[AUSTRALIA-VIC] Port Phillip Surveyed by Lieutenants T.M. Symonds and H.R. Henry of H.M.S. Rattlesnake 1836 with a Subsequent Survey of the Entrance Channel by Commander I.C. Wickham in H.M.S. Beagle 1842

Extremely rare and important chart of Port Phillip Bay, published 18th June, 1838, by the Hydrographic Office, London, this edition with additions to 1842, on 1855 Whatman watermarked paper.  Of all the Australian ports, Port Phillip Bay after the discovery of gold in 1851 was by far the busiest Australian port. The Hydrographic Office realised the absolute necessity in having accurate charts for safe navigation to and from Australia.

The Victorian Gold Discovery Committee wrote in 1854:

The discovery of the Victorian Goldfields has converted a remote dependency into a country of worldwide fame; it has attracted a population, extraordinary in number, with unprecedented rapidity; it has enhanced the value of property to an enormous extent; it has made this the richest country in the world; and, in less than three years, it has done for this colony the work of an age, and made its impulses felt in the most distant regions of the earth.

Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID 3791304
State Library NSW: Call Numbers Z/Charts G 821.01/1 (1842)