ilystopher Columbus - You wouldn't want to be - You Wouldn ......1) All of the ships set sail on the 13th May 1787. 2) There were half as many crew aboard Friendship as there were

It is the 15th century, and world exploration is the latest big craze. There’s money to be made and fame to be won by explorers and merchants that discover new trading routes and new lands to conquer and exploit. But there is a problem. It’s an expensive business! Write a letter fromChristopher Columbus to Queen Isabella of Spain to ask her to fund your journey. Can you bepersuasive in your arguments?

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

Dear Queen Isabella,

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Yours Sincerely

Christopher Columbus

Petitioning for funds

BOOK HOUSE WWW.SALARIYA.COM

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Crew memberJob Appl ication Form

Name: __________________________________________________________________________________________

Age: __________________________________________________________________________________________

Current job: ___________________________________________________________________________________

Use this box to tell us about your skills and experience – why would you make a good memberof Christopher Columbus’s crew?

Personal statement – why do you want to join Christopher Columbus’s crew?©

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My criminal’s storyOnce you have planned your chosen criminal’s back story, use this sheet to either:

● write a plea to present to the judges at the Old Bailey to try to defend their actions;● write a short story about your character and the crime that they committed using a

first-person perspective.

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

Chosen criminal: _______________________________________________________________

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My criminal’s story

Create a character for yourself from Columbus’s crew, and write a series of short diary extracts about your experiences. How might the tone of the diary change as time passes? Would excitement and adventure give way to boredom and anger? The diary might include ‘penportraits’ of other people on board ship, as well as descriptions of daily life and the routine ofwork on board.

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

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My journey diary

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Crew duties on board Columbus’s ships included:

● Pumping bilge-water ● Checking ropes● Cleaning the deck ● Inspecting cargo● Mending sails ● Mending leaks

Choose one of these tasks and produce an instructional text to explain how the job should be done to another member of the crew. What tools or equipment will you need for the job? How many men do you need? How long will it take? Are there any risks or dangers to watch out for? Try to use numbers or subheadings to break up your text.

Name: __________________________________________________

Crew duties

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Fleet maths (1)

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The convict in the book sails to Australia as part of the First Fleet – the name given to the firstflotilla of eleven ships to make the journey to the new colony. The exact numbers of passengers,convicts and crew that travelled on the First Fleet is not known. The numbers in the table belowfor the six convict transport ships in the First Fleet are taken from a book called The First Fleetby Rob Mundle... however, some of the numbers are missing.

Can you fill in the spaces using the information in the facts at the bottom of the page?

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

1) All of the ships set sail on the 13th May 1787. 2) There were half as many crew aboard Friendship as there were aboard Alexander.3) The number of male convicts aboard Friendship was 80% of the total number of male

convicts aboard Charlotte.4) Alexander and Scarborough were both carrying the same number of male convicts. In total,

420 male convicts were on these ships.5) The combined total of crew aboard Prince of Wales and Scarborough was 60. There were 10

more crew members on Scarborough than on Prince of Wales.6) The combined total of female convicts aboard Charlotte and Friendship was one more than

the total number of female convicts aboard Prince of Wales. Both Charlotte and Friendship were carrying the same number of female convicts.

7) There were 54 more female convicts aboard Lady Penrhyn than there were aboard Prince of Wales.

Ship Master Number ofcrew

Arrival inBotany Bay

Duration(days)

Male convicts

Female convicts

Alexander Duncan Sinclair

40 19th January1788

0

Charlotte ThomasGilbert

30 20th January1788

100

Friendship FrancisWalton

19th January1788

Lady Penrhyn William Cropton Server

31 20th January1788

0

Prince ofWales

John Mason 20th January1788

2 47

Scarborough Captain JohnMarshall

19th January1788

0

Fleet maths (1)

Name: ________________________________________________________________

Life on board Columbus’s ships is far from comfortable! They are crowded, cold, damp,unhealthy and smelly, and infested with fleas, rats and lice. There’s a lack of space and privacybecause there is nowhere to sit or sleep comfortably, and the toilet is just a wooden seat fixedover the side of the ship. It’s boring and repetitive too, and everyone is exhausted.

Tick which element of life on board you would find worst:

□ Boredom and repetition □ Lack of space and privacy

□ Smell □ Fleas, rats, lice and other pests

□ Exhaustion □ Cold and damp conditions

Explain your choice below:

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W hat ’s worst?

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Fleet maths (2)

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The numbers in the following table are taken from an account written by Australian historianMollie Gillen in The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (Libraryof Australian History, 1989)

Can you use the information in the table to answer the questions?

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

1) Can you fill in the totals for the number of people that embarked at Portsmouth and the number of people who landed at Sydney Cove?

2) What is the difference between the totals of those embarking at Portsmouth and those landing at Sydney Cove? ___________________

3) How many babies were born on the journey betweenPortsmouth and Sydney Cove? ___________________

4) How many people who embarked at Portsmouth failed to complete the journey? ___________________

5) Which group lost the biggest number of passengersduring the journey? ___________________

Embarked at Portsmouth Landed at Sydney Cove

Officials and passengers 15 14

Ships’ crew 323 269

Marines 247 245

Marines’ wives and children 46 45 (+ 9 born)

Male convicts 582 543

Female convicts 193 189

Convicts’ children 14 11 (+ 11 born)

Total:

Fleet maths (2)

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Signs of landColumbus’s crew have spotted these signs of land.

Can you explain why each of these things might suggest that dry land is nearby?

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

1. Mist and cloud _______________________________________________________________

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2. Birds flying overhead __________________________________________________________

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3. Seaweed ____________________________________________________________________

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4. Shellfish ____________________________________________________________________

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5. Branches from trees ___________________________________________________________

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6. Smells ______________________________________________________________________

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7. A glow on the horizon _________________________________________________________

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Life aboard the convict shipImagine that you are travelling on one of the ships of the First Fleet as either a member of theship’s crew, or as one of the convicts. Write a journal of your journey.

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Life aboard the convict ship

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Recipe for ship ’s biscuits

The eight step-by-step photographs above are not in the right order! Cut them out, andput them into the correct sequence. Use them on your instructional text activity sheet.

Ship’s biscuits were an important part of a sailor’s diet. They were hard, dry and tasteless.Biscuits were packed instead of flour or bread because they did not rot or go off as quickly.They were made of a bland mixture of flour, water and salt which was baked for a long time –sometimes even baked twice – to make them easier to store for the months of a long sea voyage.Use the recipe below to make your own ship’s biscuits. Can you rewrite the text as a series ofstep-by-step instructions on the activity sheets? Use the photographs to help you!

How to make ship’s biscuits:

You will need flour, water and salt to make your biscuits. You will also need a large mixing bowl,weighing scales, a mixing spoon, a baking tray, a fork, and a teaspoon.

Make sure that you wash your hands before you start making your biscuits. Turn your oven on toa low heat; about 120°C (250°F or Gas Mark 2). Begin by weighing out 500g of flour into yourbowl. Add a teaspoon of salt and mix the flour and salt together. Add water a little bit at a time,stirring as you go. You will need to get your hands in after a while to bring the flour and watertogether to form a stiff and sticky dough. Break small pieces off the dough, and roll these one at atime between the palms of your hands to make small balls. Flatten these into circles, and put themonto your baking tray. Make holes in all of your biscuits using a fork and then put them into youroven. You will need to bake your biscuits for at least two and a half hours. Carefully take themout of the oven after an hour and turn them over. The biscuits are cooked when they are slightlybrown and are hard to the touch.

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Emu il lustrationThis drawing of anemu was taken fromthe journal of ArthurBowes Smyth. It isthe first-ever drawingof an emu by aEuropean!

Bowes Smyth wasthe surgeon aboardthe convict transportship, Lady Penrhyn.Throughout thejourney he lookedafter the femaleconvicts aboard theship. He was 37years old when theFirst Fleet departedfor Australia.

Arthur Bowes Smythkept a journal from22nd March 1787 to12th August 1789. Itdescribes events onboard ship, recordsinformation about histreatment of the sickconvicts, andincludes descriptionsof Rio de Janeiro andCape Town where thefleet stopped enroute. His journalalso includes 25 pen-and-ink drawings ofbird, animal andplant life.

Emu illustration

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Name: ________________________________________________________________

You will need: ________________________________________________________________

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Step 1: ____________________________________________________

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How to make ship ’s biscuits

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Extract from the journal of Arthur Bowes Smyth

The arrival in Sydney Cove of the First Fleet ships would have been an incredible event – but one that would have been seen very differently by the convicts and crew on the ships and the Aboriginal people of Australia.

This extract from Arthur Bowes Smyth’s journal describes the first encounter between the FirstFleet and the Aboriginal population:

Upon our landing 7 or 8 of the Natives came close up to us ... They were all perfectly nakedrather slender, made of a dark black colour, their hair not wooly but short & curly. Every onehad the tooth next the fore tooth in his upper jaw knocked out, & many of them had a piece ofstick about the size of a Tobacco pipe & 6 or 8 inches in length run through the septum of theNostrils ... They all cut their Backs, Bodies & Arms which heal up in large ridges & scars. They live in miserable Wigwams near the water which are nothing more than 2 or 3 pieces ofthe Bark of a tree set up sideways against a ridge pole fastened to two upright sticks at eachend -- they are about 2 or 3 feet high, & few amongst them are to be found which are weatherproof. Their principal food consists of fish which they in general eat raw. Sometimes they feastupon the Kangaroo, but I believe them to be too stupid & indolent a set of people to be ableoften to catch them.

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The Natives do not besmear their Hair or Bodies with any kind of Oil or paint as many Indiansdo -- Their Teeth are in general White but both their Skin & hair have a remarkably strongfishy scent. They wear their beards which are quite black & inclined to be curly. They did notappear hostile; their Language is excessively Loud & harsh & seems to consist of a very shortVocabulary; they seemed surprised at the Sight of the Ships. I presented many of them withGlass Beads & several Gentlemen put Ribbands & Glass Trincketts about their heads but theyseemed altogether a most stupid insensible set of beings -- they seemed most desirous of Hatsfrom their attempting to seize the Hats of many persons on shore. They seemed to express aWish to know of what Sex we were & several of the persons onshore satisfied them in thatparticular. -- When they found we were men like themselves they expressed their joy &astonishment by loud Exclamations & grotesque gestures, & immediately shook hands with us.

(Extract from A Journal of a Voyage from Portsmouth to New South Wales and China –in the Lady Penrhyn by Arthur Bowes Smyth, Surgeon (1787–1789) Text in the public domain. Reproduced from the website of the State Library of New South Wales.http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/_transcript/2015/D36405/a1085.html)

Extract from the journal of Arthur Bowes Smyth

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Name: ________________________________________________________________

Step 5: ____________________________________________________

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How to make ship ’s biscuits! (continued)

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Use this sheet to brainstorm a range of adjectives to describe how the Aboriginal people mayhave felt.

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

Can you think of any more adjectives to describe how the Aborigines might have felt?

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Aborigines

Aborigines’ adjectivesAborigines’ adjectives

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Storing ship ’s biscuits!Observation and recording sheet

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

Date of baking: ___________________ Date of observation: ___________________

Storage conditions of biscuits: _____________________________________________________

Observation number: ___________________

Observation:

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Use this sheet to brainstorm a range of adjectives to describe how the convicts and crew mayhave felt.

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

Can you think of any more adjectives to describe how the convicts and crew might have felt?

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Convicts and crew

Convicts and crew adjectivesConvicts and crew adjectives

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Name: ________________________________________________________________

Punishments for convicts who disobeyed the rules in the penal colonies were incredibly harsh. They included flogging, weighted leg irons, solitary confinement in underground cells, walkinglong distances carrying heavy bags of stones, being tied to stones and left to burn in the strongsunlight, and the ‘treadmill’. This was the name given to a rotating drum, with wooden steps.Prisoners were chained to it and, as it turned, they had to continually step up onto the nextwooden platform to avoid being crushed by the rotating drum.

Explain your choice below:

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Punishments; what�s worst?

Tick which punishment you would find worst:

□ Flogging □ Solitary confinement

□ Weighted leg irons □ Carrying heavy bags of stones

□ The ‘treadmill’ □ Tied to a stone and left to burn

Punishments, what’s worst?

Documents

ilystopher Columbus - You wouldn't want to be - You Wouldn ......1) All of the ships set sail on the 13th May 1787. 2) There were half as many crew aboard Friendship as there were