Henry Waterhouse
Encyclopedia
Henry Waterhouse was a British
officer
of the Royal Navy
who is strongly associated with the early European settlement of Australia
.
Henry Waterhouse was born at Westminster, London, England on 13 December 1770. He was one of twelve children born to William Waterhouse and Susanna Brewer. His father had once been the Page of Honour to Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland, King George III's younger brother. Henry was the Duke's godson and namesake. His elder sister Elizabeth, born 14 June 1768, was married to his friend and associate, naval surgeon George Bass
.
Waterhouse joined the navy as a boy and saw service in various ships before joining the Sirius
as a midshipman
in 1786. He sailed with the First Fleet
to Australia and was present in 1788 at the first settlement of New South Wales
and the settlement of Norfolk Island
, returning to Britain in 1791 as a lieutenant
. He transferred to the Bellerophon
in 1793 and served in the battle of the Glorious First of June
in 1794.
In July 1794 Waterhouse took charge of the Reliance
as Commander
and returned to Sydney
in September 1795 carrying the new Governor, John Hunter
, as well as his future brother-in-law George Bass
, Matthew Flinders
, and the Aboriginal
Bennelong
. In 1796 he sailed to the Cape Colony
to procure livestock
for New South Wales and brought back the first Merino sheep to be imported to Australia. Subsequently he made several voyages to Norfolk Island and was the first person to chart the Antipodes Islands
in 1800.
Waterhouse returned to Britain in 1800 and lived most of the rest of his life near Rochester, Kent. He never married, though he had an illegitimate daughter who was born in Sydney in 1791. He is commemorated in the name of Waterhouse Island in north-eastern Tasmania
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
who is strongly associated with the early European settlement of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Henry Waterhouse was born at Westminster, London, England on 13 December 1770. He was one of twelve children born to William Waterhouse and Susanna Brewer. His father had once been the Page of Honour to Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland, King George III's younger brother. Henry was the Duke's godson and namesake. His elder sister Elizabeth, born 14 June 1768, was married to his friend and associate, naval surgeon George Bass
George Bass
George Bass was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia.-Early years:He was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George Bass, and a local beauty named Sarah Nee Newman. His father died in 1777 when Bass was 6...
.
Waterhouse joined the navy as a boy and saw service in various ships before joining the Sirius
HMS Sirius (1786)
HMS Sirius was the flagship of the First Fleet, which set out from Portsmouth, England, in 1787 to establish the first European colony in New South Wales, Australia. Sirius was wrecked off the coast of Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean in 1790....
as a midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
in 1786. He sailed with the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
to Australia and was present in 1788 at the first settlement of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and the settlement of Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
, returning to Britain in 1791 as a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
. He transferred to the Bellerophon
HMS Bellerophon (1786)
The first HMS Bellerophon of the Royal Navy was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line launched on 6 October 1786 at Frindsbury on the River Medway, near Chatham. She was built at the shipyard of Edward Greaves to the specifications of the Arrogant, designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1758, the lead ship...
in 1793 and served in the battle of the Glorious First of June
Glorious First of June
The Glorious First of June [Note A] of 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars...
in 1794.
In July 1794 Waterhouse took charge of the Reliance
HMS Reliance (1793)
HMS Reliance was a discovery vessel of the Royal Navy. She became famous as one of the ships with the early explorations of the Australian coast and other the southern Pacific islands....
as Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
and returned to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
in September 1795 carrying the new Governor, John Hunter
John Hunter (New South Wales)
Vice-Admiral John Hunter, RN was a British naval officer, explorer, naturalist and colonial administrator who succeeded Arthur Phillip as the second governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1795 to 1800.-Overview:...
, as well as his future brother-in-law George Bass
George Bass
George Bass was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia.-Early years:He was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George Bass, and a local beauty named Sarah Nee Newman. His father died in 1777 when Bass was 6...
, Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...
, and the Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
Bennelong
Bennelong
Woollarawarre Bennelong was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia, in 1788...
. In 1796 he sailed to the Cape Colony
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
to procure livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
for New South Wales and brought back the first Merino sheep to be imported to Australia. Subsequently he made several voyages to Norfolk Island and was the first person to chart the Antipodes Islands
Antipodes Islands
The Antipodes Islands are inhospitable volcanic islands to the south of—and territorially part of—New Zealand...
in 1800.
Waterhouse returned to Britain in 1800 and lived most of the rest of his life near Rochester, Kent. He never married, though he had an illegitimate daughter who was born in Sydney in 1791. He is commemorated in the name of Waterhouse Island in north-eastern Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
.