# List of officers of the New South Wales Marine Corps

The officers of the New South Wales Marine Corps commanded the first European military unit to be stationed on the Australian continent. Commissioned to guard convicts aboard the First Fleet to Botany Bay in 1788, they subsequently enforced discipline at penal colonies in Port Jackson and Norfolk Island. The New South Wales Marines were disbanded from 1791 to 1792 as their enlistment term expired. The majority of officers returned to equivalent roles in the British Marines.

## Background

The New South Wales Marine Corps was an ad hoc volunteer unit created by the Royal Navy to guard the convicts aboard the First Fleet to Australia, and to preserve "subordination and regularity" in the penal colony in New South Wales. The Corps was established on 31 August 1786 with assent from King George III for a force of Marines and accompanying officers to enforce "... subordination and obedience in the settlement [at Botany Bay], as well as for defence of that settlement against the incursions of the natives." At full strength the New South Wales Marine Corps numbered 213 men.
Volunteers for the NSW Marine Corps were required to have had a satisfactory prior record of service in the British Marines, to be at least 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) tall and under forty years of age. Both officers and men were entitled to an honourable discharge after three years of colonial service, as an alternative to the British Marine tradition of enlistment for life. Rates of pay were in accordance with equivalent ranks in the British Marines including routine provision of a subsistence allowance worth two-thirds of daily pay. British Marines received the allowance when in the field (i.e., not serving on board a vessel); the New South Wales Marines received the allowance for the duration of their three-year enlistment, relieving the Admiralty or the government of the colony of the responsibility of providing messing facilities.
Officers wore a red long-tailed doublet, white trousers, black shoes with gaiters, and a black headdress. They were authorised to carry swords and sidearms in addition to the Brown Bess musket available to all personnel.

## Marine Corps officers

| Name | Born | NSW Marine Corps service | NSW rank | NSW duties | Subsequent service | Death |
| Robert Ross | 1740 | October 1786 — November 1792 | brevet Major | Commander, New South Wales Marines Lieutenant Governor, Colony of New South Wales | Brevet rank not confirmed, and relegated to captain-lieutenant, Chatham Division Marine Recruiting Officer, St Albans and Ipswich, 1792 — 1794 | 1794 of natural causes, Brompton, England |
| James Campbell | c.1740 | May 1787 — December 1791 | Captain | Company Commander | Promoted to Major of Marines, 1794 | 1795 |
| John Shea | c.1755 | December 1786 — February 1789 | Captain | Company Commander | None | 1789 of tuberculosis, Port Jackson, NSW |
| James Meredith | 1753 | May 1787 — December 1791 | Captain-lieutenant | Company Commander | Promoted to Major-general of Marines, 1811 Promoted to Lieutenant-general, 1821 Promoted to General, 1838 | 1841 of natural causes, Monmouth England |
| Watkin Tench | 1758 | December 1786 — December 1791 | Captain-lieutenant | Company Commander | Promoted to Major of Marines, 1792 French prisoner-of-war, 1801—1802* Promoted Major-general 1816 Commandant, Plymouth Division, 1819 — 1827 | 1833 of natural causes, Devonport England |
| George Johnston | 1764 | November 1786 — June 1791 | First Lieutenant | Promoted to captain-lieutenant, 1789 Aide-de-camp to Governor Arthur Phillip, 1788—1791 | Transferred to New South Wales Corps, 1791 Promoted to brevet Major, 1800 Ringleader of Rum Rebellion, 1808 Cashiered, 1811 | 1823 of natural causes, Lake Illawarra, NSW |
| John Creswell | unknown | May 1787 — December 1791 | Second Lieutenant | — | Promoted to captain, 1792 Injured in action, Battle of the Nile, 1798 Promoted to Major, 1802 | 1804 |
| Thomas Davey | unknown | November 1786 — December 1791 | First Lieutenant | — | Promoted to captain, 1795 Promoted to brevet Major, 1808 Appointed Lieutenant Governor of Tasmania, 1812 | 1823 of natural causes, London England |
| James Furzer | unknown | December 1786 — December 1791 | First Lieutenant | Quartermaster | Not promoted on return to England Served aboard HMS Carnatic, 1794—1795 | 1799, West Indies |
| James Maxwell | unknown | May 1787 — July 1788 | First Lieutenant | Incapacitated by dysentery and an unspecified eye disease on arrival in NSW Invalided to England, 1788 | None | 1792 of disease, Plymouth England |
| Robert Kellow | unknown | May 1787 — December 1791 | First Lieutenant | Transferred to Norfolk Island, March 1790 Suspended on charges of improper conduct and endangering a fellow officer, July 1790 Reinstated after apology for misconduct, October 1791 | Not promoted on return to England Last listed as a Marines officer in 1815 | unknown |
| John Poulden | unknown | December 1786 — December 1791 | First Lieutenant | — | Promoted to captain, 1794 Last listed as a Marines officer in 1814 | unknown |
| John Johnson | unknown | November 1786 — December 1791 | First Lieutenant | — | Promoted several times, ultimately to Lieutenant-Colonel | unknown |
| William Faddy | unknown | December 1786 — December 1791 | Second Lieutenant | — | * Promoted to captain-lieutenant, 1797 | 1798, killed in action aboard HMS Vanguard, Egypt |
| John Long | unknown | December 1786 — December 1791 | Second Lieutenant | Adjutant, NSW Marine Corps 1786—1791 | promoted to brevet Major, 1808 Transferred to British Army and promoted to lieutenant colonel, 1814 Last listed as an Army officer in 1825 | unknown |
| Thomas Timins | unknown | December 1786 — June 1792 | Second Lieutenant | — | Promoted to captain-lieutenant, 1795 Promoted to captain, 1796 Served aboard HMS Dreadnought, Battle of Trafalgar, 1805 Promoted to major, 1810 Promoted to lieutenant colonel, 1823 | 1828 of natural causes, Southsea England |
| James Shairp | unknown | December 1786 — December 1791 | First Lieutenant | Named second-in-command to Captain Campbell at Rose Hill, 1788 | Promoted to captain, 1795 | 1796 of disease, Chatham England |
| Ralph Clark | 1755 | December 1786 — December 1791 | Second Lieutenant | Superintendent of Works, Norfolk Island, 1790—1791 | Served in West Indies aboard HMS Tartar, 1793—1794 | 1794, killed in action, Haiti |
| William Dawes | 1762 | 1787 — December 1791 | Second Lieutenant | Artillery Officer, NSW Marine Corps, 1787—1791 | Governor of Sierra Leone, 1792, 1795—96 Mathematics master, Christ's Hospital School, 1799—1800 | 1836, Antigua |
| Alexander Ross | unknown | July 1788 — December 1791 | Second Lieutenant (local rank) | Son of Major Robert Ross, appointed Second Lieutenant on departure of James Maxwell, 1788 | Second Lieutenant's rank formalised, 1792 Appointed Adjutant, Plymouth Marines, 1799 | 1801, Brentford England |