The ship Robert Watson was quartermaster on was one of how many ships in the flotilla that founded England's Australian penal colony?
First Fleet The First Fleet is the name given to the 11 ships that left England on 13 May 1787 to found the penal colony that became the first European settlement in Australia. The Fleet consisted of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports, carrying between 1,000 and 1,500 convicts, marines, seamen, civil officers and free people (accounts differ on the numbers), and a vast quantity of stores. From England, the Fleet sailed southwest to Rio de Janeiro, then east to Cape Town and via the Great Southern Ocean to Botany Bay, arriving over the period of 18 to 20 January 1788, taking 250 to 252 days from departure to final arrival.
Guildford (1810 ship) Guildford was a two-decker merchant ship launched in 1810. She transported convicts to New South Wales. Of her eight voyages delivering convicts, for three she was under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). She underwent major repairs in 1819, her hull was sheathed in copper in 1822; in 1825 she received new wales, top sides and deck, the copper was repaired and other repairs. "Guildford" was lost without a trace in 1831.