Sandridge and Hobson’s Bay, from Williamstown
Henry Gritten1863
State Library Victoria
Melbourne, Australia
This view is to the east, looking across Hobson's Bay to present-day Port Melbourne, which was then named Sandridge.
The prominent building in the centre of the painting is the Victorian Sugar Company's premises, later home to the Swallow & Ariell Steam Biscuit Company. Today the building has been converted into apartments, and although still a local landmark, it is now somewhat dwarfed by its surroundings.
The variety and extent of shipping depicted in the bay in this painting attests to Melbourne's importance as both a trading port and a port of arrival, in an era of high immigration.
A wood engraving prepared by R Bruce from Gitten's painting was published in 'The Illustrated Melbourne Post' in September 1865.
- Title: Sandridge and Hobson’s Bay, from Williamstown
- Creator: Henry C. Gritten, 1818-1873
- Date: 1863
- Location: Port Melbourne, Victoria
- Rights: This work is out of copyright. No copyright restrictions apply.
- lithograph: Painting
- View more information about this image in the State Library Victoria catalogue: http://search.slv.vic.gov.au/MAIN:SLV_VOYAGER1656856
- View a full-size version of this image: http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/93211
- Physical dimensions: 22.5 x 37.2 cm. (sight), in frame 30.1 x 44.8 cm.
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- A.E. Ferris: Henry Gritten exhibited works at the Royal Academy in London between 1835 and 1849. Like many others, he was attracted to Victoria by the discovery of gold and arrived in 1853. He subsequently travelled to Tasmania, where he produced a series of similar scenes of Hobart. Gritten often repeated his most popular works, with only minor variations, and he also worked up paintings based on other people's sketches. Gritten was a founding member of the Victorian Academy of Arts, showing a painting of Brighton Beach and a view of Melbourne from the Botanical Gardens at its inaugural exhibition in 1870.
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