Nicholas Anstis was ship's mate on the Lady Penrhyn which arrived in Sydney in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet. The Lady Penrhyn arrived back in England in August 1789 in enough time for Anstis to be appointed captain of the Surprize, returning to New South Wales with the Second Fleet. The convicts suffered deplorable conditions on their journey. Of the 256 convicts who embarked on the Surprize, 36 died on the voyage and 126 were hospitalised when they arrived.
* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 10 and Michael Flynn, The Second Fleet: Britain's Grim Convict Armada of 1790 (1993), pp 136-37
'Anstis, Nicholas (?–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/anstis-nicholas-29863/text36964, accessed 8 October 2024.