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Settlement on Norfolk Island

George Raper (c.1768—1797)
Principal Settlement on Norfolk Island 1790
watercolour; 23.8 x 33.8 cm
R247

1790
January
Famine threatens the colony

15 The Bounty and a number of mutineers and Tahitians settle on Pitcairn Island

February
28
A convict, John Irving, is the first to be emancipated in New South Wales

March
Following the transportation of convicts to Norfolk Island, HMS Sirius is wrecked off the Island (19 March)

April
1
Rations are further reduced at Sydney Cove

17 HMS Supply sails to Batavia for supplies

June
20-28
The Second Fleet arrive with further rations, convicts (759, including 486 sick) and the first detatchment of the NSW Corps

May
3
Bennelong escapes

July
A census is taken finding the population of NSW to be 1,715 and Norfolk Island 524

September
7
Governor Phillip is speared whilst attempting to speak with Bennelong and Colbee

October
18
HMS Supply returns from Batavia with a small cargo of supplies

November
A brick hut is built for Bennelong on the eastern point of Sydney Cove

Other
The Port Jackson painter produces drawings and watercolours of the settlement and its people, particularly the Aboriginal population of the area and their material culture