At 0400 on Sunday 13 May 1787, the signal was give to weigh anchor. Eleven ships of the fleet under Captain Arthur Phillip RN left Portsmouth and set out on an arduous eight-month journey to a virtually unknown shore half a world away. Amongst the 1,300 men and women on board the eleven ships was John Beresford, a Marine Private 41st (Portsmouth) Company serving in HMS Prince of Wales and his wife Hannah.
The fleet arrived at Botany Bay on 18-20 January 1788, but Capt Phillips was not satisfied with this site and landed instead at Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour).
John was discharged from the Marines in October 1791 and the family decided to settle on Norfolk Island, far out in the Pacific (2hrs 30 minutes flying time today). By August 1804 he had five children and had developed a farm of 140 acres. He was one of the most successful landowners on the island.
In 1804 it was decided to evacuate the Norfolk Island settlement to a new land, recently discovered by Matthew Flinders called Van Dieman’s Land (nowTasmania). John and his family were moved to Hobart, where he lived for another 13 years, dying on 28th September 1821, aged 68. He left his widow Hannah, five children and 16 grandchildren.