When the First Fleet sailed into what is now Sydney Cove, it was typical
coastal bushland and not nearly as grand as it it looks now. On 26 January 1788 a
fleet of 11 ships anchored in the above cove adjacent to what is now the Sydney
Opera House. This area was selected
because the original destination of Botany Bay just down the coast had proved
unsuitable, mainly for lack of fresh water.
My GGGGrandfather William Hubbard was a convict on board the Scarborough and
the little harbour ferry seen in the centre of the photo is also named Scarborough.
All the Sydney ferries of this type are named after First Fleet vessels. William Hubbard had been convicted of theft in London and was originally set for transportation to the United States but the American War of Independence had intervened by then and convicts had to be sent to another penal settlement. William was a plasterer by trade and must have shown some reliability or contrition as he was soon selected by Governor Phillip to be part of the Night Watch. This body was set up to assist the military in keeping order in the new settlement and was in effect, Australia's first police force.
One of the problems facing the new settlement was the lack of females and Governor Phillip and others considered it essential that more women be brought to the colony to encourage the male convicts to marry and settle down from their riotous ways. On 6 June 1790 the Lady Juliana dropped anchor in Sydney Cove, the first vessel of the Second Fleet to reach Sydney Cove. On board were 222 female convicts and their children and among them was Mary Atkinson, also known as Mary Goulding, who had been transported for theft.
Within six months William Hubbard and Mary Goulding were married. On 19 December 1790 at Rose Hill in Sydney they were married by Rev. Richard Johnson, the colony's first chaplain.
Some readers may be aware that the Lady Juliana has been described in recent studies as a floating brothel owing to the large number of London prostitutes on board and also because of the behaviour of the women on the long voyage. They entertained men at each port they visited as well as becoming "wives" to the seamen manning the vessel. Even if William had known Mary Goulding from the day of her landing in June to their marriage in December 1790, he could not have been the father of her first child who I believe was born in December as well. See also Hubbard First Fleet Society