Goat Island, Sydney Harbour. Skinner Prout early view, c1874

$125.00

Antique print, Sydney Harbour Goat Island National Park – as it was in 1874. In the foreground is a cow, looking at people sitting on the ground. There are very few buildings around at the time this scene was sketched by Skinner Prout.

Goat Island was known as Me-mel by the local Cadigal people, and Bennelong and Barangaroo both lived there. After the arrival of the First Fleet from Britain in 1788, the island was used as a home for convict work gangs and as a gunpowder storage depot.  In 1789 Governor Phillip created a "Row Boat Guard" to patrol Sydney cover for smugglers and convicts attempting to escape. They were also used to pass letters to ships anchored in the harbour. By 1830 Goat Island was the site of the first water police station as well as the harbour fire brigade. It then served as a shipyard. It is now Goat Island National Park, with organized tours.

Original steel engraving by John Saddler (fl. 1850-1879) from a watercolour by John Skinner Prout (1806-1876) for Edwin Carton Booth's Australia, illustrated with engravings from drawings by eminent English topographical artists, Skinner Prout, Nicholas Chevalier, James Charles (J.C.) Armytage and others" published in England circa 1874 by Virtue & Company.

This engraving is in good condition, with fine later hand-colour. Wide margins, as published. Page size is 210 x 270mm (approx 8 1/4 x 10 5/8 inches). Image: 120 x 180mm (4 3/4  x 5 1/8 inches).