The Aboriginal name for Sydney Cove, as recorded in a number of First Fleet journals, maps and vocabularies, was Warrane, also War-ran, Warring and Wee-rong. This place is highly significant to both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people as a site of first contact between the Eora and the Berewalgal. Warrane was integral to the everyday lives of the Eora people. The men speared fish from the shoreline, while the women line-fished from their nowies. Sydney Cove was named after the British Home Secretary, the 1st Baron Sydney. It was the site chosen by Captain Arthur Phillip, RN between 21 and 23 January 1788 for the British penal settlement which is now the city of Sydney, and where possession of New South Wales was formally declared on 26 January. Today, the exact site where the flag was planted is unmarked, beneath buildings of Circular Quay. Phillip's instructions were to establish the settlement at Botany Bay, a large bay further south of Sydney Cove which had been discovered by Lieutenant James Cook during his voyage of discovery in 1770, and was recommended by the eminent botanist Sir Joseph Banks, who had accompanied Cook, as a suitable site for a settlement. But Phillip discovered that Botany Bay offered neither a secure anchorage nor a reliable source of freshwater. Sydney Cove offered both of these, being serviced by a freshwater creek which was soon to be known as the Tank Stream. Today the Tank Stream is encased in a concrete drain beneath the streets of the central business district and all native bushland has been cleared. The head of the cove is occupied by the Circular Quay ferry terminal. On Bennelong Point at the northern end of the eastern shore of the cove stands the Sydney Opera House. On the western shore is the historic district known as The Rocks.
Sydney Cove Medallion
A sample of the dark grey clay of Sydney Cove was collected by Governor Phillip and given to Sir Joseph Banks, who gave it to pottery maker Josiah Wedgwood to test for suitability for making pottery. Wedgwood found it excellent and made a commemorative medal that became known as the Sydney Cove Medallion.
