A colonial city

Governor Lachlan Macquarie had ambitions for Sydney. He was the first New South Wales Governor to envisage a future for the town beyond its origins as a penal settlement. As Sydney's first town planner, he engaged craftsmen and artisans, often from the ranks of the convicts such as Francis Greenway, to realise his ambitious program of public works - parks, roads, townships and, above all, gracious public buildings. Governor Macquarie's ambitious program of public and private buildings was begun in 1816.

This panorama of Sydney by Major James Taylor shows the town of Sydney as it looked in 1821, as Macquarie was nearing the end of his governorship.

[Panoramic views of Port Jackson, ca. 1821 / drawn by Major James Taylor, engraved by R. Havell & Sons]
Aquatint V1/c.1821/4-6