User:Euryalus/marines

New South Wales Marine Corps
New South Wales Marine Corps
	The uniform of the British Marines. Engraving by Joseph Stadler, 1815.
Active	1786-1791
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Her Majesty's Naval Service
Type	Marine Infantry
Size	One 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[edit]

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[edit]

Name	Born	NSW Marine Corps Service	NSW Rank	NSW Duties	Subsequent service	Death
Robert Ross	1740	October 1786 — November 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, 1792 — 1794	1794 of natural causes, Brompton, England
James Campbell	c.1740	May 1787 — December 1791	Captain	Company Commander	Promoted to Major of Marines, 1794	1795
John Shea	c.1755	December 1786 — February 1789	Captain	Company Commander	None	1789 of tuberculosis, Port Jackson, NSW
James Meredith	1753	May 1787 — December 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 1786 — December 1791	Captain-lieutenant	Company Commander	Promoted to Major of Marines, 1792 French prisoner-of-war, 1801—1802 Promoted Major-general 1816 Commandant, Plymouth Division, 1819 — 1827	1833 of natural causes, Devonport England
George Johnston	1764	November 1786 — June 1791	First Lieutenant	Promoted to captain-lieutenant, 1789 Aide-de-camp to Governor Arthur Phillip, 1788—1791	Transferred to New South Wales Corps, 1791 Promoted to brevet Major, 1800 Ringleader of Rum Rebellion, 1808 Cashiered, 1811	1823 of natural causes, Lake Illawarra, NSW
John Creswell	unknown	May 1787 — December 1791	Second Lieutenant	—	Promoted to captain, 1792 Injured in action, Battle of the Nile, 1798 Promoted to Major, 1802	1804
Thomas Davey	unknown	November 1786 — December 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 1786 — December 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 1787 — July 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 1787 — December 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 1786 — December 1791	First Lieutenant	—	Promoted to captain, 1794 Last listed as a Marines officer in 1814	unknown
John Johnson	unknown	November 1786 — December 1791	First Lieutenant	—	Promoted several times, ultimately to Lieutenant-Colonel	unknown
William Faddy	unknown	December 1786 — December 1791	Second Lieutenant	—	Promoted to captain-lieutenant, 1797	1798, killed in action aboard HMS Vanguard, Egypt
John Long	unknown	December 1786 — December 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 1786 — June 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 1786 — December 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 1786 — December 1791	Second Lieutenant	Superintendent of Works, Norfolk Island, 1790—1791	Served in West Indies aboard HMS Tartar, 1793—1794	1794, killed in action, Haiti
William Dawes	1762	1787 — December 1791	Second Lieutenant	Artillery Officer, NSW Marine Corps, 1787—1791	Governor of Sierra Leone, 1792, 1795—96 Mathematics master, Christ's Hospital School, 1799—1800	1836, Antigua
Alexander Ross	unknown	July 1788 — December 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[edit]

Citations

^ Correspondence from Lord Sydney to the Lords Commissioners of Treasury, 18 August 1786. Cited in Britton 1978, p. 14
^ Moore 1989, p. 16
^ Moore 1989, p. 25
^ Marine Order, 28 December 1784, Royal Marine Records. Cited in Moore 1989, pp. 15-16
^ ^a ^b ^c First Fleet Fellowship - Marines,[1] - accessed 1 July 2015.
^ Moore 1989, p. 27
^ ^a ^b Moore 1989, p. 41
^ ^a ^b Moore 1989, p.8
^ Moore 1989, pp. 22-23
^ "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.

[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

[FFFM-5] First Fleet Fellowship - Marines,[1] - accessed 1 July 2015.

[6] Moore 1989, p. 27

[Moore41-7] Moore 1989, p. 41

[Moore8-8] Moore 1989, p.8

[9] Moore 1989, pp. 22-23

[regts-10] "102nd Regiment of Foot". Regiments.org (archived version). Archived from the original on 13 January 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2013.

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