Laying the Foundation Stone of the Sill of the Fitz Roy Dry dock.

Rare c.19th engraving of the laying the foundation stone ceremony of the sill of the Fitzroy Dry Dock on Cockatoo Island.

On 3 February 1847, Gother Kerr Mann was appointed Civil Engineer in charge of construction of a dry dock at Cockatoo Island, with construction commencing during that year. However the foundation stone of its ashlar lining was not until laid on 5 June 1854 by Governor FitzRoy after the dock had been excavated to a depth of 52 feet below the land surface. The Illustrated Sydney News, which was published from 1853 to 1889 included a number of high quality engravings to illustrate the accompanying news and articles. It was issued on a monthly basis due to the time consuming process of having to engrave each illustration which would take an engraver between one and two weeks to make each one. Due to their ephemeral nature few have survived.

From the original edition of The Illustrated Sydney News.

References:
Gibbs & Shallard. Illustrated Sydney News. ISSN 2203-5397.

Collections:
State Library New South Wales: F8/39-40
State Library Victoria: PCINF SLVIC=1853-1872
National Library Australia: Bib ID 440095