Collins, now a brevet-lieutenant-colonel, who was
Judge-Advocate under Phillip, was in command of the expedition, and was to
be the first governor of the settlement.
King, at Port Jackson, had meanwhile sent--in May, 1803--Lieutenant Bowen
in the _Lady Nelson,_ with a transport and a party of settlers, to form a
settlement at the head of the Derwent in Van Diemen's Land.
The expedition was made up of 307 male convicts, 17 of their wives, and 7
children; 4 officers and 47 non-commissioned officers and men of the
Marines, with 5 women and 1 child; and a party of 11 men and 1 woman, free
settlers. Besides these were about 12 civilian officials. By the close of
1803, Collins, with the concurrence of most, if not all, of his officers,
decided to abandon Port Phillip, and convey his colonists to the Derwent
settlement. His justification for taking this step was the unsuitableness
of the land and the difficulty of procuring fresh water near the heads of
Port Phillip. This shows that he was not of the same spirit as Governor
Phillip, and that he wrote history far better than he made it.
Bowen had already begun the settlement near what was named Hobart Town by
him in honour of the Secretary of State, Lord Hobart. In 1881 the "Town"
was dropped, and "Hobart" became the official name of the capital of
Tasmania. The man acting as mate of the _Lady Nelson_ was one Jorgenson,
the "King of Iceland," whose remarkable story was written by Mr.
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