Who was the first Englishman to visit Australia?

Answer 1

The first Englishman in Australia was William Dampier, who arrived in 1688. An experienced sea captain and pirate, Dampier became the first Englishman to explore and map parts of New Holland and New Guinea. On 4 January 1688, his ship the 'Cygnet' was beached on the northwest coast of Australia, at King Sound near Buccaneer Archipelago on the north-west coast of Australia. While the ship was being repaired Dampier made notes on the fauna and flora he found there. Dampier was actually completely unimpressed by the dry, barren landscape, the lack of water and what he described as the "miserablest people in the world" - the native population. His negative reports led to the delay of England's colonisation of what is now Australia. It was not until 1770 that James Cook reported positively on the green, fertile countryside of New South Wales (on the eastern coast), and England sought to colonise the previously unknown continent.

Answer 2

The first Englishman to visit Australia was not James Cook, as many people believe, but English trader and pirate William Dampier.

Dampier explored along the northwestern coast in 1688, and was most umimpressed by both the countryside and the people. He returned again eleven years later in 1699, and his view was still the same: the land was inhospitable, and unworthy of any further interest by the English authorities. His negative reports prevented further British exploration of the continent for almost one hundred years until James Cook came upon the eastern coast in 1770. It was Cook and botanist Sir Joseph Banks who saw the potential for settlement as Cook charted the coastline, and noted the lush vegetation and fertile soil of the east coast.