In July 1855, an artist newly arrived in Adelaide picked up his brush and spent two weeks painting everything he could see along the Port Adelaide waterfront. Ships at anchor, horse-drawn carts on the wharf, government buildings, pubs, commercial premises – the full, busy life of a colonial port in its early prime. Two years later, the Great Fire of 1857 tore through Port Adelaide, destroying half the town and nearly its entire commercial district. Frank George Hankey’s panorama is the only known visual record of what stood there before.
For 170 years, that watercolour – stretching nearly two metres across – sat unseen by the South Australian public. That changes now. The Hankey Panorama has been acquired by the State Library of South Australia, conserved by the Library’s specialist team, and is on display as part of South Australia’s History Festival.
The work is as much document as artwork. Hankey, whose family firm had ties to South Australia’s early development, arrived in Adelaide in 1855 and appears to have conceived the panorama within a fortnight of landing. What he captured is a port at the height of its commercial confidence – a place of trade and movement, of vessels and enterprise, of a colony finding its feet. The fire that came two years later didn’t just destroy buildings; it erased a world. Hankey’s panorama is what remains.
State Library Director Megan Berghuis described the acquisition as a significant moment for the state’s heritage. ‘The Hankey Panorama holds incredible historic value to South Australia and we’re honoured to now display it here at the State Library for the first time in 170 years.’ She also noted the Library’s acknowledgement of the Kaurna people, the traditional custodians of the lands now known as Port Adelaide, whose connection to country far predates the colonial scene Hankey recorded.
The acquisition was made possible through the Paul McGuire Maritime Bequest, with additional support from the Friends of the State Library of South Australia – a group that has been helping the Library acquire rare artefacts since 1981. Friends of the Paul McGuire Maritime Library President Julian Murray said the piece was the only known record of Port Adelaide’s maritime history before the fire. ‘We are deeply proud to have played a role in the meticulous restoration and procurement of the Hankey Panorama.’
For those who want to go deeper, historian Dr Clare Parker will present a talk about the work and its historical significance at the State Library on 26 May. The Library has also launched a dedicated story website with detailed descriptions, animations and interactive elements at stories.slsa.sa.gov.au/painting-the-port/index.html.
The Hankey Panorama is on display now at the State Library of South Australia. For full details on the exhibition, talks and associated activities:
