“…at 4 AM fired a Gun and made the Signal to weigh, weigh’d and made sail, in Company with the Hyaena – Frigate, Supply Armed Tender, Six Transports and Three Store Ships, at 9 fired a Gun and made the Sig’l for the Convoy to make more sail.”
With these words the logbook of HMS Sirius recorded the departure of what we know today as “The First Fleet.” The eleven ships of the fleet under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip RN took their leave from Portsmouth, England early on Sunday, 13 May 1787 bound for a virtually unknown shore eight long months and half a world away. The escort vessel, “HMS Hyaena” stayed with the fleet until it was clear of the English Channel and into open waters.
It was back in August of the previous year that the British Government made its decision to establish a penal colony at Botany Bay in New South Wales. During the intervening months ships had to be found and crews assembled. Supplies sufficient for at least two years needed to be purchased and the ships loaded.
The convicts themselves, about 750 of them, were taken from jails and prison hulks around the country. In shackles, they were loaded aboard the ships either at dockyards along the Thames or at Portsmouth where the fleet was finally assembled. By the time the fleet departed, many of the convicts had already been aboard the ship for several months.
The first set of five 36c stamps (se-tennant) will be issued on 13 May 1987. Here we see preparations from Portsmouth, England. The background to the first three stamps is a compilation of the dockyards on the Thames (where several of the ships were fitted out and where some of the convicts loaded) and of Portsmouth where the fleet finally assembled.
Details
- Date of Issue: 13 May 1987
- Withdrawn Date:
- 26 May 1987 (First Day Cover)
- 30 December 1988 (Stamps & Stamp Pack)*
- Designer: Sue Passmore, Australia Post Graphic Design Studio
- Printer: CPE Australia Ltd, Melbourne
- Process: Photolithography
- Colours:
- Paper: Harrison’s stamp paper
- Perf: 13.25
- Sheet: 50 stamps (R5 x 5) printed in two panes, separated by horizontal gutter.
- Quantity:
The original withdrawn date for the stamps was 30 November 1987. However, in October 1987, Australia Post extended the date to 30 December 1988.
Subjects
- 36c Convicts
- 36c Officer of the Marines
- 36c Sailor
- 36c Naval and Marine Personnel
- 36c The First Fleet
Gutter Strip
First Day Covers
First day covers were priced at $2.00. There was no First Day of Issue national postmark for this issue.
First Day Covers (Pictorial Postmarks)
Stamp Pack
The stamp pack was priced at $2.15.
Stamp Bulletin
Australia Stamp Bulletin No.189 (April 1987)
