Alan Frost First Fleet research archive, 1718, 1775-1791 [copied and transcribed ca. 1974-2011]

fonds

1718, 1775-1791 [copied and transcribed ca. 1974-2011]

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Photographs

1323840

3,971 text files - Microsoft Word
2 metres of textual material (12 boxes) - photocopies, computer printouts, manuscript
371 photographs - digital, JPEG, colour

Alan Frost (b. 1943) is Emeritus Professor of History at La Trobe University, Melbourne, where his research areas include European exploration of the Pacific Ocean, the colonisation of Australia and the First Fleet. In the 1970s he began his research into the reasons for Britain's decision to colonise New South Wales and the eventual mounting of the First Fleet, collecting all the related documents he could find in libraries and archives all over the world. His published works include the books 'Botany Bay: the real story' (2011), 'The First Fleet: the real story' (2011) and 'Mutiny, mayhem, mythology: Bounty's enigmatic voyage' (2018).

Reference:
Library correspondence file

This research archive, compiled by Professor Alan Frost, documents the political and administrative processes that prompted the decision to establish a convict colony at Botany Bay and that underlay the mounting of the First Fleet and the early settlement of Sydney. It comprises transcripts and copies of primary documents sourced by Frost, over a 35-year period, from libraries and archives in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Portugal, United States, Brazil, Argentina and South Africa and from some private collections. Documents in the collection include excerpts from Journals of the House of Commons, government and private correspondence, minutes, reports and newspaper articles. The documents were transcribed and edited by Frost and his research assistant Natasha Campo.

The archive culminates in the edited transcripts with explanatory annotations, which Frost intended to be made available in electronic form. These transcripts form Series 1 of the archive. Further series contain supporting material used to build the archive, including draft transcripts (in both electronic and hardcopy form), photographs and photocopies of original documents and index cards.

SERIES 1
Alan Frost First Fleet edited transcripts, 1718, 1775-1791 [copied and transcribed ca. 1974-2011]

SERIES 2
Alan Frost First Fleet draft transcripts, 1718, 1775-1791 [copied and transcribed ca. 1974-2011]

SERIES 3
Alan Frost First Fleet photographs and photocopies of original documents and computer printouts of draft transcripts, 1718, 1775-1791 [copied, photographed and transcribed ca. 1974-2011]

SERIES 4
Alan Frost First Fleet index cards, ca. 1974-2011

Copyright status:: Unpublished textual material is out of copyright where the author(s) died more than 70 years ago, or else, it is in copyright for the life of the author(s) plus 70 years. Duration of copyright differs for material that has been made public.
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales