Governor King is awaiting news from London…
August 1803 CE
Governor King is awaiting news from London regarding Van Diemen's Land when separate news arrives that the short-lived peace with France has been broken by the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars.
King decides he cannot afford to await word from London and risk France establishing a naval base on Van Diemen's Land.
Acting on his own initiative, he dispatches an expedition under the command of a young twenty-three-year old Lieutenant, John Bowen, to establish a colony there.