Which British explorer claimed the east coast of Australia for Britain in 1770? James Cook did. Sailing in HMS Endeavour, Cook charted the eastern coastline during his first voyage of exploration for the Royal Navy.
Cook reached the coast near present-day Point Hicks in April 1770 and continued north, stopping at Botany Bay, where botanist Joseph Banks collected numerous plant specimens. Cook carefully mapped the coastline, recording reefs, harbours and landmarks that would later assist British navigation and settlement.
On 22 August 1770, at Possession Island in the Torres Strait, Cook claimed the eastern coast for King George III and named it New South Wales. This was not the discovery of an uninhabited continent: Aboriginal peoples had lived across Australia for tens of thousands of years, and Dutch navigators had previously charted parts of the western and northern coasts. Cook’s claim was a British imperial declaration based on European conventions of the time.