Within Australia
All orders ship freewithin Australia
Rest of the World
Orders over A$300
ship free worldwide
C1810
An eye sketch of Hunter’s River, it lays N.N.E. true, 63 or 65 Miles from Port Jackson. Discovered this river 9th. Septr. 1797, in the Governor’s Whale Boat. High water full & Change 8A.M. Tides rise 6 or 8 feet. J.S.
Mapmaker:
Rare engraved map of the Hunter River (Newcastle) by John Shortland (1769–1810), published 29th. Sept. 1810. This engraved map is based on Shortland’s manuscript chart held in the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office Archives, details.: Reference: SVY A/ C642/1 Australia, … Read Full Description
Sold
Free Shipping
See Shipping page for Terms & Conditions
Details
Full Title:
An eye sketch of Hunter’s River, it lays N.N.E. true, 63 or 65 Miles from Port Jackson. Discovered this river 9th. Septr. 1797, in the Governor’s Whale Boat. High water full & Change 8A.M. Tides rise 6 or 8 feet. J.S.
Date:
C1810
Mapmaker:
Condition:
Left margin trimmed to ruled line and expertly extentended, otherwise in good condition.
Technique:
Copper engraving.
Image Size:
222mm
x 125mm
Paper Size:
232mm
x 137mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1810
Description:
Rare engraved map of the Hunter River (Newcastle) by John Shortland (1769–1810), published 29th. Sept. 1810.
This engraved map is based on Shortland’s manuscript chart held in the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office Archives, details.: Reference: SVY A/ C642/1
Australia, east coast: New South Wales: Newcastle ‘An Eye Sketch of Hunter’s River’. Survey shows coastline, hydrography, ships tracks, topography, land marks and remarks, including ‘Discover’d [discovered] this River 10 September 1797, in our way to Port Stevens’. Manuscript. North point (orientation to west). Scale: 5 inches to 5 miles. Assigned by ‘JS’ [John Shortland ?]. Annotated with black ink: ‘Newcastle Hr [Harbour] and R [River] Hunter – Australia E C [east coast]’; also annotated with pencil: ‘These initials are presumed to be those of Lieut [Lieutenant] John Shortland RN, the son of Lieut [Lieutenant] John Shortland, RN, who returned to England in 1789, in the Alexander’. Estimated date: c.1797, as suggested by remarks Date: c.1797 28 x 45 cm
Governor Hunter had directed Lieutenant Shortland to undertake an expedition to the north in search of twelve escaped convicts who had seized the Cumberland on September 5, 1797. Shortland left Port Jackson in a whaleboat early on the morning of the 7th.
He sailed past Newcastle and reached Port Stephens and finding no trace of the convicts he set sail south on the 9th. When off present day Nobbys which had been sighted by James Cook and described by him as a “small clump of an island lying close in shore,”. Determined to seek shelter from the southerly gale that was blowing, he he found and navigated the narrow passage between the two bluff headlands and entered the estuary of the Hunter River. During his brief stay, Shortland named the river, though for some years it was often referred to as the Coal River, made the first chart of the harbour in the form of an eye-sketch and collected some samples of coal.
References:
Not in: Tooley or Perry/Prescot
Collections:
National Library of Australia: Bib ID2639493 / Rex Nan Kivell Collection ; Map NK 3253.
State Library of NSW – Not held
The Library has a Negative photo print of an original manuscript. Reference code (AuSN)b33439023-61slnsw_inst
Titled; An eye sketch of Hunter’s River [cartographic material] : … discovered this river Septr. 10. 1797, in our way to Port Stephens … / J. S. [John Shortland]
John Shortland (1739 - 1803)
John Shortland (1739-1803) was a naval officer, a member of a family of which six members were associated with the colonisation of Australia and New Zealand. After naval service in Newfoundland and the West Indies, he was promoted to lieutenant in 1763 and engaged in transport between England and America. Having commanded transports to Gibraltar, in 1786 he was appointed naval agent to the transports of the First Fleet, overseeing and executing all the contracts for transport. Not only did he command all the masters of these ships, he directed the accommodation of the soldiers and convicts on the journey. 'A large part of the credit for the success of this voyage was due to the vigilance and efficiency with which Shortland discharged his responsibilities', writes his biographer Arthur McMartin. Shortland's squadron of transports was the first to reach Botany Bay; he stayed at Port Jackson until July, when he sailed home on the Alexander with Arthur Phillip's first dispatches. On the way he charted many islands and reefs; the voyage of Flinders was partly an upshot of his recommendation for a thorough survey of the coast of Australia. Shortland is often confused with his son, also named John, who was also a Lieutenant on the First Fleet and who later discovered the Hunter River.
