William Lawson (explorer)
| William Lawson | |
|---|---|
ca. 1840s – watercolour on ivory miniature
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| Born |
2 June 1774 Middlesex, England |
| Died | 16 June 1850 (aged 76) Prospect, NSW |
| Known for | Crossing the Blue Mountains |
William Lawson (2 June 1774 – 16 June 1850) was an English born explorer, land owner, grazier, official and politician who migrated to Sydney, New South Wales in 1800. With Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth, he participated in the first successful crossing of the Blue Mountains by European settlers.
Lawson was born in Finchley, Middlesex, England son of Scottish parents who had lived at Kirkpatrick. He trained as a surveyor but later bought a commission in the New South Wales Corps and migrated to Sydney, arriving in November 1800. Shortly after his arrival he was posted to work at the military station at Norfolk Island. It was here that he met Sarah Leadbeater whom he married and had eleven children. By 1813, when Lawson was invited by Gregory Blaxland to join him in attempting to cross the Blue Mountains, he had become an established colonial officer and pastoralist in New South Wales with lands in Concord and Prospect.
Lawson commenced his exploration of the Blue Mountains alongside Blaxland and William Charles Wentworth on 11 May 1813. He kept a journal of the expedition titled, 'W Lawsons Narrative. Across Blue Mountains [sic]'. In his first entry he writes:
Mr. Blaxland Wentworth and myself with four men and four Horses- Laden with Provisions etc- took our Departure on Tuesday the 11th May 1813. Crossed the Nepean River at Mr. Chapman's Farm Emma Island at four oclock and proceeded SW. Two miles. Encamped at 5 oclock at the foot of the first [Nioji] of Hills-.
On 31 May 1813, the party reached the most westerly point of their expedition, now known as Mount Blaxland. On this day, Lawson writes:
...this Country will I have no doubt be a great acquisition to this Colony and no difficulty in making a good Road to it, and take it in a Political point of View if in case of our Invasion it will be a safe Retreat for the Inhabitance with their Familys and that for this part of the Country is so formed by Nature that a few men would be able to defend the passes against a large body.
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