
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 sailorscoastal 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.
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