Arriving at King George’s Sound on 25^th of December 1826, Lockyer landed ashore early the next morning and commenced a survey of the area. On the 30^th of December his troops and prisoners were disembarked. They immediately began setting up a camp and landing their stores. On the 21^st of January 1827 (Lockyer’s birthday), as instructed by the Colonial Secretary, the Union Jack was raised and a feu de joie was fired by the troops, formally annexing the territory, in assertion of the first official claim by the Imperial Government to British possession over the entire continent of Australia. This saw the creation of the first site of European settlement in Western Australia.