The First Fleet

Elizabeth Hayward was the youngest female convict to arrive in New South Wales with the First Fleet on board the Lady Penryhn. She was 14 years old at the time.

To listen to a story based on Elizabeth Hayward go here.

Use the First Fleet convict register to discover what other children were on board with Elizabeth Hayward.

• How do you think these children may have been feeling when they saw the strange land in front of them?

• Do you think these children would rather have stayed in England?

• What would it be like to have to leave your family and friends behind?

• What would it be like to travel to a strange country with a boat full of strangers?

Use the narrative planner to write your own story based on one of the children from the First Fleet convict register.

Things you might include are:

• What crime did you commit that got you sent to Australia (many crimes were very petty such as stealing a loaf of bread often when you were starving!)

• Did you actually commit the crime or did you get blamed for something someone else did?

• What was it like to be on the ship? Were you scared, nervous? Did you know anyone?

• What happened when you reached Australia? What job did you have to do? Did you have to work hard? Were you working for kind people or did they treat you badly?

Listen to the Australian folk song (We're bound for) Botany Bay which was written as part of a stage show in 1854. The plot of the song describes the period during the 18th and 19th Century, when even a small crime would get you a sentence for up to seven years. The first verse of the song explains how being sent to Australia was an alternative to prison in Britain. The second verse describes the convict ships and the final verse warns English boys and girls (referred as Dookies and Duchesses) not to steal or they might end up in Botany Bay.

Bush instruments were often created using whatever materials people could find which varied from town to town. The instruments had to be hardy and portable so they could be carried around with them. Discover some of those instruments here.

Can you design and build your own instrument without BUYING anything?