From Sydney Cove, early whalers, privateers and adventurers launched daring voyages against Spain’s colonies in Mexico, Peru and Chile. During the turmoil of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, Britain even authorised private ships to strike at its enemies.

Join Chris Maxworthy as he explores the colony’s earliest years and shows how voyages in search of whales and precious metals proved the strategic value of a British base in the Southwest Pacific. In just ten years, Sydney Cove grew into a bold and influential outpost.

Chris Maxworthy is a historian who, for the past four decades, has investigated the early maritime history of Australia. During 2015-18 Chris discovered and researched Spain’s detailed plan of 1796 to restore Spanish control in the Pacific.

Recipient of the Winston Churchill Fellowship in 2011, he conducted research in Spanish language archives in Europe and Latin America, looking for historical records of colonial Australia. This research led to the discovery of the Spanish attack plan for Port Jackson, as well as many narratives by mariners in the Pacific who had been captured by Spanish colonies as prisoners of war.

Chris is a retired officer of the Royal Australian Navy; he is a graduate of UNSW and Macquarie University and has previously served as the Vice President of the Australian Association of Maritime History (AAMH) and a Councillor of the Royal Australian Historical Society (RAHS).