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A View of the Cove and part of Sydney in New South Wales, taken from the Dawe's Battery
A View of the Cove and part of Sydney in New South Wales, taken from the Dawe's Battery

A View of the Cove and part of Sydney in New South Wales, taken from the Dawe's Battery

Engraver (British, 1787 - 1820)
Artist
Date1820
Object number00000895
NamePrint
MediumInk on paper
DimensionsOverall: 500 × 727 mm
Mount / Matt size: 630 × 865 mm
Display dimensions: 660 × 895 × 45 mm
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis work appeared in Captain James Wallis' 'An Historical Account of The Colony of New South Wales and its Dependent Settlements; in Illustration of Twelve Views, Engraved By W. Preston, a Convict, from Drawings Taken on the Spot' (1821). This work illustrates the military fortifications from Dawes Point. The area was the site of the first battery and fort, established in 1791. During the 1800s the defence system was transferred to the headlands of Sydney Harbour and in the 1920s most of Dawes Point Battery was demolished to allow for the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.HistoryJames Wallis was an officer in the 46th Regiment and arrived in NSW in 1814 onboard the GENERAL HEWITT, the ship which brought convict artist Joseph Lycett to Sydney. Wallis was one of the first military personnel in the colony to display artistic ability, and both men were in Newcastle where Wallis ran the settlement from 1816-1818. Both Wallis and Lycett used Walter Preston to engrave their drawings. Sydney Cove was established by Governor Arthur Phillip when he arrived with the First Fleet on 26 January 1788. The cove was named in honour of the British Home Secretary, Thomas Townsend, Lord Sydney and chosen as the site of settlement over Botany Bay because it offered both fresh water and a secure place for ships to anchor. Phillip described Sydney Cove as having 'the best spring of water, and in which the ships can anchor so close to the shore that at a very small expense quays may be made at which the largest ships may unload'. He aimed to establish a flourishing colony and not just a penal site and supported plans to build a structured and ordered town. This engraving was one of twelve plates illustrating parts of New South Wales published as An Historical Account of the Colony of New South Wales by Rudolph Ackermann, London 1821.SignificanceDefence of the colony was an important consideration for the early British settlers and this work documents an early strategic fortification in Sydney Harbour.