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C1878
QLD-Plan of the Roadstead of Port Douglas Island Point Surveyed by Navg. Lieut. E.R.Connor. R.N. 1878.
Mapmaker:
The first printed map of Port Douglas from the surveys of Edward Richard Connor (1846-1903) in 1878. Port Douglas township was established in 1877 after the discovery of gold at Hodgkinson River by James Venture Mulligan. Many miners had relocated … Read Full Description
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Full Title:
QLD-Plan of the Roadstead of Port Douglas Island Point Surveyed by Navg. Lieut. E.R.Connor. R.N. 1878.
Date:
C1878
Mapmaker:
Condition:
In good condition, with folds as issued. Laid on archival linen.
Technique:
Hand coloured lithograph.
Image Size:
520mm
x 610mm
Paper Size:
568mm
x 620mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1878
Description:
The first printed map of Port Douglas from the surveys of Edward Richard Connor (1846-1903) in 1878.
Port Douglas township was established in 1877 after the discovery of gold at Hodgkinson River by James Venture Mulligan. Many miners had relocated from the Palmer River goldfields to the Hodgkinson field and as the Hodgkinson field was too far from the port at Cooktown, a new port was established at Cairns. However, it was a very steep trip up through the Barron Gorge to reach Cairns and so explorer Christy Palmerston successfully searched for an easier track (known as the Bump Track) down the Great Dividing Range to the coast leading to the creation of Port Douglas.
The Port Douglas Post Office opened on 1 September 1877. It grew quickly, and at its peak Port Douglas had a population of 12,000 and 27 hotels. With the construction of the Mulligan Highway it serviced towns as far away as Herberton.
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.
