41 Facts About Arthur Phillip

Admiral Arthur Phillip was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first governor of the Colony of New South Wales.

Arthur Phillip then became an apprentice on the whaling ship Fortune.

In 1784, Arthur Phillip was employed by Home Office Under Secretary Evan Nepean, to survey French defences in Europe.

In 1786 Arthur Phillip was appointed by Lord Sydney as the commander of the First Fleet, a fleet of 11 ships whose crew were to establish a penal colony and a settlement at Botany Bay, New South Wales.

Arthur Phillip was a far-sighted governor who soon realised that New South Wales would need a civil administration and a system for emancipating convicts.

Arthur Phillip wanted harmonious relations with the local indigenous peoples, in the belief that everyone in the colony was a British citizen and was protected by the law as such, therefore the indigenous peoples had the same rights as everyone under Arthur Phillip's command.

Arthur Phillip had planned to return to Australia, but medical advisors recommended he resign from the governorship.

Arthur Phillip's health recovered and he returned to active duty in the Navy in 1796, holding a number of commands in home waters before being put in command of the Hampshire Sea Fencibles.

Arthur Phillip eventually retired from active naval service in 1805.

Arthur Phillip spent his final years of retirement in Bath, Somerset, before his death on 31 August 1814.

Arthur Phillip was the son of Jacob Phillip, an immigrant from Frankfurt, who by various accounts was a language teacher, a merchant vessel owner, a merchant captain, or a common seaman.

Arthur Phillip went to sea on a British naval vessel aged nine.

Arthur Phillip's headmaster, Reverend Francis Swinden, observed that in personality, Phillip was an "unassuming, reasonable, business-like to the smallest degree in everything he undertakes".

Arthur Phillip remained at the Greenwich Hospital School for two and a half years, longer than the average student stay of one year.

Arthur Phillip remained aboard as Fortune undertook an outward trading voyage to Barcelona and Livorno carrying salt and raisins, returning via Rotterdam with a cargo of grains and citrus.

The marriage was unhappy, and the couple separated in 1769 when Arthur Phillip returned to the Navy.

In 1774, Arthur Phillip was seconded to the Portuguese Navy as a captain, serving in the war against Spain.

Arthur Phillip's assignment was to transport convicts and soldiers to establish a colony at Botany Bay.

Arthur Phillip had a difficult time assembling the fleet, which was to make an eight-month sea voyage and then establish a colony.

Everything a new colony might need had to be taken, since Arthur Phillip had no real idea of what he might find when he got there.

Arthur Phillip soon decided that the site, chosen on the recommendation of Sir Joseph Banks, who had accompanied James Cook in 1770, was not suitable, since it had poor soil, no secure anchorage, and no reliable water source.

The colony's isolation meant that it took almost two years for Arthur Phillip to receive replies to his dispatches from his superiors in London.

Arthur Phillip established a civil administration, with courts of law, that applied to everyone living in the settlement.

Arthur Phillip had drawn up a detailed memorandum of his plans for the proposed new colony.

Arthur Phillip later joined them on an expedition to survey Broken Bay.

Ross supported and encouraged his fellow officers in their conflicts with Arthur Phillip, engaged in clashes of his own, and complained of the governor's actions to the Home Office.

Major Francis Grose, commander of the New South Wales Corps, had replaced Ross as the Lieutenant-Governor and took over command of the colony when Arthur Phillip returned to Britain.

Arthur Phillip again ordered the boats to Manly Cove, where two more warriors were captured, Coleby and Bennelong; Coleby soon escaped, but Bennelong remained.

Bennelong and Arthur Phillip formed a kind of friendship, before he too escaped.

Four months after Bennelong escaped from Sydney, Arthur Phillip was invited to a whale feast at Manly.

Arthur Phillip was suddenly surrounded by warriors and speared in the shoulder by a man called Willemering.

Arthur Phillip, perhaps realising that the spearing was in retaliation for the kidnapping, ordered no actions to be taken over it.

Arthur Phillip retired in 1805 from active service in the Navy, was promoted to Vice-Admiral on 13 December 1806, and received a final promotion to Admiral of the Blue on 4 June 1814.

Arthur Phillip suffered a stroke in 1808, which left him partially paralysed.

Arthur Phillip died 31 August 1814 at his residence, 19 Bennett Street, Bath.

Arthur Phillip was buried nearby at St Nicholas's Church, Bathampton.

Steadfast in mind, modest, without self seeking, Arthur Phillip had imagination enough to conceive what the settlement might become, and the common sense to realize what at the moment was possible and expedient.

Arthur Phillip was sent out to found a convict settlement, he laid the foundations of a great dominion.

Arthur Phillip has been featured in a number of movies and television programs, for example he is portrayed by Sir Cedric Hardwicke, in John Farrow's 1953 film Botany Bay, Sam Neill in the 2005 film The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant and David Wenham in the 2015 mini-series Banished.

Arthur Phillip is a prominent character in Timberlake Wertenbaker's play Our Country's Good, in which he commissions Lieutenant Ralph Clark to stage a production of The Recruiting Officer.

Arthur Phillip is shown as compassionate and just, but receives little support from his fellow officers.