Point Hicks

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Point in Australia

title: "Point Hicks" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["croajingolong-national-park", "headlands-of-victoria-(state)"] description: "Point in Australia" topic_path: "general/croajingolong-national-park" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Hicks" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Point in Australia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox landform"]

FieldValue
namePoint Hicks
other_nameCape Everard
typeCape
mapAustralia Victoria
relief1
map_captionLocation of Point Hicks in Victoria
locationSouth East Corner (IBRA), Victoria, Australia
coordinates
coordinates_footnotes
elevation_ft
surface_elevation_ft
::

| water = | name = Point Hicks | other_name = Cape Everard | type = Cape | photo = | photo_width = | photo_alt = | photo_caption = | map = Australia Victoria | relief = 1 | map_image = | map_caption = Location of Point Hicks in Victoria | location = South East Corner (IBRA), Victoria, Australia | coordinates = | coordinates_footnotes = | range = | part_of = | water_bodies = | elevation_ft = | elevation_ref = | surface_elevation_ft = | surface_elevation_ref = | highest_point = | highest_elevation = | highest_coords = | length = | width = | area = | depth = | drop = | formed_by = | geology = | age = | orogeny = | volcanic_arc/belt = | volcanic_arc = | volcanic_belt = | volcanic_field = | eruption = | last_eruption = | topo = | operator = | designation = | free_label_1 = | free_data_1 = | free_label_2 = | free_data_2 = | website = | embed = Point Hicks (formerly called Cape Everard), is a coastal headland in the East Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia, located within the Croajingolong National Park. The point is marked by the Point Hicks Lighthouse that faces the Tasman Sea.

The traditional custodians of the land surrounding Point Hicks are the Australian Aboriginal Bidawal and Gunaikurnai peoples who called the point Tolywiarar. In April 1770 this area became the first land on the east coast of Australia known to have been sighted by Europeans, when reached the continent during the first voyage of James Cook to the Pacific.

Name

The point is named after Lieutenant Zachary Hicks of the Endeavour who, in April 1770, first saw land presumed to be the east coast of New Holland.

History

After charting New Zealand during his first voyage of discovery, Cook set a course westwards, intending to strike for Van Diemen's Land (present-day Tasmania) to establish whether or not it formed part of the presumed southern continent. However, he was forced to maintain a more northerly course owing to prevailing gales, and sailed on until 19 April 1770, when land was sighted at 6 a.m. Two hours later, Cook made a further observation of land and named it Point Hicks. Cook recorded the event thus:the Southermost [sic] Point of land we had in sight which bore from us W1/4S I judged to lay in the Latitude of 38°..0' S° and in the Longitude of 211°..07' W t from the Meridian of Greenwich. I have named it Point Hicks, because Lieut t Hicks was the first who discover'd this land.Cook calculated that Van Diemen's Land ought to lie due south of their position, but having found the coastline trending to the south-west, recorded his doubt that this landmass was connected to it.

Cook's manuscript chart of Australia's east coast, starts at a point he named Point Hicks and gave its coordinates as 38°0'S and 148°53'E. However,the coordinates recorded are several miles off-shore, in 50 fathom of water. It has been variously suggested that Cook was deceived by a cloud bank, a compass error, or a faulty observation. Margaret Cameron-Ash, however, claims that Cook deliberately falsified his charts and coordinates in order to hide the existence of Bass Strait for reasons of military and colonial policy. Those claims have been vigorously challenged as lacking in any sound evidence.

Nevertheless, it is likely that Cook's "Point of land" was not today's Point Hicks, and lies somewhat to the south-west.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Hicks-plaque.jpg" caption="The plaque on the landward side of the obelisk at Point Hicks, Victoria, Australia." alt="Photo of plaque"] ::

At the end of 1797, George Bass sailed past the area in an open whale-boat and was unable to identify the point. Although Matthew Flinders sailed past the area in 1798–99 and again in 1802–03, the coastal area near Point Hicks was always out of Flinders' visual range. When drawing his chart, Flinders relied on Bass's observations, thus omitting Point Hicks. The name Point Hicks was still being used on some maps up until 1840.

The first use of the name Cape Everard has been attributed to hydrographer John Lort Stokes, who surveyed the coast in the Beagle in 1843. It was presumed he named it after fellow naval officer James Everard Home. Stokes' maps do not record the name, but many secondary sources attribute its introduction to him. The first known map showing Cape Everard was made in 1852 and published in 1853, by surveyor George Douglas Smythe. If he coined the name, then, according to one theory, he may have been referring to William Everard, a South Australian Commissioner of Crown Lands. The name Cape Everard was adopted after 1853 and was used until 1970, when the location was renamed Point Hicks.

Despite the use of the name Cape Everard to designate the promontory, Cook's original name of Point Hicks was recorded on an obelisk-shaped monument erected by the Australian Government on the site in 1924.

On the seaward side of the monument is a plaque listing the "Ship's Company of H.M. Bark Endeavour April 20th 1770".}}

In the 1930s, the Australian businessman and philanthropist, Russell Grimwade, commissioned stone to be quarried from Cape Everard and shipped to Great Ayton in Yorkshire. It was used to create a replica monument with an identical plaque, which was placed at the site of the home of Captain Cook's parents, after Grimwade had arranged for the home to be dismantled and reconstructed in Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne, in 1934.

Cook's name, Point Hicks, was officially established as the name of the cape as part of the commemoration of the bicentenary of Cook's 1770 voyage. Victorian Premier Henry Bolte proclaimed the new name in a ceremony at the point on 20 April 1970.

Climate

Point Hicks has a mild oceanic climate (Cfb) with pleasant summers and cool damp winters.

|location = Point Hicks |metric first = Yes |single line = Yes |Jan record high C = 42.7 |Feb record high C = 41.0 |Mar record high C = 37.8 |Apr record high C = 35.6 |May record high C = 29.6 |Jun record high C = 22.7 |Jul record high C = 24.0 |Aug record high C = 29.2 |Sep record high C = 36.4 |Oct record high C = 35.5 |Nov record high C = 43.4 |Dec record high C = 41.4 |year record high C = 43.4 |Jan high C = 24.0 |Feb high C = 23.9 |Mar high C = 22.3 |Apr high C = 19.9 |May high C = 17.1 |Jun high C = 14.8 |Jul high C = 14.3 |Aug high C = 15.0 |Sep high C = 16.6 |Oct high C = 18.8 |Nov high C = 20.3 |Dec high C = 22.3 |year high C = 19.1 |Jan low C = 15.9 |Feb low C = 16.1 |Mar low C = 15.1 |Apr low C = 13.1 |May low C = 11.1 |Jun low C = 9.1 |Jul low C = 8.2 |Aug low C = 8.5 |Sep low C = 9.6 |Oct low C = 11.0 |Nov low C = 12.7 |Dec low C = 14.3 |year low C = 12.1 |Jan record low C = 1.6 |Feb record low C = 6.6 |Mar record low C = 6.0 |Apr record low C = 6.0 |May record low C = 2.8 |Jun record low C = 2.2 |Jul record low C = -2.0 |Aug record low C = 1.1 |Sep record low C = 1.8 |Oct record low C = 3.1 |Nov record low C = 4.9 |Dec record low C = 6.3 |year record low C = -2.0 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 62.8 |Feb precipitation mm = 57.8 |Mar precipitation mm = 67.4 |Apr precipitation mm = 85.6 |May precipitation mm = 93.5 |Jun precipitation mm = 112.0 |Jul precipitation mm = 96.9 |Aug precipitation mm = 79.2 |Sep precipitation mm = 75.7 |Oct precipitation mm = 74.8 |Nov precipitation mm = 82.0 |Dec precipitation mm = 72.0 |year precipitation mm = 960.2 |Jan precipitation days = 9.6 |Feb precipitation days = 8.8 |Mar precipitation days = 10.5 |Apr precipitation days = 12.0 |May precipitation days = 13.5 |Jun precipitation days = 14.3 |Jul precipitation days = 13.9 |Aug precipitation days = 14.1 |Sep precipitation days = 13.9 |Oct precipitation days = 13.7 |Nov precipitation days = 12.5 |Dec precipitation days = 10.9 |year precipitation days = 147.7 |humidity colour=green |Jan humidity = 71 |Feb humidity = 72 |Mar humidity = 73 |Apr humidity = 73 |May humidity = 76 |Jun humidity = 76 |Jul humidity = 74 |Aug humidity = 72 |Sep humidity = 73 |Oct humidity = 73 |Nov humidity = 72 |Dec humidity = 73 |year humidity = 73 |source 1 = {{cite web | url = http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_084070_All.shtml | publisher = Bureau of Meteorology |title = Climate statistics for Point Hicks |access-date = 1 February 2017}} (1966–2019) |date= February 2017

References

References

  1. (2 May 1966). "Point Hicks: 17439". [[Government of Victoria (Australia).
  2. Haldane, Robert. (2001). "A Beacon on the Wilderness Coast: The Story of Point Hicks (Cape Everard)". Gippsland Heritage Journal.
  3. "Point Hicks Marine National Park". [[Government of Victoria]].
  4. (1968). "Journals vol.I". Hakluyt Society.
  5. Cook, James. (19 April 1770). "Cook's Journal: daily entries".
  6. Lipscombe, Trevor. (2020). "Why Has The Error of Cook's Point Hicks Endured? Part 1". Cook's Log.
  7. (2018). "Lying for the Admiralty: Captain Cook's Endeavour Voyage". Rosenberg.
  8. Lipscombe, Trevor. (2020). "Cook Conspiracy at Point Hicks?". The Globe.
  9. Mawer, GA. (2018). "Lying for the admiralty: Captain Cook's Endeavour voyage [Book Review]". The Globe.
  10. Lipscombe, Trevor (2015) "Cook's Point Hicks: Error That Just Won't Go Away" in ''Cook's Log'' by the Captain Cook Society, volume 38, number 2, pages 26–32. Online at, https://www.captaincooksociety.com/cooks-life/places/cook-s-point-hicks-error-that-just-won-t-go-away
  11. Flinders, Matthew. "A Voyage to Terra Australis". [[Project Gutenberg]].
  12. Map by The Society for the diffusion of useful knowledge published in 1840
  13. Scott, Ernest. (1912). "English and French Navigators on the Victorian Coast". Victorian Historical Magazine.
  14. Lipscombe, Trevor. (2020). "Cook's Point Hicks: Reports from the 1870s". Captain Cook Society.
  15. Liscombe, Trevor. (2014). "Point Hicks – The clouded facts". Victorian Historical Journal.
  16. Lipscombe, Trevor. (August 2014). "Hydrographers v Historians — the truth about Point Hicks". Australasian Hydrographic Society.
  17. (6 November 1924). "COOK'S VOYAGE.". National Library of Australia.
  18. Antonello, Alessandro. (2021-10-02). "Monumental geo-politics: ocean, land and Captain Cook in interwar Australia". History Australia.
  19. Blainey, Geoffrey. (2020). "Captain Cook's Epic Voyage: the strange quest for a missing continent". Viking Australia.

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croajingolong-national-parkheadlands-of-victoria-(state)