page_title: John Oxley
section_title: Lachlan River expedition, 1817
hierarchical_section_title: John Oxley / Surveyor General / Lachlan River expedition, 1817
caption_attribution_description: Map of the explorer's route in Australia. This image is of Australian origin and is now in the public domain because its term of copyright has expired. According to the Australian Copyright Council (ACC), ACC Information Sheet G023v16 (Duration of copyright) (Feb 2012). Type of materialCopyright has expired if ...&#160;A&#160;Photographs or other works published anonymously, under a pseudonym or the creator is unknown:taken or published prior to 1 January 1955&#160;B&#160;Photographs (except A):taken prior to 1 January 1955&#160;C&#160;Artistic works (except A &amp; B):the creator died before 1 January 1955&#160;D&#160;Published editions1 (except A &amp; B):first published more than 25 years ago&#160;E&#160;Commonwealth or State government owned2 photographs and engravings:taken or published more than 50 years ago and prior to 1 May 1969 1 means the typographical arrangement and layout of a published work. eg. newsprint. 2owned means where a government is the copyright owner as well as would have owned copyright but reached some other agreement with the creator. When using this template, please provide information of where the image was first published and who created it. català&#160;| Deutsch&#160;| English&#160;| español&#160;| français&#160;| македонски&#160;| മലയാളം&#160;| Nederlands&#160;| русский&#160;| slovenščina&#160;| Türkçe&#160;| +/−
context_page_description: John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley 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 exploration of the Tweed River and the Brisbane River in what is now the state of Queensland.
context_section_description: In March 1817 John Oxley was instructed to take charge of an expedition to explore and survey the course of the Lachlan River. He left Sydney on 6 April 1817 with George Evans as second-in-command, and Allan Cunningham as a botanist. The previous year, Evans had accompanied Macquarie over the Blue Mountains to Bathurst on the celebratory completion of Cox's road, where Macquarie had directed him on an exploratory journey which resulted in Evans reaching and naming the Lachlan River west of Bathurst in May 1815. The party also included William Parr as a mineralogist and draftsman.
  Oxley's party reached Bathurst after a week, where they were briefly detained by bad weather. On 25 April 1817, they reached the Lachlan River Depot which had been prepared for them (with provisions and supplies) in advance by a separate party under the direction of William Cox. From here, they commenced following its course, with part of the stores being conveyed in boats. As the exploring party travelled westward the country surrounding the rising river was found to be increasingly inundated. On 12 May, west of the present township of Forbes, they found their progress impeded by an extensive marsh. They travelled down a northern branch of the river to Mt Mulguthery where they were forced to return up the river.
  After retracing their route for a short distance they then proceeded in a south-westerly direction through Ungarie and past Weethalle, intending to travel overland to the southern Australian coastline. By the end of May, the party found themselves in a dry scrubby country northeast of Yenda where they ascended several peaks in the Cocoparra National Park. Shortage of water and the death of two horses forced Oxley's return, passing near Rankins Springs to the Lachlan River.
  On 23 June the Lachlan River near Merrigal Bridge was reached: "we suddenly came upon the banks of the river… which we had quitted nearly five weeks before". They followed the course of the Lachlan River through Hillston and Booligal for a fortnight. The party encountered much-flooded country and reached a point 5  km south-west of Booligal which was their last campsite. On 7 July Oxley proceeded another 16  km along the flooded river and recorded that "it was with infinite regret and pain that I was forced to conclude, that the interior of this vast country is a marsh and uninhabitable". Oxley resolved to turn back and after resting for two days the exploring party began to retrace their steps along the Lachlan River.
  They left the Lachlan at Kiacatoo up-stream of the present site of Lake Cargelligo and crossed to the Bogan River and then across to the Wellington Valley on the upper waters of the Macquarie River, which they followed back to Bathurst (arriving on 29 August 1817). The Wellington Valley would later be made the site of a convict settlement mostly for convict 'specials'.
caption: 1817 and 1818 Expeditions of Oxley
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