author
David Collins
1756–1810
A key figure in the founding years of Australia, he helped shape the early colony of New South Wales and later led the settlement that became Hobart. He is also remembered for writing one of the earliest detailed accounts of the colony’s beginnings.
2 Audiobooks
An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Volume 1 With Remarks on the Dispositions, Customs, Manners, Etc. of The Native Inhabitants of That Country. to Which Are Added, Some Particulars of New Zealand; Compiled, By Permission, From The Mss. of Lieutenant-Governor King.
by David Collins, Philip Gidley King
About the author
Born in London on 3 March 1756, David Collins was a British marine officer who served in North America before joining the First Fleet expedition to New South Wales. In the new colony he became deputy judge-advocate, handling legal and administrative duties at a time when almost every part of colonial government was being invented from scratch.
Collins is especially notable as the author of An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, an important early record of the settlement, its officials, and its daily struggles. The book remains valuable because it describes events from the viewpoint of someone deeply involved in the colony’s first years.
In 1803 he was chosen to lead a new settlement at Port Phillip, but the site was abandoned and he moved the expedition to the Derwent in Van Diemen’s Land. There he founded the settlement that grew into Hobart and served as lieutenant-governor until his death on 24 March 1810.