Introduction

In 1787, when only 17 years old, George Raper joined the crew of HMS Sirius.

As the flagship of the First Fleet, HMS Sirius would lead a voyage that would change Australia forever. Taken on board as one of the young gentlemen, George Raper was promoted to midshipman during a voyage that would see him circumnavigate the globe in a race against starvation, experience shipwreck on Norfolk Island, face court-martial for the loss of His Majesty's ship and live to see home and family once more.

On board HMS Sirius Raper learnt astronomy, navigation, cartography and topographical drawing from Captain John Hunter and Lieutenant William Bradley. He was an apt student creating an impressive and historically significant record of his voyage to Australia in a series of maps, drawings and manuscripts.

Over time his personal record of this journey was broken up and purchased by private collectors, who have subsequently sold or lent them to the British Museum, the Mitchell Library at the State Library of New South Wales and the Alexander Turnbull Library at the National Library of New Zealand. However, for more than two hundred years, a separate collection of his work from the voyage was treasured by his descendants.

This collection was one of the last of important First Fleet material remaining in private hands and has now been acquired by the National Library of Australia.

Items in this collection provide wonderful insights into the life and work required of eighteenth-century midshipmen in the British Navy. Apart from their intrinsic value as an original record of hydrographic survey during the voyage of the First Fleet, the collection as a whole demonstrates the practical skills required by naval officers to master the theory of navigation. The collection brings together excellent examples of three types of documents of vital importance for sailors—coastal profiles, maps and navigation calculations.

The collection complements other works by First Fleet artists held by the National Library and contributes to the range and depth of early records of the European settlement of Australia.

The National Library has undertaken the digitisation of the George Raper Collection, the first collection of First Fleet material to be made widely available to the public.