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Article: THE FOUNDATION OF AUSTRALIA'S FINE WOOL INDUSTRY.
- Article from:
- Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society
- Article date:
- June 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Royal Australian Historical Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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On 26 June 1797, history was made when twenty four of the most prized, sought after and guarded sheep in the world staggered ashore at Sydney Cove after a long and rough sea voyage.[1] They had come from The Cape of Good Hope and were of the Spanish Escorial Flock, renowned as producing the finest wool in the world.[2]
They were brought in from the Cape, not by John Macarthur as many believe, nor by Governor Philip Gidley King, as others would have it, but by a first fleeter, Henry Waterhouse. He came out as a midshipman in the Sirius but was now, at 26, captain of the Reliance with his friends Bass and Flinders serving under him.
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