Pass of Victoria, 1832 - Mount Victoria, NSW, Australia
S 33° 34.992 E 150° 14.390
56H E 243827 N 6280641
On one of the faces of the base of the column, that is "Mitchells Ridge" Trigonometric Station (TS3138), there is a white marble plaque, for the Opening of 'Victoria Pass' on 23 October, 1832
Waymark Code: WMXC8E
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 12/25/2017
Views: 5
The white marble plaque on the Mitchells Ridge column (just off of the Great Western Highway as it descends Victoria Pass) reads:
PASS OF VICTORIA.
-------
Constructed under the Direction of
Sir Thomas Livingston Mitchell
Surveyor-General
Opened by Governor Sir Richard Bourke
October 23, 1832
R.A.H.S.
Coxs Road had been Opened in 1815, but all reports of that time describe it as STEEP, and rather impractical for wheeled vehicles. So another route was surveyed, and planned. The 'Pass Of Victoria' was worked through in a different area to Coxs Road, and it has gained considerable interest by engineers, as at 175 years later, most of the initial work is still in use by the Great Western Highway, with little modification.
From the NSW Office of Environment & Heritage site - Victoria Pass:
"Construction on the Victoria Pass Causeway was begun in January 1830, and although Mitchell’s route was the most direct, it proved the most difficult to negotiate of the five Blue Mountains descents. This was largely due to a deep ravine, or abyss, that lay in its path, which necessitated the construction of a stone causeway to cross it.
"Works to build the Mitchell’s new road from Mount Victoria were carried out by both ironed gangs and road parties."
There is also an Engineering Landmark plaque on this trig column, signifying the importance of this engineering marvel.
The rectangular bronze plaque reads:
"
VICTORIA PASS"
"Surveyor-General Major Thomas Mitchell identified this line of road and ordered its construction to bypass the steeper descent at mount York. The road with its massive stone-walled causeway was constructed between 1830 and 1838 by about 300 convicts. Engineering design and supervision were successively under the control of Phillip Elliot, John Lambie and John Nicholson. This significant engineering achievement opened up the western districts of New South Wales and has been the principal route since 1832.
"The Institution of Engineers, Australia and Roads and Traffic Authority, NSW, 2002"
Governor Sir Richard Bourke
Sir Richard Bourke, governor, was born on 4 May 1777 in Dublin. In March 1830 he was appointed governor of New South Wales. He arrived with his family in Sydney on 3 December 1831. So this Opening would have been one of his earlier duties on arrival in Australia. On 30 January 1837 Bourke formally resigned his governorship; and returned to Ireland. In his later years he was partially blind. He died suddenly on 13 August 1855. [Extracted from, Australian Dictionary of Biography: Bourke, Sir Richard (1777–1855)]
Visited: 1727, Monday, 3 October, 2016 [On my 'way home' from a geocaching Event at Lake Lyell/Lithgow on the October long weekend.]