Gregory Blaxland, Free Settler "William Pitt" 1806

Gregory Blaxland was a free settler who sailed in the William Pitt on 1 September 1805 with his wife, three children, two servants, an overseer, a few sheep, seed, bees, tools, groceries and clothing. Arrived in Sydney Cove in 1806.

Biographical Summary

settler, son of John Blaxland, mayor from 1767 to 1774, whose family had owned estates near by for generations, and Mary, daughter of Captain Parker, R.N. Gregory attended The King's School, Canterbury. In July 1799 in the church of St George the Martyr there, he married Elizabeth, daughter of John Spurdon; they had five sons and two daughters.

The Blaxlands were friends of Sir Joseph Banks who appears to have strongly influenced the decision of Gregory and his eldest brother, John, to emigrate. The government promised them land, convict servants and free passages, in accord with its policy of encouraging 'settlers of responsibility and Capital'. Leaving John to sell their Kent estates, When he reached Sydney he sold many of these goods very profitably, bought eighty head of cattle so as to enter the meat trade, located 4000 acres (1619 ha) of land and was promised forty convict servants. Soon afterwards he also bought 450 acres (182 ha) at the Brush Farm (near Eastwood) from D'Arcy Wentworth for £1500, while also displaying some of his future characteristics by commencing litigation against the master of the William Pitt.

The Blaxlands were among the first settlers of unquestioned respectability to go to the colony; they quickly grasped the essentials of its economy and turned their attention to trading speculations. In August 1807 Governor Philip Gidley King warned William Bligh that he would 'be plagued with' Gregory Blaxland, and he was right. Both he and his brother John, who arrived in April 1807, thought themselves entitled to far more government assistance than they received, while Bligh criticized their 'speculative' and 'mercantile' activities. They joined those opposing the governor, and in January 1808 signed the letter requesting Major George Johnston to arrest Bligh. But they soon became 'extremely troublesome' to Johnston too, and in a dispute concerning the ownership of the ship Brothers took the law into their own hands, assaulted the master and used the ensuing trial 'as a mask' to display 'vexatious opposition' to him.

In addition to commercial speculations, sometimes undertaken in partnership with Simeon Lord, the Blaxlands bought a stockyard on the site Governor Lachlan Macquarie turned into a market in Sydney, and expanded their cattle grazing. In 1809 Lieutenant-Governor William Paterson granted Gregory 2000 acres (809 ha) at Evan. When Macquarie arrived he confirmed this, adding a further 2280 acres (923 ha) there in place of the original grant made by Governor King, and 500 (202 ha) more in the district of Cooke in 1812; this, he thought, satisfied all the claims for government assistance to which Gregory was entitled. He became very critical of the brothers for remaining 'restless and dissatisfied' and refusing to grow grain, despite their large numbers of convict servants; but Blaxland was concerned with his livestock. By 1813 he had come to realize 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 William Charles Wentworth. Though as early as 1816 Blaxland claimed to have been the leader of the expedition, contemporary records suggest that none of the three men assumed this position but that their effort was a joint one. They achieved success by adopting the novel method of traversing the mountains by the ridges instead of looking for a route through the valleys. They found the way across by Mount York, and then went on past Cox's River to a sugar loaf hill later named Mount Blaxland; from its summit could be seen 'enough grass to support the stock of the colony for thirty years'.

Blaxland's diaries show that he had a clear grasp of the scale upon which agricultural and pastoral activities would be profitable in Australia, but he was over ambitious in some of his speculations, and his role in the colony was thus less significant than that of other early pastoralists. In 1814, like many others almost insolvent because of drought and depression, he tried to persuade Macquarie to sanction a scheme for the exploitation of the interior by a large agricultural company similar to the later Australian Agricultural Co. of the 1820s. Macquarie would not agree nor would he allow Blaxland land in the interior for his own flocks. Since Blaxland then had to dispose of his livestock, it is not surprising that he joined the colonial opposition to Macquarie, and in 1819 sharply criticized his administration to Commissioner John Thomas Bigge.

By 1820 Blaxland had settled down on his Brush Farm estate, which Macquarie had admitted to be a 'very snug good farm and very like an English one in point of comfort and convenience'. Here he conducted many experiments with crops and grasses, unsuccessfully with tobacco growing but most successfully with buffalo grass and viticulture. He had brought vines from the Cape of Good Hope, found a species resistant to blight, took a sample of his wine to London in 1822 and won a silver medal for it. While in England he published his A Journal of a Tour of Discovery Across the Blue Mountains in New South Wales (London, 1823). After the death of his wife in December 1826 he made another visit to England. Still opposed to the governor's authority, this time he bore a petition in support of trial by jury and some form of representative government, and again carried samples of his wine, for which he won another medal in 1828. He successfully petitioned the Colonial Office for a drawback on the import duty on brandy imported into the colony and 'actually used in the manufacture of wine'. He was also given an order for 40,000 acres (16,187 ha) for growing tobacco but fortunately this was conditional for, as Governor (Sir) Ralph Darling reported, Blaxland had obtained it by deception. Darling allowed him 1280 acres (518 ha) at Sutherland, but this was 'transferred to his Creditors'. Thereafter Blaxland disappeared from public activity and when he committed suicide on 1 January 1853 aged 74, his death was scarcely noticed in the press. Always a man of moody and mercurial character, Blaxland devoted his colonial activities almost entirely to the pursuit of his economic interests, and his diaries do not suggest great attachment to the colonial environment beyond what was suggested by the hope of personal gain.

Press, Jan. 1.

INQUEST ON MR. GREGORY BLAXLAND.- An inquest was held at the Vineyard Estate, on Saturday- last, 1st January, before Mr. Lyons, coroner, and a respectable jury, on view of the body of Gregory Blaxland, Esq., then and there lying dead. Joseph Kay, having been sworn, deposed that be rented the garden adjoining the premises of deceased and that he saw him daily ; knew that Mr. Blaxland had no occupation, but employed himself in reading ; he used to say he was the same age as the late Duke of Wellington, viz., 84 years; his habits had been extremely abstemious ; witness knew that in the hot weather the deceased was accustomed to be affected in the head, and a little delirious. Yesterday had been an unusually hot day ; witness had slept in the room adjoining Mr. Blaxland for the last three nights ; that morning witness rose a little before five, and before going out asked deceased if he wanted anything, to which he replied in the negative. It was at the request of the deceased that he slept in the adjoining room, on account, as he said, of his being light-headed, and might get up and fall; at eleven o'clock witness's wife called and asked him did he know where Mr. Blaxland was? After searching about he went up stairs to a loft, where he found deceased suspended by the neck with a line to the beam. He was quite dead, but warm. Mr. J. Blaxland, son or*de- ceased, rode np to the house, as usual, to see his father, at the moment of the discovery, and on hearing the melancholy tidings turned his horse to go for a doctor. Witness took the body down. Deceased had not had bis clothes on for a week past; deceased wanted for no- thing ; he had sufficient means, and everything comfortable about him; witness was under no obligation to sleep in the house with deceased, but did so, from knowing him to be ill in the head ; witness's wife had attended on the de- ceased for the last three years.-Ann Kay, wife of the previous witness, deposed that she saw deceased in bed before eight o'clock that morn- ing, and asked him if his head was better, to which he replied, " Not so well, that it was hot ;" deceased had always complained of giddiness in the head in hot weather; witness had never heard deceased say that he would destroy himself, but, on the contrary, always expressed his otter abhorrence of such a thing ; witness gave" deceased his breakfast and he ate more heartily than usual. On witness asking what time she should return, deceased replied when- ever she liked. At eleven o'clock witness came back to supply more tea, when the unfortunate discovery was made.-Dr. Butter having been sworn, deposed to his knowledge of deceased for twenty years. He had lately been suffering from pains in the head, and general debility ; witness had been called in that morning, and found Dr. Greenup in attendance ; he had opened the temporal artery, and was trying to restore respiration ; the fluid that had escaped was serous, indicating death, and the blood was coagulated; witness had been attending deceased for the last six months, at intervals ; at the first he was labouring under an hapolic affection, but lately with pains in the head; three days ago witness had advised a blister to the back of the head, aud after its application deceased expressed himself better. He, Dr. Butter, was of opinion that those pains, and the late extremely not weather, had caused tem- porary aberration of intellect; deceased had been in the habit of reading abstruse works, and witness bad supplied works of a lighter charac- ter, to divert him from them. He had spoken at various times of the kind and cons taut at- tentions he received from the last two witnesses, and that he wanted for nothing. The jury, through the foreman, Captain Finch, returned a verdict that " deceased had put an end to his existence whilst labouring under a temporary fit of insanity."-Herald's Parramatta Corre- spondent. ,

SOURCE: Jill Conway, 'http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/blaxland-gregory-1795/text2031 Blaxland, Gregory (1778–1853)]', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 25 October 2013.

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Name: Gregory BLAXLAND
Sex: M Birth: 19 JUL 1778 in Fordwich, England. Death: 1 JAN 1853 in Vineyard Estate, Parramatta, NSW Note: Gregory attended King's College leaving in 1793. He spent timewith his brother John at Newington, and then went to JohnOxley-Parker his mother's brother at Purleigh, Essex, some 12miles from Chelmsford. In the early part of the nineteenthcentuary the Bristsh Government began to encourage emigration toAustralia. Thus it came about that in 1805 Gregory and Johnbargained with the Government over three years that they each begiven 6, 000 acres to be chosen by themselves, that thy shoud beallowed use convicts to work for them, that they, with theirfamily and servants, should have free passage, and that theyshould be be allowed ship four Spanish ram lambs and six ewes.On their side John undertook to empoy a capital of 6,000 pounds in the Colony of NSW. Having less to dispose of Gregory sailed in the Government transport and arrived in Sydney on 11 4 1806 on board the"William Pitt." He established himself at the Vineyard propertywhich he leased from Captain Waterhouse, who died in 1812, andafter his death considerable time was taken by his father inobtaining from Gregory the rent and other monies, he considereddue to his son. Gregory took only 2, 000 acres of his grant, deferring the restof the grant until he made furtherexamination of the country.Early in 1807 he purchased Brush Farm from D'Arcy Wentworth andcommenced building a beef industry and commenced cultivating thewine industry. His great exploit was in 1813 when with William Wentworth and Lieutenant Lawson they found a way across the Blue Mountains.This finding opened up the vast lands on the other side of theRange. One journal describes the surmounting of the difficultiespreviously found insurmountable, the difficulty of finding away, of contending with impenatrable scrub, with deep gullies and stiff precipices, of risking scarcity of water and food, and the not inconsiderable danger of hostile natives. Change Date: 27 JAN 2006

HintsAncestry Hints for Gregory BLAXLAND

   1 possible matches found on Ancestry.com	Ancestry.com

Father: John BLAXLAND b: 2 DEC 1729 in Fordwich, England. Mother: Mary PARKER b: ABT 1738

Marriage 1 Elizabeth SPURDEN (CF)

   Married: 1 JUL 1799 in Mersea Hall, Essex, England.

Children

   Has No Children Elizabeth BLAXLAND b: 18 APR 1800 in Purleigh, Essex, England.

   Has No Children John BLAXLAND MLA

   Has Children George BLAXLAND b: 19 JUL 1803 in Purleigh, Essex, England.

   Has Children Charles BLAXLAND b: 22 APR 1810 in Brush Park, Parramatta, Sydney, NSW.

   Has No Children Jane BLAXLAND b: 6 APR 1811 in Brush Farm, Parramatta, Sydney, NSW.

   Has No Children William BLAXLAND b: 1813 in Ryde, Sydney, NSW.

   Has No Children Gregory BLAXLAND b: 1815 in Brush Park, Parramatta, Sydney, NSW.

   Has No Children Christopher BLAXLAND b: 18 OCT 1822 in Brush Park, Parramatta, Sydney, NSW.

============================================ Title: THE JOURNAL OF GREGORY BLAXLAND, 1813

      incorporating...

      JOURNAL OF A TOUR OF DISCOVERY ACROSS THE BLUE MOUNTAINS,

      NEW SOUTH WALES, IN THE YEAR 1813 Author:     Gregory Blaxland (1778-1853)

• A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook * eBook No.: 0200411h.html Language: English Date first posted: June 2002 Date most recently updated: August 2004

This eBook was produced by: Colin Choat

• http://australianroyalty.net.au/individual.php?pid=I1020&ged=purnel...
• http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/blaxland-gregory-1795
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Blaxland
• https://gw.geneanet.org/mylerpj?lang=en&n=blaxland&oc=0&p=gregory
• https://australianmuseum.net.au/about/history/exhibitions/trailblaz...
• http://www.blaxwine.com.au/gregory-blaxland/
• https://bluemountainstours.com.au/gregory-blaxland-a-born-leader-th...
• https://courses.u3anet.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Explorers/Blaxland...

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