Guide to the Charts of the Hydrographic Department (as filmed by the AJCP), 1769-1824

Summary

Collection number:

M406

Creator:

The Hydrographic Department

Extent:

131 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

The Hydrographic Department holds a vast collection of original and printed charts covering the world's seas and coastlines, including islands, reefs and nautical hazards. The charts produced on the voyages of Royal Navy surveying ships from the beginning of the nineteenth century until the present form the core of the collection. In addition, there are charts made on earlier voyages of exploration and voyages made by ships of the East India Company and other merchant ships.The 144 charts copied by the Australian Joint Copying Project and listed below are the earliest Australian and New Zealand charts held in the Hydrographic Department.

Biographical / Historical:

The Hydrographical Office of the Admiralty was created by an Order-in-Council of 12 August 1795 which stated that it would be responsible for 'the care of such charts, as are now in the office, or may hereafter be deposited' and for 'collecting and compiling all information requisite for improving Navigation, for the guidance of the commanders of His Majesty's ships'. Alexander Dalrymple, who had been Hydrographer to the East India Company since 1799, was appointed the first Hydrographer.In 1797 the Hydrographer's staff comprised an assistant, a draughtsman, three engravers and a printer. It remained a small office for much of the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, under Captain Thomas Hurd, who succeeded Dalrymple as Hydrographer in 1808, a regular series of marine charts were produced and in 1814 the first surveying vessels were commissioned. The first Catalogue of Admiralty Charts appeared in 1825. In 1817 the Australian-born navigator Phillip Parker King was supplied with instruments by the Hydrographic Department which he used on his surveying voyages on the Mermaid and the Bathurst.

Related

Existence and Location of Copies:

The original AJCP microfilm of the records filmed from this collection is available at the National Library of Australia [https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1179814] as well as other institutions holding AJCP microfilm.

The National Library of Australia and the State Library of New South Wales also hold copies of the Hydrographic Department's manuscript index to pre-1930 Australian and Pacific surveys (304pp), referred to as 'the curator's index'. These copies do not include the New Zealand surveys. The index provides some additional information about the charts, such as the scale and the shelf location of the originals and, in a few instances, the descriptions are more detailed. The copy in the National Library is held at MAP G5741.P5.

Existence and Location of Originals:

United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, (formerly Hydrographic Department) Taunton, Somerset, England. For further information see: the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office Archive (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-ukho-archive#archive-contents).

Conditions Governing Access:

Available for Access.

Conditions Governing Use:

Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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