Map Summary The Colony of Western Australia

The Colony of Western Australia, at the scale of just under 1:1 000 000, was the map which replaced the Discoveries in Western Australia plate. It took the same plate number, i.e. 36. It included the original five inset maps found in the Discoveries in Western Australia map but updated all and added one further inset of the Perth region at the centre right of the map. The map was printed from 1839 until 1863 in eight states, one of which extends the size of the map.

A further example of Arrowsmith employing additional map space is his use of an extension plate, this time to extend the map to the east to record the most recent exploration. A comparison of the plate sizes of the Discoveries title with its successor The Colony of Western Australia shows that the Discoveries plate measured 51.5 x 64.0 cm. and the Colony plate 55.0 x 64.0 cm. This 3.5 cm allowed Arrowsmith to extend his map northward as he additionally utilised the upper margin in order to acquire sufficient room to add the eight new counties north of Perth. The framework co-ordinates of the map were also adjusted by 3 minutes of a degree of latitude from 31º S to 30º 57'S thus providing the required northward extension. At the same time the longitudinal extent was enlarged by 2 minutes and the map's western longitude became 113º 43'E while the easternmost value became120º 03'E. In the Discoveries map these values were 113º 53'E and 120º 15'E.
Once the plate was adjusted the map went through a further eight states, and supplying such a wealth of detail, became the most important map available of this area. These alterations made the map extendable until Roe's 1848-49 explorations to the east along the south coast when the new information could only be shown by enlarging the original map. Arrowsmith did this by employing an extension plate to record the new detail east of 120º E, from 120º 00' to 123º 40'E. By the time of this last state Arrowsmith had virtually retired from business and the map was issued in an unfinished condition from his last address at 35 Hereford Square. In this state only the lower neat-line has been drawn while the right hand and top neat-lines are non existent. The longitudinal values are also missing from the top edge of the map. This extension plate gives a further 36 centimetres of width, the entire map measuring 98 cm in width. It is clear that Arrowsmith had access to more material than he could utilise within the confines of his Atlas dimensions.

It appears that the map was most probably first issued in the Atlas in 1839 and also in the same year in a book by Nathaniel Ogle which appeared in late 1839 (Ogle, N., 1839).

Published resources

Books

  • Ogle, Nathaniel, The colony of Western Australia : a manual for emigrants to that settlement or its dependencies : comprising its discovery, settlement, Aborigines, land-regulations, principles of colonial emigration, statistical, financial, and agricultural reports, also instructions and hints to settlers, directions for the anchorages, &c., with the most correct map extant, James Fraser, London, 1839. Details

Images

The Colony of Western Australia, 1839/1
Title
The Colony of Western Australia, 1839/1
Type
Map
Repository
State Library of Western Australia

Details

The Colony of Western Australia, 1839/2
Title
The Colony of Western Australia, 1839/2
Type
Map
Repository
National Library of Australia Map Collection

Details

The Colony of Western Australia, 1839/2
Title
The Colony of Western Australia, 1839/2
Type
Map
Repository
National Library of Australia Map Collection

Details

The Colony of Western Australia, 1839/3
Title
The Colony of Western Australia, 1839/3
Type
Map
Repository
National Library of Australia Map Collection

Details

The Colony of Western Australia, 1839/4 (<em>1842</em>)
Title
The Colony of Western Australia, 1839/4 (1842)
Type
Map
Repository
National Library of Australia Map Collection

Details

The Colony of Western Australia, 1843/1
Title
The Colony of Western Australia, 1843/1
Type
Map
Repository
National Library of Australia Map Collection

Details

The Colony of Western Australia, 1856/1 (<em>no date</em>)
Title
The Colony of Western Australia, 1856/1 (no date)
Type
Map
Repository
National Library of Australia Map Collection

Details

The Colony of Western Australia, 1856/2
Title
The Colony of Western Australia, 1856/2
Type
Map
Repository
National Library of Australia Map Collection

Details

The Colony of Western Australia, 1863/1
Title
The Colony of Western Australia, 1863/1
Type
Map
Repository
National Library of Australia Map Collection

Details

Dorothy F. Prescott