Captain Philip Gidley King was the third Governor of New South Wales, and did much to organise the young colony in the face of great obstacles.
The Third Fleet comprised 11 ships that set sail from the United Kingdom in February, March and April 1791, bound for the Sydney penal settlement, with more than 2,000 convicts aboard. The passengers comprised convicts, military personnel and notable people sent to fill high positions in the colony. More important for the fledgling colony was that the ships also carried provisions.
Trial was a ship that was seized by convicts and eventually wrecked on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia in 1816.
Surry, also known as Surrey, had an especially long career transporting convicts to Australia. In 11 voyages, the most of any convict transport, she brought 2,177 convicts, male and female, and so became one of the best-known of the vessels that visited Australia. In all, she lost 51 men and one woman during her various passages, 46 of the men dying during her first and most notorious voyage in 1814 when she was under the command of James Patterson.
Albion was a full rigged whaler built at Deptford, England, and launched in 1798. She made five whaling voyages to the seas around New South Wales and New Zealand. The government chartered her in 1803 to transport stores and cattle, to Risdon Cove on the River Derwent, Tasmania.
Asia was a merchant ship built by A. Hall & Company at Aberdeen in 1818. She made eight voyages between 1820 and 1836 transporting convicts from Britain to Australia. At the same time she served in private trade to India as a licensed ship. She then served to carry immigrants on the same route until c. 1855.
Andromeda was a 408-ton ship, built in Sunderland, England in 1819.
Henry Porcher was launched in 1817 at Bristol, England. Between 1818 and 1831 she made three voyages to India for the British East India Company (EIC). On the second she first transported convicts to Sydney, New South Wales. Between these voyages for the EIC Henry Porcher traded privately to India as a licensed ship. She made two further voyages as a convict transport, one to Sydney in 1834-35, and one to Hobart in 1836. She grounded in 1858 and was broken up in 1860.
Asia was a merchant ship launched at Calcutta in 1815 for Charles Hackett. She made four voyages transporting convicts from Great Britain to Australia, and two voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC) between 1826-1830. She was hulked or broken up c.1860.
Camden was a merchant ship built upon the River Thames in 1799. She made two voyages transporting convicts from England to Australia. She was wrecked in 1836.
Forth was a 369-ton sailing ship built in 1826 at Leith, Scotland.
Captain Cook was a 452-ton merchant ship built at Whitby, England in 1826. She made three voyages transporting convicts from Ireland and England to Australia.
Edward was built at Bristol, England, in 1806. She was a West Indiaman until from 1829she made two voyages transporting convicts from Ireland to Australia. She was last listed in 1841, sailing between London and Madras.
Elizabeth was a merchant ship built at Chepstow, Wales in 1809. She made three voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. Elizabeth is no longer listed after 1832 and may have been lost in 1831.
Georgiana was a merchant ship built in Quebec, Canada in 1826. She made three voyages transporting convicts from England to Australia. Georgiana was last listed in 1841.
Eliza was a merchant ship built in British India, probably in 1804. Between 1819 and 1831 she made five voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. In between, she also made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). Her crew abandoned her at sea in 1836 as she was leaking uncontrollably.
Isabella was a merchant ship built on the Thames, England, and launched in 1818. She made six voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. In between, she made one round trip to China for the British East India Company (EIC). From her launch to 1834 she was a Licensed Ship; that is, she traded with India and the Far East under a license from the EIC. From 1848 on served in the North America trade. She is last listed in 1850.
Hooghly was a full-rigged merchant ship built on the Thames, England, and launched in 1819. She made two voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC), four voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia, as well as voyages transporting emigrants to South Australia between 1839-1856. Around 1858 she was re-rigged as a barque. She sank off Algiers in 1863.
York was a sailing ship built in 1819 at Southwick. She made one voyage to Bombay for the British East India Company (EIC) in 1820. She made three voyages transporting convicts to Australia between 1829 and 1832. She was condemned and sold for breaking up in 1833 at Mauritius.
Lady Harewood, was launched in 1791 at Rotherhithe. She was initially a West Indiaman and in 1800 a French privateer captured her, but a Royal Navy frigate recaptured her two days later. She made three voyages transporting convicts to Austalia, one in 1829 to Van Diemen's Land, and two, in 1831 and 1832, to New South Wales. In 1833 she became leaky on her way to Singapore from Australia and was condemned and sold at Singapore.
