Page 9 - 1978 NAB Calendar Early Australian Maritime Life Part Two

ADMIRALTY HOUSE FROM CIRCULAR QUAY

Blackburn, later Town Surveyor of Melbourne, designed the church beside it, which dates
MARCH
This view shows in the distance Admiralty House on Kirribilli Point, New South Wales. from 1836. The spire seen here fell off in 1875, but much of the original stonework has been
Bennelong Point and part of the towers of Fort Macquarie are in the foreground. restored.
The long building to the right of the centre of the work is the penitentiary. This four storey
Admiralty House’ has a very interesting history. The site was bought in 1806 by Robert
building housing 657 men was completed in 1848. It was constructed on a grand scale and
Campbell, Sydney’s first merchant. In 1842 Campbell leased the land to Lieutenant-
elegantly furnished; indeed it was said to be “more like a mansion than a house of
Colonel J. G. N. Gibbes, the Collector of Customs, for 21 years at a rental of £30. Gibbes
correction”. Today it is one of the settlement’s most impressive ruins.
erected what was described as a “very superior building’’ on the site and was ble to re-
cover the cost from Campbell. In 1849, three years after Campbell’s death, the property On the hill to the left stands the sandstone powder magazine, which served as a look-out
was sold to Gibbes for £760. post and guard centre. It was flanked by twin store watch towers. Between the magazine and
the penitentiary are army barracks, officers’quarters, the court, library and the hospital.
When Thomas Cadell bought the premises by auction for £5.050 in 1874. Wotonaa. as it
was then called. completed by convict labour between 1833 and 1844. Although the This engraving is after an original drawing by the English painter John Skinner Prout, who
settlement closed in 1877, its construction was so solid that much of the stonework was born in 1806 and died in 1876. Prout lectured and painted in Sydney after his arrival
remains. Port Arthur is now one of Tasmania’s major tourist attractions.On the extreme there in 1840, then went to Hobart in 1844. While there, he organized Australia’s first art
right of the engraving stands Government Cottage, where the Governor and his exhibition. He travelled and worked in Victoria before his return to England in 1849. The
entourage came for relaxation. It was noted for its fine English gardens. James original drawing was probably completed during Prout’s period in Tasmania, although the
Page 9ustralia illustrated (1874-76)’.
Click on link to return to contents page engraving was published much later in Booth’s ‘A
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