Augustus Alt

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Augustus Theodore Henry Alt , German birth name Herman Theodore Augustus Alt (born August 26, 1734 London , † January 9, 1815 in Parramatta , New South Wales in Australia ) was a man of German descent who served as a British soldier and became the first chief surveyor of the British colony New South Wales was appointed.

Name and early life

Augustus Alt was the third son of the ambassador of Hessen-Kassel Jost Heinrich Alt (around 1698–1768) and his wife Jeanetta Preston, a native of Scotland. After Jost Heinrich Alt decided to live in England, he Anglicized his name to Just Henry Alt and also changed Augustus' name. Augustus Alt had a younger brother, two older brothers and three sisters. He certainly went to Westminster School, where his older brothers also went to school. From the age of 20, Augustus Alt served in the British Army .

With Ann George († 1814), a female convict, who arrived with the First Fleet on the convict transport ship Lady Penrhyn in the convict colony of Australia , Augustus Alt had two children, Lucy and Henry George. Augustus Alt arrived in Australia on the Prince of Wales , another ship in the First Fleet that consisted of eleven ships.

military

From October 1, 1755, Augustus Alt served as an officer in the British Army with various tasks and on several theaters of war. He fought in the Seven Years War , was aide-de-camp with General Henry Seymour Conway and participated in the siege of Gibraltar .

Upon arriving in Port Jackson , in May 1787, he was appointed the first chief surveyor of the new colony of New South Wales. He was also a member of the Court of Justice that passed rulings on piracy and was appointed Justice of the Peace upon his arrival in Port Jackson .

He was commissioned by Arthur Phillip , the first governor of New South Wales, to plan and design the settlements at Sydney Cove and in Parramatta. He planned the Sydney area with wide streets and large city blocks. Despite this planning, Sydney was created largely haphazardly and spontaneously.

Late life

In 1791 Augustus Alt applied for health reasons to resign from the office of chief surveyor. However, this was only approved for him in 1801, only then was he given a disability pension . In February 1794 he was allocated 40 hectares of land near Petersham , where he built what he called Hermitage Farm , which burned down in 1798. He received another 113 hectares in 1810 between the streets of Parramatta and Ashfield .

Honor

In his honor, Alt Street in Ashfield / Haberfield was named after him.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b John F. Brock: Australia's first Surveyor General and Governor, Alt and Phillip - The First Settlers of German Origin! on fig.net. Retrieved September 9, 2017
  2. ↑ a b c Bernard T. Dowd: Alt, Augustus Theodore (1731-1815) , on adb.anu.edu.au. Retrieved September 9, 2017
  3. ^ A b c Alison Vincent: Alt, Augustus , 2008, at dictionaryofsydney.org, accessed September 9, 2017
personal data
SURNAME Old, Augustus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alt, Augustus Theodore Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British soldier and first New South Wales surveyor
DATE OF BIRTH August 26, 1734
PLACE OF BIRTH unsure: London
DATE OF DEATH January 9, 1815
Place of death Parramatta , New South Wales