Early British explorations of New South Wales.Following Captain James Cook's landing at Botany Bay in 1770 and his subsequently claiming of Australia for the British Crown, a fleet of eleven ships landed at Sydney Cove on 26 Janary 1788 to found a settlement. There were convicts who were to form the core of the colony's work force, naval officers and surgeons who were charged with administering the new colony, seamen waiting to sail home (or in a few cases to settle in the new colony) and marines and their officers who were expected to police the colony (although there was some dispute about this role). As Sydney Cove proved to be inauspicious ground for the growing of food crops or the raising of cattle, it very soon became urgent that better land be found. Prospect Hill, though about thirty kilometres (19 miles) west of the Sydney Cove settlement, featured prominently in the early history of New South Wales. Governor Phillip's Expedition to Belle Vue, April 1788After a short exploration at the nothern end of Port Jackson near Manly (See quotation), Governor Phillip led an exploration west from Sydney Cove in April 1788. He reached the head of the tidal river, where the settlement of Rose Hill would be established later that year, and continued westwards for another couple of days. Here the party climbed a small hill which Phillip named Belle Vue, from which the Blue Mountains, then called the Carmarthen Hills, were thought to be about thirty miles distant. (See quotations by Phillip, unknown and White). The settlement at Rose Hill, November 1788Within a few months of their arrival, the settlers at Sydney Cove, convicts and marines alike, were facing the prospect of starvation. The ground was not at all suitable for cultivation of crops and, since their cattle had all escaped and were not found until some years later, there was no manure to improve the soil. The decision had been taken to start a new settlement near the head of the tidal harbour at a site which the April expedition had seen. The settlement of Rose Hill was established on 3rd November 1788, the name later (on 2nd June 1791) being changed to Parramatta. (See quotations by Phillip, unknown and King). Exploration of the Hawkesbury River, June 1789The following year Governor Philip led an expedition by boat up the Hawkesbury, reaching Richmond Hill which he had seen from "Belle Vue" in April 1788. A description of this exploration based on Phillip's report of it was written by Lieutenant Watkin Tench, although he did not take part, and indeed appears to have been upset not to have done so. Tench appears to be much the best-read and literary of the contemporary writers on the early explorations. (See quotation). Watkin Tench’s expedition via Prospect Hill, 26 June 1789While Phillip's party were exploring the Hawkesbury, Lieutenant Tench was stuck at the outpost at Rose Hill. He decided to explore westwards himself, mounting a small four-man expedition which left Rose Hill on 26 June 1789. In describing this expedition, Tench made several allusions to Milton's Paradise Lost. In describing his ascent of the “hill, distant five miles, in a westerly or inland direction,” Tench refers to Milton's “wild abyss.” Also in Paradise Lost is a reference to a "goodly prospect":
As when a Scout While there is no documentary evidence of Tench having named Prospect Hill, there is little doubt that it is in fact the hill that was shortly afterwards known by that name. And in view of Tench's literary allusions to Paradise Lost, it seems highly probable that the experience of climbing it reminded him of the "goodly prospect of some forein land first-seen" by Milton's scout and that it was indeed Tench who first named it. Tench did not refer to it as Belle Vue, the name Phillip had given to the hill he had climbed the previous year. He can hardly have been unaware of Phillip's exploration. A traditional view has nevertheless been perpetuated that Belle Vue and Prospect Hill are one and the same. I can find no basis for this in contemporary reports written by those taking part in the explorations and their close associates. I would not wish to imply that there is certainty that Tench was the first European to climb Prospect Hill. The settlement at Rose Hill had been established for nearly eight months and it is quite possible that someone had ventured out from there to explore such a prominent landmark just eight kilometres away across easy country. But Tench's party were, by his own account, the first Europeans to see and explore beyond it - the "forein land first-seen." Moreover Tench was the first to record his ascent and, as I have argued, is probably the one who gave the hill its present name. Historian Michael Flynn has also commented on Watkin Tench's allusions to Milton's Paradise Lost. (See quotation). The walk to Prospect Hill, April 1790The first use of the name Prospect Hill that I can find was in Philip Gidley King's description of a visit to Parramatta ten months after Tench's ascent. King (later to be Governor of New South Wales) was spending two weeks in New South Wales while en route from Norfolk Island to England. He described a visit to Parramatta (then still called Rose Hill) on 9th April 1790, which included an after-dinner walk with Governor Phillip and an Aboriginal man, Bennelong, to Prospect Hill, a distance of about four miles through pleasant open country resembling parkland. He describes Prospect Hill as a small elevation with extensive views to the south and west. (See quotation). During the walk, it seems probable that Bennelong mentioned the Aboriginal names of eight places in the space of the four miles from Parramatta to Prospect Hill. The names are recorded both in King's contribution to Hunter's book and in a manuscript notebook now known as Notebook C, where they were written down by Phillip. According to King, Bennelong "walks about constantly with the governor" at this time. However Bennelong was from a "coastal" indigenous group, whereas this was the country of the Burremattegal or the Bidgegal (Bediagal), who were "woods" groups. The question therefore arises as to whether Bennelong would have such detailed knowledge of the area. He could have acquired such information from local people of course but there seems no reason why Governor Phillip should not have himself befriended local people who provided the information. It is not recorded that the information was provided on the occasion of the walk with King. In fact King makes no mention of anyone being present but himself and Phillip. It is known that King borrowed the Notebook containing the information. Suggestions that Dawes was present during the walk are likewise not backed up by contemporary writers. It has been established that Dawes was not the author of Notebook C and there seems no evidence that he was in the walk party. (See quotation) The notebook known as Notebook C is written in three different hands, probably those of David Collins, Arthur Phillip and John Hunter, and records the aboriginal names of eight places from Rose Hill to Prospect Hill. These entries may have been made on the occasion of Phillip and King's walk of 9th April 1790, the most likely author being Phillip himself. (See quotation). The pages of the notebook are undated but fortuitously it can be dated to 1790 at the latest, since Philip Gidley King refers in his journal notes written 1788 to 1790 to having borrowed and copied from it (See quotation). It is clear from Watkin Tench's own hand that he climbed Prospect Hill on 26 June 1789 although he does not name it in his description of the expedition. It may have been climbed by occupants of the Rose Hill redoubt before that, but there is no record of this. It seems likely that Tench named the hill although the contemporary record is silent on the matter. What is clear however, both from King's description of his walk with Phillip in April 1790 and from the entry in Notebook C, is that knowledge of Prospect Hill and the use of its name had become established within the community of British colonists by April 1790.
|