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Sydney Harbour History
History
More than a couple of centuries ago, on January 26, 1788, Captain Arthur Philip anchored and set foot on the shores of a bay and raised the Union Jack. The bay was stretching far enough into the land and was considered safe for anchorage and he called it the Sydney Cove. Eighteen years prior to this, Captain James Cook had sailed north from Botany Bay but not venturing into the harbour, perhaps intimidated by the sandstone cliffs that stretched a mile in width and stood as sentinel at the entrance to the harbour. He named the harbour Port Jackson after Sir George Jackson, the then Second Secretary to the Admiralty.
Sydney Cove was the name given by Governor Phillip after Lord Sydney, then Home Secretary. Lord Sydney traced his roots to a farm at Alford in the thirteenth century named “Sidney.” The word means “wide, well-watered land” and was considered an apt choice of a name for the harbour.
The Sydney Cove was considered a better place for habitation because of the availability of fresh water, the Tank Stream, which was not to be said of Botany Bay which did not have adequate fresh water resources.
Captain Phillip ventured into Port Jackson on January 21 and explored the harbour calling it ‘the bay of hundred coves.’ Not long after the discovery of the harbour, efforts were begun for the charting of the harbour. The endless endeavours of the officers and the tireless toils of the convicts later transformed the harbour to a place befitting for habitation. In 1792, on his return to England, when Governor Phillip handed over office to Governor John Hunter, Australia had an established colony of 4000 settlers.
