Australian Explorers

The Darling River is on the continent of Australia. It forms a part of the huge Murray-Darling river system which dominates the southeastern quadrant of the continent.

Not much information is known about Gregory Blaxland's childhood. Gregory Blaxland is most known for being an explorer who crossed the Blue Mountains in Australia.

May 1813.

William Wentworth, William Lawson and Gregory Blaxland were the first Europeans to make a complete journey across the Blue Mountains without being forced to turn back. Previous attempts by other explorers had been made, but they always ended with the exploration parties finding themselves faced with an impossible climb up sheer rock faces, or standing on ridges that ended sharply at cliff edges.

Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth departed South Creek, Sydney Cove, on 11 May 1813. After some three weeks of exploring through difficult and previously impenetrable terrain, the men reached Mount Blaxland, the end point of their journey, from where they could see the plains to the west, on 31 May 1813.

John McDouall Stuart had a policy of never firing on the Aborigines first. He respected the indigenous people, and sought friendly relations whenever he could. Admittedly, at times he was forced by hostile natives to retreat from his mission to cross the continent - but he never fired first.

However, like many Europeans, he held strong Christian beliefs: as he raised the Union Jack in central Australia, he hoped it would be a sign to the Aborigines that "the dawn of Christianity" had begun in Australia, and that the Europeans would be able to enlighten the native people.

The main thing the explorers sought regarding the Murray River was where it emptied. They wanted the answer of whether the Murray River led to an inland sea, or whether it opened out into the ocean. An inland sea would have opened up possibilities of fertile land in Australia's vast interior, while a river mouth at the ocean need up new possibilities of a colony elsewhere - a colony that could be connected to the inland rivers of New South Wales via the Murray.

Australian explorer Edmund Kennedy was born on 5 September 1818, on the Island of Guernsey, in the Channel Islands. He arrived in Australia in 1840, and took up the position of Assistant-Surveyor of New South Wales. As a surveyor, he arrived in Sydney in 1840 where he joined the Surveyor-General's Department as assistant to Sir Thomas Mitchell. In 1845, he accompanied Mitchell on an expedition into the interior of Queensland (then still part of New South Wales), and two years later led another expedition through central Queensland, tracing the course of the Victoria River, later renamed the Barcoo.

During these expeditions, Kennedy gained much experience in exploration and, as a result, was chosen in 1848 to lead his last major expedition to explore overland to Cape York Peninsula, mapping the eastern coast of north Queensland - the one that ultimately ended in his death.

Early Australia explorer, William Wentworth, died of natural causes at the age of 81 on 20 March 1872.

john mcdougall Stuart is the 5th son of William Stuart

The fertile agricultural area of the Darling Downs in Queensland was named by explorer Allan Cunningham after then-Governor Ralph Darling.

Gregory Blaxland, along with William Lawson and William Wentworth, were the first explorers to successfully cross the Blue Mountains in Australia.

On 31 May 1813, they reached Mount Blaxland, from where they could see the the rich grasslands on the other side of the mountain barrier. Blaxland wrote in his journal that they "discovered what [they] had supposed to be sandy barren land below the mountain was forest land, covered with good grass". Beyond the mountains the explorers found a great expanse of open country, which they surveyed. Their exploration was important because it opened up the grazing lands of inland New South Wales, and allowed the colony to expand beyond the Blue Mountains. It meant that many, many more free settlers could come to New South Wales, because there was ample land and opportunity for all.

The route they traversed is basically the one still used by travellers today. In January 1814, colony surveyor George Evans recommended building a road which would follow the ridge track located by Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth. Soon after this, William Cox was commissioned to build the road to Bathurst. The original Great Western Highway covered 161 km and incorporated twelve bridges, and provided ready access to the west.

He has 4 children. Wade 28 (but died at age 16), Cate 25, Emma Claire 9, and John (Jack) 7.

William Charles Wentworth was one of first three Europeans to cross the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. He achieved this with William Lawson and Gregory Blaxland in 1813.

John Oxley was born in England in 1783 and came to Australia in 1802. He was made Surveyor-General of the New South Wales colony in 1812.

John McDouall Stuart made three determined attempts between 1859 and 1862 to cross Australia from south to north (as well as two "scouting" missions to establish depots from which to break through to the north).

On his final attempt, he departed Adelaide in January 1862 and reached the shores of the Timor Sea on 25 July 1862 - a journey of around 6 months. He immediately embarked on the return journey, reaching Porter Hill in the settled areas of South Australia on 7 December 1862. Here, he spent some time recovering before the huge public welcome in Adelaide on 21 January 1863.

John McDouall Stuart's achievements are centred around his explorations, which were extremely valuable, bringing long-term benefits to Australia.

Stuart's first experience in exploration was when he was employed as a draughtsman by Captain Charles Sturt on an expedition into the desert interior. He used the skills he developed from this experience to further his own exploration ventures, discovering more of what lay beyond Adelaide and other settled areas of the colony of South Australia.

Stuart is most famous for being the first recorded explorer to successfully cross Australia from south to north, and back again, returning alive. Because he led a total of five expeditions in the attempt to be the first to cross the continent from south to north, he developed an extensive knowledge of the inland deserts, and this helped tremendously in charting the interior of the continent. He finally succeeded on his fifth attempt, reaching the northern waters at Chambers Bay in July 1862.

This exploration had major benefits. South Australia had been a struggling colony, not having the same degree of good, fertile soil or large rivers that the other colonies had. Stuart's exploration brought South Australia (represented by Stuart) into the limelight and gave the colony new significance. Because of Stuart's success, South Australia was given control of the area of Australia now known as the Northern Territory.

In particular, Australia's famous Overland Telegraph Line was built from Adelaide to Darwin, roughly following the path Stuart took. This meant that messages from the rest of the world came into northern Australia and were then relayed to Adelaide first, from where they were relayed to other major centres in Australia. Essentially, it gave Adelaide new importance.

John McDouall Stuart discovered the following: A large creek with 'permanent waters', in the arid region south west of Lake Eyre. Chambers Pillar, the Finke River, the James, Waterhouse and MacDonnell Ranges. He was the first to reach the center of Australia and to cross Australia.

Robert O'Hara Burke, explorer of Australia, had the following named after him: * Burke Street in Melbourne * Burketown, in the Gulf of Carpentaria * Burke River, near the town of Boulia

Oxley was very young when he died - just 42 (some sources say 43 or 44) but it seems his overall health was compromised by his explorations and the hardships associated with this. It is officially recorded that his constitution had 'been materially injured by the privations which he suffered during the Several Expeditions on which he was employed in exploring the Interior'. (source: Australian Dictionary of Biography)

Many places have been named after explorer John Oxley. They include: * The Oxley Highway in New South Wales * The town of Oxley, NSW * Oxley Island on the NSW north coast * The Federal electorate of Oxley (Queensland) * NSW Electoral district of Oxley * Oxley Wild Rivers National Park * Oxley Creek (Qld) * Suburbs of Oxley, Qld and Oxley, Australian Capital Territory * The John Oxley Library, which is part of the State Library of Queensland

Ned Kelly fought for Ned Kelly. He was upset at his treatment by the government of the day. He was upset about the corruption of a local magistrate and was upset at the harsh judgments handed down to his mother. He was supported by other settlers who shared his concerns. He was betrayed by a friend whom he then killed and also shot and killed police officers. His last words were "Such is Life" prior to being hanged.

Mathew Flinder's was the son of Mathew Flinders and his wife Susannah. Young Mathew joined the navy at age 15 and sailed to New South Wales.