David Collins (lieutenant governor)
British military officer and colonial administrator (1756–1810)
Summary
Colonel David Collins was a British military officer and colonial administrator who was appointed as the first Judge-Advocate to the British colony of New South Wales. He sailed with Governor Arthur Phillip on the First Fleet and assisted in the founding of what is now known as the city of Sydney. He became secretary to the Governor and was later tasked with establishing a secondary colony in Port Phillip. Collins deemed the site unsatisfactory and transferred this settlement to Van Diemen's Land, where he was appointed Lieutenant Governor and founded the city of Hobart.
Originally created by Andypasto
2/20/2005, 7:11:50 AM
Modified
5/18/2026, 1:36:41 AM
Recent revisions
wikilink Edward Lord (article pending)
Tweaked 1789 trial description to more precisely reflect the source's content.
/* Early life and military career */ Fixed typo
Copyedited lede
/* External links */Removed grandparent category of [[Category:Settlers of Melbourne]]
update Australian Dictionary of Biography ref., replacing dead link
fix
/* Judge Advocate of New South Wales */ link
improving intro
removing improvement box as more refs and info added
/* New South Wales */ adding info
/* Legacy */
/* Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land */ adding info
/* Van Diemen's Land */ adding info
/* Victoria and Tasmania */ adding info and refs
/* New South Wales */ adding info
Moving [[:Category:Judge Advocates of New South Wales]] to [[:Category:Judge advocates of New South Wales]] per [[Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy]]
/* Legacy */ Collins house at Exeter is not named after david collins, it's named after reverend R.L. Collins
