Caroline Simpson Collection

View of part of the town of Parramatta, in New South Wales, taken from the north side of the river / drawn by J. Eyre, engraved by P. Slaeger

Slaeger, Philip
Eyre, John, 1771-?

1812/1813

1 engraving : hand coloured : plate-mark: 26.7 x 41.2 cm.

Titled below image: View of part of the town of Parramatta, in New South Wales / taken from the north side of the river. 'No. 12' at top left of image. Attribution immediately below image: Drawn by J. Eyre [left]; Engraved by P. Slaeger [right] Dedication and publication statement at bottom of sheet: 'Dedicated to His Excellency Lachlan Macquarie Esq. Governor of New South Wales &c &c &c / Published Nov 30th 1812 by A. West, Sydney. Collector's stamp: 'A. ATKIN / BLACKBURN' lower right

Parramatta (N.S.W.)
colonial settlements
topographical views

Views in New South Wales

This engraving is a hand-coloured version of view no. 12 of a set of 12 'Views in New South Wales' published in Sydney in January 1813 by emancipated convict Absalom West, the 2nd of a 2 views of the town of Parramatta. West placed a notice in the Sydney Gazette on 7 November 1812 announcing the forthcoming publication of 'a select collection of beautiful views of New South Wales drawn and engraved by artists of superior abilities resident in this colony'. The views were to be published on 30 November but publication was delayed "owing to the sudden indisposition of one of the persons employed in their completion" and they were not ready for delivery until 1 January 1813 (Sydney Gazette 5 Dec 1812; 2 Jan 1813]
The 'artists of superior abilities resident in this colony' had all, like West, arrived in NSW as convicts. John Eyre was convicted of housebreaking at Coventry Assizes in March 1799 and sentenced to 7 years transportation, arriving in NSW on the Canada in December 1801. He received a conditional pardon in June 1801 and a Certificate of Freedom in 1811, five years after the expiry of his sentence. In August 1812 he announced his intention to leave the colony. Philip Slaeger, or Slegar, engraver, was tried at the Kent Gaol delivery in Maidstone in March 1805, sentenced to transportation for 7 years for housebreaking & stealing apparel and arrived in Sydney on the convict transport Duke of Portland in 1807. He received his Certificate of Freedom in March 1812. [MM, March 2020]

A. Atkin, Blackburn; Sotheby's Fine Australian Paintings, 19th April 1993 (Melbourne), lot 304; Caroline Simpson Collection, Clydebank (1993-2003).

Museum of Sydney ; MOS2007/29-11

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Picture

55956