Sydney Cove 1792

Sydney Cove 1792

Sunday 14 February 2016

On this day - Arrival of the Pitt 14 February 1792




At least 100 of the convicts who had arrived on the Pitt on 14 February 1792, died in the first 12 months. The numbers may have been much higher than this as many names remain unaccounted for in the records. Dr Edward Laing’s observation of the inadequate diet that lacked fruit or vegetables, but consisted of dried salt meat several years old, and hard corn that could not be properly ground because of the lack of hand mills, was probably the chief cause of death. The reasons for scurvy, which was the lack of adequate vitamin C in the diet, was well known by 1792 but as Laing reported there was little that could be done to prevent the disease, without the means of improving the diet. At the end of February a shop was opened at a hut on shore to sell various articles that had been brought out on the Pitt, under the supervision of Captain Manning. It reputedly returned £4000.


Unhappy Exiles - Chapter 8 The First Year in the Colony