David Collins Esqr.

Engraved portrait of David Collins (1756-1810) taken while he was a Lieutenant. In 1786 Collins accepted the appointment to the expedition to Botany Bay. On 24 October, 1786 he was commissioned deputy judge advocate of the new colony. He sailed on H.M.S. Sirius.

In 1788, Collins was the founding Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of New South Wales (deputy to Governor Arthur Phillip). In 1803 he led an expedition to found the first, short-lived, British settlement in what was later to become the Colony of Victoria. In 1804, Collins became the founding Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of Van Diemens Land. Collins filled the three roles of Secretary, Judge Advocate and Lieutenant Governor until he left the colony for England in 1796.

He wrote what is considered to be the most comprehensive account on the early settlement at Sydney Cove.

From David Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales. London