Published: 4 December 2018
Last updated: 4 March 2024
TWO HUNDRED AND thirty years ago a small wooden flotilla sailed into Sydney Cove. This First Fleet of 1788 consisted of two warships and three store vessels which contained sheep, cattle and horses plus enough provisions for two years. Its most important cargo was contained in six transportation ships — 789 convicts from Britain accompanied by four companies of marines.
Amongst them were 14 Jews plus a toddler — these bewildered and bedraggled prisoners constituted the founding fathers and mothers of the Jewish presence in Australia.
The voyage had taken eight months with stops at Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town. This new land was known to the Dutch and the French, but taking possession of a new colony in the name of George III replaced the loss of the American colonies some five years previously.
FULL STORY Australia's first Jews: Thieves who became heroes (Jewish Chronicle)
Image: Arrival of the First Fleet (Frank Allen/ABC)
