Australian History : The Beginning Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. When did the First Fleet arrive in Australia?

Answer: January 1788

The fleet departed from Portsmouth England on Sunday 13th May 1787. They restocked at Santa Cruz on 3rd June 1787 and after 8 weeks sailing, reached Rio de Janerio on 6th of August. The final port of call before reaching their destination was the Cape of Good Hope on 14th of October.

They stayed here until 12th November, stocking the ship in preparation for the 8 week journey to Australia. The First Fleet arrived in Australia in January 1788.

2. How many ships were in the First Fleet?

Answer: 11

The first fleet was made up of 11 ships with around 1,350 people in all.

3. What was the name of the site where the First Fleet initially landed, and that was deemed unsuitable by Captain Phillip?

Answer: Botany Bay

On arrival at Botany Bay on 18 January 1788, Captain Phillip decided the site was not suitable and resolved to look for another.

4. What site did Captain Phillip decide on?

Answer: Port Jackson

Captain Phillip decided upon Port Jackson, the site of modern day Sydney, as it offered clean drinking water and suitable conditions for establishing a base for settlement. And so, the people of the First Fleet established Australia's first settlement on 26 January 1788.

5. In what year did the Second Fleet arrive?

Answer: 1790

The convicts aboard the First Fleet were not equipped to deal with Australian conditions. Little was known of the realities of living in this strange place. When Captain Cook had made his initial assessment of the suitability of Australia for a colony it was winter and rainfall had been plentiful.

When the First Fleet arrived, it was summer and the country was in a period of drought. Food supplies quickly became depleted and by the time the Second Fleet arrived, the colony was quite desperate.

6. By what name did the Second Fleet come to be known?

Answer: Death Fleet

While the Second fleet did provide badly needed supplies for the fledgling colony, it was the high death rate on board that drew the most attention. Forty eight people had died on the voyage of the First Fleet, there were 278 dead on the Second Fleet voyage.

The captain cared little for his passengers and crew, sickness and disease were so rife that most of those who survived were barely able to walk.

7. Is it true that convicts were transported to Australia for as little as stealing someone's letters?

Answer: Yes

One of the crimes punishable by transportation was the theft of another person's letters. Convicts could also be transported for stealing fish from a pond or river, bigamy or assault, cutting or burning clothes.

8. Exploration of the country to the west of Sydney Cove resulted in the establishment of a settlement at ___________?

Answer: Parramatta

When exploration began to spread out, the land surrounding the Parramatta River was deemed to be suitable for the next colony. A settlement was developed and called Rose Hill. Penrith, Camden and Windsor came much later.

9. The policy that was applied to Australia that enabled British settlement was 'Terra Nullius'.

Answer: True

'Terra Nullius' means 'empty land'. The British deemed Australia 'Terra Nullius', enabling them to settle. If they had acknowledged Australia as an occupied land they would have had to either settled elsewhere, negotiated with the indigenous peoples or declared war on them.

10. In what year did Britain actually claim ALL of Australia?

Answer: 1827

Britain did not officially claim the entire Australian continent until 1827.

Source: Author alc05

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

A pretty simple quiz on the initial phase of white settlement.

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