George Raper

George Raper (19 September 1769 – 29 September 1796 or 1797) was a naval officer and illustrator.

Raper was born to Henry and Catherine Raper in London, England on 19 September 1769. On 20 August 1783 he joined the Royal Navy's HMS Rose as a captain's servant. After further service on HMS Racehorse, he joined HMS Sirius on 15 November 1786. Sirius, commanded by Captain John Hunter, was the flagship of the First Fleet, which under Commodore Arthur Phillip transported convicts from England to New South Wales in Australia. On 30 September 1787, while the First Fleet was sailing from Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town, George Raper became a midshipman. Raper took his paint box with him, containing a larger set of paints than that of his captain, John Hunter, who was also an artist. Raper's charts, and his paintings of ports such as Teneriffe and Rio de Janeiro, were part of his evidence of competence for his promotion to midshipman. The First Fleet arrived in Botany Bay in January 1788.

On 1 October 1788, Sirius with Raper on board set sail from Port Jackson for the Dutch settlement of Cape Town, to get supplies for the starving Australian colony. Raper continued to paint; his watercolour of 'ice-islands' on this journey is held at the Natural History Museum, London. In February 1789, Sirius left Cape Town loaded with twelve months provisions for the ship’s company, six months flour for the whole settlement and other stores. Raper probably purchased paper in Cape Town; most of his paintings after this date are on Dutch paper.

On the return to Port Jackson, Sirius suffered damage in a gale off the south coast of Van Diemen's Land. Ths ship was repaired at Careening Cove, now Mosman Bay on Sydney Harbour, from June to November 1789. During this period, Raper may have had leisure to continue his painting.

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