*Free+settlers

Early Settlers It was a struggle for the settlers to survive in the first years of the British colony in Australia. They had come from a developed country with buildings, roads, shops and hospitals and arrived in a country that was entirely unfamiliar to them. Not only did they have to contend with strange plants and animals but the soil was also very poor and the climate much warmer and drier. The early settlers were also wary of the Indigenous peoples. The colony almost failed in the early years, as the harvests failed, but gradually the colony began to expand.

 Free settlers
 In the early years of the colony, very few settlers came to Australia. Free settlers had to fund their own transport and were usually quite wealthy. The few who made the journey to Australia did so mostly to make their fortune. They were often given large land grants and convicts to work for them. Some free settlers were not farmers, but doctors and military officers looking for a better way of life in Australia. Even with land grants and convict labour, the life of a free settler was often very harsh. Farmers and pastoralists in particular had to endure droughts and floods, as well as resistance from the Indigenous peoples. Their shelters were often very basic to begin with and food was scarce until the crops could be harvested. Few farms succeeded in the early years of the colony. It was not until the 1820s and 1830s, when New South Wales was settled further inland, that farmers began to flourish.



** Select an article on this page. **

** [| 1: Introduction:] **

** [| 2: First European settlers at Sydney Cove in 1788] **

** [| 3: Extract from the Journals of Watkin Tench 1788.] **

** [| 4: A wattle and daub house] **