Point Hicks

Point Hicks, formerly called Cape Everard, is a coastal headland on the eastern coast of Victoria, Australia, located within the Croajingolong National Park.

Name

The point is where, on 19 April 1770, the continent of Australia was first sighted by Captain Cook's Endeavour voyage. Cook records that it was Lieutenant Zachary Hickes who first saw land, and Cook named the point after him. (Hicks spelt his name Hickes with an "e", Cook wrote both Hicks and Hickes in different places; the spelling Hicks is now in use for the point.)

But there has been doubt, and long-running scholarly debate, about exactly what Cook saw. The latitude and longitude he gave is a location many miles out to sea, and due to that the name Point Hicks was not taken up by mariners.

The point instead came to be known as Cape Everard. The first use of that name is attributed to hydrographer John Lort Stokes who surveyed the coast in the Beagle in 1843. It's presumed he named it after fellow naval officer John Everard Home. Stokes' maps don't record the name, but many secondary sources attribute its introduction to him.

The first known chart showing the name Everard was by surveyor George Douglas Smythe, made in 1852 and published in 1853. If it was he who in fact coined the name then one theory suggests he may have been referring to William Everard, commissioner of crown lands (though no record of that Everard has been found).

In any case the name Cape Everard was used from that time up until 1970 when it was changed back to Point Hicks as part of Cook's bicentenary. Victorian Premier Henry Bolte proclaimed the new name in a ceremony at the point on 20 April 1970 (this was the 200th anniversay; Cook's 19 April was by nautical time, ie. not adjusted for the international date line).

Lighthouse

A lighthouse was built on the point in 1887/8 and commenced operation in 1890, buiilt from concrete and with timber keepers quarters. It was connected to mains electricity in 1965, and then to solar power recently.