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C1885
Australia-East Coast Queensland. Plan of Cairns Harbour Trinity Bay Surveyed by Navg. Liet. E.R.Connor. R.N. 1878.
Mapmaker:
Rare c.19th map of Cairns based on the first Hydrographic survey of the harbour by Lieutenant Edward Richard Connor in 1878. Although ships delivered freight and passengers to Cairns from 3 October 1876, it was only declared a port of … Read Full Description
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Full Title:
Australia-East Coast Queensland. Plan of Cairns Harbour Trinity Bay Surveyed by Navg. Liet. E.R.Connor. R.N. 1878.
Date:
C1885
Mapmaker:
Condition:
In good condition, with folds as issued, laid onto archival linen.
Technique:
Hand coloured lithograph.
Image Size:
740mm
x 575mm
Paper Size:
800mm
x 603mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1885
Description:
Rare c.19th map of Cairns based on the first Hydrographic survey of the harbour by Lieutenant Edward Richard Connor in 1878.
Although ships delivered freight and passengers to Cairns from 3 October 1876, it was only declared a port of entry and clearance on 1 November that year and the town was surveyed in the same year. The establishment of the port came largely from the need to supply the newly established Hodgkinson goldfields. The harbour was not surveyed for shipping until 1878. Until then, buoys were used to guide ships from the Fairway buoy (marking the channel entrance) through the channel towards Trinity Inlet, with a lantern on shore serving as a leading light at night. In 1884, Cairns was selected as the rail terminus for the Herberton tin fields and construction of the Tablelands rail line west was begun. This assisted the fortunes of the port and secured the future of the town. A timber railway wharf was built in 1886, connecting the wharf directly to the rail line into the hinterland. This chart shows the additions of wharves in the inset at top left and intended improvements of the harbour.
The line showing north going through Bessie Point on the eastern side of the harbour; a Hydrographic Survey Bench Mark was marked on a large boulder at Bessie Point, off Pine Creek-Yarrabah Road. The bench mark, was used to indicate the datum (low water ordinary spring tides) from which the depth of water in the harbour was calculated. This mark still exists.
Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID 7788713
National Library Australia: Bib ID 7788713
Edward Richard Connor (1846 - 1903)
Connor was born on 11 February 1846 at Blean, Kent; his parents were Alexander and Naomi Connor. Connor joined the Royal Navy (RN) in 1861 at the age of 15 years as a Master's Assistant, became a 2nd Master in 1866, and a Navigating Lieutenant in September 1872. From 1864 to 1879 he was engaged in the hydrographic service in the Mediterranean, the Channel, the Straits of Magellan and Qld. An obituary in The Adelaide Advertiser of 3 January 1903 reports that Edward served "two years of detached service on the east coast of Africa suppressing the slave trade. He was severely wounded in an engagement with the natives of Terra del Fuego, when an attack was made on the boats of HMS Nassau". His RN record shows that he served on the HMS Nassau from April 1866 to August 1869. Between 1870 and 1879 he served on HMS Clio, HMS Pearl and HMS Wolverene surveying the Queensland coast. In 1874 he was written up in his RN record for his "zeal and ability in surveying Torres Strait". He was appointed in 1878 to a commission to advise on improvements to the navigation of the northern entrance to Moreton Bay.
