Stones from Point Piper and other relics of Spanish Flagstaff at Woollahra Point, with explanatory notes / collected by Lawrence Hargrave, ca. 1911-1914

R 133/Item a
R 133/Item b

fonds

ca. 1911-1914

889535

stones

Lawrence Hargrave, 1850-1915, was an aeronautical pioneer and inventor well known for his discoveries relating to the box kite, the rotary engine and curved airfoils.

Towards the end of his life, Hargrave became convinced that the Spanish ship Santa Ysabel, which went missing during a colonisation trip to the Solomon Islands in 1595, came to Sydney and camped on Woollahra Point, Point Piper. Hargrave collected evidence intended to support his theory which included several archaeological relics.

In 1909 Hargrave presented his Lope de Vega theory to the Royal Society of NSW through two separate papers, however the society rejected a third paper which Hargrave went on to self publish in 1911. Manuscript copies of Hargrave's Lope de Vega theory are held in the Mitchell Library (call no: MLMSS 3119) and at the National Library of Australia.

References:
Australian Dictionary of Biography. http://adb.anu.edu.au/ (accessed 22 April 2015)
Dennis Goljak, Department of Archaeology, University of Sydney. https://secretvisitors.wordpress.com/ (accessed 22 April 2015)

R 133 / Item a
Bag containing 7 items:
i) Iron spike
Round sectioned iron spike with flat mushroom head and double bevelled chisel blade. 192 x 20 x 13 mm. Bevels extend 50 mm from tip.
Accompanying tag reads ‘Found near the ‘ducks’ Woollahra Point Jan 13 1913.’

ii) Three mortar fragments
Three pieces of hard set light grey mortar, one of which broken into two pieces. Label reads ‘Cement from water hole at Woollahra Point August 1912.’

iii) Piece of lead
Cut piece of heavily oxidised metal with dimensions 65 x 40 x 10 mm, Attached label ‘Metal found by Mr James Craig’s ...[?]'. Single cut face revealing silvery surface. Hole drilled though for label.

iv) Piece of lead
A piece of lead tied with string to a label. The lead is an unshaped blob with some thin material around a central mass. The label reads ‘Lead from “Carrara” ring bolts. July 24th 1912’.

v) Piece of copper and copper sheet off-cuts
Lump of copper, 55mm x 45 mm x 25 mm. Two small pieces of copper sheet joined by a piece of string. Broken label reads ‘Jarvis Island copper ingot and hand-rolled sheet copper of commerce’

vi) Piece of stone
Fragment of stone with following explanatory note in envelope: ‘Piece of what the contractor, ‘South’ calls the bed rock which is the foundation of the retaining buttresses at Stanwell Park Station’ Sept 3. 1911.

vii) Mortar fragment
Piece of mortar, 30 x 20 x 10 mm, housed in matchbox with label ‘Cement used on part of the grid at “Carrara”. July 30 1912’. Also inside boc are several folded pieces of paper

R 133 / Item b
i) Basalt piece
Piece of stone, 220 x 80 x 40 mm, with one flat side and other side with flake and breakage scars. Labelled on base ‘Dug up at Woollahra Point June 1912’

ii) 2 pieces of sandstone
Two sawn pieces of sandstone, containing a segment of a channel

iii) Iron spike
Rusted iron spike housed in a timber box, 180 x 46 x 25 mm, with taped-down glass covers.

iv) Handwritten explanatory note written by Lawrence Hargrave, 15 December 1914

Information transferred from pictures card catalogue as part of the eRecords Project, 2009-2010

Listing supplied by Denis Gojak, Department of Archaeology, University of Sydney, April 2015