Sydney Opera House: Idea to Icon

On a summer day a little over two hundred years ago, HMS Supply, under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, cut through the heads of a magnificent and secure harbour the winds of which had never before touched canvas and dropped anchor in a small, deep cove. The next morning, 26 January 1788, Phillip went ashore, and with the local Cadigal people watching from a distance, planted a flag claiming the land for King George III. Supply was soon joined by the other vessels of the First Fleet, and over the next few days, the human cargo, consisting of seven hundred and thirty convicts exiled from England for mostly petty crime, went about unloading provisions, clearing land and erecting shelters under the guard of the British marines.

A prefabricated canvas Government House was set up on the site now occupied by the Museum of Sydney while convict accommodation was established to the west in the area which became known as The Rocks. The activities marked a new beginning for the ship-weary arrivals and an end to a way of life for the Cadigal and their neighbours.