E21: Napoleon's Spies in Sydney

In 1802 the political focus of New South Wales was not domestic but geopolitical. The British and the French had been at war for nine years already and had well over a decade ahead of conflict ahead … but in 1802 Britian and France were officially at peace. It was during this interval that two French ships sailed into Sydney Harbour and stayed five months. It was the Baudin Expedition personally commissioned by First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte.

The colonials rolled out the red carpet of welcome but among the French was a humble assistant zoologist who undercover was vacuuming up all the intel he could. On his return to Paris this zoologist wrote up a detailed plain on how and why France should invade and conqueror New South Wales.

That didn’t happen but the British were alarmed – they didn’t want a second Canada where a French minority was an endless irritant. Great Britain had claimed two-thirds of a continent in 1788 but hadn’t done a thing about it. The arrival of the French in 1802 kick-started the process of continental expansion.

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The Hon. John Ruddick MLC is a member of the NSW Legislative Council. 

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Produced by Sean Masters

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