The first Jewish people to come to Australia arrived on the First Fleet on 26 January 1788. Among the 827 convicts on the English First Fleet were at least 8 and possibly up to 14 or 15 British convicts who were Jewish.

On board was Esther Abrahams. Esther would go on to become the First Lady of the Colony of New South Wales and an important landholder and farmer in her own right.

Over the past few hundred years there have been several waves of Jewish migration to Australia.  More recently after the Second World War Australia accepted significant numbers of Jewish refugees from war ravaged Europe. 

For this episode I recommend the excellent Australian history podcast Last Stop to Nowhere hosted by Michael Sloan and Kyle Sherer. You can download it from ITunes.

Check out the Sydney Jewish Museum’s website: www.sydneyjewishmuseum.com.au 

Also have a listen to Renee Geyer singing Heading in the Right Direction – such a beautiful voice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjYfkswK_yssp

Finally, read the Australian Geographic article on the discovery of an 18th Century Chinese coin found on Elcho Island off the coast of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory:

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2014/08/18th-century-chinese-coin-found-in-arnhem-land

Email me at: [email protected]

Music courtesy of Dan-O at: http://www.danosongs.com/

Thanks to Ken Dampier for post-production.