Australia Philately: 1993 200th Anniversary of the Arrival of the Bellona

Australia’s first free white settlers arrived at Sydney Cove on the small transport ship Bellona on 16 January 1793. A pre-stamped envelope will be issued by Australia Post on 14 January 1993 commemorating the 200th anniversary of the arrival.

The settlers included farmers, Edward Powell, Thomas Rose and Joseph Webb; Frederick Meredith (baker); and Walter Brodie (blacksmith). Rose was accompanied by his wife and family. Their main incentive for settling was the promise of land grants.

The group was granted land near what are now the Sydney suburbs of Homebush and Strathfield. Rose received 120 acreas, Powell and Webb, 80 acres each, while the rest were given 60 acres each. Some later moved to Parramatta or the Hawkesbury districts. Rose was granted land at Wilberforce on the Hawkesbury and his farmhouse, built around 1811, survives as the oldest timber dwelling in Australia.

As far as in known, there is no contemporary depiction of the Bellona. The oil painting featured in the design shows Sydney Cove c.1793-94. Attributed to convict artist, Thomas Watling, it was once thought to be the earliest oil painting executed in the colony. Recent scholarship suggests it was painted in London from a watercolour sketch by Watling. The painting shows the view the settlers would have seen as the Bellona anchored near the pier in front of Government House. The stamp area shows a detail from the same painting.