The officers of the New South Wales Marine Corps commanded the first European military unit to be stationed on the Australian continent. Commissioned to guard convicts aboard the First Fleet to Botany Bay in 1788, they subsequently enforced discipline at penal colonies in Port Jackson and Norfolk Island. The New South Wales Marines were disbanded from 1791 to 1792 as their enlistment term expired. The majority of officers returned to equivalent roles in the British Marines.
Background The New South Wales Marine Corps was an ad hoc volunteer unit created by the Royal Navy to guard the convicts aboard the First Fleet to Australia, and to preserve "subordination and regularity" in the penal colony in New South Wales.Correspondence from Lord Sydney to the Lords Commissioners of Treasury, 18 August 1786. Cited in Britton 1978, p. 14. The Corps was established on 31 August 1786 with assent from King George III for a force of Marines and accompanying officers to enforce "... subordination and obedience in the settlement [at Botany Bay], as well as for defence of that settlement against the incursions of the natives."Correspondence, The Lords of the Admiralty to His Majesty the King, 21 November 1786. Cited in Bladen (ed.) 1978, pp. 372–373 At full strength the New South Wales Marine Corps numbered 213 men.First Fleet Fellowship – Marines, – accessed 1 July 2015.
Volunteers for the NSW Marine Corps were required to have had a satisfactory prior record of service in the British Marines, to be at least tall and under forty years of age. Both officers and men were entitled to an honourable discharge after three years of colonial service, as an alternative to the British Marine tradition of enlistment for life.Moore 1989, p.8 Rates of pay were in accordance with equivalent ranks in the British Marines including routine provision of a subsistence allowance worth two-thirds of daily pay. British Marines received the allowance when in the field (i.e., not serving on board a vessel); the New South Wales Marines received the allowance for the duration of their three-year enlistment, relieving the Admiralty or the government of the colony of the responsibility of providing messing facilities.
Officers wore a red long-tailed doublet, white trousers, black shoes with gaiters, and a black headdress. They were authorised to carry swords and sidearms in addition to the Brown Bess musket available to all personnel.
Marine Corps officers Name Born NSW Marine Corps service NSW rank NSW duties Subsequent service Death Commander, New South Wales Marines Lieutenant Governor, Colony of New South Wales Brevet rank not confirmed, and relegated to captain-lieutenant, Chatham Division Marine Recruiting Officer, St Albans and Ipswich, — Company Commander Promoted to Major of Marines, Company Commander None Company Commander Promoted to Major-general of Marines, Promoted to Lieutenant-general, Promoted to General, Company Commander Promoted to Major of Marines, French prisoner-of-war, —* Promoted Major-general Commandant, Plymouth Division, — Promoted to captain-lieutenant, 1789 Aide-de-camp to Governor Arthur Phillip, 1788—1791 Transferred to New South Wales Corps, 1791 Promoted to brevet Major, 1800 Ringleader of Rum Rebellion, 1808 Cashiered, 1811 Promoted to captain, 1792 Injured in action, Battle of the Nile, 1798 Promoted to Major, 1802 Promoted to captain, 1795 Promoted to brevet Major, 1808 Appointed Lieutenant Governor of Tasmania, 1812 Quartermaster Not promoted on return to England Served aboard , 1794—1795 Incapacitated by dysentery and an unspecified eye disease on arrival in NSW Invalided to England, 1788 None Transferred to Norfolk Island, March 1790 Suspended on charges of improper conduct and endangering a fellow officer, July 1790 Reinstated after apology for misconduct, October 1791 Not promoted on return to England Last listed as a Marines officer in 1815 Promoted to captain, 1794 Last listed as a Marines officer in 1814 Promoted several times, ultimately to Lieutenant-Colonel * Promoted to captain-lieutenant, 1797 Adjutant, NSW Marine Corps 1786—1791 promoted to brevet Major, 1808 Transferred to British Army and promoted to lieutenant colonel, 1814 Last listed as an Army officer in 1825 Promoted to captain-lieutenant, 1795 Promoted to captain, 1796 Served aboard , Battle of Trafalgar, 1805 Promoted to major, 1810 Promoted to lieutenant colonel, 1823 Named second-in-command to Captain Campbell at Rose Hill, 1788 Promoted to captain, 1795 Superintendent of Works, Norfolk Island, 1790—1791 Served in West Indies aboard , 1793—1794 Artillery Officer, NSW Marine Corps, 1787—1791 Governor of Sierra Leone, 1792, 1795—96 Mathematics master, Christ's Hospital School, 1799—1800 Son of Major Robert Ross, appointed Second Lieutenant on departure of James Maxwell, 1788 Second Lieutenant's rank formalised, 1792 Appointed Adjutant, Plymouth Marines, 1799
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