The map above is a 1920 New Oxford Map of Australia created by by geographer Thomas Griffith Taylor and Beckit, H. O showing where you can and can’t find sheep.
The categories are very helpfully divided into either no sheep or some sheep. No categories are listed for wheat.
All has a very Settlers of Catan feel to it don’t you think?
They also created the following maps in the same series:
Cattle & Minerals
Vegetation
Population Density
Political Map
Orographical
Rain
The New Oxford Wall Maps of Australia, edited by geographer Thomas Griffith Taylor in the late 1920s, are a remarkable series produced by Oxford University Press and George Philip & Son.
They charted various aspects of Australia’s geography—including population, vegetation, livestock, minerals, and agriculture—at a scale of about 1:5 000 000, printed in colour on large linen-backed panels (roughly 75 × 95 cm).
About Thomas Griffith Taylor (1880–1963)
- An English-born geographer and geologist, Taylor was a senior lecturer at Sydney University and participated in Captain Scott’s Terra Nova Antarctic Expedition (1910–13), conducting pioneering geological and climatological fieldwork
- His academic interests spanned physical geography, environmental determinism, and economic geography. He later held positions in Chicago and Toronto before returning to Australia .
- The Wall Map series reflects his methodological approach: visually layered maps to communicate complex spatial relationships like agriculture, ecology, and resource distribution.
Why These Maps Matter
- Educational tools & public awareness:
Designed for use in schools and government, these wall maps aimed to visually inform and influence policy and development planning. - Interdisciplinary design:
Taylor was ahead of his time in overlaying multiple themes on a single large-scale map—such as combining livestock density with agricultural crops or vegetation zones—making them both visually engaging and analytically rich . - Historical snapshots:
These maps present unique visual records of Australia’s environmental and economic geography during a period of significant growth and change, especially in pastoral and mineral sectors.
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