(Redirected from Dawes Point)
'Dawes Point' is an inner-city
suburb of
Sydney, in the state of
New South Wales,
Australia. It is located on the north-eastern edge of the
Sydney central business district, at the southern end of
Sydney Harbour Bridge, adjacent to
The Rocks. It is part of the
local government area of the
City of Sydney. The postcode is 2000.
History
The area was originally known by the Aboriginal names of Tarra and Tullagalla. This was later changed to Point Maskelyne in honour of
Reverend Dr Nevil Maskelyne, British
Astronomer Royal. He sent out the first astronomical instruments which were established at the point in the country's first observatory, by
Lieutenant William Dawes (1762-1836),
astronomer with the
First Fleet. The point was renamed in honour of Dawes. The current
Sydney Observatory building on Observatory Hill was completed in 1858.
It was also the site of the first guns mounted in Sydney by Dawes in 1788 and contained Sydney's first
cemetery.
References
★ ''The Book of Sydney Suburbs'', Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8
External links