• Title
  Jonathan Wathen - Letter received from William Hill, Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, 26 July 1790 (copy made in 1791)
• Creator
  Jonathan Wathen
• Call number
  SAFE/MLMSS 6821 (Safe 1/195)
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  
  1790-1791
• Type of material
  Textual Records
• Reference code
  402753
• Issue Copy
  Microfilm : CY 4036, frames 27-35 (MLMSS 6821, filed at Safe 1/195)
  
• Physical Description
  0.01 metres of textual material (1 folder) - manuscript
  
• ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
  
  William Hill was Second Captain of the New South Wales Corps and commander of the detachment on the transport Surprize which brought convicts to New South Wales with the Second Fleet. The Surprize left England on 17 January 1790 and arrived in Sydney on 26 June. During 1791 Hill served on Norfolk Island where he quarrelled with several officers. In April 1793 he left Sydney in a merchant ship bound for Norfolk Island, Bengal and England. Hill went ashore at Tate's Island, near Timor, where he was murdered by natives. Jonathan Wathen, to whom he addressed this letter, appears to have assisted him in his career. Wathen was the author of two books on cataracts and other eye conditions.
• Scope and Content
  Copy of a letter addressed to Jonathan Wathen Esq., Bond Court, Walbrook, London. The copy was made by T Baker and is dated 24 Dec 1791. On this copy the recipient's name is spelt Watham; it is spelt Wathen on the original letter written by Hill which is held in the Public Record Office, London. Baker's copy shows minor differences in wording and punctuation from Hill's original and omits Hill's last paragraph which conveys greetings to Wathen's family and friends. This copy is annotated at the end 'N.B. This letter was never printed'.
  Hill informs Wathen that he has written to William Wilberforce about conditions on the transports and the situation in New South Wales, and most of the letter to Wathen repeats the text of that letter. Hill is severely critical of conditions for convicts and troops on the transport ships. He asserts that the convicts are treated worse than slaves in the slave trade and describes the voyage to New South Wales. He mentions 'the unfortunate Mr Riou, of the Guardian' whom he saw at the Cape of Good Hope. In his description of the colony he comments on Aboriginal people, emus, lack of food, poor soils, high prices and Governor Phillip's management of the colony. He reports that he is about to set out with Captain Tench and Lieutenant Dawes to explore to the west of Sydney.
• Finding Aids
  Read the transcription here: archival-classic.sl.nsw.gov.au/_transcript/2017/D00007/a136.html
• General note
  
  The original letter written by Hill is part of the Colonial Office records held in the Public Record Office, London, in the series Original Correspondence - Secretary of State, Port Jackson, CO 201/5 (available in the Mitchell Library on microfilm reel PRO 3). A typed transcript of Hill's original letter is reproduced in the book 'William Hill, Captain, New South Wales Corp, 1789-1795', edited by M Jones (Mitchell Library 994.02/44). Further information about William Hill can be found in the book 'The Second Fleet: Britain's Grim Convict Armada of 1790' by Michael Flynn, Sydney, 1993.
  Digital order no:Album ID : 823582
• Creator/Author/Artist
  Hill, William, 1760?-1793
  
• Name
  Phillip, Arthur, 1738-1814
  Riou, Edward, 1762-1801
  Surprize (Ship)
  
• Subject
  Aboriginal Australians--New South Wales--Sydney.
  Convicts--New South Wales.
  emus
  New South Wales--Economic conditions--1788-1851
  New South Wales--Social life and customs--1788-1851.
  Second Fleet, 1789-1790.
  Transportation of convicts.
  
• Open Rosetta viewer
  IE1066675

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