Arthur Phillip Admiral Arthur Phillip RN ( 11 October 173831 August 1814 ) was the first Governor of New South Wales , and founder of the settlement which became Sydney . After much experience at sea , including command of a ship that was saved in a storm by convicts , Phillip sailed with the First Fleet , as Governor - designate of the proposed British penal colony of New South Wales . In February 1788 , he selected its location to be Port Jackson ( now Sydney Harbour ) . Phillip was a far - sighted governor , who soon saw that New South Wales would need a civil administration and a system for emancipating the convicts . But his plan to bring skilled tradesmen on the voyage had been rejected , and he faced immense problems of labour , discipline and supply . Also his friendly attitude towards the aborigines was sorely tested when they killed his gamekeeper , and he was not able to assert a clear policy about them . The arrival of the Second and Third Fleets placed new pressures on the scarce local resources , but by the time Phillip sailed home in December 1792 , the colony was taking shape , with official land - grants and systematic farming and water - supply . Phillip retired in 1805 , but continued to correspond with his friends in New South Wales and to promote the colony ' s interests . Early life and naval career . Arthur Phillip was born in 1738 , the son of Jacob Phillip , a Frankfurt - born language teacher , and his English wife , Elizabeth Breach . Phillip was educated at the Greenwich Hospital School , part of Greenwich Hospital , and at the age of 13 was apprenticed to the merchant navy . He spoke a number of languages in addition to English , including French , German and Portuguese . Seven Years ' War and Spanish - Portuguese War . Phillip joined the Royal Navy at about fifteen , and saw action at the outbreak of the Seven Years ' War in the Mediterranean at the Battle of Minorca in 1756 . In 1762 he was promoted to Lieutenant , but was placed on half pay when the Seven Years ' War ended in 1763 . During this period he married , and farmed in Lyndhurst , Hampshire . In 1774 Phillip joined the Portuguese Navy as a captain , serving in the War against Spain . While with the Portuguese Navy , Phillip commanded a frigate , the " Nossa Senhora do Pilar . " On this ship he took a detachment of troops from Rio de Janeiro to Colonia do Sacramento on the Rio de la Plata ( opposite Buenos Aires ) to relieve the garrison there . This voyage also conveyed a consignment of convicts assigned to carry out work at Colonia . During a storm encountered in the course of the voyage , the convicts assisted in working the ship and , on arrival at Colonia , Phillip recommended that they be rewarded for saving the ship by remission of their sentences . A garbled version of this eventually found its way into the English press when Phillip was appointed in 1786 to lead the expedition to Sydney . Phillip played a leading part in the capture of the Spanish ship San Agustín ( 1768 ) , on 19 April 1777 , off Santa Catarina . The " San Agustin " was commissioned into the Portuguese Navy as the " Santo Agostinho " , and command of her was given to Phillip . The action was reported in the English press : Madrid , Aug . 28 . Letters from Lisbon bring the following Account from Rio Janeiro : That the St . Augustine , of 70 Guns , having being separated from the Squadron of M . Casa Tilly , was attacked by two Portugueze Ships , against which they defended themselves for a Day and a Night , but being next Day surrounded by the Portugueze Fleet , was obliged to surrender . In 1778 Britain was again at war , and Phillip was recalled to active service , and in 1779 obtained his first command , HMS " Basilisk " . He was promoted to captain in 1781 , and was given command of . In July 1782 , in a change of government , Thomas Townshend became Secretary of State for Home and American Affairs , and assumed responsibility for organising an expedition against Spanish America . Like his predecessor , Lord Germain , he turned for advice to Arthur Phillip . A letter from Phillip to Sandwich of 17 January 1781 records Phillip ' s loan to Sandwich of his charts of the Plata and Brazilian coasts for use in organising the expedition . Phillip ' s plan was for a squadron of three ships of the line and a frigate to mount a raid on Buenos Aires and Monte Video , then to proceed to the coasts of Chile , Peru and Mexico to maraud , and ultimately to cross the Pacific to join the British Navy ' s East India squadron for an attack on Manila . The expedition , consisting of the " Grafton , " 70 guns , " Elizabeth , " 74 guns , " Europe , " 64 guns , and the " Iphigenia " frigate , sailed on 16 January 1783 , under the command of Commodore Robert Kingsmill . Phillip was given command of the 64 - gun , or " Europe " . Shortly after sailing , an armistice was concluded between Great Britain and Spain . Phillip learnt of this in April when he put in for storm repairs at Rio de Janeiro . Phillip wrote to Townshend from Rio de Janeiro on 25 April 1783 , expressing his disappointment that the ending of the American War had robbed him of the opportunity for naval glory in South America . After his return to England from India in April 1784 , Phillip remained in close contact with Townshend , now Lord Sydney , and the Home Office Under Secretary , Evan Nepean . From October 1784 to September 1786 he was employed by Nepean , who was in charge of the Secret Service relating to the Bourbon Powers , France and Spain , to spy on the French naval arsenals at Toulon and other ports . There was fear that Britain would soon be at war with these powers as a consequence of the Batavian revolution in the Netherlands . At this time , Lord Sandwich , together with the President of the Royal Society , Sir Joseph Banks , was advocating establishment of a British colony in New South Wales . A colony there would be of great assistance to the British Navy in facilitating attacks on the Spanish possessions in Chile and Peru , as Banks ' s collaborators , James Matra , Captain Sir George Young and Sir John Call pointed out in written proposals on the subject . The British Government took the decision to found the Botany Bay colony in mid - 1786 . Lord Sydney , as Secretary of State for the Home Office , was the minister in charge of this undertaking , and in September 1786 he appointed Phillip commodore of the fleet which was to transport the convicts and soldiers who were to be the new settlers to Botany Bay . Upon arrival there , Phillip was to assume the powers of Captain General and Governor in Chief of the new colony . A subsidiary colony was to be founded on Norfolk Island , as recommended by Sir John Call , to take advantage for naval purposes of that island ' s native flax and timber . Phillip ' s fleet sailed from Portsmouth in May 1787 . Governor of New South Wales . In October 1786 , Phillip was appointed captain of and named Governor - designate of New South Wales , the proposed British colony on the east coast of Australia , by Lord Sydney , the Home Secretary . Phillip had a very difficult time assembling the fleet which was to make the eight - month sea voyage to Australia . Everything a new colony might need had to be taken , since Phillip had no real idea of what he might find when he got there . There were few funds available for equipping the expedition . His suggestion that people with experience in farming , building and crafts be included was rejected . Most of the 772 convicts ( of whom 732 survived the voyage ) were petty thieves from the London slums . Phillip was accompanied by a contingent of marines and a handful of other officers who were to administer the colony . The 11 ships of the First Fleet set sail on 13 May 1787 . The leading ship , reached Botany Bay setting up camp on the Kurnell Peninsula , on 18 January 1788 . Phillip soon decided that this 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 . After some exploration Phillip decided to go on to Port Jackson , and on 26 January the marines and convicts were landed at Sydney Cove , which Phillip named after Lord Sydney . Shortly after establishing the settlement at Port Jackson , on 15 February 1788 , Phillip sent Lieutenant Philip Gidley King with 8 free men and a number of convicts to establish the second British colony in the Pacific at Norfolk Island . This was partly in response to a perceived threat of losing Norfolk Island to the French and partly to establish an alternative food source for the new colony . The early days of the settlement were chaotic and difficult . With limited supplies , the cultivation of food was imperative , but the soils around Sydney were poor , the climate was unfamiliar , and moreover very few of the convicts had any knowledge of agriculture . Farming tools were scarce and the convicts were unwilling farm labourers . The colony was on the verge of outright starvation for an extended period . The marines , poorly disciplined themselves in many cases , were not interested in convict discipline . Almost at once , therefore , Phillip had to appoint overseers from among the ranks of the convicts to get the others working . This was the beginning of the process of convict emancipation which was to culminate in the reforms of Lachlan Macquarie after 1811 . Phillip showed in other ways that he recognised that New South Wales could not be run simply as a prison camp . Lord Sydney , often criticised as an ineffectual incompetent , had made one fundamental decision about the settlement that was to influence it from the start . Instead of just establishing it as a military prison , he provided for a civil administration , with courts of law . Two convicts , Henry and Susannah Kable , sought to sue Duncan Sinclair , the captain of Alexander , for stealing their possessions during the voyage . Convicts in Britain had no right to sue , and Sinclair had boasted that he could not be sued by them . Someone in Government obviously had a quiet word in Kable ' s ear , as when the court met and Sinclair challenged the prosecution on the ground that the Kables were felons , the court required him to prove it . As all the convict records had been left behind in England , he could not do so , and the court ordered the captain to make restitution . Further , soon after Lord Sydney appointed him governor of New South Wales Arthur Phillip drew up a detailed memorandum of his plans for the proposed new colony . In one paragraph he wrote : " The laws of this country [ England ] will of course , be introduced in [ New ] South Wales , and there is one that I would wish to take place from the moment his Majesty ' s forces take possession of the country : That there can be no slavery in a free land , and consequently no slaves " , and he meant what he said . Nevertheless , Phillip believed in discipline , and floggings and hangings were commonplace , although Philip commuted many death sentences . Phillip also had to adopt a policy towards the Eora Aboriginal people , who lived around the waters of Sydney Harbour . Phillip ordered that they must be well - treated , and that anyone killing Aboriginal people would be hanged . Phillip befriended an Eora man called Bennelong , and later took him to England . On the beach at Manly , a misunderstanding arose and Phillip was speared in the shoulder : but he ordered his men not to retaliate . Phillip went some way towards winning the trust of the Eora , although the settlers were at all times treated extremely warily . Soon , a virulent disease , once thought to be smallpox but now believed to be chickenpox , and other European - introduced epidemics ravaged the Eora population . The Governor ' s main problem was with his own military officers , who wanted large grants of land , which Phillip had not been authorised to grant . The officers were expected to grow food , but they considered this beneath them . As a result scurvy broke out , and in October 1788 Phillip had to send " Sirius " to Cape Town for supplies , and strict rationing was introduced , with thefts of food punished by hanging . Arthur Phillip quoted " The living conditions need to improve or my men won ' t work as hard , so I have come to a conclusion that I must hire surgeons to fix the convicts . " Stabilising the colony . Despite Phillip ' s earlier order that Aboriginal Australians must never be slain , and his insistence that no retaliation be taken to avenge his own non - fatal spearing , Phillip ' s stance toward Aboriginals changed markedly after the death of his gamekeeper , John MacIntyre . After being fatally wounded by an Aboriginal man , on his deathbed , MacIntyre confessed to a priest that he had exhibited cruelty to Aboriginals . MacIntyre , suspected of hunting more than just game , was dreaded by Bennelong and other Aborignals , and is believed to have been wounded in retribution for the Aboriginals he had killed . Nevertheless , Phillip , alarmed and outraged , made a surprising move , ordering that the Natives be made severe examples of . He ordered a party to capture six Natives the very next day , 14 December 1790 , and put them to death . Lieutenant William Dawes and colleague Watkin Tench , who were ordered to lead the revenge party , expressed disgust at the idea . Dawes and Tench had befriended the Aboriginals , and Dawes was even reported to have engaged in a relationship with an Aboriginal woman . Tench revealed in his journal that he had been given provisions for three days , ropes to bind the Aboriginal victims , and bags to collect their severed heads . However , the fleet was uncooperative . Phillip , growing frustrated with the burdens of upholding a colony and his health suffering , resigned soon after this episode . By 1790 the situation had stabilised . The population of about 2 , 000 was adequately housed and fresh food was being grown . Phillip assigned a convict , James Ruse , land at Rose Hill ( now Parramatta ) to establish proper farming , and when Ruse succeeded he received the first land grant in the colony . Other convicts followed his example . " Sirius " was wrecked in March 1790 at the satellite settlement of Norfolk Island , depriving Phillip of vital supplies . In June 1790 the Second Fleet arrived with hundreds more convicts , most of them too sick to work . By December 1790 Phillip was ready to return to England , but the colony had largely been forgotten in London and no instructions reached him , so he carried on . In 1791 he was advised that the government would send out two convoys of convicts annually , plus adequate supplies . But July , when the vessels of the Third Fleet began to arrive , with 2 , 000 more convicts , food again ran short , and he had to send a ship to Calcutta for supplies . By 1792 the colony was well established , though Sydney remained an unplanned huddle of wooden huts and tents . The whaling industry was established , ships were visiting Sydney to trade , and convicts whose sentences had expired were taking up farming . John Macarthur and other officers were importing sheep and beginning to grow wool . The colony was still very short of skilled farmers , craftsmen and tradesmen , and the convicts continued to work as little as possible , even though they were working mainly to grow their own food . In late 1792 Phillip , whose health was suffering from the poor diet , at last received permission to leave , and on 11 December 1792 he sailed in the ship " Atlantic " , taking with him many specimens of plants and animals . He also took Bennelong and his friend Yemmerrawanyea , another young Indigenous Australian who , unlike Bennelong , would succumb to English weather and disease and not live to make the journey home . The European population of New South Wales at his departure was 4 , 221 , of whom 3 , 099 were convicts . The early years of the colony had been years of struggle and hardship , but the worst was over , and there were no further famines in New South Wales . Phillip arrived in London in May 1793 . He tendered his formal resignation and was granted a pension of £500 a year . Later life . Phillip ' s wife , Margaret , had died in 1792 . In 1794 he married Isabella Whitehead , and lived for a time at Bath . His health gradually recovered and in 1796 he went back to sea , holding a series of commands and responsible posts in the wars against the French . In January 1799 he became a Rear - Admiral . In 1805 , aged 67 , he retired from the Navy with the rank of Admiral of the Blue , and spent most of the rest of his life at Bath . He continued to correspond with friends in New South Wales and to promote the colony ' s interests with government officials . He died in Bath in 1814 . Phillip was buried in St Nicholas ' s Church , Bathampton . Forgotten for many years , the grave was discovered in 1897 and the Premier of New South Wales , Sir Henry Parkes who also started federation in Australia , had it restored . An annual service of remembrance is held here around Phillip ' s birthdate by the Britain – Australia Society to commemorate his life . A monument to Phillip in Bath Abbey Church was unveiled in 1937 . Another was unveiled at St Mildred ' s Church , Bread St , London , in 1932 ; that church was destroyed in the London Blitz in 1940 , but the principal elements of the monument were re - erected in St Mary - le - Bow at the west end of Watling Street , near Saint Paul ' s Cathedral , in 1968 . There is a statue of him in the Botanic Gardens , Sydney . There is a portrait of him by Francis Wheatley in the National Portrait Gallery , London . Percival Serle wrote of Phillip in his " Dictionary of Australian Biography " : Loss of remains . In 2007 , Geoffrey Robertson QC alleged that Phillip ' s remains are no longer in St Nicholas Church , Bathampton and have been lost : " . . . Captain Arthur Phillip is not where the ledger stone says he is : it may be that he is buried somewhere outside , it may simply be that he is simply lost . But he is not where Australians have been led to believe that he now lies . " Robertson also believes it was a " disgraceful slur " on Phillip ' s legacy that he was not buried in one of England ' s great cathedrals and was relegated to a small village church . Robertson is campaigning for a rigorous search for the remains , which he believes should be re - interred in Australia . In his honour . His name is commemorated in Australia by Port Phillip , Phillip Island ( Victoria ) , Phillip Island ( Norfolk Island ) , the federal electorate of Phillip ( 1949 – 1993 ) , the suburb of Phillip in Canberra , the Governor Phillip Tower building in Sydney , and many streets , parks and schools including a state high school in Parramatta . Popular culture . 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 " . He is shown as compassionate and just , but receives little support from his fellow officers . Phillip is referred to in the singer song " Chains around my ankle " . Kate Grenville ' s 2008 novel " The Lieutenant " portrays Phillip through the character Commodore James Gilbert .