Australia Day

 Today is Australia Day. It was on this day in 1788 that a fleet of 11 British ships landed on the coast of New South Wales and claimed the land for Britain, to establish a penal colony for its convicts. The British felt that criminals were inherently bad people and could never rejoin proper society, but prisons were too expensive to maintain, so shipping them off was a good alternative. Now that America had rebelled and broken off from Britain, they couldn't ship their convicts over there, so they looked for new territory, and settled on Australia. The British fleet was led by Captain Arthur Phillip, who became the first governor of the colony. In addition to Phillip and government employees, the British fleet contained 759 convicts — 568 were men and 191 were women. Most had been arrested for minor crimes, including a 70-year-old woman who had stolen a piece of cheese.

Eventually, some of the convicts were pardoned, and it was these ex-convicts or the children of convicts who began celebrating every January 26th with an annual feast, full of drinking and revelry. In 1817, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser described a typical gathering: "The party assembled were select, and about 40 in number. At 5 in the afternoon dinner was on the table, and a more agreeable entertainment could not have been anticipated. After dinner a number of loyal toasts were drank, and a number of festive songs given; and about 10 the company parted, well gratified with the pleasures that the meeting had afforded."

Writer's Almanac