INDEX

• Introduction
• Maps
• Significant Places in Australia's Maritime History
• Naming Australia
• Naming Australia's Coastal Features

WHO DID DISCOVER AUSTRALIA?

• The Phoenecians & Egyptians
• The Greeks & Romans
• The Chinese
• The Muslims
• The Portuguese
• The Dutch
• The British
• The French

COLONIAL EXPLORATION

• Index
• The French
• The British
• Other
• Inland explorers

Colonial Exploration: 1813 - Blaxland, Lawson & Wentworth

For 20 years the Blue Mountains west of Sydney had seemed an impenetrable barrier to what lay beyond. Military expeditions, escaped convicts seeking a safe haven, and the mere curious nature of the free settlers had failed to guess or find what lay beyond. The colony was experiencing problems as coastal pasture-lands were depleted by over grazing. Gregory Blaxland, a grazier frustrated with attempts to gain more land to accommodate his increasing flocks and herds, turned to exploration. He presumed that by keeping to the divides between the creeks he might be able to travel more freely than his predecessors who had attempted to follow the river courses. To cross the mountains he determined, could best be achieved by climbing the plateau to the north of the Warragamba River and to proceed westward by keeping to the high ground.

On May 11th. 1813 he set out to cross the mountains., With him were William Lawson, another grazier, and William Wentworth, a twenty year old who had already been granted land to establish himself. A primary motivation of the 3 men and their party of servants, was the search for new pastures upon which to graze their livestock. Blaxland described the start of the journey thus : "On Tuesday, May 11, 1813, Mr. Gregory Blaxland, Mr. William Went worth, and Lieutenant Lawson, attended by four servants, with five dogs, and four horses laden with provisions, ammunition, and other necessaries, left Mr. Blaxland's farm at the South Creek [near the present town of St Marys], for the purpose of endeavouring to effect a passage over the Blue Mountains, between the Western River, and the River Grose. They crossed the Nepean, or Hawkesbury River, at the ford, on to Emu Island [this sand island disappeared some time later], at four o'clock p.m., and having proceeded, according to their calculation, two miles in a south-west direction, through forest land and good pasture, encamped at five o'clock at the foot of the first ridge. The distance travelled on this and on the subsequent days was computed by time, the rate being estimated at about two miles per hour."

After a night at Emu Plains, they traversed the slopes on horseback to gain the high ground. Water and suitable fodder was scarce, and it became necessary to make expeditions into the gullies they planned to avoid. Travel was difficult, but not impossible, and they continued to follow their plan. They often camped early and spent their afternoons cutting and preparing a path to follow the next day. Often the paths they prepared led to little or no progress and morale waned as they began to get frustrated and tired. Late in the afternoon of May 27th. they reached Mount York from where they viewed a large area which seemed to be clear of trees, and assumed it to be swamp land. The following day the true nature of their discovery became apparent, for below them lay a vast plain of forest and grass. They descended, allowing their poorly conditioned horses to graze and water, and to rest before continuing. They travelled west to explore the extent of the plain, turning back only when provisions were insufficient to continue. each received 1,000 acres of the newly discovered plains for their arduous and enterprising journey. The Great Western Highway almost exactly follows the route they took and their names are attached to towns and features of the Blue Mountains National Park.

Towards the end of their journey, Blaxland said: "The party encamped by the side of a fine stream of water, at a short distance from a high hill, in the shape of a sugar-loaf. In the afternoon they ascended its summit, from whence they descried all around, forest or grass land, sufficient in extent in their opinion, to support the stock of the colony for the next thirty years. This was the extreme point of their journey. The distance they had travelled they computed at about fifty-eight miles nearly north-west; that is, fifty miles through the mountain, (the greater part of which they had walked over three times,) and eight miles through the forest land beyond it, reckoning the descent of the mountain to be half-a mile to the foot."

Their opening up of a way across the mountains and the establishment of a new town at Bathurst paved the way for inland settlement and enabled the carrying out of exploration which went on for more than half a century. With the completion of the railway across the mountains, and upgrade of the road, both of which closely follow the route of Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth, the population west of the mountains quickly grew.

Wentworth Falls
Wentworth Falls is named after William Charles Wentworth who, together with Lawson and Blaxland, successfully discovered a route across the mountains in 1813. The three men camped in the area during their trek. It was initially known by the very unromantic name of The Weatherboard, after a weatherboard hut built here in 1814 by William Cox while he was building the first road over the Blue Mountains.
In 1815 Governor Macquarie camped at The Weatherboard and bestowed upon the area some of its present European names, including Kings Tableland, the Jamison Valley (named after Macquarie's friend who lived on the banks of the Nepean River to the east), Pitt's Amphitheatre (after the British prime minister) and Prince Regent's Glen (after the Prince of Wales who became George IV in 1820). He also gave Wentworth Falls the name 'Campbell's Cataract' after his secretary.

Blaxland
The town of Blaxland, located 67 km from Sydney and 234 metres above sea level, was named after Gregory Blaxland.

Lawson
Located 732 m above sea level and 93 km from Sydney, Lawson, originally called 'Blue Mountains', was renamed in 1879 to honour William Lawson.

William Charles Wentworth (c. 1790 - 1872)
Explorer and Barrister. Born: c. July 1790  On board ship.  Died: 20 March 1872.
Born on board the Surprize, ca July 1790. Died England, 20 March 1872. Acting provost-marshall, New South Wales 1811, granted 1750 acres in the Nepean (Vermont estate), studied law in England 1817-21, published A statistical, Historical, and Political description of the Colony of New South Wales ... 1819 (revised and enlarged editions 1820 an d 1824), returned to Sydney 1824, joint publisher of the Australian 1824-28, was responsible for the system of military juries being abolished 1829 and the introduction of trial by jury 1830, fought for self-government, foundation vice-president, Australian Patriotic Association 1835, Legislative Council 1843-54, played a leading part in establishing in 1848-49 the first real system of state primary education in New South Wales, led the movement resulting in the founding of the The University of Sydney, which he helped to endow. Commemorated by the town of Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains, portraits in the chamber of the Legislative Assembly in Sydney and in the Mitchell Library, and a statue in the Great Hall of the University of Sydney.

Gegory Blaxland (1778 - 1853)
Pastoralist Born: 17 June 1778  Fordwich, Kent, England.  Died: 1 January 1853.
Born Fordwich, Kent, England, 17 June 1778. Died New South Wales, 1 January 1853. Influenced by Sir Joseph Banks (q.v.) to emigrate to Sydney in 1805, granted 4000 acres of land, bought 80 head of cattle and an extra 450 acres at the Brush farm, near Eastwood, later bought a stockyard, granted 2000 acres at Evan 1809, 2280 acres there 1810 and 500 acres in the district of Cooke 1812, was critical of Macquarie whose refusal to allow him land in the interior meant that he had to dispose of his livestock, settled down by 1820 on his Brush farm estate, where he produced award winning wine.
Blaxland's importance is well summed up in the Australian Dictionary of Biography which records that: 'By 1813 he had come to realise that his flocks of sheep and cattle were expanding beyond the resources of his coastal grant. Macquarie could not be persuaded to grant extra lands to large flock owners on the coast, and Blaxland thus drew the correct conclusion that the solution to the pastoralists' land problem lay in discovering a route to the interior. In 1810 he had explored part of the Nepean River. Early in 1813 he requested Macquarie's approval of an exploring expedition across the Blue Mountains, and on 11 May he set out with William Lawson and W. C. Wentworth. Though as early as 1816 Blaxland claimed to have been the leader of the expedition, contemporary records suggest that none of the three assumed this position but that their effort was a joint one.

William Lawson (1774 - 1850)
Explorer and Pastoralist. Born: 2 June 1774  Finchley, Middlesex, England.  Died: 16 June 1850.
Lawson's knowledge of surveying made him a particularly valuable member of the expedition and his journal, with its accurate record of times and distances, enables the route to be precisely retraced. He was trained as a surveyor and arrived in New South Wales in 1800. By 1813 he was a prominent local citizen living in a gracious 40-room, early colonial mansion on 500 acres at Prospect. Lawson was invited to accompany Blaxland and Wentworth as the Australian Dictionary of Biography observes: 'Lawson's knowledge of surveying made him a particularly valuable member of the expedition. His journal, with its accurate record of times and distances, enables the route to be precisely retraced.' Subsequently 'he is reputed to have taken the first stock across the mountains in 1815' and in 1819 'he escorted Freycinet's party of naturalists and botanists over the ranges'. A small chapel in the town commemorates Lawson's association with the town.

• Read and/or download the etext "The Journal of Gregory Blaxland, 1813"
• The Journal of William Cox, who supervised the building of the road theough the mountains to Bathurst in 1814.