"THE GREAT 'WESTEBN EOAD" Illustrated. By Frank Walker.F.R.A.H.S MAMULMft VFl A WvMAfclVA/tJt* . * m ■ f l k i n £ f g £ 1 J k k JJC " l l K tfZZ) G uild,n g j XoCKt AHEA . &Y0AtMY. * ' e x . l i e.k «5 — »Ti^ k W^ukeK.^-* crt^rjWoofi. f^jw. ^ . ' --T-* "TTT" CiREAT WESTERN BOAD” Illustrated. —— By Fra^fr talker-F.R.A.H,S Ic&Sc&M The Great Western Hoad. I ■ -— ' "..................... ----------- FORE W ORE ----------------- The Ji5th April,x815,was a"red-letter day" in the history of Hew South Wales,as it signalled the throwing open of the newly“discovered western country to settlement,and the opening of the new road,which was completed by William uox,and his small gang of labourers in January,of the same year. The discovery of a passage across those hither­ to unassailaole mountains by ulaxland,Lawson and wentworth,after repeated failures by no less than thirteen other expeditions;the extended discoveries beyond Blaxland s furthest point by ueorge William Evans,and the subsequent construction of the road,follow -ed each other in rapid sequence,and proud indeed was i.acquarie, now that his long cherished hopes and ambitions promised to be realised,and a vast,and hitherto unknown region,added to the limited area which for twenty-five years represented the English settlement in Australia. Separated as we are by more than a century of time it is difficult to realise what this sudden expansion meant to the tfeen colony,cribbed,cabbined and confined as it had been by these mysterious mountains,which had guarded their secret so well, '^-'he dread spectre of famine had once again loomed up on the horizon before alaxland s successful expedition had ueen carried out,and the starving stock required newer and fresher pastures if they were to survive. All these things were of the past now, and a well made road,extending from the Nepean to the site .of the future city of Bathurst,invited traffic,and the virgin country into which it led,stood expectantly open,with waiting arms,ready to welcome the first settler willing to posess it. The construction of that first road, wiiich oy reason of the wild and rugged country. through which it passed, presented almost unsurmountable difficulties to that inexperi­ enced band of road engineers,was,in itself,a remarkable under­ taking,and may be classed as one of the most wonderful pieces of engineering in Australian history. With a working strength of only thirty,and having to face the rigours of a mountain winter for the greater part of the time,the story of this work as told in the pages of William Cox s juiary,is not only interesting,but it calls forth admiration for the pluck and perseverance of the leader and his band. Ho hardship was too great;no disappointment too keen,and though failures were frequent,and almost superhuman difliculties presented themselves, uox•s dogged perseverance alone carried him through,and success was his reward at last. The road was commenced on July 7,lol4,and on the 14th January in the following year uox was able to report to o.e ..Oi scqaarie that his .task was finished,and the road ready; j.0- ora.;.lie, A few months were allowed to intervene when,as men Cloned above,the official opening of the road took place on the ensuing &oth April,1S15. The following extract from Cox’s Diary * ■ - ....... --—------ ------ --- ---1__ L__ ,________ ,__ ___1 __ I_ '_____ ____ ' ______. BHflp , r .--- .. wmfrHrhrM- ... - -Ji -• r* . m m B m 1 . &J.. ,ui!SJj£-,--■ r , 4: i-V. ev * Si : , .•> .. J5r ,%■ *•. ■, c. .. r r • ! . :1a _ i „ a . : ... ,<; >r , -f . iii.' atatl if. ;i | ' • M Mn-.-. L 1 •• ■ . • ! 2 The Great Western Hoad as contained in his "Memoirs" is worth recording ,as it gives ap. exact idea of the names of those who composed the party,of which Governor Macquarie was the leader.- »...... .On April £5th of that year (1815) Governor macquarie drove his car^- iage across it (the road) ,from Sydney to eathurst..... accompanied by Mrs wlacquarie. The following gentlemen composed the Governor's suite;-Mr Campbell,secretary.,Captain Antill ,Major of Brigade.,Lieutenant Watts taide de ■campj.,Mr Oxley,Surveyor General, ,Mr-Meehan,Depmty-Sur­ veyor General.,Mr Lewin,painter and naturalist, and Mr G. W.Evans,Deputy-Surveyor of Lands..." The importance of this expedition,it might be thought,*oula be heralded with a flourish of trumpets,in th£ press of the day,but beyond a short and concise notice in the "Gazette",stating the fact of the Governor s departure,and the names of those who accompanied him,the opportunity for the ais}- play of a little pardonable rhetoric is not made use of. Prob­ ably optimism on the part of the staff of the Government organ was not encouraged,even if it existed,and the great possibili­ ties of the opening of that first Western road,and its effects on posterity were list sight of. The Governor in an official letter,which i$ also a G0vernment Proclamation,remarks that "....the tour was "undertaken for the purpose of being enabled,personally,to "appreciate the importance of the tract of country lying to th$ "west of the Blue Mountains...." further on he expresses "his astonishment and regret that amongst so large a population no one appeared within the first twenty-five years of the estab­ lishment of this settlement,possessed of sufficient energy of mind to induce him fully to explore a passage over these moun­ tains". This was rather rough on the courageous men who had already made repeated attempts to accomplish this very thing, but had failed. The Governor certainly makes reference to bass and Caley,two of thse very men,but he seems to have been sur­ prisingly ignorant of the very existence of such men as tfarral lier,Tench,^rose,Wilson,and others,not to speak of Governor Phillip,to whom the problem of the mountains,and what lay be­ hind them,appealed very early in his career. Macquarie s journey from day to day is very graphically told in Cox s Memoirs, which contained the text of the above mentioned proclamation. At most of the halting place*; Lewin,the painter,secured lasting mementoes of the Governor's visit,and thse,in the form of a series of exquisite paintings, now in the possession of the Antill family,at Picton,are of th<» greatest historical vaiue,and take the place of the photograph of the present day. The tints of the Australian foliage are 9 fb lank] : \r: n ,**.«..•<...... ' 7 • fl >r 7-^T .. r* ’ ,1 ' “ , .... Tr -$1 rr W; V . rT'!-> ' -■ ' — M, _ .. -. '-*r-_ ... ft-; . .• ! t j ' ; - r | ■?■■■;■ ■ t ‘ v - ■ • • •> , . iiviu, n.l... v,,» . ■ .. ::.- ..* e-..;-.:; :!';..f>r.dc . - v , V • - . >/'i< .. , *„:.J. '.W > v ... , . V f 'i : if--.. j I. • . / - : W . T , 1 . .1ft \;o ,v-rut.- . *)< r-'.*'-.- V. •• - r • M ... 2 «. - ................- * ..IV- Cl. I . .... - 1 ■ ax;-’1 =. a £J; . vj &. " ‘ -Jt -v ^ . :.U - v : , J,..- . i : ;....... _i- ■ © . & -v; -/I*. , I:-: . ^ . ! ..I': , - . , • . a‘ - .... H of^ovw ‘ro 2 ft'-, c .ort»>.res*Jfcrf,ago-1ikIo 1. 0 ti. hi .^3j citi. \ -ie C 'y: ,, .. ?: ■' ., , • .......... .. » • — .* .« • •* — ....• ■•- - ■ . ' - ■ , . • ;• . i: i.: . ... -Jj'o-'AI ■. t ■■ -- :. -ijj ir: (toizs- -i : »«•.. m*££0*t7..s . t :tj :z.-£t t . : i :: ~ v . : w The Great Western Road 3 -.— --------------- -------------------------------- rendered with a fidelity to nature,which must be seen to be appreciated,and in some of the views there are portraits of the members of the party which may readily 'be distinguished. When the party reached the neighbourhood of Lin -den,a curious heap of stones was found at the side of the road to which Macquarie,never at a loss for a name,decided to call "CALEY'S REPULSE”,after the explorer of that name. As a matter of fact,although Macquarie was unaware of it,ualey was never within miles of the place,but "caley s Kepulse" it remained to the end of the chapter. In 1916 a number of members of the then Australian Historical Societyiof which the writer was one,j when searching in this locality for this particular relic,had the good fortune to discover it,or rather what remained of it, the position in which it was found corresponding exactly with the description given in many contemporary works. It has now been restored and a suitable inscription placed thereon. Macquarie;s favorite hobby,the bestowal of names upon the various places met with during the tour,was free­ ly exercised,consequently we have such appellations as the "Kir "King's Tableland".,"Prince Regent;s Glen",,"Mount York".,"val€ of Clwydd".,Biackheath""Clarence Hilly Range".,"Cox s Pass", etc.,etc.,names which have wisely been retained to the present day. The arrival of the party at Mount York is described,and Macquarie's admiration of the pass which Cox had formed down the steep end precipitous sides of this famous mountain,found vent in^eulogistic terms. "As a tribute justly due to him",says Macquarie,"his name was given to this grand and extraordinary pass". The old road is still in existence,and during the Cen­ tenary Celebrations in lS13,was visited by crowds of sight see rs. Mount iilaxland,the terminal point of the first explorer s expedition was pointed out to Macquarie,as also the two sugar- loaf peaks standing near,which have been called after the two other members of tflaxland s expedition. The first named now bears an inscription, setting forth the fact that at this point Blaxland terminated his journey,and in years to come this ueie brated mountain will,without doubt,prove attractive to visitors with a taste for Australian History.