William Lawson (explorer)
William Lawson ( born June 2, 1774 Finchley, Middlesex in England, † June 16 1850 in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia ) was an explorer, settler and lieutenant in the British colonial army. Part of it is held in Australia due to its qualification for the actual leaders of the historic voyage of discovery in 1813 by the Blue Mountains.
Early life
Lawson was a child of Scottish parents and lived in Kirkpatrick, went to school in London and was m June 1799 Member of the New South Wales Corps. He reached Sydney in November 1800, and was soon reassigned it to the garrison on the Norfolk Iceland, where he married Sarah Leadbeater. In 1806 he came back, was appointed lieutenant and served as commander of Newcastle ( Australia) by the year 1809., Like other officers of the British colonial army of that time he was interested in land ownership. To 1807, he acquired a small piece of land in Concord and in 1810 he expanded his land holdings to 1.5 km ².
Policy, expeditions and land ownership
He was involved in the resistance against colonial governments, as in 1807 against the D' Arcy Wentworth and against Governor William Bligh with John Macarthur in the so-called Rum Rebellion in 1808. 's Government loose time after this rebellion Lawson gave to George Johnston and received in gratitude 2.02 km ² of land. In 1810 he had to travel on the trial of Johnston to England as a witness. Lawson was not particularly involved in the Rum Rebellion and he already came, therefore, in January 1812 to Sydney and back then held a post as a lieutenant in the New South Wales Veterans Company. Because of his good conduct he was taken by Governor Lachlan Macquarie again in state service. This time took Lawson to build his so-called Veteran Hall, a building in the early colonial with 40 rooms.
Voyages of discovery
1813 offered to Gregory Blaxland and William Charles Wentworth him to accompany him on the search for a route through the Blue Mountains ( Blaxland expedition ). His training as a discoverer in England Lawson made a valuable member of the expedition. His exact reports and records of distances and travel times were the prerequisites for the successful construction of the later road through the Blue Mountains. For the successful exploration of the three explorers were each 4.05 km ² of land (1000 acres) in the west of the Great Dividing Range. Lawson chose land at Campbell River, not far from Bathurst. In 1819 he was appointed commander of the new settlement of Bathurst, where he served until 1824.
From Bathurst from Lawson made three little successful expeditions in search of the way to the Liverpool Plains. However, it allowed him to explore the area of Mudgee for agricultural use. Lawson wrote the discovery of the Cudgegong River while James Blackman, but pointed out that he himself had discovered Mudgee and 16 kilometers had advanced farther than Blackman.
Lawson was successful in the exploration and colonization of other areas of Australia. He drove the first cattle in July 1814 through the Blue Mountains. Lawson in 1819 accompanied the expedition of the Frenchman Louis de Freycinet, were involved in the naturalist and botanist. In September 1822, he discovered the coal deposits in the west of the Great Dividing Range at Hartley Vale.
To use his lands economically, he imported merino sheep and sheep, Shorthorn cattle and thoroughbred horses from England.
Land ownership
Lawson acquired large estates in the Mudgee district: 24.28 km ² on the western shore of Cudgegong, where he built a new branch office at Bombira Hill. This place was the center of his agricultural activities. Other large estates he possessed with 101.17 km ² in the Talbragar River, 24.28 km ² at Bathurst, 12.14 km ² in Roxburgh, 6.07 km ² at Springwood at Veteran Hall and other 647.50 km ². In 1824 he went back to the Veteran Hall. After his wife died at the age of 47 years on 14 July 1830 he spent his time exclusively to Veteran Hall to support his sons Nelson and William in the establishment and development of their Australian farms.
Social commitment
He supported the Presbyterian Church in Sydney and Parramatta. He was a town councilor and from 1843 to 1848 a member of parliament for the first time selected for the region Cumberland Plain in New South Wales. First he stood on different occasions in opposition to the government and against the policies of Wentworth. He also supported the settlers did not, wanted to acquire the land at cheaper prices. Maybe he was therefore not elected to Parliament in 1848 again.
Honors
The village named Lawson in the Blue Mountains after him. For the 150th anniversary of the crossing of the Blue Mountains an Australian stamp and 1993 a silver coin was released in 1963, on which the pioneers Blaxland, Lawson and Wenthworth are shown.