Wilbraham Frederick Evelyn Liardet, View of the North Shore, Port of Melbourne 1862, watercolour on paper, H2017.300

When Wilbraham Liardet travelled from England to Australia in 1839, with his wife and their nine children, their plan had been to go to Sydney. But after their ship spent several weeks in Hobsons Bay, the watercolourist and entrepreneur decided to settle in Victoria. This work, painted during the peak of the gold rush, captures the enormous energy and industry of the city that was growing around the artist.