The suburb of Lapérouse is situated on the northern headland of Botany Bay. It was here that the eponymous navigator (a great french admirer of James Cook) spent many weeks as part of his exploration of the south Pacific. Commissioned by Louis XVI he arrived at Botany Bay within days of the First Fleet (1788). It’s a pretty nice spot. I believe that relations between the French and British were quite cordial at the time – they were both a long way from home!
Fraussie
December 6th, 2011 at 6:53 am
He’s hardly mentioned in the biography but I’m about to read Cook’s journals so that should give me more information. The French are very proud of Lapérouse of course. He was probably their greatest navigator.
[…] first engraving I bought (I already had Captain Cook) was a Christmas present for Relationnel soon after we moved into the Palais Royal. It’s a […]
sharon
December 14th, 2013 at 1:50 pm
It isn’t very well known but the French explored and mapped a great deal of the Western Australian coastline. Almost 200 places in Western Australia still have these French names
Rosemary Kneipp
December 14th, 2013 at 3:17 pm
Hi Sharon, I had no idea that there were so many places in WA with French names!
One of greatest french navigators is Jacques Cartier (1491-1557) who discovered Canada in 1534. The link between French and Canadians is still very strong today, as you probably know. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cartier
Amongst the most famous you can add
– Bougainville (1729-1811) mapped and established the first settlement on the Falkland Islands (1764) in what is today Port Louis (named after the king Louis XV). he also gave his name to Bougainville island (New Guinea) in 1768. The flower Bougainvillea was named after him.
– Dumont d’Urville (1790-1842) he was one of the first to spot the “Venus de Milo” and had it acquired by the French government. He visited NZ, AU, NG and collected a vast amount of plant, did a lot of mapping. He also went to the Antartic.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Dumont_d%27Urville.
There are many others but these 4 (including La Perouse) are probably the most famous…
[…] back in the evening and conjure up childhood memories of sitting under the stars on canvas seats at Magnetic Island in North Queensland, particularly with all the tropical trees around […]
[…] I go and find some coloured cardboard, sticky tape, scissors, pen and a ruler. He looks on amazed as I proceed to rule lines and cut out pieces of cardboard. Well, I can see this isn’t your first scale model, he says. It is actually the first one that I’ve made myself but I loved making models when I was a child. Dad once bought Buckingham Palace for me and my sister and we spent hours putting it together on Magnetic Island. […]
Simon Hitch
September 30th, 2019 at 12:51 am
My interest is in the influence the French Revolution had on the fledgling penal settlement at New South Wales.
King George III was experiencing health problems at the same time as Phillip was experiencing insubordination from his marines at the new colony.
“Phillips relationship with the marines was often poisonous but it later became farcical when he instituted a night watch of twelve worthy convicts to prevent robberies from the public stores and vegetable gardens.”[1]
In 1792 Phillip returned to England and Major Grose assumed command reversing many of Phillip’s policies[2]. It was the beginning of a military coup by stealth which came to a head with the 1808 rum rebellion and the deposing of Governor Bligh.
I suspect that the coincidence of George’s illness with the pressures of a simultaneous French revolution distracted attention away from developing complications at the penal colony thereby contributing to the ongoing rebellious culture within the military.
It is challenging to think that the ‘bad press’ suffered by the convicts over the years really belonged with the insubordinate military and their culture of corruption.
The suburb of Lapérouse is situated on the northern headland of Botany Bay. It was here that the eponymous navigator (a great french admirer of James Cook) spent many weeks as part of his exploration of the south Pacific. Commissioned by Louis XVI he arrived at Botany Bay within days of the First Fleet (1788). It’s a pretty nice spot. I believe that relations between the French and British were quite cordial at the time – they were both a long way from home!
He’s hardly mentioned in the biography but I’m about to read Cook’s journals so that should give me more information. The French are very proud of Lapérouse of course. He was probably their greatest navigator.
Very interesting, thanks for this!
[…] first engraving I bought (I already had Captain Cook) was a Christmas present for Relationnel soon after we moved into the Palais Royal. It’s a […]
It isn’t very well known but the French explored and mapped a great deal of the Western Australian coastline. Almost 200 places in Western Australia still have these French names
Hi Sharon, I had no idea that there were so many places in WA with French names!
One of greatest french navigators is Jacques Cartier (1491-1557) who discovered Canada in 1534. The link between French and Canadians is still very strong today, as you probably know.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cartier
Amongst the most famous you can add
– Bougainville (1729-1811) mapped and established the first settlement on the Falkland Islands (1764) in what is today Port Louis (named after the king Louis XV). he also gave his name to Bougainville island (New Guinea) in 1768. The flower Bougainvillea was named after him.
– Dumont d’Urville (1790-1842) he was one of the first to spot the “Venus de Milo” and had it acquired by the French government. He visited NZ, AU, NG and collected a vast amount of plant, did a lot of mapping. He also went to the Antartic..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Dumont_d%27Urville.
There are many others but these 4 (including La Perouse) are probably the most famous…
[…] back in the evening and conjure up childhood memories of sitting under the stars on canvas seats at Magnetic Island in North Queensland, particularly with all the tropical trees around […]
i am reading capt. James Cooks journals
i hope you enjoy them!
[…] I go and find some coloured cardboard, sticky tape, scissors, pen and a ruler. He looks on amazed as I proceed to rule lines and cut out pieces of cardboard. Well, I can see this isn’t your first scale model, he says. It is actually the first one that I’ve made myself but I loved making models when I was a child. Dad once bought Buckingham Palace for me and my sister and we spent hours putting it together on Magnetic Island. […]
My interest is in the influence the French Revolution had on the fledgling penal settlement at New South Wales.
King George III was experiencing health problems at the same time as Phillip was experiencing insubordination from his marines at the new colony.
“Phillips relationship with the marines was often poisonous but it later became farcical when he instituted a night watch of twelve worthy convicts to prevent robberies from the public stores and vegetable gardens.”[1]
In 1792 Phillip returned to England and Major Grose assumed command reversing many of Phillip’s policies[2]. It was the beginning of a military coup by stealth which came to a head with the 1808 rum rebellion and the deposing of Governor Bligh.
I suspect that the coincidence of George’s illness with the pressures of a simultaneous French revolution distracted attention away from developing complications at the penal colony thereby contributing to the ongoing rebellious culture within the military.
It is challenging to think that the ‘bad press’ suffered by the convicts over the years really belonged with the insubordinate military and their culture of corruption.
1. Pembroke, M. ‘Arthur Phillip, Sailor, Mmercenary, Governor, Spy’ p199
2. wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_Corps