At the first mention of the word “Denison” we immediately think of Fort Denison. I am sure that the builders of our complex had a former governor in mind when naming the building.
William Denison, KBC
William Thomas Denison was born in London on May 3, 1804. He was sent to Eton for his education and at age 15 entered the Royal Military Academy. He received his commission in the Royal Engineers in 1826. From 1827 to 1846 he served with the Royal Engineers in Canada and England. During this period he won the Telford Medal and became an Associate of the Institute of Civil Engineers.
William Denison was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen’s Land in 1846 and that same year he was knighted.
On January 20, 1855 he was appointed Governor of New South Wales. This appointment also made him Governor General of all the colonies in Australia. The following year, 1856, he was awarded the K C B.
London gave him the unenviable task of preparing the colony for responsible self government. Slowly the colony of NSW started to administer its own affairs. This left time for Denison to concentrate on public works such as roads, bridges and defence. Of particular interest was fortification work on an island in the harbour that was started then postponed during the Crimean war.
The island was first used by the local aboriginals. It was then only a large rock, standing 40 m above sea level. In 1788 the First Fleet used the small island, called Rock Island, as a punishment for the most troublesome prisoners. The first use of the island as a prison was on February 8, 1788 when Thomas Hill was sentenced to a week on short rations for theft of food.
William Denison restarted the old fortification work. Many thousands of tons of stone were transported to build the Martello Tower. Such a tower was then state-of-the-art of defence. The fort was completed in 1857. However, the fort was never used to protect the colony and was used only as a store. Denison was appointed Governor of Madras in 1860 and left NSW on January 22, 1861.
He held this appointment until 1866. Sir William Denison was married with 13 children. He died on January 19, 1871 in London.
The seafaring fraternity of Sydney who pass by this imposing piece of 1800 circa stone work have Sir William Denison to thank for one of Sydney’s best recognised landmarks.
This is the final excerpt from Abbotsford Cove Community Centre website, written by Don Coulter. Special thanks to his wife for allowing us to publish these interesting articles.
Just a reminder that our June speaker, Ian Burnet, will be talking about his new book, The Tasman Map. It delves into the story of the first Dutch voyages to Australia, set against the background of the struggle of the newly formed Dutch Republic to gain its independence from the Kingdom of Spain and the…
Peter Whittaker was born in 1868 in Altrincham, Wilmslow, England. He arrived in Brisbane in March 1891, where he joined the Royal Australian Artillery the following year. In 1904 he resigned with the rank of Corporal. He married Blanche Bushell in 1898. They had four children – two sons, Eugene and Norman, and two daughters,…
Soft Drinks: These days, we don’t give much thought to soft drinks. They come in metal cans or they come in plastic bottles, we open them, we drink them, we burp, we throw them away. We think of them as modern inventions. But they’re not, are they? Back in the old days, soft drinks were…
He was an Australian photographer and adventurer. He is best remembered for his graphic photographs taken when he participated in a number of expeditions to Antarctica and served as an official photographer with Australian forces during both world wars. His artistic style produced many memorable images. He also used staged scenes, composites and photographic manipulation. ANTARCTIC EXPEDITIONS In…
Why is the wreck of this ship being remembered in the Australian maritime history books all these years later? Because it remains one of the worst maritime disasters in Australian history resulting in the tragic loss of 89 lives, mostly due to cold and exposure. They were in sight of land but unable to reach…
Alexander Vindex Vennard (1884-1947), collected yarns, ballads and anecdotes about bush life, which were published for about twenty-five years in a regular column ‘On the Track’ for the “North Queensland Register” and “Townsville Daily Bulletin”. He adopted the pseudonym ‘Bill Bowyang’ after the straps buckled over trousers below the knees. The following article was written…