Earliest Possible Australian Colonization

[Domoviye]

I'm certain there are other threads on this topic, but the search engine isn't working for me (tried 4 times) and I don't recall any recent threads.

What is the earliest possible date for a European colony in Australia?
If the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon instead of giving up after investigating the second worst part Australia gone further south, could possibly have discovered gold on some of the native inhabitants? And if so would that be enough to encourage at least more interest in the colony?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[jackalope]

Portugese Australia

The Portugese blown off course with De Gama era is a very real possibility. The climate of the like settlement spot of Rottnest Island (Perth, W.A.) is much like Portugal and the general area would make great wine growing farms. Rottnest Island was believed to be originally uninhabited, and is only 10 miles from the coast of OTL Perth, with good enough harbor and 6 or so miles by 2 miles of land. It also would have been , and has been, a good producer of salt. Fresh water would have been a problem, but not a severe one.

Time Line? Circa 1500 -- 1570 without earlier rounding the Cape of Good Hope.

 

[Sandmannius]

I'm certain there are other threads on this topic, but the search engine isn't working for me (tried 4 times) and I don't recall any recent threads.

What is the earliest possible date for a European colony in Australia?
If the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon instead of giving up after investigating the second worst part Australia gone further south, could possibly have discovered gold on some of the native inhabitants? And if so would that be enough to encourage at least more interest in the colony?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Jackalope is right, the Portuguese sailed around the general of Australia quite a few times, so that'd be the earliest possible European colonization of Australia.

There was a Dutch colonization attempt at Austalia, with resulted in a shripwreck and mutiny. I have never seen a thread about this particular event before on this website, nor have I ever seen it mentioned, so I'm not sure if anybody here really seems to know about this. It's a fairly well known tale here in the Netherlands. It might be that all the Brit-wankers on here just love to sea Australia & New Zealand covered in pink and try not to think of any other nation that Britain being in Australia.

Also, someone started a Afrikaner Australia timeline not too long ago, that might be interesting to check out if you're interested in this whole general subject.

 

[Riain]

The theories of Portuguese discovery are well and good, I personally tend to believe them. But in the 100 years between the mooted Portuguese discoveries and documented Dutch ones the Portuguese left no firm traces let alone attempted a colony. In my mind that leaves the Dutch to set off the colonisation spark with Thijsen and Tasman's discoveries perhaps being more favourable, the former not quite going far east enough and the latter not going north enough. If they can get a good chart of the south east of Australia by 1642 then colonisation could start far earlier than OTL, perhaps a century or more. What's more if colonisation started from the area between Adeliade and Melbourne it would have been very different because the great Dividing Range wouldn't have hemmed in the colonists.

 

[Domoviye]

Thanks everyone, this stuff will really help with a time line of mine.
Cheers

 

[Cook]

A Dutch settlement on the Swan River following Willem de Vlamingh’s exploration in 1967 would have provided a good re-victualling base for shipping to Batavia and could have grown from there just as Cape Colony did in South Africa.

Rottnest Island (Perth, W.A.)

Rottnest becomes undesirable for colonisation the moment you find the mouth of the Swan River, which is inevitable.

An alternative location would be on the Blackwood River, but the dangerous currents and reefs on the south coast, and the much taller hardwood timber country around the Blackwood would have posed serious difficulties.

 

[DaleCoz]

I would vote for the Portuguese, but they would have to have a motive, which they apparently never found, assuming that they really did find the continent.

By the way, I recall reading someplace that a group of Indonesians who were visiting Australia and trading during the early days of British colonization were actually from a Dutch-held island, so there was a kind of indirect ongoing European influence before the British settlements. It would have been interesting if that trade from Indonesia had started earlier/continued longer from the point of view of having the aborigines a bit more prepared for being invaded. They had such a long ways to go though that I can't see them making up the necessary ground.

 

[Cook]

I recall reading someplace that a group of Indonesians who were visiting Australia and trading during the early days of British colonization were actually from a Dutch-held island, so there was a kind of indirect ongoing European influence before the British settlements. It would have been interesting if that trade from Indonesia had started earlier/continued longer from the point of view of having the aborigines a bit more prepared for being invaded.

Indonesian and Timorese fishermen have a long history in the Kimberley region, predating the European presence in the Indonesian Archapelago.
There is rock art showing dhows and an oral history of this and reasonable indications that Kimberley aboriginals sometimes joined them as crew members.

 

[Das_Colonel]

Jackalope is right, the Portuguese sailed around the general of Australia quite a few times, so that'd be the earliest possible European colonization of Australia.

There was a Dutch colonization attempt at Austalia, with resulted in a shripwreck and mutiny. I have never seen a thread about this particular event before on this website, nor have I ever seen it mentioned, so I'm not sure if anybody here really seems to know about this. It's a fairly well known tale here in the Netherlands.

If you're referring to the Batavia, I don't think it was an attempt at colonisation. They were headed for the DEI.

 

[jackalope]

Rottnest becomes undesirable for colonisation the moment you find the mouth of the Swan River, which is inevitable.

Maybe. The nice thing about uninhabited areas just off shore is that there is no danger of attack. (Australian Aborigines had no boats to speak of, and larger islands indigineous populations lasted a while until insufficient genetic pools caused inbreeding and elimination after the ice age sea level rise of several thousand years ago.) A microscopic and poorly supplied base can grow with very little assistance, especially if non native child bearing women are present. Kangaroo Island now off of South Australian Provence is even better but off the route that a blown ship would normally find itself.

It is inevitable that they would go, of course (wine growing on the island would be very poor, and water/resources are windswept), but not necessarily immediately as you suggest. Nor is it wise, as a convenient but risky method.

 

[Sandmannius]

If you're referring to the Batavia, I don't think it was an attempt at colonisation. They were headed for the DEI.

Crap, I think you're right.

The mutineers did want to establish their own kingdom in Nieuw Holland (Australia) though, if that counts.

 

[Cook]

A microscopic and poorly supplied base can grow with very little assistance, especially if non native child bearing women are present…

It is inevitable that they would go, of course (wine growing on the island would be very poor, and water/resources are windswept), but not necessarily immediately as you suggest. Nor is it wise, as a convenient but risky method.

A settlement’s first priority would be food supply, not wine production; Dutch and Portuguese ships of the period were far too small to supply the food requirements of even a small settlement and Rottnest Island is a very poor location for agriculture; any navigator arriving in the Cockburn Sound area is going to search for the optimum farming area; which is some part of the Swan River.

The settlement needs a function to justify the massive expense of establishing it; the whole undertaking is a very high risk investment and unless there is good reason for government investment or the promise of high returns for private investment the money just isn’t going to be made available. No-one is going to sail half way round the world to establish a vineyard; the ships would never be able to carry enough barrels of wine back to pay a profit and they is perfectly good wine growing country in Portugal and Spain.

The only justification that jumps out is a repair and supply base for ships on the Batavia route. Other industries would probably follow that would attract colonisation slowly, especially when the good quality of the land and the absence of disease was realised.

The mutineers did want to establish their own kingdom in Nieuw Holland (Australia) though, if that counts.

Drinking salt water and your own urine will have that effect.

 

[Umbric Man]

There was a Dutch colonization attempt at Austalia, with resulted in a shripwreck and mutiny. I have never seen a thread about this particular event before on this website, nor have I ever seen it mentioned, so I'm not sure if anybody here really seems to know about this. It's a fairly well known tale here in the Netherlands. It might be that all the Brit-wankers on here just love to sea Australia & New Zealand covered in pink and try not to think of any other nation that Britain being in Australia.

I never knew of this. Explain more of it?

In defense of the British, though, I always see- even Britons -trying to let other Europeans onto Australia for colonization to try to make it more interesting down there.

 

[Cook]

I never knew of this. Explain more of it?

This is a reference to the wreck of the Batavia.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~bill/batavia.html

http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/wreck-batavia/

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/aus_history/74167

The search for survivors of the Batavia resulted in Willem de Vlamingh’s exploration of the West Australian coast.

Edit: Sorry, he was searching for the Ridderschap van Holland, a large cargo ship that disappeared without trace on it’s way to Batavia.

 

[Sandmannius]

Again sorry guys, it's just that I have read the tale of the Batavia many times in the past, and due to the ship landing on Australia and having around 200 settlers on board, I kind of did not think that it was probably headed for the DEI.

Although, several magazines have provided incorrect information it seems, as I can assure you that I have read "after the disaster that was the Batavia the Dutch never attempted to send more people to Terra Australis" before.

 

[jackalope]

A settlement’s first priority would be food supply, not wine production; Dutch and Portuguese ships of the period were far too small to supply the food requirements of even a small settlement and Rottnest Island is a very poor location for agriculture; any navigator arriving in the Cockburn Sound area is going to search for the optimum farming area; which is some part of the Swan River.

The settlement needs a function to justify the massive expense of establishing it; the whole undertaking is a very high risk investment and unless there is good reason for government investment or the promise of high returns for private investment the money just isn’t going to be made available. No-one is going to sail half way round the world to establish a vineyard; the ships would never be able to carry enough barrels of wine back to pay a profit and they is perfectly good wine growing country in Portugal and Spain.

The only justification that jumps out is a repair and supply base for ships on the Batavia route. Other industries would probably follow that would attract colonisation slowly, especially when the good quality of the land and the absence of disease was realised.

It all starts with a chicken and egg situation in most cases. If memory serves, in both Jamestown & Plymouth (USA) colonies the leadership had to outlaw exploration as farming had much more importance. Certainly Jamestown did this. As you state, stable water and food supplies are of chief importance. Aboriginies were not so fearsome as some adversiaries encountered globally before and after the POD, but still an issue for a small colony with the level of firearms at that time.

On an island, it is also possible to simply let a few cattle go and have a herd twenty years later (better with a good natural water supply, which admittedly Rottnest does not have, but there are no natural predators) Or sheep. And that supply would be a natural food source for the eventual mainland base. Lots of Quokka (kangaroo type marsupials the size of a rabbit) to eat, which is how the island got its name.

Same goes for the mainland, but hunting animals or bird eggs while watching for a spear going through your back partly takes the advantage out of it. Same goes for setting up snares (especially if finding them destroyed and the game taken) or fishing along the coast (bad weather means beaching your small boat, or focusing upon the shore rather than the fish when fishing on the beach and tide pools). For a smaller colony, the issue would be of key importance, and few ships would come to harbor for any reason initially, especially for reasons of being blown off course.

Disease is a more pressing problem, but much worse when you can not eat well and varied. Perhaps you can see the advantage more clearly.

It is true that any solely a navigator would choose Swan River. But navigators do not translate into choosers of a good colony location, merely good harbors/water not security. How about a compromise of both (dual base)? At ten miles away in fairly sheltered waters and safe from just about all predadations, the distance is not an issue.

Vinyards are for what is now Indonesia and other locations, not Europe. About 5 times closer once the colony starts to gain. Better than twice the distance to the Cape colony, which was never settled by the Portugese (make of that as you will). Water is often of poor quality and not able to be stored without alcohol. True, one could boil it, but they did not know much of that then. And most of the kinds of men that were attracted to service overseas would like the focus on wine, to be good for morale under available conditions (the authorities refused to rotate the personnel back to Europe, keeping them well supplied there until they would rot.) Alcohol might be available locally, but not that which would remind one of home, especially the upper class administrators.

 

[Cook]

<snip>

Any navigator pulling into Cockburn Sound is not going to choose Rottnest as the primary base; there are plenty of peninsulas jutting into the Swan River that can be isolated by stockades if they felt the need. You aren’t going to see massed attacks by the Noongars of the Swan River area; the later British settlers thought nothing of living in isolated farm shacks miles from the nearest neighbour. Traders as skilled as the Dutch and Portuguese were would be more likely to be trading food and fur for iron with the Noongar community than fighting them.

Alternatively if you were going to opt for an Island the obvious choice would be Garden Island, not Rottnest; it’s larger, more sheltered for ocean storms, has safe anchorage and at the time of Dutch arrival was populated by Tammars, small wallabies that are easy to catch and have enough meat on them to provide a decent meal; Quokkas are as about appealing as a meat source as the large rats the Dutch thought they were.

No-one is going to get anywhere trying to grow vineyards on Rottnest.

 

[jackalope]

there are plenty of peninsulas jutting into the Swan River that can be isolated by stockades if they felt the need. You aren’t going to see massed attacks by the Noongars of the Swan River area;
---snip--
Quokkas are as about appealing as a meat source as the large rats the Dutch thought they were.

Who said anything about massed attack? Note you wrote "later settlers".
With a very small settlement, which is much cheaper to transport, maybe
only an individual family or two, was my suggestion. It is not really the
risk of being hacked, but the interference of gathering enough food.

I never thought the island would be a good source of wine, only that the
general area in OTL produces a lot and eventually could be a big export.

Maybe not producing at all, but if the Canary Islanders can form
a big pit to gather rain for the vines, maybe there is a way. Your other
island was inhabited. Keep to yourself and the initial situation will be
that much better for small, inexpensive group of settlers.

Have you eaten a Quokka? It is often easier to catch smaller animals
by snare than larger ones, and the distance is far less for the trap
run. Also, one dissembles snares as too many for the pot. Quokka
are claimed a lot like Wallaby from a variety of standpoints, and those
apparently taste not too bad. Besides, I am suggesting, not insisting.
You tell us. Quokka is now an threatened species, so historically is
ok of a source.

They concluded wallaby was lean, "pretty yummy" and "not too strong", The Press newspaper reported on Wednesday.

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/kiwis-cook-up-plans-to-eat-wallaby-20090401-9j3z.html

 

[Cook]

Your other island was inhabited. Keep to yourself and the initial situation will be that much better for small, inexpensive group of settlers.

Have you eaten a Quokka? It is often easier to catch smaller animals by snare than larger ones...

Garden Island didn’t have a permanent Noongar presence; they’d paddle across from Point Peron. For hunter gatherer’s it isn’t a big enough location to permanently settle. The Tammars of Garden Island could not be easier to catch, they faint at loud noises and since they are the size of a small sheep they are perfect for the pot. Quokkas on the other hand, given that they are slightly smaller than a rabbit in size and are a Marsupial, will have considerably less meat on them than a rabbit.

My comment regarding later settlers was purely chronological in relation to the Dutch, in terms of the British settlement on the Swan there was never any perimeter defences and the farmers very quickly spread out to quite isolated farmsteads.

I never thought the island would be a good source of wine, only that the general area in OTL produces a lot and eventually could be a big export.

You’ll note that right from my initial comment I was pointing out that while the Cockburn Sound / Swan River area is ideal for settlement, Rottnest is probably one of the least optimum locations in the area, second only to Carnac Island. The Swan Valley is prime wine country. But that’s well up river on the Darling Escarpment; no-where near accessible to an early coastal settlement. And my comment regarding the volume of barrels that a ship of the era could carry stands.

It might help to point out at this point that my office overlooks the Swan and I’ve been on Rotto and Garden Islands more times than I can count, and as to cooking ideas from Hobbits, hardly necessary since I’ve had my share and more of Roo.

Another good location, probably better in fact given the absence of reefs, would be Geographe Bay on the Leschenault Inlet, where one of the first settlements was established at Australind, or further south, near the rivers running into the Vasse Estuary or where the Carbunup River runs into the Bay. The climate is more conducive for Europeans, the soil is better, the land easily cleared and the Bay itself more sheltered than Cockburn Sound.

 

[jackalope]

Another good location, probably better in fact given the absence of reefs, would be Geographe Bay on the Leschenault Inlet, where one of the first settlements was established at Australind, or further south, near the rivers running into the Vasse Estuary or where the Carbunup River runs into the Bay. The climate is more conducive for Europeans, the soil is better, the land easily cleared and the Bay itself more sheltered than Cockburn Sound.

I guess the reader has his fill of information on the topic and it is time to let them make judgements. My ideas on micro settlement have commonly been challenged elsewhere for various reasons, occasionally to good effect.

But like in business, size and good long range plans (as I find yours here are, actually) are by no means necessarily initially the wisest option. Size practically invites huge blunders. In the case of initial settlement of Sydney, they forgot to bring along just about anyone in the 1530 persons going who was trained in the complex art of fishing, and the colony almost starved. The chicken or the egg, making something out of nothing for a business start up, timing and resourcefulness of the most pressing needs are everything to nimble survival and growth. No bloated Kerguelen settlement expeditions desired in my timelines!

In his report to King Louis XV, he greatly overestimated the value of the Kerguelen Islands; consequently, he was sent off on a second expedition, again reaching Kerguelen. By now, it had become clear that these islands were desolate and quite useless, and certainly not the Terra Australis. On his return, Kerguelen-Trémarec was sent to prison.