Curio

State Library of New South Wales
View taken on Major Mitchell's Pass to the Pilgrim Decr 5th 1832

View taken on Major Mitchell's Pass to the Pilgrim Decr 5th 1832

SV1B / Blu M / 20
Watercolour

Before 1830, people who wished to cross the Great Divide were forced to travel long distances on hazardous roads and rickety bridges across very steep terrain. Surveyor- General Thomas Livingstone Mitchell was determined to develop a more direct and safe route through the mountains, by building a road ‘that was built to last.’

Work on Mitchell’s Pass commenced in 1830 under the supervision of the Department of Roads and Bridges, lead by Mitchell. To assist in creating his vision, Mitchell recruited fellow Scottish engineer David Lennox to the role of Superintendent of Bridges. Lennox earned the reputation in the UK for being a skilled engineer who created beautiful stone arch work. This was evident when he designed and supervised the construction of the most important part of Mitchell’s Pass, the arched stone bridge crossing over Lapstone Creek.

‘View taken on Major Mitchell's Pass to the Pilgrim’ is a watercolour that shows the convicts at work on this section of Mitchell’s Pass at Lapstone Hill in 1832. Both the bridge and the pass are excellent examples of surviving convict road works in NSW.

‘Canary birds’

The convicts in the illustration are shown to be splitting stone for the road works, and are easily recognisable in their yellow suits. Until 1810, convict ‘slops’ known as clothing rations were no different from civilian clothing. As the numbers of free settlers and convicts increased, the Government decided the convicts needed to be easily distinguished from the general population. Their uniform was made of coarse felted wool which was bright yellow and grey, giving rise to the nickname, ‘canary birds’.