Botany Bay

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Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. Two runways of Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport extend in to the bay. Botany Bay was the site of James Cook's first landing of HMS Endeavour on the continent of Australia, after his extensive navigation of New Zealand. Later the British planned Botany Bay as the site for a penal colony. Out of these plans came the first European habitation of Australia at Sydney Cove.

James Cook's visit

Cook's landing marked the beginning of Britain's interest in Australia and in the eventual colonisation of this new Southern continent (Captain Cook's map of Botany Bay).

Initially the name Stingray Bay was used by Cook and other journal keepers on his expedition, for the stingrays they caught. That name was recorded on an Admiralty chart too. Cook's log for 6 May 1770 records "The great quantity of these sort of fish found in this place occasioned my giving it the name of Stingrays Harbour". However, in his journal (prepared later from his log), he changed to "The great quantity of plants Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander found in this place occasioned my giving it the Name of Botany Bay".

First Fleet arrives

Captain Arthur Phillip led the First Fleet into the bay on 18 January 1788 to found a penal colony there. Finding that the sandy infertile soil of the site in fact rendered it most unsuitable for settlement, Phillip decided instead to move to the excellent natural harbor of Port Jackson to the north. On 26 January, while still anchored in the bay, the British encountered the French exploratory expedition of Jean-François de La Pérouse. Panicked by the thought that the French might beat them to it, the colonists sailed that afternoon to found a settlement at Sydney Cove.

Other Facts

Despite the move, for many years afterward, the Australian penal colony would be referred to as "Botany Bay" in England - and in convict ballads such as Ireland's "The Fields of Athenry".

A song entitled "The Shores of Botany Bay" was written by Brian Warfield and recorded by The Wolfe Tones in the early 1970s. This satirical song deals with a group of Irishmen volunteering for the transportation process in the hopes of finding wealth in Australia.

Residences in Trinity College Dublin are named for Botany Bay as a tongue in cheek reference.

The good supply of fresh water in the area led to the expansion of its population in the 19th century.

Demographics

According to the most recent census, Botany Bay has a population of 35,897 (17,735 males and 18,162 females).

There were 558 people 1.6% (274 males and 284 females) who identified as being of Indigenous origin. 22.07% of residents are of Southern European descent (Principally Italians and Greeks). Eastern/South East Asian and people from Indian subcontinent make 19.24% of the population, followed by Middle Eastern and Northern African people at 7.17% and Pacific Islanders at 2.72%. The three most common languages spoken at home other than English in the 2001 census were Greek 7.4%, Chinese languages 5.05% and Spanish 4.5%.

The median weekly individual income for people aged 15 years and over in the 2001 census was $300-$399. 49.8% of households have children and 3.5% of the people were in group households.

Sydney Airport and Port Botany

In modern times the Bay is chiefly notable for being the site of Kingsford Smith International Airport, Australia's largest. The small Mascot Aerodrome at Botany was gradually developed and renamed the Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport in 1953. The land around the headlands of the bay is protected as Botany Bay National Park. Also within Botany Bay is Towra Point Nature Reserve.

Port Botany was built in 1930 and is now a container terminal.

References

Bibliography

Expédition à Botany Bay, La fondation de l'Australie coloniale, Watkin Tench, préface d'Isabelle Merle, 2006, Editions Anacharsis Le texte fondateur de l'Australie, Récit de voyage d'un capitaine de la First Fleet durant l'Expédition à Botany Bay