Point Hicks
| Point Hicks (Tolywiarar) | |
| Cape Everard | |
| Headland | |
| Name origin: In honour of Lieutenant Zachary Hickes | |
| Country | Australia |
|---|---|
| State | Victoria |
| Regions | South East Corner (IBRA), East Gippsland |
| Local government area | Shire of East Gippsland |
| Building | Point Hicks Lighthouse |
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Discovered by | James Cook |
| - date | 19 April 1770 |
| National parks | Croajingolong NP, Point Hicks Marine NP |
  Location of Point Hicks in Victoria
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| [1] | |
Point Hicks or Tolywiarar (formerly called Cape Everard), is a coastal headland in the East Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia, located within the Croajingolong National Park. The point is marked by the Point Hicks Lighthouse that faces the Tasman Sea.
Etymology
The traditional custodians of the land surrounding Point Hicks are the Australian Aboriginal Bidhawal and Gunaikurnai peoples who called the point Tolywiarar.[1][3]
The coastal area near Point Hicks lies on the north-eastern coast of Victoria, Australia. It was the first land ever sighted and recorded by Europeans on the East Coast of Australia (then known as New Holland). The sighting took place at first light [4] on 20 April 1770 by Lieutenant Zachary Hicks aboard James Cook's Endeavour. This was the first of Cook's three voyages to the Pacific, and the sighting came after 19 days' westward sailing following the Endeavour leaving New Zealand on its homeward journey. Cook recorded in his ship's Journal that it was Hicks who first saw land,[5] and that later that day he (Cook) named a far-off point after Hicks: "I have named it Point Hicks, because Lieutenant Hicks was the first who discover'd this Land.".[6] This was confirmed by Aaron Arrowsmith's 1798 Chart of the Pacific Ocean, clearly showing Cook's Point Hicks. (Hicks did not survive the return voyage but died on board soon after the Endeavour left the Cape.)
George Bass sailed past the area at the end of 1797, in an open whale-boat and was unable to identify the point.[7] Although Matthew Flinders sailed past the area in 1798-99 and again in 1802-03, the coastal area near Point Hicks was always out of Flinders’ visual range. Therefore, it did not appear on any of Matthew Flinders published charts. The name Point Hicks was still being used on maps[8] up until 1840, before being replaced and renamed Cape Everard. The first use of the new name has been attributed to hydrographer John Lort Stokes who surveyed the coast in the Beagle in 1843. It is presumed he named it after fellow naval officer James Everard Home.[2] Stokes' maps don't record the name, but many secondary sources attribute its introduction to him. The first known chart showing Cape Everard was published by surveyor George Douglas Smythe, made in 1852 and published in 1853. If he coined the name, then according to one theory he may have been referring to William Everard, commissioner of crown lands (though no record of that Everard has been found). The name Cape Everard was then adopted from 1853 up until the early 1900s, until more historical information became readily available. Cook estimated the coordinates of his Point Hicks (from a great distance) to be located at: (Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.) Cook's estimated coordinates of a point on his southern horizon was not correct.
Despite the adopted use of the name Point Everard to designate the promontory, Cook's original name was recorded on an obelisk-shaped monument erected by the Australian Government on the site in 1924.[9] [2]:n30 The inscription on the landward side of the monument reads:[10]
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"Lieutenant James Cook, R.N. Of the Endeavour, First Sighted Australia Near This Point, Which He Named Point Hicks After Lieutenant Zachary Hicks Who First Saw the Land. April 19th (Ship's Log Date). April 20th (Calendar Date). 1770."[11]
On the seaward side of the monument is a plaque listing the "Ship's Company of H.M. Bark Endeavour April 20th 1770".[2]:n30
Cook's name, Point Hicks, was once again established as part of the bicentenary of Cook's 1770 voyage, along the East Coast of Australia . Victorian Premier Henry Bolte proclaimed the new name in a ceremony at the point on 20 April 1970.
See also
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Moorehead, Alan (1968) "The Fatal Impact - An Account of the Invasion of the South Pacific 1767-1840", Penguin Books Australia Ltd., Victoria, Australia, p. 130
- ↑ "The Land of New Holland" from Parkinson's manuscript Journal dated 29/4/1770
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Map by The Society for the diffusion of useful knowledge published in 1840
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Note that, in keeping with the usual custom, Cook recorded entries in his Journal according to Ship Time, where the day runs from midday of the date of the entry to midday of the following day. Thus, Cook's entry for the sighting of land by Hicks is for 19 April and Hicks sighted land, by the civil reckoning, on the morning of 20 April. (Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.)
External links
- Point Hicks lighthouse at SeaSide Lights
- Point Hicks page at Geoscience Australia
