Important and rare, early c.19th hand coloured engraved view of Sydney Cove (Circular Quay) taken from from Bennelong Point looking west by the convict artist Walter Preston (1777-?).
The new two-storeyed military hospital and the tall smock-mill to the right, balance the new Rum Hospital and Palmer’s Mill to the left. McCormick
Wallis an amateur artist of considerable ability, was appointed captain on 19 December 1811 and arrived in Sydney with the 46th Regiment to relieve the 73rd, Macquarie’s regiment, in the transport General Hewitt, arriving on February 1814. On 1 June 1816 he was appointed to relieve Lieutenant Thompson as commandant at Newcastle at a salary of £136, and on 8 June embarked in the brig Lady Nelson with a detachment of his regiment. He immediately implemented new regulations and, through stringent discipline, curtailed the prevailing laxity. He also began constructing new public and governmental buildings. When Governor Macquarie visited Newcastle in 1818 he was impressed by Wallis’s building activity. His influence was of profound importance on the developing settlement at Newcastle.
In December 1818, Wallis was relieved by Captain James Morisset of the 48th Regiment. He reached Sydney on 9 January 1819 and on 3 March sailed in the transport Tottenham to join his regiment in India. He proceeded to England and in 1820 and supervised the publication of An Historical Account of The Colony of New South Wales and its Dependent Settlements.
From: Wallis, J. An Historical Account of The Colony of New South Wales and its Dependent Settlements; in Illustration of Twelve Views, Engraved By W. Preston, a Convict, from Drawings Taken on the Spot
References:
Wantrup, J. Australian Rare Books. Sydney, 1987 : 288.
Ferguson, J. A. Bibliography of Australia Volumes 1-8, Canberra 1976 : 842.
McCormick, T. First Views of Australia 1788-1825. Sydney 1987 : 145, 148 – 151, and pp. 309.
Hunt, S. & Davidson, G. Sydney Views 1788-1888: from the BEAT KNOBLAUCH collection. Sydney 2007 : : 77, ill. p.110.
Collections:
British Museum London: Registration number 1873,0809.1419-1431
Museums of History NSW / Caroline Simpson: Record number: 54147
National Gallery Victoria: Accession Number 2010.322
National Gallery Australia: LEGACY ID 145180
References:
McCormick, T. First Views of Australia 1788-1825. Sydney 1987 : 149.
Ferguson, J. A. Bibliography of Australia Volumes 1-8, Canberra 1976 : 842.
Wantrup, J. Australian Rare Books. Sydney, 1987 : 217B / pp.285-289.
Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID 2997328
Australian National Maritime Museum: Object No.97/212/1
British Museum London: 1873,0809.1419-1431
