This view from Peacock Point, Balmain, shows a paddle steamer ferrying passengers between Balmain and the busy industrial and shipping hub on the city’s western edge. On the left in the middle distance are the signalling mast on Flagstaff Hill and the Observatory. Fort Street School (the old Military Hospital) can be seen on the ridge.

The cliff line below the ridge, on the left, was constantly changing due to the quarrying that had started in the 1820s. At the water’s edge, to the right, are the coal wharves, chimney and buildings of the Australian Gas Light Company works, which was operating by 1843.