1813 crossing of the Blue Mountains

Australian mountaineering expedition February 2020 July 2014 1813 crossing of the Blue Mountains, Australia Crossing of Blue Mountains, 1880.jpg Image shows the group of explorers standing at the edge of a cliff, looking out over plains. Earliest pictorial representation of the crossing from The Sydney Mail, 25 December 1880 Gregory Blaxland William Lawson William Charles Wentworth Gregory Blaxland Blaxland's Farm – Blue Mountains – Mt Blaxland 1813 05 11 y – 1813 06 06 y 27 days Land Grants An expedition led by Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth in 1813 was the first recorded crossing of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales.Lawson, William http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/lawson_william Dictionary of Sydney 27 May 2013 The crossing enabled the settlers to access and use the land west of the mountains for farming, and made possible the establishment of Australia's first inland colonial settlement at Bathurst.History – general history http://www.hyperhub.com.au/forto/Crossings_BiCentenary/history_sub.cfm?Category=General%20History Blue Mountains Crossings Bicentenary 28 May 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20140204022059/http://www.hyperhub.com.au/forto/Crossings_BiCentenary/history_sub.cfm?Category=General%20History 4 February 2014 dead Background The European settlement at Sydney Cove, established in 1788 after the arrival of the First Fleet, grew rapidly.History since colonisation http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/parkHistory.aspx?id=N0004 Blue Mountains National Park NSW Parks and Wildlife Service 27 May 2013 By the early 19th century, the Blue Mountains had become a barrier to the expansion of the colony, which required more farming land to meet its needs, particularly after the droughts of 1812 and 1813.History in Detail http://www.bluemts.com.au/info/about/history/history-detail/ Blue Mountains Australia 27 May 2013Crossing the Blue Mountains http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/exploration/blue_mountains/index.html Discover Collections State Library of NSW 27 May 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130420234950/http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/exploration/blue_mountains/index.html 20 April 2013 dead The local indigenous people knew at least two routes by which to cross the mountains.Myths and Mysteries of the crossing of the Blue Mountains (pdf) http://australianhistorymysteries.info/demo/downloads/BlueMountains.pdf National Museum of Australia 29 May 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20150501044903/http://australianhistorymysteries.info/demo/downloads/BlueMountains.pdf 1 May 2015 dead The first was along Bilpin Ridge, later followed by Archibald Bell with the assistance of the local Darug people (now the location of Bells Line of Road),Hawkesbury Valley http://www.greaterbluemountainsdrive.com.au/hawkesbury-valley-surrounds.php Greater Blue Mountains Drive 29 May 2013 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20140530192651/http://greaterbluemountainsdrive.com.au/hawkesbury-valley-surrounds.php 30 May 2014 and the second was along Coxs River.The Arms Chronicle http://www.nepeanhistoricalsociety.org.au/imgedit/show_news1.php?id=1 The Arms of Australia Inn Museum 29 May 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130427070055/http://www.nepeanhistoricalsociety.org.au/imgedit/show_news1.php?id=1 27 April 2013 dead Until 1813 however, the settlers remained unaware of how to cross the mountains despite several attempts, including two by Blaxland himself. Early in 1813 Blaxland, who wanted more grazing land, obtained the approval of Governor Lachlan Macquarie and approached Lawson and Wentworth to secure their participation in a new exploratory expedition following the mountain ridges.A History of Australia, Vol. 1, C.M.H. Clark (Melbourne University Press) 1962, p. 277 Gregory Blaxland Gregory Blaxland was born on 17 June 1778 in Kent, England. He sailed for Australia on 1 September 1805 with his wife, three children, two servants, an overseer, a few sheep, seed, tools, groceries, and clothing. When he reached Sydney he sold many of these items and made a profit which enabled him to buy eighty head of cattle so that he could breed cattle and sell the meat. He located 1,600 hectares of land that the government had promised to new settlers as well as forty convict servants and established his farm. He was also one of the first people to plant grapes in Australia and make wine, for which he was awarded a silver medal and later a gold one from the Royal Society of Arts, London. The town of Blaxland is named after him. William Lawson William Lawson was born in England, where he later trained to become a surveyor. He migrated to Sydney, Australia, arriving in 1800. He was an officer in the New South Wales Corps and owned land where he raised many cattle and sheep. He was invited to join the 1813 expedition with Gregory Blaxland. The town of Lawson is named after him. William Charles Wentworth William Charles Wentworth was born in Australia to Irish parents. In 1802 he was sent to school in England and returned to Sydney in 1810, where he worked for the governor, Lachlan Macquarie, and was given a land grant of 1750 acre ha 1 flip on the Nepean River. The town of Wentworth Falls is named after him. Expedition On the presumed date of May 11, 1813, Mr. Gregory Blaxland, Mr. William Wentworth, and Lieutenant Lawson, attended by four servants, with five dogs, and four horses laden with provisions, ammunition, and other necessities, left Mr. Blaxland's farm at South Creek, for the purpose of endeavouring to effect a passage over the Blue Mountains, between the Western River, and the River Grose. Gregory Blaxland thumb|A sketch of their route, prepared by Frank Walker in 1913. The Great Western Road has been inserted to show how closely it has followed the track of the explorers in its general direction. Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson led an expedition party, which included four servants, four pack horses and five dogs. Two of the four men who assisted the party have been identified as James Burne (or Burnes), a guide and kangaroo hunter, and Samuel Fairs, a convict who arrived in Australia in 1810. The two others, also thought to be convicts, remain unidentified.Cunningham-Lewis Brenda Research 'hunch' reveals identity of convict from Blue Mountains crossing By t http://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/1419040/research-hunch-reveals-identity-of-convict-from-blue-mountains-crossing/ Blue Mountains Gazette 27 May 2013 10 April 2013 The party left from Blaxland's South Creek farmHistory – the three explorers http://www.hyperhub.com.au/forto/Crossings_BiCentenary/history_sub.cfm?Category=Three%20Explorers Blue Mountains crossing bicentenary 27 May 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20140323074947/http://www.hyperhub.com.au/forto/Crossings_BiCentenary/history_sub.cfm?Category=Three%20Explorers 23 March 2014 near the modern suburb of St Marys in western Sydney, on 11 May 1813 and crossed the Nepean River later that day.Flannery Tim The Explorers 2010 The Text Publishing House Melbourne 9781876485221 registration https://archive.org/details/explorersstories0000unse They made their way over the mountains, following the ridges, and completed the crossing in 21 days. The explorers' success has been attributed to their methodical approach and decision to travel on the ridges instead of through the valleys.Gregory Blaxland Gregory Blaxland (1778–1853) https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/blaxland-gregory-1795 Australian Dictionary of Biography 27 May 2013 The three explorers and two of their servants would set out each day, leaving the other two men at their campsite, and mark out a trail, before turning back later in the day to cut a path for the horses and allow the rest of the party to progress. The group first saw the plains beyond the mountains from Mount York. They continued on to Mount Blaxland 25 km south of the site of Lithgow, on the western side of the mountains. From this point Blaxland declared there was enough forest or grassland "to support the stock of the colony for thirty years", while Lawson called it "the best watered Country of any I have seen in the Colony". The party then turned back, making the return journey in just six days. Journals of the party All three explorers wrote an account of their expedition. Blaxland was the only one to publish his account, Journal of a Tour of Discovery Across the Blue Mountains, which he did in 1823 during a return visit to England. His journal, written in the third person, records their progress in detail, including their reasons for believing they had achieved their goals and deciding to turn back: They now conceived that they had sufficiently accomplished the design of their undertaking, having surmounted all the difficulties which had prevented hitherto the interior of the country from being explored, and the colony from being extended. ... Their provisions were nearly expended, their clothes and shoes were in very bad condition, and the whole party were ill with bowel complaints. These considerations determine them, therefore, to return home. Gregory Blaxland Wentworth's journal indicates his inspired impressions of the landscape: A country of so singular a description could in my opinion only have been produced by some Mighty convulsion in Nature – Those immense unconnected perpendicular Masses of Mountain which are to be seen towards its Eastern Extremity towering above the Country around, seem to indicate that the whole of this tract has been formed out of the Materials of the primitive mountains of which these masses are the only parts that have withstood the violence of the concussion. William Wentworth Lawson, as a trained surveyor, kept detailed notes about the route itself including the distances covered each day, as well as his impressions of the landscape. He recorded on 22 May: Reached the summit of the Highest land we have yet been, ... and Encamped by a fine stream of water. Here we had a fine view of all our Settlements, our progress was here stoped by an impassable Clift from going either South or West- Mr. Blaxland Wentworth and Self left our Camp with a determination to get down some parts of this broken land. But found it impracticable in some places 500 feet perpendicular here we saw the course of the Western River and that broken Country at Natai the back of the Cow pasters. No doubt this is the Remnant of some dreadful Earthquake William Lawson, 22 May 1813 Aftermath In recognition of the successful crossing, all three explorers were rewarded by Macquarie with a grant of 1000 acres of land west of the mountains.William Lawson William Lawson (1774–1850) https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lawson-william-2338 Australian Dictionary of Biography 27 May 2013Crossing of the Blue mountains, Boardman (Scholastic Australia) 1997, pp.29–30 Blaxland later claimed to have led the expedition; however, records from the time of the crossing imply that they were joint leaders. Surveyor-General George William Evans was dispatched by Macquarie in November 1813 to follow the path taken and travel further to determine the best route to access the arable farmland.Macquarie's crossing http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/exploration/macquarie/index.html Discover Collections State Library of NSW 27 May 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20160201155742/http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/exploration/macquarie/index.html 1 February 2016 dead dmy-all Evans continued past Mount Blaxland to the Macquarie and Lachlan Rivers and the site of modern Bathurst. Upon his return, he was rewarded with 1000 acres of land in Tasmania.George William Evans George William Evans (1780–1852) https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/evans-george-william-2029 Australian Dictionary of Biography 28 May 2013 Macquarie then commissioned William Cox in July 1814 to construct a road, following the path taken by the three explorers and extended by Evans.William Cox William Cox (1764–1837) https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cox-william-1934 Australian Dictionary of Biography 28 May 2013 Cox's team of convict workers completed the job in six months and Cox was rewarded by Macquarie with a grant of 2000 acres of land near the site chosen by Macquarie for Bathurst.Cox, William A narrative of proceedings of William Cox, Esq., of Clarendon, lately holding a commission in the New South Wales Corps or 102nd Regiment, in constructing a road from Capt. Woodriffe's farm on the Nepean River, opposite Emu Plains, over the Blue Mountains, and from thence to Bathurst Plains, on the banks of the Macquarie River, in the years 1814 & 1815 1888 s.n. http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/19106131 11 May 2016 Macquarie travelled along the new road, naming it the Great Western Road, in 1815. Artist John Lewin accompanied Macquarie on the tour.John William Lewin John William Lewin (1770–1819) https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lewin-john-william-2354 Australian Dictionary of Biography 30 May 2013 The colonial expansion into the lands of the Wiradjuri people, west of the Blue Mountains, led to the Bathurst war.Windradyne and the Bathurst Wars – Hyde Park Barracks https://hydeparkbarracks.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/story/windradyne-and-the-bathurst-wars/ 2021-04-24 en Commemorations thumb|Memorial at Lawson, New South Wales thumb|Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson memorial, Luddenham Road The crossing and the three explorers have been commemorated in a number of ways, including: Several memorials to the explorers have been erected along the route they followed. Events to mark the centenary included a luncheon at Mount Victoria.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article80140259 CROSSING THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. Singleton Argus (NSW : 1880–1954) NSW 31 May 1913 31 May 2013 1 National Library of Australia Frank Walker, then President of the Royal Australian Historical Society,Frank Walker Crossings http://www.rahs.org.au/western-crossings/frank-walker/ Royal Australian Historical Society 11 July 2013 https://archive.today/20130711032202/http://www.rahs.org.au/western-crossings/frank-walker/ 11 July 2013 dead dmy-all published a compilation of articles about the crossing and photographs of the Blue Mountains in time for the centenaryThe first crossing of the Blue Mountains : [newspaper extracts, manuscript notes, maps, photographs, etc.] / illustrated by Frank Walker. http://library.sl.nsw.gov.au/record=b3399231~S2 SLNSW Catalogue State Library of NSW 11 July 2013 Three towns in the Blue Mountains are named after the explorers: Blaxland, Lawson, and Wentworth Falls. Federal electorates were named after two of the explorers: Division of Blaxlandhttps://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/nsw/blaxland.htm Profile of the electoral division of Blaxland (NSW) Australian Electoral Commission 11 May 2020 and Division of Wentworth.https://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/nsw/wentworth.htm Profile of the electoral division of Wentworth (NSW) Australian Electoral Commission 11 May 2020 A monument to surveyor George Evans in Bathurst dedicated in 1920 also pays homage to Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth.George Evans https://www.monumentaustralia.org/themes/people/exploration/display/20248-george-evans- 2024-02-06 Monument Australia For the 150th anniversary, a 1963 postage stamp featured an image of the expedition.First Crossing of Blue Mountains, 150 years http://www.australianstamp.com/images/large/0007540.jpg Australian Stamp 28 May 2013 Events to mark the bicentenary in 2013 included the Blue Mountains Blue Wave walking party following the route taken by the expedition,Heading west: trip taps pioneer spirit http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/heading-west-trip-taps-into-pioneer-spirit-20130525-2n3mr.html 27 May 2013 Sydney Morning Herald 26 March 2013 a flypast involving 70 aircraft,Flyover Magic http://www.stmarysstar.com.au/story/1528841/flyover-magic/?cs=12 St Marys-Mount Druitt Star Fairfax Regional Media 27 May 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20150213014704/http://www.stmarysstar.com.au/story/1528841/flyover-magic/?cs=12 13 February 2015 dead a silver coin issued by the Royal Australian Mint,First Crossing of Blue Mountains, 200 years http://news.allnumis.com/new-australian-coin-200-years-since-the-crossing-of-the-blue-mountains.html Allnumis News 31 May 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20150213023830/http://news.allnumis.com/new-australian-coin-200-years-since-the-crossing-of-the-blue-mountains.html 13 February 2015 dead and performances of a play written by a descendant of Blaxland.Ashworth Len Descendant launches her play on explorers' crossing http://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/1492753/descendant-launches-her-play-on-explorers-crossing/?cs=1464 The Lithgow Mercury Fairfax Regional Media 31 May 2013 11 May 2013 A bust of Wentworth was unveiled in Coronation Park, Wentworth Falls in 2016.Lewis B. c 2016-05-23 Bust unveiled of Wentworth https://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/3923216/bust-unveiled-of-wentworth/ 2024-03-07 Blue Mountains Gazette en-AU It has been claimed that Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson may have carved their initials into the tree now referred to as the Explorers tree, located about 5 kilometres west of Katoomba.Katoomba http://www.bluemts.com.au/info/towns/katoomba/ Blue Mountains Australia 28 May 2013 This claim is not universally supportedExplorers Tree http://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/sustainableliving/explorerstree Blue Mountains City Council 28 May 2013 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20130923062442/http://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/sustainableliving/explorerstree 23 September 2013 and the tree is not specifically mentioned in the journals kept by the explorers, although they did mark trees to record their route.Low John The Marked Explorer's Tree http://www.sixfoot.com/history3.php Six Foot Track Marathon 28 May 2013 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20070726073116/http://www.sixfoot.com/history3.php 26 July 2007 Locations South Creek Farm -33.805847 150.765587 South Creek Farm Caley's Repulse -33.71795 150.49513 Caley's Repulse Mount York -33.5533 150.21966 Mount York Mount Blaxland -33.54750 150.10556 Mount Blaxland Wentworth's Sugarloaf -33.54250 150.10833 Wentworth's Sugarloaf Lawson's Sugarloaf -33.54083 150.11000 Lawson's Sugarloaf See also European exploration of Australia History of New South Wales Prehistory of Australia Bathurst war References 30em Blaxland, Gregory (1778–1853) Walker, Frank A journal of a tour of discovery across the Blue mountains, New South Wales, in the year 1813 2002 The University of Adelaide Library http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/6051868 18 May 2016 Lawson's journal Lawson, William (1774–1850) https://digital.sl.nsw.gov.au/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=FL3234994&embedded=true&toolbar=false State Library of NSW 6 Aug 2024 Lawson's journal transcript Lawson, William (1774–1850) http://archival-classic.sl.nsw.gov.au/_transcript/2017/D00007/a1482.html State Library of NSW 6 Aug 2024 Wentworth, Charles (1790–1872) Wentworth's journal http://www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/archive/discover_collections/history_nation/exploration/blue_mountains/wentworth/index.html Discover Collections State Library of NSW External links Blaxland's journal – record at the State Library of NSW Blaxland's journal images of published journal (1870) – at the State Library of NSW Blaxland's journal (digitised) at the University of Sydney Blaxland's journal (digitised) at the University of Adelaide Lawson's journal (original) (digitised) at the State Library of NSW Lawson's journal (html)(digitised) at Gutenberg Wentworth's journal (digitised) at the State Library of NSW Journal of Gregory Blaxland, edited by Frank Walker in 1913 at Project Gutenberg Australia Blue Mountains Blue Wave "Celebration of Mountain Life" 200th Bicentenary celebrations Blue Mountains Local History blog autocollapse Category:Exploration of Australia Category:History of the Blue Mountains (New South Wales) Category:1813 in Australia Category:19th century in New South Wales Category:Australian expeditions Category:May 1813 Category:June 1813