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  3. The mouth of the Tank Stream in Sydney Cove c1803

The mouth of the Tank Stream in Sydney Cove c1803

By
George William Evans (attributed)
From the collections of the
State Library of New South Wales
[XV1/c1803/1]
(Detail of [Sydney from the western side of the Cove, ca1803], Mitchell Library)

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Colonial architecture Housing Rivers and Catchments Ship building
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Sydney Cove Tank Stream
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Bridge Street Underwood's shipyard
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Tank Stream bridge

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Evans, George William (attributed)

State Library of New South Wales

Rivers and Catchments

Ship building

Colonial architecture

Housing

Tank Stream

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The fresh water course which supplied the fledgling colony, emptying into Sydney Cove. It was named for three storage tanks which were constructed in the sandstone beside the stream during a drought in 1790. By 1828 the stream had been polluted to such an extent that it could no longer be used as a source of water and was diverted into a sewer, and by the 1870s it had been completely covered. The Tank Stream still flows in a covered storm water drain.

Underwood's shipyard

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Successful early shipyard at the mouth of the Tank Stream in Sydney Cove which was run by James Underwood, a former convict who later diversified from shipbuilding to become a successful merchant, sealer and distiller. The land grant ran from George Street through to the stream. Underwood extended the land by reclaiming part of the estuary for the yard prior to 1807. He built a ‘commodious and comfortable’ flat-roofed Regency house facing the street, and warehouses. The house had a turret, and walk on the roof looking towards Sydney Cove.

Sydney Cove

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Small bay on the southern shore of Port Jackson, which became the site for the European settlement in Sydney.

Bridge Street

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Street in the centre of the city that runs from Macquarie to George Streets that was named for the bridge across the Tank Stream. The town was both physically and socially divided by the stream. On the eastern side was the Governor's house and tents of the civil establishment and to the west, the makeshift barracks of the military and convicts. The timber log bridge built in October 1788 was replaced by a stone bridge in 1803.

Tank Stream bridge

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Bridge across the Tank Stream that divided early Sydney. The first timber log bridge was built by convicts in October 1788 and improved in April 1792 after it had been damaged. In the middle of 1803 construction of a stone bridge to replace the timber bridge began, and was completed in 1804 by stonemason Isaac Peyton. The workmanship was poor and the bridge collapsed later in the year, requiring rebuilding. By 1811 the bridge had been widened, with numerous modifications to follow. By 1860 the stream, now little more than a foetid sewer, had been covered over.