Within Australia
All orders ship freewithin Australia
Rest of the World
Orders over A$300
ship free worldwide
C1878
Plan of Cairns Harbour Trinity Bay Surveyed by Navg. Liet. E.R.Connor. R.N.
Mapmaker:
Very rare map of Cairns from the first Hydrographic survey of the harbour by Lieutenant Edward Richard Connor. Note the line showing north going through Bessie Point on the eastern side of the harbour; a Hydrographic Survey Bench Mark was … Read Full Description
Sold
S/N: PP-QLD-1878C-1085A-PPAP–191680
(RW02-B)
Free Shipping
See Shipping page for Terms & Conditions
Details
Full Title:
Plan of Cairns Harbour Trinity Bay Surveyed by Navg. Liet. E.R.Connor. R.N.
Date:
C1878
Mapmaker:
Condition:
In good condition, folds as issued, laid onto archival linen.
Technique:
Hand coloured lithograph.
Image Size:
675mm
x 875mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1878
Description:
Very rare map of Cairns from the first Hydrographic survey of the harbour by Lieutenant Edward Richard Connor. Note 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.
Although ships delivered freight and passengers to Cairns from October 1876 and the town was surveyed the same year, 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
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.
