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New South Wales Marine Corps
The uniform of the British Marines. Engraving by Joseph Stadler, 1815.
Active1786-1791
CountryUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
BranchHer Majesty's Naval Service
TypeMarine Infantry
SizeOne battalion
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Major Robert Ross 1786-1791

The Officers of the New South Wales Marine Corps (1786-1791) were commanders of the first European military force to be stationed on the continent of Australia.

The New South Wales Marines were established in 1786 to guard convicts aboard the First Fleet to Botany Bay, and to preserve "subordination and regularity" in the settlement of New South Wales.[1]

Officers were chosen from among British Marine volunteers. Enlistment requirements mandated that they were at least five and a half feet tall,[2] with previous satisfactory service in the Marines[3] and having the appearance of being " the stoutest, fittest and healthiest [of] men."[4]


Establishment

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In 1788 four companies of marines, numbering some 213 men, under Major Robert Ross, accompanied the First Fleet to the penal colony of Botany Bay.[5] The Board of Ordnance had provided one thousand carbines and ten thousand musket flints for Marine use in New South Wales,[6] but due to an oversight in provisioning, the Fleet left Portsmouth without any substantial supply of ammunition.[7] The error was kept a secret from the convicts in order to avoid an uprising, and was addressed via resupply when the fleet made port in Rio de Janeiro midway through the voyage.[7]

Volunteers for the NSW Marine Corps, many drawn from the ranks of the British Marines, were required to be at least 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m)* tall and under forty years of age. Recruits were offered an initial two-guinea inducement to volunteer for the Corps.[5]

A key inducement was that although British Marine enlistment was traditionally for life, members of the New South Wales Marine Corps could seek an honourable discharge after three years of colonial service.[8] With an eye to the likelihood of delays in setting out, the three-year term would commence on arrival of the Fleet in New South Wales, rather than the dates of Marine enlistment in England.[9] Marines who chose this option had no automatic right of return to military service after discharge, but in practice few were refused re-entry when their service expired in 1791.

Rates of pay were in accordance with those of the British Marines, including routine provision of a subsistence allowance equivalent to two-thirds of daily pay. British Marines received the allowance when in the field (i.e., not serving on board a vessel); the NSW Marines received the allowance for the duration of their three-year enlistment, relieving the Admiralty or the government of the colony of the responsibility of providing messing facilities.[8]

New South Wales Marine Corps uniforms consisted of a red long-tailed doublet, white trousers, black headdress, and shoes and gaiters. Officers were authorized to carry swords and sidearms; other ranks were issued Brown Bess muskets.[5]

In 1789 the British government established the New South Wales Corps as a permanent regiment to relieve the New South Wales Marine Corps.[10] The fourth company, under Captain George Johnston, of this regiment consisted of those members of the New South Wales Marine Corps wishing to remain in NSW.

List of officers

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Name Born NSW Marine Corps Service NSW Rank NSW Duties Subsequent service Death
Robert Ross
1740
October 1786November 1792
brevet Major
  • Commander, New South Wales Marines
  • Lieutenant Governor, Colony of New South Wales
  • Brevet rank not confirmed, and relegated to captain-lieutenant, Chatham Division
  • Marine Recruiting Officer, St Albans and Ipswich, 17921794
1794 of natural causes, Brompton, England
James Campbell
c.1740
May 1787December 1791
Captain
  • Company Commander
  • Promoted to Major of Marines, 1794
1795
John Shea
c.1755
December 1786February 1789
Captain
  • Company Commander
  • None
1789 of tuberculosis, Port Jackson, NSW
James Meredith
1753
May 1787December 1791
Captain-lieutenant
  • Company Commander
  • Promoted to Major-general of Marines, 1811
  • Promoted to Lieutenant-general, 1821
  • Promoted to General, 1838
1841 of natural causes, Monmouth England
Watkin Tench
1758
December 1786December 1791
Captain-lieutenant
  • Company Commander
  • Promoted to Major of Marines, 1792
  • French prisoner-of-war, 18011802
  • Promoted Major-general 1816
  • Commandant, Plymouth Division, 18191827
1833 of natural causes, Devonport England
George Johnston
1764
November 1786June 1791
First Lieutenant
  • Promoted to captain-lieutenant, 1789
  • Aide-de-camp to Governor Arthur Phillip, 1788—1791
1823 of natural causes, Lake Illawarra, NSW
John Creswell
unknown
May 1787December 1791
Second Lieutenant
  • Promoted to captain, 1792
  • Injured in action, Battle of the Nile, 1798
  • Promoted to Major, 1802
1804
Thomas Davey
unknown
November 1786December 1791
First Lieutenant
  • Promoted to captain, 1795
  • Promoted to brevet Major, 1808
  • Appointed Lieutenant Governor of Tasmania, 1812
1823 of natural causes, London England
James Furzer
unknown
December 1786December 1791
First Lieutenant
  • Quartermaster, NSW Marine Corps
  • Not promoted on return to England
  • Served aboard HMS Carnatic, 1794—1795
1799, West Indies
James Maxwell
unknown
May 1787July 1788
First Lieutenant
  • Incapacitated by dysentery and an unspecified eye disease on arrival in NSW
  • Invalided to England, 1788
  • None
1792 of disease, Plymouth England
Robert Kellow
unknown
May 1787December 1791
First Lieutenant
  • Transferred to Norfolk Island, March 1790
  • Suspended on charges of improper conduct and endangering a fellow officer, July 1790
  • Reinstated after apology for misconduct, October 1791
  • Not promoted on return to England
  • Last listed as a Marines officer in 1815
unknown
John Poulden
unknown
December 1786December 1791
First Lieutenant
  • Promoted to captain, 1794
  • Last listed as a Marines officer in 1814
unknown
John Johnson
unknown
November 1786December 1791
First Lieutenant
  • Promoted several times, ultimately to Lieutenant-Colonel
unknown
William Faddy
unknown
December 1786December 1791
Second Lieutenant
  • Promoted to captain-lieutenant, 1797
1798, killed in action aboard HMS Vanguard, Egypt
John Long
unknown
December 1786December 1791
Second Lieutenant
Adjutant, NSW Marine Corps 1786—1791
  • Promoted to brevet Major, 1808
  • Transferred to British Army and promoted to lieutenant colonel, 1814
  • Last listed as an Army officer in 1825
unknown
Thomas Timins
unknown
December 1786June 1792
Second Lieutenant
  • Promoted to captain-lieutenant, 1795
  • Promoted to captain, 1796
  • Served aboard HMS Dreadnought, Battle of Trafalgar, 1805
  • Promoted to major, 1810
  • Promoted to lieutenant colonel, 1823
1828 of natural causes, Southsea England
James Shairp
unknown
December 1786December 1791
First Lieutenant
  • Named second-in-command to Captain Campbell at Rose Hill, 1788
  • Promoted to captain, 1795
1796 of disease, Chatham England
Ralph Clark
1755
December 1786December 1791
Second Lieutenant
  • Superintendent of Works, Norfolk Island, 1790—1791
1794, killed in action, Haiti
William Dawes
1762
1787December 1791
Second Lieutenant
  • Artillery Officer, NSW Marine Corps, 1787—1791
1836, Antigua
Alexander Ross
unknown
July 1788December 1791
Second Lieutenant (local rank)
  • Son of Major Robert Ross, appointed Second Lieutenant on departure of James Maxwell, 1788
  • Second Lieutenant's rank formalised, 1792
  • Appointed Adjutant, Plymouth Marines, 1799
1801, Brentford England

Citations and references

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Citations
  1. ^ Correspondence from Lord Sydney to the Lords Commissioners of Treasury, 18 August 1786. Cited in Britton 1978, p. 14
  2. ^ Moore 1989, p. 16
  3. ^ Moore 1989, p. 25
  4. ^ Marine Order, 28 December 1784, Royal Marine Records. Cited in Moore 1989, pp. 15-16
  5. ^ a b c First Fleet Fellowship - Marines,[1] - accessed 1 July 2015.
  6. ^ Moore 1989, p. 27
  7. ^ a b Moore 1989, p. 41
  8. ^ a b Moore 1989, p.8
  9. ^ Moore 1989, pp. 22-23
  10. ^ "102nd Regiment of Foot". Regiments.org (archived version). Archived from the original on 13 January 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
References
  • Britton, Alex R., ed. (1978). Historical records of New South Wales. Vol. 1, part 2. Phillip, 1783-1792. Lansdown Slattery & Co. p. 56. OCLC 219911274. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
  • Moore, John (1989). The First Fleet Marines. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 0702220655.