Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L01891:body:0:p21
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land.

3.3.3. First (Colonial) Settlement 1788-1814

Arthur Phillip's instructions were that Norfolk Island was to be settled and secured as soon as possible
after landing at Botany Bay. The HMS Supply, with Lieutenant Philip Gidley King, arrived on the Island on
2 March 1788 with four military officers, four civil officers, nine male convicts and six female convicts. The
settlement site had fresh water, flat ground and a landing place formed by a rocky projection from the
shoreline.

During the initial months, thick undergrowth near the shore was cleared, shelters and storehouses
constructed, and areas cleared for cultivation and livestock. Work on a timber house for King began on 9
April 1788. By the end of the year, the town on Sydney Bay (as King named it) had a number of thatched
and weatherboard buildings. In 1789 channels were cut to drain the swamp. By 1790 cultivated areas
stretched along Arthur's Vale (Watermill Valley) to Cemetery Bay. The foreshore was cleared, new
buildings had been built in the town, and a barn was constructed in the vale. There were crop failures from
grub, rat and bird attacks, and setbacks due to gales.

Kingston and Arthur's Vale Historic Area—Heritage Management Plan, April 2016

Authorised Version F2016L01891 registered 09/12/2016

Jean Rice Architect | CONTEXT | GML Heritage

The colony's only links to the outside world were HMS Sirius and HMS Supply. On 19 March 1790, the
HMS Sirius was wrecked on the reef. Crew and passengers were forced to remain while King left on the
HMS Supply. Major Ross of the Royal Marines took command and proclaimed martial law. The settlers
survived on sparse rations and by eating ground nesting birds and their eggs, including the so-called
'Providence Petrel'. Under Ross, a hospital, bakehouse, storehouse and a ditch for conveying clean water
to the town were built. When King returned in 1791, a log gaol and penitentiary were constructed and lime
burning commenced. King attempted to regularise the layout by pulling down huts not in alignment. A new
Government House with a stone foundation was built near the first. The population reached a maximum of
1156 in 1792. By 1793, the settlement (then called Sydney) had four main streets and roads leading to
other parts of the Island. It had a school, a theatre and some stone buildings. During 1795, the convict
Nathaniel Lucas constructed a dam and watermill in Arthur's Vale and a windmill for himself at the end of
Point Hunter. William Neate Chapman's 1796 Plan of the Town of Sydney shows the settlement. In
October 1796, King left Norfolk Island in the command of officers of the New South Wales Corps. They
reduced public works and expanded private trade,