Point Hicks

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Point Hicks (37°48′S, 149°16′E), formerly called Cape Everard, is a coastal headland on the eastern coast of Victoria, Australia, located within the Croajingolong National Park.

1 Name
2 Lighthouse
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Name

Point Hicks is where, on 19 April 1770, the continent of Australia was first sighted by the men on Captain Cook's Endeavour voyage. Cook records that it was Lieutenant Zachary Hickes who first saw land, and Cook named the point after him.^[1] Hickes spelt his name with an "e", Cook wrote both Hicks and Hickes in different places; the spelling Hicks is now in use for the point.

When George Bass sailed past the area at the end of 1797 he was unable to identify the point,^[2] and it therefore didn't appear on the charts Matthew Flinders produced of their voyages, and the name fell into disuse.

The point instead came to be known as Cape Everard. The first use of that name is attributed to hydrographer John Lort Stokes who surveyed the coast in the Beagle in 1843. It's presumed he named it after fellow naval officer John Everard Home. Stokes' maps don't record the name, but many secondary sources attribute its introduction to him.

The first known chart showing Everard was by surveyor George Douglas Smythe, made in 1852 and published in 1853. If he coined the name, then one theory is that he may have been referring to William Everard, commissioner of crown lands (though no record of that Everard has been found).

In any case the name Cape Everard was used from that time up until 1970 and there has been doubt and long-running scholarly debate about exactly what Cook saw. The actual latitude and longitude he gave (38°0′S, 148°53′E) is a location many miles out to sea.

The name Point Hicks was re-established as part of Cook's bicentenary. Victorian Premier Henry Bolte proclaimed the new name in a ceremony at the point on 20 April 1970 (this was the 200th anniversary; Cook's 19 April was by nautical time, ie. not adjusted for the International Date Line).

[edit] Lighthouse

A lighthouse was built on the point in 1887/8 and commenced operation in 1890, built from concrete and with timber keepers quarters. It was connected to mains electricity in 1965, and then to solar power recently.^[3] The keepers' cottages are today let as holiday houses.^[4]