Botany Bay, discovered on 29 April 1770 by Captain Cook, who first named it Stingray Bay, later Botanists' (Harbour and Bay), and finally Botany Bay in his journal, probably to honour the botanists aboard HMS Endeavour led by Sir Joseph Banks as well as to mark its floral novelties. Banks later (1786) advocated Botany Bay as an ideal place for a penal colony on account of its supposed fertility. The first fleet under Captain Arthur Phillip landed there on 20 January 1788 and, finding Banks's account much exaggerated, moved on to Port Jackson, landing there at Sydney Cove. Nevertheless, the name Botany Bay became synonymous with Australia, first as a convict settlement, and later as a generic name for fine-quality Australian yarn. Today much of the shores of Botany Bay are taken up with Sydney's southern suburban residential development. Botany Bay is also the site of Sydney's (Kingsford-Smith) international airport.

Martyn Webb

Botany Bay, inlet, New South Wales, SE Australia, just S of Sydney. It was visited in 1770 by James Cook, who proclaimed British sovereignty over the east coast of Australia. The site of the landing is marked by a monument on Inscription Point. The bay was named by Cook and Sir Joseph Banks because of the interesting flora on its shores. Although Australia's first penal colony was often called Botany Bay, its actual site was at Sydney on Port Jackson. The bay is now an important cargo port with chemical facilities and an oil refinery.

Botany Bay an inlet of the Tasman Sea in New South Wales, Australia, just south of Sydney, which was the site of Captain James Cook's landing in 1770 and of an early British penal settlement.

It was named by Cook after the large variety of plants collected there by his companion, Sir Joseph Banks.

Botany Bay Large, shallow inlet immediately s of Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. It was visited in 1700 by Captain James Cook, who named it because of its flora. It is fed by the Georges and Woronora rivers, and is c.1.6km (1mi) wide at its mouth.