Grose did not leave England until late in 1791, arriving in
Sydney on 14 February 1792 on board the
convict transport
Pitt. The voyage was not an easy one as fever killed a large number of people on board, seaman, soldiers, convicts, wives, and children. Grose became colonial administrator when
Governor Arthur Phillip, whose health had been poor for some time (probably due to poor diet), received permission to depart. The European population of
New South Wales when Grose took over was 4,221, of whom 3,099 were convicts. Grose immediately abandoned Phillip's plans for governing the colony. A staunch military man, he established military rule and set out to secure the authority of the Corps. He abolished the civilian courts and transferred the magistrates to the authority of Captain
Joseph Foveaux. After the poor crops of 1793 he cut the rations of the convicts but not those of the Corps, overturning Phillip's policy of equal rations for all. In a connived attempt to improve agricultural production and make the colony more self-sufficient, Grose turned away from collective farming and made generous land grants to officers of the Corps. They were also provided with government-fed and clothed convicts as farm labour, whose products they would sell to the government store at a good profit. Phillip had realized that unless there was some control over the sale of alcoholic spirits, great evils would follow, but Grose made no efforts in this direction and great abuses such as the payment of wages in spirits became common. The custom of officers trading in spirits was almost universal and in the interregnum before the arrival of
Captain Hunter, the colony was rife with drunkenness, gambling, licentiousness and crime. How far Grose was responsible for this state of affairs it is now impossible to say. There is, however, no reason to doubt the statements of the chaplain, the
Rev. Richard Johnson, that he could get no support from the Lieutenant-Governor and no assistance in building a church. On the other hand, the charges against Grose of making indiscriminate grants of land to his friends and fellow officers appear to be without foundation, as the grants made were in accordance with his instructions and to those officers who requested them. In spite of the low state of morality and the drinking habits of the people, the position of the colony had improved very much when Grose left for England on 17 December 1794. However, most of the credit for this cannot be given to Grose. His substitution of military for civil power was not for the good of the state and he showed no foresight or real strength in his government. The improvement probably came from better farming methods, for which credit can largely be given to the two chaplains, Johnson and
Samuel Marsden. Grose did, however, increase the rations and improve the housing conditions of his troops. During his tenure, the
Spanish expedition led by Alexando Malaspina visited the colony, 11 March to 11 April 1793. ==Return to England==