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C1847
Panorama of Wellington, Port Nicholson, taken from Thorndon Flat.
Scarce colonial panorama by Samuel Charles Brees taken from the terrace in the garden of Dr George Samuel Evans, whose residence is shown in the left foreground. The first house below this on the hill at left, is that of … Read Full Description
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Details
Full Title:
Panorama of Wellington, Port Nicholson, taken from Thorndon Flat.
Date:
C1847
Condition:
Slight wear to centre fold, otherwise in good condition.
Technique:
Hand coloured engraving.
Image Size:
515mm
x 78mm
Paper Size:
535mm
x 120mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1847
Description:
Scarce colonial panorama by Samuel Charles Brees taken from the terrace in the garden of Dr George Samuel Evans, whose residence is shown in the left foreground.
The first house below this on the hill at left, is that of Mr Mocatta. Beyond that house, rather indistinctly, are the New Zealand Company’s Survey Offices, Stores, and the Emigration Houses; Messrs Clifford and Vavasour’s Establishment. The Hutt Valley is in the distance, with the Hutt Road shown at the left of the harbour. In the centre, the large group of buildings comprises the Supreme Courts, Major Richmond’s and the Government Offices; the Thistle Inn, Major Hornbrook’s Stores, &c., and a little further to the right, the back of Barrett’s may be seen by the side of the harbour. Further along is Mr Fox’s house (under a vessel sailing into Lambton Harbour; Colonel Wakefield’s residence, with the flagstaff, is a little further to the right, on rising ground, and at a greater distance. Passing on, the eye ranges down the beach to the house at Kuma Toto; Windy Point a little beyond, and Te Aro Flat in the distance. The large roof seen just to the right of Colonel Wakefield’s flag-staff, is the Church of England, and the foreground on this side is finished by the residence and grounds of Mr Chetham Strode, which joins Dr Evans’ premises. Ref: National Library NZ.
Collections:
Alexander Turnbull Library NZ: RefPUBL-0020-22-1
Samuel Charles Brees (1809 - 1865)
Samuel Brees arrived in Wellington in 1842 to fill the position of surveyor and civil engineer for the New Zealand Company. During his time in Wellington he was responsible for continuing the work of his predecessor, William Mein Smith, surveying the Karori Road and the hills surrounding Wellington Harbour. He oversaw the completion of the initial Wanganui and Manawatu surveys. In 1843 he led an exploratory journey to the southern Wairarapa through Upper Hutt and the Rimutaka range, and prepared the preliminary subdivisions of these areas. By August 1844, six months before Brees’s contract was due to expire, the New Zealand Company was in financial difficulties and was no longer able to pay him. Throughout his period as principal surveyor he had given as much of his spare time as possible to his favourite leisure activity of recording his surroundings in pencil and watercolour. The ending of his employment freed him to devote more time to painting, while he settled his affairs and arranged for his family’s return passage to England. He had produced a substantial portfolio of views of all the areas he had visited, particularly scenes in and around Wellington. These works would normally have become the property of the New Zealand Company, but the company waived its claim to them in the expectation that Brees would publish the sketches and be somewhat compensated for the loss of income he had suffered through the early termination of his contract. On 8 May 1845 Brees, with his wife, now four children, and a servant, sailed on the brig Caledonia for London. His drawings were superbly engraved by Henry Melville in London and remain an important record of early Colonial settlement in New Zealand.
![[A view of a perforated rock in Tolaga Bay in New Zealand]. Maori](https://i0.wp.com/antiqueprintmaproom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/075_web_a.jpg?fit=270%2C218&ssl=1 "[A view of a perforated rock in Tolaga Bay in New Zealand]. Maori")
