NSWPort & river
Watsons Bay
The harbour pilots’ base inside South Head became a fishing village and day-trip resort.
1792Fishery and pilot base set up
WHAT STARTED IT
Sheltered water just inside South Head put the bay beside the harbour entrance, where a lookout signalled arriving ships and pilots rowed out to guide them in. Fresh water and good fishing helped the small post survive.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Robert Watson, piloting from at least 1809 and formally appointed in 1811, gave the bay its name, and pilots, fishermen and officials lived alongside marine villas built from the 1830s. Pleasure steamers and later trams brought visitors to its hotels, beaches and The Gap.
TURNING POINTS
1792A fishery is set up in the bay under a man named Barton, who is also to act as pilot for ships.
1811Robert Watson, formerly of the Sirius, is formally appointed pilot of Port Jackson.
1855The old Laing grant behind Camp Cove is cut into 141 lots and auctioned in 1855–56, shaping the village.
1857The Dunbar is wrecked near The Gap on the night of 20 August; one seaman survives.
1860The government buys back land at the bay to build a pilot station.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A small harbourside suburb at the end of the South Head peninsula, still the base for Sydney’s harbour pilots and busy with ferry and day visitors.