Arthur Bowes Smyth

Arthur Bowes Smyth (23 August 175031 March 1790) was a naval surgeon, who traveled on Lady Penrhyn as a part of the First Fleet that established a penal colony in New South Wales. Smyth kept a diary and documented the natural history he encountered in Australia.

Early life and medical career

Arthur Bowes Smyth was born on 23 August 1750 at Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex, England, and was buried there shortly after his return to England on 31 March 1790. Son of Surgeon Thomas Smyth and the seventh of ten children, Arthur Bowes Smyth followed in his father's footsteps practising medicine in his place of birth until appointed "Surgeon to the Ship's Company" aboard the Lady Penrhyn in 1787.

Whilst Bowes Smyth practiced as a surgeon for a number of years before his appointment to the First Fleet, no evidence can be found of his medical qualifications. It has been surmised that "Surgeon" was an honorary title. He is known to have practiced midwifery in his local parish of Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex, an experience that served him well in his supervision of the women convicts on the Lady Penrhyn. Bowes Smyth took charge of the female prisoners on the Lady Penrhyn when the convicts' surgeon, John Turnpenny Altree, fell ill at Tenerife and, in Governor Arthur Phillip's opinion, had proved unequal to the task. Bowes, as he was known in the colony, kept a journal from 22 March 1787 to 12 August 1789. The journal entries for 18–26 January record first impressions on arrival including interactions with Aboriginal communities and descriptions of the vegetation, intense heat, and native wildlife.

The original journal is now in the collection of the National Library of Australia and has been digitised for online viewing. Manuscript 'fair copies' are held in the British Library and State Library of New South Wales. The 24 illustrations in the copy held by the State Library of New South Wales have been separated from the original journal and digitised for online viewing. The full text from the manuscript has also been digitised for online viewing. The Journal was first published in 1979 by the Australian Documents Library