Pacific Ocean, Sheet 9, Western Australia to Tasmania: [Western Australia to Tasmania 1857]

Pacific Ocean, Sheet 9, Western Australia to Tasmania
London, Published at the Admiralty February 27, (1857) under the superintendence of Capt. Washington R.N.F.R.S. Hydrographer.
Engraved by J. & C. Walker

Details:
two toned, stippled black and white engraving, beacons and lights in yellow and red, manuscript pencil charting from Melbourne west and north west
dimensions: 33 1/2 x 26 1/4 inches approx. sheet size
condition: professionally conserved, backed with Japanese tissue, some edge wear, stain in top right corner area, paper lightly toned otherwise good condition.

Description:

Brief Description:

This British working sea chart of the West Coast of Australia also labels the locations of South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and the island of Tasmania. The mountain ranges in New South Wales and Victoria are shown graphically, with height in feet. Other topographical features, such as the Torrens Basin and Stony Desert are located and labeled on the chart. Towns and cities, ports and other locations are identified, including Kangaroo Island. Perth, the major town on Australia's west coast is neighbored by small towns at long intervals. On the settled East Coast of Australia, Moreton Bay, Newcastle, and Melbourne are located and labeled accompanied by red and yellow "rev.Light" symbols.

This working sea chart is Sheet 9 of a larger Pacific Ocean series under the superintendence of John Washington, Hydrographer of the British Navy from 1855 to 1863, and earlier a founding member of the Royal Geographical Society in London. In 1856, the British Admiralty had twenty active survey parties, of which some were charting the south western region of the Pacific and the coast of China. 1/ Captain Washington assumed the office of Hydrographer from Sir Francis Beaufort, a decades long and legendary Royal Hydrographer.

The period leading up to 1857, the publication date of this chart was a time of record emigration to Australia and Tasmania. The manuscript pencil charting shows ship courses in or out Melbourne, Australia, heading West and North West towards China. This chart would have been useful both to merchants in the China trade and to passenger ships carrying emigrants from Germany, Britain, Scotland and other countries to Australia and to Tasmania where 15,000 migrants arrived between 1853 and 1857.2/ Private and government societies provided financial assistance to individuals, especially women and to families. One example, the Highland and Island Emigration Society of Scotland, assisted 5,000 individuals emigrate to Australia between 1952 and 1857.3/

For navigation, there are two compass roses. Magnetic variation is shown on the chart as curved lines that are corrected to 1855. The magnetic variation arcs engraved on the chart to the south stop at a horizontal line at 60° latitude on the chart scale in the margins. The Antarctic circle lies below this line.

Notes:

1/Memoirs of Hydrography between the Years 1750 and 1885, compiled by Comm. L.S. Dawson, R.N., Eastbourne, 1885.

2/ Maritime Museum of Tasmania, please see web www.maritimetas.org

3/ see, www.ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk