{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{More citations needed|date=June 2008}} [[File:Blues point tower.JPG|thumb|Blues Point as seen from the west, with [[Blues Point Tower]] and [[Sydney Harbour Bridge]] behind]] '''Blues Point''' is a harbourside locality of [[North Sydney, New South Wales|North Sydney]], Australia. Named after local mariner [[Billy Blue]] in the 19th century, Blues Point is at the very southern tip of the [[McMahons Point]] peninsula and has views of [[Port Jackson|Sydney Harbour]]. The locality, within [[North Sydney Council]], is home to the [[Blues Point Tower]], a controversial residential tower designed by [[Harry Seidler]]. Since 2005, under the dual naming policy Blues Point has also been referred to by its [[Indigenous Australians|indigenous]] name, '''Warungareeyuh'''. Blues Point is also used as a vantage point for [[Sydney New Year's Eve]] celebration.
==History== Blues Point was named after [[Billy Blue]], a convict who arrived in Sydney on the ''Minorca'' on 14 December 1801, transported for stealing a bag of sugar.<ref name=Warne/> Physically imposing, he was described as a "strapping Jamaican Negro 'a very Hercules in proportion' with a bright eye and a jocular wit".<ref name=Warne/> He claimed to have served with the [[British Army]] in the [[American War of Independence]]. When he arrived in 1801 he only had two years of his sentence left and he was soon working on the harbour with boats and selling oysters. His friendly manner and humorous conversation made him popular and he became a notable local character. He married English-born convict Elizabeth Williams in 1805, and in 1807, was the only person licensed to ply a ferry across the harbour.<ref name=Warne/> [[Lachlan Macquarie|Governor Macquarie]] named him "The Old Commodore" and he ran his ferry dressed in a blue naval officers coat and top hat. His ferry service grew to a fleet of 11 vessels, and in 1817, Governor Macquarie granted Billy Blue {{convert|80|acre|m2}} at what is now Blues Point.<ref name=Warne/> He died in 1834 at his North Sydney home.<ref name = "Warne">{{cite book |title=Pictorial History, Lower North Shore |last=Warne |first=Catherine |year=1984 |publisher=Kingsclear Books|isbn=0-908272-83-9 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=O0FwhGXxV2YC|access-date=12 June 2010}}</ref>
==Further reading== * [[Jim Haynes (writer)|Jim Haynes]] "The Best Australian Yarns and other true stories" [[Allen & Unwin]] 2013
==References== {{reflist}}
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[[Category:McMahons Point]] [[Category:Sydney localities]]
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