Sydney — Capital New South Wales was painted around 1800, most likely in England from drawings made in Sydney. Standing on the west side of Sydney Cove, looking towards the Heads, the neat and orderly town, lit by an optimistic sunrise, suggests the success of the colony, despite its earlier travails of famine and despair. 

On the right of the painting, on what is now Bridge Street, are the homes and offices of government administrators, and at the top of the hill stands a two-storey building — the first Government House (now the site of the Museum of Sydney).