In 1787 Lieutenant Daniel Rooke sets sail from Portsmouth with the First
Fleet and its cargo of convicts, destined for New South Wales. As a
young officer and a man of science, the shy and quiet Rooke is full of
anticipation about the natural wonders he might discover in this strange
land on the other side of the world.
After the fleet arrives in Port Jackson, Rooke sets up camp on a rocky
and isolated point, and starts his work of astronomy and navigation.
It's not too long before some of the Aboriginal people who live around
the harbour pay him a visit. One of them, a girl named Tagaran, starts
to teach him her own language. But her lessons and their friendship are
interrupted when Rooke is given an order that will change his life
forever.
Inspired by the 1790 notebooks of William Dawes in which he recorded his
conversations with a young Gadigal woman, The Lieutenant is a story
about a man discovering his true self in extraordinary circumstances.
