Landing of Governor Arthur PhillipPrint Page

The monument was erected in 1927 at Camp Cove by the Royal Australian Historical Society in conjunction with Vaucluse Council, to commemorate the beach as the first landing place of Governor Phillip in Port Jackson. 

There is, however, no thorough and authentic account of the events of 21st January 1788 with regard to the status of Camp Cove as the first landing place in Port Jackson of Governor Phillip, or to the possibility that Phillip and his exploratory party camped on the beach at Camp Cove - or anywhere else in Port Jackson. Nevertheless, notwithstanding some argument for Manly as the first Port Jackson landing place, the beach at Camp Cove has come to be officially accepted as the point where Phillip and his men first came ashore after setting off from Botany Bay to seek a suitable location to establish the British settlement.

On January I8, 1788, the first Governor of New South Wales, Captain Arthur Phillip, R.N., sailed into Botany Bay and was followed within the next two days by the whole of the first fleet. Dissatisfied with the bay as a harbor, and to adjoining land as a place for the settlement, he decided to explore Port Jackson and and Broken Bay. On the morning of the 21st, accompanied by Captain Hunter, Captain Collins, a lieutenant, and a small party of marines, he proceeded in three ships' boats and entered Port Jackson. Turning first to the southern shore, he landed on the pretty beach known today as Camp Cove.

To commemorate this event the Royal Australian Historical Society is arranging a gathering at Camp Cove on Saturday, January 22 next, when a tablet will be unveiled. The tablet, which has been given to the society by Mrs. A. J. Foster, is of white marble, and in design is a copy of the Phillip tablet attached to the Governor 's home of Bath, England. It will be attached to a stone structure erected for it by the Council of Vaucluse on ground granted on a permissive occupancy to the Historical Society by the Commonwealth Government. The wording on the tablet is as follows: "On this beach (Camp Cove) Governor Phillip first landed In Port Jackson, January 21, 1788, R.A.H.S. 
Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW), 4 January 1927. 

Location

Details

Dedication