Introduction

Oyster Harbour, Albany, Western Australia, seen from the north, from east of the Lower King Bridge [courtesy Calistemon 2022]

Since the inception of this website, the first ‘Redcoats’ landfall at King George’s Sound, however short-lived, has been a topic of interest: the first Military Post, soldiers’ arrivals and departures, soldiers’ army service profiles and personal stories, and of course, background about the brig Amity. I would be remiss if I did not celebrate Albany’s Bicentennial in 2026.

Therefore over the next two years or so I hope to bring you a special topic which I hope will put a new perspective on the story of the passengers on Amity’s first voyage from Sydney, New South Wales to King George’s Sound from 8th November to Christmas Day 1826. This will be a work in progress.

I plan to relate a selection of items about the soldiers, seamen, civilians and Crown prisoners on board and the families who accompanied their men, and the children who were born in this remote part of Australia of the British Empire.

This was Kinjarling, ‘place of rain’, known intimately only by the Menang people of the Noongar nation for thousands of years. It became in turn, King George’s Sound, Frederickstown, and Albany after brief visits by early European explorers, and whalers and sealers trading in its waters. The brief penal settlement of 1826 to 1831 was transformed into one of the jewels in Western Australia’s Crown. 

Welcome and Enjoy.

© Diane Oldman 2024