John Oxley
| John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley | |
|---|---|
John Oxley
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| Born | 1784 Kirkham Abbey, Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 1828 (aged 44) Bulmer |
| Occupation | British explorer |
John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828) was an explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps best known for his two expeditions into the interior of New South Wales and his discoveries of the Tweed River and the Brisbane River in what is now the state of Queensland.
John Oxley was born in 1785 at Kirkham Abbey near Westow in Yorkshire, Great Britain. He was baptised in Bulmer in Yorkshire on 6 July 1785.
In 1799, he entered the Royal Navy when he was aged 15 as a midshipman on the Venerable (1784). He travelled to Australia in October 1802 as master's mate of the naval vessel Buffalo, which carried out coastal surveying (including the survey of Western Port). In 1805 Governor King appointed him acting lieutenant in charge of the Buffalo. In 1806 he commanded the Estramina on a trip to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania). He returned to England in 1807 and was appointed first lieutenant of Porpoise. He came back to Sydney in November 1808 to take up an appointment as first lieutenant in HMS Porpoise, having sailed out as agent for the Transport Board in the convict ship Speke, in which he shipped goods worth £800 as an investment. In 1809 Porpoise visited Van Diemen's Land, carrying as a passenger Governor William Bligh, who had been deposed in the Rum Rebellion.
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