gweagal men of the Dharawal nation challenged the landing party from the beach. According to the National Museum of Australia, Cook fired a musket between them, then fired twice more and wounded one man before the crew came ashore.
Over the next eight days the crew took on water, collected plants and tried to make contact. Most local people avoided them and left the gifts untouched; Dharawal people today explain that avoiding strangers was cultural practice. Cook recorded taking 40 spears from Gweagal camps. Four survive, and in April 2024 Trinity College, Cambridge returned them to the La Perouse Aboriginal community.
The Gweagal shield is more contested. A bark shield in the British Museum was long presented as the one carried on the beach in 1770. Gweagal descendant Rodney Kelly has campaigned since 2016 for its return. Research published in 2018 by historians including Nicholas Thomas, Maria Nugent and Gaye Sculthorpe concluded it is probably not the 1770 shield. Others argue that those methods leave out Aboriginal knowledge, and the debate continues.
Why did Britain send convicts to Australia?
Mainly because Britain had lost its old dumping ground. Until 1782 convicts were transported to America, but after the American War of Independence ended in 1783 that option closed. British prisons were already full, so convicts were held in old ships called hulks.
Harsh laws added to the numbers: stealing goods worth more than a shilling, or livestock, could mean transportation. Museums of History NSW also lists strategic motives, including a Pacific foothold against rival powers and the hope, later proved wrong, that Norfolk Island pines could supply masts for the navy.
What was the First Fleet?
The First Fleet was the convoy of 11 ships that founded the colony: two Royal Navy vessels (HMS Sirius and HMS Supply), six convict transports and three storeships. It left the Solent off Portsmouth on 13 May 1787 and called at Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro and the Cape of Good Hope.
The voyage took about 252 days. Supply reached Botany Bay on 18 January 1788 and the last ships arrived on 20 January. Numbers aboard are uncertain: the State Library of NSW estimates 750 to 780 convicts and around 550 crew, marines and family members, while Museums of History NSW gives a total of about 1,500 people.
Who was Arthur Phillip?
Arthur Phillip was the Royal Navy captain who commanded the First Fleet and became the first governor of New South Wales. Born in London in 1738, he had served in the Seven Years' War and in the Portuguese navy before his appointment in October 1786.
He found Botany Bay unsuitable, mainly for lack of fresh water, and moved the fleet to Port Jackson. In September 1790 he was speared in the shoulder at Manly Cove, an act the Dictionary of Sydney describes as likely ritual payback. He recovered and sailed for England in December 1792.
What happened at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788?
On 26 January 1788 the fleet anchored in Sydney Cove, now Circular Quay, on Gadigal Country, and Phillip's party raised the British flag. Letters and journals from that time describe volleys, cheers and toasts to the King. Phillip named the cove after Lord Sydney, the Home Secretary.
The colony itself was formally proclaimed on 7 February 1788, when Judge-Advocate David Collins read the official documents. Today 26 January is Australia Day; many First Nations people call it Invasion Day or Survival Day. Respecting both sides of that is part of visiting Australia respectfully.
How did the Eora peoples respond to the colony?
With diplomacy, avoidance and armed resistance, often at the same time. Conflict over land and food began soon after the colony was set up. In April 1789 smallpox broke out among Sydney's Aboriginal people; the National Museum of Australia says up to 70 per cent of the people between Sydney Cove and the Heads died. Where it came from is still debated, though a 2026 modelling study in Nature Human Behaviour points to the colony.
- Bennelong: a Wangal man captured with Colebee in November 1789. He escaped in 1790, later returned, had a hut built at Tubowgule (now Bennelong Point, under the Opera House) and travelled to England with Phillip in 1792.
- Pemulwuy: a Bidjigal leader who speared the convict game shooter John McIntyre in December 1790. He led raids on farms through the 1790s and was shot and killed on 2 June 1802.
Our guide to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture explains why these histories still matter in communities today.
What was terra nullius and how did Mabo overturn it?
Terra nullius, Latin for "land belonging to no one", is the idea that Australia had no owners when Britain claimed it, so no treaty or purchase was needed. On 3 June 1992 the High Court rejected it in Mabo v Queensland (No 2), recognising the Meriam people's traditional ownership of Mer (Murray Island) in the Torres Strait.
Six of the seven judges agreed. Eddie Koiki Mabo, the Meriam man who led the case from 1982, died before the decision. Parliament then passed the Native Title Act 1993, which set up a process for native title claims.
Where can you see this history in Sydney today?
Most of the key sites are in and around Sydney, so you can see them in two days. Our New South Wales guide covers the rest of the state.
- Kamay Botany Bay National Park: the Kurnell side marks the 1770 landing; entry is A$8 there and free at La Perouse. The Kurnell visitor centre is closed, and the returned spears are to go on show in a new centre planned there. The dive sites nearby are in our Sydney snorkelling and diving guide.
- Museum of Sydney: built over the remains of the first Government House, with the forecourt artwork Edge of the Trees and Aboriginal perspectives on colonisation.
- The Rocks and Circular Quay: the shore of Sydney Cove, where the 1788 settlement began.
- Australian National Maritime Museum: in Darling Harbour, home port of the HMB Endeavour replica, built in Fremantle and launched in 1993. It sometimes sails away, so check before you go.
Pair the sites with a harbour walk from our Sydney coastal walks list.
Facts checked October 2026. Opening hours, park fees and the Endeavour's location change; confirm with NSW National Parks and each museum before you visit.
- Kamay Botany Bay: Endeavour voyage (National Museum of Australia)
- Bedanug, Thunadha, Bedhan Lag, Tuidin: Possession Island (National Museum of Australia)
- Return of Gweagal spears to the La Perouse community (National Museum of Australia)
- Why were convicts transported to Australia? (Museums of History NSW)
- Convicts bound for Australia: First Fleet (State Library of NSW)
- The First Fleet and 7 February 1788 (Museums of History NSW)
- Pemulwuy and Woollarawarre Bennelong (Dictionary of Sydney)
- Smallpox epidemic (National Museum of Australia)
- Mabo decision (National Museum of Australia)
- Kamay Botany Bay National Park (NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service)
- Museum of Sydney (Museums of History NSW)
- Aboard Endeavour (Australian National Maritime Museum)
