Lieut Edward Close (48th regiment) arrives in Newcastle

1821c. Lieut Edward Close (48th regiment) arrives in Newcastle as engineer. He is tasked with developing the port of Newcastle. He puts down mooring chains and removes dangerous shoals from Newcastle Harbour. He also builds a fort near the signal station and erects an iron beacon in which a large coal fire is lit each night at sunset. Close sketches these developments and a shift in power relations between Aborigines and Europeans as Governor Macquarie transforms a small penal colony into a bustling free settlement.