Plans for a colony

“We pay our respects and dedicate the Unsettled exhibition to the people and other Beings who keep the law of this land; to the Elders and Traditional Owners of all the knowledges, places, and stories in this exhibition; and to the Ancestors and Old People for their resilience and guidance.

We advise that there are some confronting topics addressed in this exhibition, including massacres and genocide. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be advised that there may be images of people who have passed away.”

Laura McBride and Dr Mariko Smith, 2021.

In the Australian public memory, James Cook is synonymous with discovery and is regarded as one of Australia’s founding fathers. But in reality, he was long deceased by the time decisions were made to establish a colony in Australia, and he had nothing to do with the First Fleet.

It was influential people in British society who persuaded their government to establish a colony in New South Wales, specifically Sir Joseph Banks and James Mario (Maria) Matra, both of whom were on the HMB Endeavour in 1770. Their proposals included opinions about First Nations peoples and the landscape which were inaccurate and misleading. Their opinions were designed to serve their personal interests and career advancements.

This section of the Unsettled exhibition is presented entirely from the British perspective, including the words of key people involved in the planning of a New South Wales colony. It gives some insight into how ideas were communicated by individuals to the government of the day, for example through letters written to politicians, proposals being put up as agenda items for consideration in Cabinet meetings, and formal testimonies given to parliamentary committees. This can be described as forms of lobbying.

In the physical exhibition space, the Unsettled designers and prep team made a desk with chairs which would not look out of place in the hallowed halls of British Parliament, upon which the historical documents on loan from the State Library of New South Wales were put on display. This scene was intended to look random and feel out of place and context among the other exhibition objects and sections, to highlight how the decision to colonise these lands was made far away by strangers and because of reasons which were ultimately out of the control of First Nations peoples.

According to market research commissioned by the Federal Government for the 2020 Cook Anniversary, 47% of Australians incorrectly think that Cook and the Endeavour arrived with the First Fleet in 1788.^[1]

Colonial America had been a destination for British convicts for many years. Following American independence and the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), this was no longer an option and the British Government scrambled to find alternative convict transportation sites to ease its over-populated prison system. In 1779, the year of Cook’s death, the House of Commons established a parliamentary committee on convicts chaired by Sir Charles Bunbury to consider options.

Sir Joseph Banks, the aristocratic botanist on the Endeavour, recommended Botany Bay in his testimony to the committee on 10 April 1779. He embellished details on the quality of the soil, in contrast to his 1770 notes.^[2]

James Matra proposed to the British Government establishing a settlement in New South Wales. In 1783 he wrote down the details of his proposal.^[4] He and his family had become Loyalist refugees due to Great Britain losing the American Revolutionary War. He saw an opportunity to campaign for new estates and influence. Not many people are aware that the politics happening in America was connected to the foundations of Australia.

Matra, along with Sir Joseph Banks, were the two most influential architects of the planning for a New South Wales colony. Whilst Lieutenant James Cook has many places named in his honour, James Matra by comparison has little named after him in Australia besides Matraville in New South Wales.

Listen to an excerpt of James Mario Matra's proposal, as read by actor Charles Mayer

James Matra’s initial proposal in 1783 to the British Home Secretary, Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, prompted feedback that his plan should also include a solution for the growing convict problem in Great Britain. Matra, ambitious for an influential position in the prospective new colony, revised his proposal accordingly.

This meeting agenda note for the Cabinet of Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, as prepared by Sir Evan Nepean, shows how Matra amended his plan. Nepean was Under-Secretary of the Home Department in charge of administrating Colonial Affairs.