The Dixson map collection

This is a manuscript map which details the profile of Lord Howe Island attributed to Henry Lidgbird Ball, the Surveyor and Commander of the Supply. There is an inset map at upper right which reads: A view of Balls Pyramid laying S.E. of Lord Howe Islands, 13 miles.

Digital order no: a1528984

Grimes was appointed in 1790 as Deputy-Surveyor of roads, employed on Norfolk Island. He stayed on the Island for 4 years and was appointed head constable. In April 1794 he was posted to the mainland to assist the Surveyor-General, Augustus Alt. He was first stationed at the Hawkesbury River and then at Toongabbie.

In February 1795 he visited Port Stephens and surveyed the area for Lieutenant-Governor Paterson. Grimes reports that the Harbour and Rivers above Direction Island (now called Boondabah or Middle Island) were traced by rowing from point to point and estimating the distance by the eye. 'Below Direction Island, by taking the bearings from the vessel, as she lay at anchor off Salamander Point the country to the South and West is a mangrove swamp, on the north side there are a few hills, but the ground is very bad and the timber, low. There are mangroves and oysters, as far up the Rivers as we went, tho' the water is perfectly fresh.'

Grimes has also included depth soundings, information regarding the bar across the entrance to the harbour and notes about locations of fresh water.

Digital order no: a1528642

Signed by John Hunter, who had become Governor in September 1795, this map depicts the boundaries of the settlements in the Sydney region. The note at the top of the map explains, 'the red lines shew the country which lately has been walked over ... The places which are coloured green are where our principal cultivation and farms are.'

Digital order no: a1528991

This map is dedicated to 'Admiral Hunter, late Governor of New South Wales' who had completed his term in September 1800.

From 1791 to 1831, the Governors of New South Wales issued free grants of land on behalf of the Crown to individuals to encourage and advance the settlement of the Colony. Evidence of ownership of these land grants was provided by a document known as a Crown grant.

This map shows grant lot numbers and acreages and was intended to accompany the booklet, An Accurate list of the names of the land-holders in the colony of New South Wales pointing out the number of acres in each district as granted from the Crown, corrected to 1813. This listing of individuals and the size of their land grants in the Sydney region includes women who had received grants and should be read alongside the map in order to locate the lot numbers and districts.

Several now redundant place names are included on the map. At point H: ‘Bulanaming’ was used up until the 1820s for the area between Sydney and the Cooks River and the Parish of Petersham. The Green Hills region was named Windsor by Governor Macquarie in 1810; however this name had perhaps not yet been fully established in the Colony or on this 1814 map.

Liberty Plains now encompasses the Municipality of Auburn and includes the modern suburbs of Lidcombe, Auburn, Newington and Homebush Bay.

With the first land grants given along the eastern side of the Nepean River, this settlement became known as the Evan district; however by 1829 the area was referred to as Penrith.

Digital order no: a1528996

John Septimus Roe was posted as a master's mate to the surveying service in New South Wales then under the command of Phillip Parker King. He arrived in the colony in September 1817 and conducted three hydrographic coastal surveys over the next three years, which included circumnavigating Australia. He was appointed Lieutenant in April 1822. On this nautical chart which encompasses Port Jackson from the Heads west to 'The Flats' (Homebush Bay), Roe has indicated the soundings or the depth of the harbour, recorded in fathoms. He has noted the tidal changes and the western and eastern channels near the entrance to the Heads.

Digital order no: a3509001

This map was produced around 1850 in Sydney by William Meadows Brownrigg, a surveyor and lithographic printer. It is noted at the bottom of the map that it was drawn on stone by William Henry Fernyhough who was a silhouette artist, lithographer and draughtsman.

By 1850, the Sydney settlement stretched across the Harbour to the north shore, identified as the town of St Leonards. Land ownership and settlement has moved northwards marked as the district of Willoughby. Owners such as Wolstonecraft [sic], Berry and Mossman [sic] have large pockets of land in this area. Across in the east, landowners names are a roll call of signficant characters of early Sydney: John Piper, Thomas Mitchell, William Wentworth, Alexander McLeay. Settlement runs along the length of the Parramatta road through districts such as Concord and Liberty Plains. The Windsor road, Pennant Hills road and Kissing Point road spread out from the Parramatta township. The Female Factory, the Female Orphan School and the gaol are indicated at Parramatta and the Marsden name continues to be associated with this area.

Digital order no: a3907001

Published by Sands and Kenny, the publishers of numerous post office directories, business direcories and street maps, this map was produced during a time of strong growth in the Australian colonies as immigrants from all over the world were arriving in port during the gold rush era. No longer a struggling settlement, this map depicts a growing city.

Roads, railways, public buildings and reserves are identified. On Macquarie street there is the Legislative Council Chamber, the hospital and Government Printing Office. The Australian Subscription Library is located at the corner of Macquarie and Bent streets. Numerous churches and banks are identified. 

The wharves alongside Darling Harbour have the names of their company owners and at the southern end of town are the Benevolent Asylum, the Devonshire street burial grounds and breweries, such as the Albion and Kent breweries in Surrey Hills and Chippendale.

Digital order no: a3888001

The first Royal Tour of Australia was in 1867 - 68 with the official visit of Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was created Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Kent and Earl of Ulster on 24 May 1866 and in January 1867 left England on an extensive world tour as commander of the H.M.S. Galatea.

The Duke spent nearly 5 months in Australia including visits to Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Tasmania. The H.M.S. Galatea arrived in Sydney on 21 January 1868. According to newspaper reports no less than 100,000 people welcomed the Duke with fervour. 'Flowered arches spanned the streets, flags fluttered from public buildings, and illuminations lit the scene by night'. A letter to the editor from the Sydney Morning Herald, 18 January, reported that Garden Island would be open to the public....in order to afford an opportunity for those desirous of seeing the arrival of H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh.' Unfortunately, on 12 March 1868, while attending a picnic at Contarf, the Duke was wounded in an assassination attempt by James O'Farrell, a Fenian sympathizer. The Library holds an eyewitness account written by Emily Thorne of the attempted assassination. Curiously, an article in the Sydney Morning Herald in 1932 claims that on board the Galatea was the Duke's mascot, an elephant, presented to the Duke by an Indian 'of some consequence'. The elephant was allowed to roam around Cockatoo Island while the Galatea was docked and given an overhaul.

Digital order no: a3914001

British Naval officer, John Thomas Ewing Gowlland was appointed to the Australian survey as chief assistant in 1865. He later took command of the survey of the New South Wales coast and compiled Admiralty charts of the coast and the tidal waters of the Richmond, Clarence, Hunter and Hawkesbury Rivers. Gowlland also surveyed Port Jackson and made the first plans of Garden Island. This large chart, measuring 230 cm in length is a fine example of Gowlland's skills in hydrography and maritime charting.

Digital order no: a4290001

In 1872 a Select Committee was set up 'to consider and report upon the best means of improving the Wharf Accommodation of Sydney Harbour, and providing greater facilities for the loading and unloading of Vessels.' According to the Chairman of the committee, Henry Parkes, 'the Circular Quay in its present state, looking to the commercial importance of the port, is a disgrace to the country.'

This map shows a selection of 4 plans submitted to the Committee. The plan considered the most advantageous by the Committee was the one submitted by Lieutenant John Gowlland, seen here as Appendix F (top right). According to Gowlland, his plan 'gives the greatest amount of wharf accommodation in a limited space; that it is much easier to get vessels into and out from their berths, and that it is the least expensive.' According to Gowlland it would cost approximately 60,000 pounds.

An additional feature of the Gowlland plan was the extension of George Street down to Dawes point where a safe area would be created for loading and unloading public passengers taking pleasure trips around the harbour, separate from the congestion of the main port. This set of plans was prepared by Norman Selfe, the well known draftsman and engineer, who later designed a cantilever harbour bridge from Dawes Point to McMahon's Point.

Digital order no: a2843005

As part of the response to the bubonic plague outbreak in 1900, the New South Wales government enacted the Darling Harbour Wharves Resumption Act 1900 (Act No.10, 1900) which enabled resumption of land from Circular Quay to Darling Harbour. Approximately 900 houses were bought as well as the surrounding wharves, bond stores, factories, workshops, offices and pubs. According to the act, the area was 'resumed for the purpose of carrying out a system of public wharves and approaches thereto at Darling Harbour, and the waters at Port Jackson adjacent thereto..'

An article in the 12 May edition of the Town and Country Journal, revealed that it cost the Government £2,000,000 to carry out these resumptions. The resumptions encompassed the western side of Sussex street, along Kent street, down the hill and around Miller's Point until Dawes Point.

Digital order no: a1528779

Like an early map overlay, this 1900 map depicts two maps of Sydney Cove superimposed over each other. The red lines indicate the original coastlines depicted in James Meehan's 1807 map and the dark lines indicate the street blocks existing in 1807 with a 1900 map indicating streets, buildings and wharves.

Digital order no: a3697001