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Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Blue Mountains Region – 1879

 Blue Mountains Region - 1879 

In 1879 photographers recorded Sydney’s civic landmarks alongside the newly opened Blue Mountains and Lithgow industrial landscape. The Zig Zag Railway, mountain waterfalls and the shale and iron works around Joadja and Eskbank show how rail and industry opened the western ranges. This post gathers views dated to that year, from Sydney public buildings out through Broken Bay to the mountains and Lithgow Valley.



Government House, Sydney, c.1879.
Sydney’s Garden Palace exhibition building, c.1879.
The Great Synagogue, Sydney, c.1879.
The Australian Museum, Sydney, c.1879.
St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, c.1879.
Captain Cook statue, Hyde Park, Sydney, c.1879.
Sydney Town Hall, c.1879.
Department of Public Works building, Sydney, c.1879.
University of Sydney, c.1879.
Barrenjoey Beach, Broken Bay, c.1879.
Broken Bay from Barrenjoey, c.1879.
Barrenjoey Beach on Broken Bay, c.1879.
Lithgow Valley Zig Zag Railway, Blue Mountains region, c.1879.
Zig Zag Railway looking westward, Lithgow Valley, c.1879.
Zig Zag Railway cutting and track, Lithgow Valley, c.1879.
Zig Zag Railway, Lithgow Valley, c.1879.
Zig Zag Railway, Lithgow Valley, c.1879.
Adelina Falls, Blue Mountains, c.1879.
Fairy Dell Falls, Blue Mountains, c.1879.
Fairy Dell, Mount Victoria, Blue Mountains, c.1879.
Weatherboard Falls (Wentworth Falls area), Blue Mountains, c.1879.
Govetts Leap, Blue Mountains, c.1879.
Evans Ridge near Tarana, c.1879.
Evans Ridge near Tarana, c.1879 (second view).
The Nepean River, c.1879.
Bridge over the Nepean River, c.1879.
Kanimbla Valley (spelled Kunimbla on the file), Blue Mountains, c.1879.
Joadja shale works, Southern Highlands, c.1879.
Joadja shale works, c.1879.
Joadja shale works, c.1879.
Joadja Creek landscape, c.1879.
Mine workings at Joadja, c.1879.
Joadja shale works, c.1879.
Joadja shale works, c.1879.
Entrance to a shale mine at Joadja Creek, c.1879.
Incline at Joadja Creek, c.1879.
Unidentified creek scene in the Blue Mountains / western NSW region, c.1879.
Unidentified creek scene in the Blue Mountains / western NSW region, c.1879.
Miner’s hut, Lithgow Valley, c.1879.
Unidentified mine workings, western NSW region, c.1879.
Coal mine at Vale of Clwydd (near Lithgow), c.1879.
Unidentified townscape in the western NSW / Blue Mountains region, c.1879.
Tweed factory at Bowenfels, c.1879.
Eskbank Iron Works, Lithgow, c.1879.
Eskbank Iron Works, Lithgow, c.1879.
Eskbank Iron Works, Lithgow, c.1879.
Eskbank Iron Works, Lithgow, c.1879.
Eskbank Iron Works, Lithgow, c.1879.
Eskbank Iron Works, Lithgow, c.1879.
Eskbank Iron Works, Lithgow, c.1879.
Eskbank Iron Works, Lithgow, c.1879.
Eskbank Iron Works, Lithgow, c.1879.
Historic view from the State Library of NSW series associated with this 1879 Blue Mountains region set (subject not labelled in the post).
Historic view from the State Library of NSW series associated with this 1879 Blue Mountains region set (subject not labelled in the post).

Arrest of Governor Bligh – The Rum Rebellion – 26 January 1808

On the evening of 26 January 1808 — twenty years to the day after the founding of the colony — officers and men of the New South Wales Corps marched from their barracks to Government House in Sydney and deposed Governor William Bligh. The coup, later nicknamed the Rum Rebellion (a name not used at the time), is the only successful military overthrow of a government in Australian history. Major George Johnston assumed control as lieutenant-governor; John Macarthur, whose failed trial and conflict with Bligh had sharpened the crisis, was a leading civilian supporter of the Corps.

The Corps marched up Bridge Street to the first Government House — on the site now marked by the Museum of Sydney — with band and colours. Bligh was arrested and held; military-backed administrations ran the colony until Governor Lachlan Macquarie assumed office in January 1810. Johnston was later court-martialled in England for mutiny and cashiered. Historians stress that the rebellion was less about rum itself than about power — land, trade, courts, and who would dominate the colony — even though the Corps’ involvement in the spirits trade earned it the later “Rum Corps” nickname.

Contemporary propaganda claimed Bligh was found hiding under a bed; modern accounts treat that story as Corps legend dressed as fact. Stick to State Library of NSW, National Museum of Australia, and Dictionary of Sydney narratives, and treat the story as propaganda rather than documentary proof.

Arrest Of Governor Bligh - The Rum Rebellion - 26th Jan 1808