A Cabinet for Mr Sprent No 1 2005

myrtle, eucalypt, brass fittings
850w 397d 745h

James Sprent, arrived in Hobart in 1830 and was soon appointed to the Survey department as an Assistant Surveyor.

In 1833 Mr Sprent was put in charge of the trigonometrical survey of Tasmania which had commenced the previous year. Over a period of 5 years, Mr Sprent travelled through the eastern parts of Tasmania, selecting peaks and hills suitable for observation stations. His gang of assigned prisoners would erect an object (a large cairn, or tripod of long poles) and clear the vegetation around the object, to permit a clear view to and from adjoining stations.

The design for this cabinet which covers the survey period from 1832-7 (the eastern part of the Island), was inspired by both the map of Tasmania produced in 1857 by Mr Sprent, and from the reports Mr Sprent sent back to the Surveyor General, George Frankland documenting his progress.

I have selected one station from each of the counties on the map for each drawer. I like to think Mr Sprent may have used it to store his observations and calculations for the stations in each county.

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