First edition of this large scale map of the settled portions of New South Wales and Victoria, named Australia Felix, with the tracks of the following inland explorers; Mitchell, Streletsky’s, Tyers and Townsend, showing the original nineteen counties in New South Wales.
The nineteen counties were defined by Governor Darling’s Government in 1826. In addition, the new county of Macquarie created in 1830 and named in honour of Governor Lachlan Macquarie (1762–1824) is shown but not delineated. The limits of the colony of New South Wales where settlers were permitted to take up land was only within these Governments defined, Nineteen Counties, and limits to settlement were due to the dangers in the wilderness. They were defined by the Governor of New South Wales Ralph Darling in 1826 in accordance with a government order from Lord Bathurst, the Secretary of State. Counties had been used since the first year of settlement, with Cumberland County being proclaimed on 6th June 1788 and several others were later proclaimed around the Sydney area. Darling proclaimed the division of the settlement into Nineteen Counties in the Sydney Gazette of 17 October 1829. From 1831 the granting of free land ceased and the only land that was to be made available for sale was within these listed Nineteen Counties. The area covered by the limit, extended to Taree in the north, Moruya River in the south and Wellington to the West.
The names of the Nineteen Counties were; Argyle, Bathurst, Bligh, Brisbane, Cook, Cumberland, Durham, Georgiana, Gloucester, Hunter, King, Murray, Northumberland, Phillip, Roxburgh, St Vincent, Westmoreland, Wellington.
From: Johnston, A.K. The National Atlas of Historical, Commercial and Political Geography, constructed from the Most Recent and Authentic Sources
References:
Phillips, P. A List of Geographical Atlases in the Library of Congress. Washington 1973: 799.
Tooley, R.V. The Mapping of Australia. London 1979: 756
Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID 1990247 [1854?]
State Library Victoria: Record ID 9936588333607636
National Library New Zealand: MapColl -f100a 1855 51133 (1855)
Stanford Library: G1019 .J63 1855 FF [1854]
David Rumsey Collection: 0373A (1860)
Library of Congress Washington D.C.: CALL NUMBER G1019 .J58 1857
