Walter PRESTON

English 1777–(after 1821)
worked in Australia 1812– (after 1821)

John EYRE

English 1847–1927

Port Jackson Harbour, in New South Wales, with a distant view of the Blue Mountains, 1812, documents the development of the young settlement, highlighting the beauty of the landscape and, importantly for prospective immigrants and investors, suggesting peaceful relations between the Indigenous people and the newcomers. Printed in Sydney by Absalom West, Port Jackson Harbour, in New South Wales, with a distant view of the Blue Mountains, is the earliest Australian-made print in the collection, a fact that emphasises just how far the infrastructure of the new colony had advanced since 1788. Like a number of Australia’s first artists, the engraver Walter Preston and the artist John Eyre are both known to have been in Sydney, convicted of highway robbery and housebreaking, and transported to the colonies in 1812 and 1801 respectively.

Kirsty M. Grant