Who they were
Arthur Phillip was a Royal Navy officer appointed in 1787 to command the founding of a penal colony. He led the eleven-ship First Fleet and, after a voyage of more than eight months, reached Australia in 1788.
What they did
He chose Sydney Cove over Botany Bay as the site of the colony and kept the settlement going through severe food shortages. He sought relatively moderate relations with Indigenous people and knew Bennelong.
Legacy
Ill health took him home in 1792, but the Sydney he founded grew into Australia’s largest city. Phillip is regarded as one of the founders of modern Australia.