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Sydney, New South Wales, with the entrance into Port Jackson
Sydney, New South Wales, with the entrance into Port Jackson

Sydney, New South Wales, with the entrance into Port Jackson

Engraver (1758-1835)
Artist (1778-1846)
Publisher
Date1809
Object number00000891
NamePrint
MediumHandcoloured copper engraving on paper.
DimensionsOverall: 1460 x 2070 mm
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThe entrance of Port Jackson and the settlement of Sydney, New South Wales are depicted at dawn in this handcoloured engraving. The township consists of a number of private dwellings, public buildings, countryside and public areas. It was based on a painting by French artist Charles-Alexandre Lesueur.HistorySydney 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 has been copied from the engraving featured in Francois Peron's official account of Baudin's expedition "Voyage de decouvertes aux terres Australes'. Vue d'une partie de la ville de Sydney" From left to right this engraving depicts the following structures of early Sydney: Pinchgut (later to be developed as Fort Denison), Garden Island, Baudin's camp (tents shown to the left of the sailing ship; Baudin camped in Sydney in 1802), Boston's Mill (on the hill, centre of image), Government House (a grand structure), Campbell's Warehouse (square building on point in foreground), Campbell's house (Campbell was the main merchant of Sydney), and Nicholas Bayly's house (Bayly was a member of the NSW Corp and received land grants here). Charles-Alexandre Lesueur was an artist on board Nicolas Baudin's scientific expedition in 1800-1804. Lesueur and the naturalist Francois Peron collected some 100,000 zoological specimens representing 2,500 new species, and Lesueur made 1,500 drawings including a number of sketches of the settlement of Port Jackson. This engraving is a copy of the image appearing in Francois Peron's official account of Baudin's expedition "Vue d'une partie de la ville de Sydney de decouvertes aux Terres Australes"SignificanceThis engraving is representative of the early settlement of Port Jackson, Sydney twenty-one years after the First Fleet arrived in 1788.