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First Fleet

British  

noun

  1. the fleet of convict ships that arrived at Port Jackson in 1788

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Cook charted Australia's east coast in 1770, laying the groundwork for the later decision to send the First Fleet, which was led by Captain Arthur Phillip.

From BBC Jan. 23, 2025

In 1788, the so-called First Fleet of 11 ships, with hundreds of convicts aboard, arrived in Australia to establish a British colony.

From Seattle Times Feb. 2, 2022

Coal mining in the Hunter Valley began with convicts, just a few years after the First Fleet landed in 1788.

From Washington Post Nov. 11, 2021

Aborigines inhabited Australia more than 50,000 years before the First Fleet sailed into Botany Bay near Sydney in 1788 after the country had been declared ‘terra nullius’, or unoccupied.

From Reuters Apr. 4, 2018

We do not know the name of the vessel in which the first Thomas and his Maria came out to Australia, but we suppose that it was one of the ships of the First Fleet.

From On the Track by Lawson, Henry

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