TRIBUTE

WINTER , 2013 FREE PUBLICATION

St Marys & District Historical Society Inc - Quarterly Newsletter PO Box 640, ST MARYS NSW 1790 – Street Address - St Marys Corner, Mamre Rd, St Marys

PO Box 640, St Marys NSW 1790 – Parking via 29 Swanston Street. On Saturday 11th May, 2013 our members, friends and family dressed in 1813 costumes to help give “atmosphere” to the celebrations of the re-enactment of the 200th Anniversary of the Crossing of the Blue Mountains by Blaxland, Lawson & Wentworth. The celebration was held at the cairn by the side of Luddenham Road, on land that was once the property of Gregory Blaxland and where the explorers set out on the start of their journey to find a passage over the mountains. The 2013 celebrations was organised by Penrith City Council and members of the Bi-Centenary Organisation Committee and St Marys was the start of the celebrations that will coincide with the trek of the descendents of the explorers to are walking in their ancestor’s footsteps all the way to Mt Blaxland. Photos courtesy of Peter Kish & Carol Volkiene

On Wednesday 1st May, Norma and I were invited to Banks Public School to give a talk and presentation on the Bi-centennial Crossing of the Blue Mountains. The students from Kindergarten to 6th Class showed a great deal of interest and we were impressed by the questions asked by them. We were also invited back to the school’s Heritage Fair on the Friday for the children’s parade in period dress. The teachers and parents took an all-in-approach and created a window for the children to experience 1813. Well done to Banks Public School for celebrating this important event in our national and local history. The photo shows students dressed in period costume along with Norma and myself. Article & photo supplied by President - Caroline Volkiene.

On Sunday 21st April 2013, Norma and Tom Thorburn and I attended the St Marys RSL Sub-Branch ANZAC march and service at Victoria Park, St Marys. As the President, I laid a rose on behalf of the members of our Society. The service was well attended with the families of two local fallen soldiers invited to light the three candles of remembrance - representing the army, navy and air force and Jack Jewry who was killed in action at Lon Tan on the 18th August 1966 during the Vietnam War, and Luke Gavin who was killed in action on 29th October 2011 during the Afghanistan War. At the end of the service everyone was invited back to the St Marys RSL for the opening of their “Corridor of Honour” to all service personnel who have served in Australia. Article by Caroline Volkiene

The Society has had visits at the Chambers from students of St Marys North Public School, St Marys Central and Our Lady of the Rosary who came to see our Anzac Display and hear about the war history from our President Caroline Volkiene, Vice-President Lyn Forde and Treasurer Norma Thorburn. Photos taken by Lyn Forde

On Sunday the 19th May, 2013 members Norma & Tom Thorburn, Caroline Volkiene, Marion McLeod and Lyn Forde attended the Mamre Historical Festival dressed in costume, where we held a stall to sell our publications. The day was perfect and the public came to soak up the atmosphere of historic Mamre homestead. The celebration was a continuation of the 200th anniversary of the crossing of the Blue Mountains.

Photos taken by Lyn Forde

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On Saturday 4th May, the Society held an invitation only opening of our Crossing of the Blue Mountains 200th celebration display at the “Chambers” building. Special guests were treated to an introduction from our President Caroline Volkiene who along with member Norma Thorburn and others created the pictorial display as well as the re-production 1813 costume display. Thanks to member Paul Mills our headless mannequins’ now have wonderful paper-Mache heads and some have hands. Paul was also responsible for the wood burnings hanging around the chambers and he has donated many of his wood burnings for the Society to sell for much needed funds to keep going. Councillor Greg Davies was also asked to speak and gave the Society a wonderful surprise on behalf of the Nepean News and his partner and Editor Kerrie Martin who are putting together a book for sale, the subject of which is the “History Page” of the newsletter that has been popular with their readers. The book is on sale for $10 with some of the proceeds donated to the Society. We have copies for sale at the Chambers. Our thanks to our Vice-President Lyn Forde for contributing to the “History Page” over the last couple of years. Two of our very special guests were Peter and Jennine Leonarder-Collins who are the owners of Werrington House that once belonged to the Lethbridge family. Our Patron Tanya Davies, Member for Mulgoa and Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury came to see the display towards the end of the festivities. Photos courtesy of Lyn Forde

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On Saturday 11th May, St Marys was in the history spotlight, and rightfully so. This date marked the re-enactment of celebrations of the 200th Anniversary of the first European crossing of the Blue Mountains by explorers Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth. They left on Tuesday the 11th May, 1813 from “Blaxland Farm” that was situated on the left bank of South Creek about three miles from St Marys, (a stone cairn was erected near the site on Luddenham Rd). They were attended by four servants, five dogs and four horses laden with provisions, ammunition and other necessities, and along with Aboriginal guides, travelled at around two miles per hour. Their aim was to mount the “main” ridge from Emu Plains and follow a route similar to that of the now Great Western Highway to Mt Victoria and then follow a finger ridge to Mt York, arriving late on 28th May, 1813. Descending into the valley they came to a river (now known as Cox’s river) that flows into the Nepean. Their turn-around point was Mt Blaxland. They had discovered a way over the Blue Mountains to an area of pasture on the other side. On the 31st May, 1813, they had been travelling for twenty-one days and had covered about 93 km (an average of 4.5 km per day). They returned to Emu Plains in five days. Their report to Governor Macquarie played down their achievements and it is the opinion of many that later historical writers polished up the story and made them into heroes. Governor Macquarie took no action to exploit their discovery. A year after, William Cox built a road over the mountains with convict labour that opened up the west and saved the Colony. Gregory Blaxland was born in June 1778 at Fordwich, Kent in England. He was the fourth son of John Blaxland a Mayor from 1767 to 1774, whose family had owned estates nearby for generations, and Mary Parker, daughter of Captain Parker, R.N. Gregory attended The King’s School in Canterbury. In July 1799 in the church of St George the Martyr he married Elizabeth Spurdon. They had five sons and two daughters. The Blaxland family were among the first settlers of unquestioned respectability to go to the colony and they quickly turned their attention to trading speculations. In August 1807, Governor 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 Governor Bligh, 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 and assaulted the Master and used the ensuing trial ‘as a mask’ to display ‘vexatious opposition’ to him. In 1809 Lieutenant-Governor Paterson granted Gregory 2,000 acres at Evan. When Macquarie arrived he confirmed this, adding a further 2,280 acres there, in place of the original grant made by Governor King. By 1813 Gregory had come to realize that his flocks of sheep and cattle were expanding beyond the resources, and Macquarie could not be persuaded to grant extra lands to large flock owners and Gregory drew the correct conclusion that the solution to the pastoralists’ land problem lay in discovering a route over the barrier known as the “Blue Mountains”. In 1810 he had explored part of the Nepean River and early in 1813 he requested Macquarie’s approval of an exploring expedition across the Blue Mountains, and on 11th May he set out with William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth. As early as 1816 Blaxland claimed to have been the leader of the expedition but contemporary records suggest that none of the three men assumed this position but that their effort was a joint one. After the death of his wife in December 1826, Gregory made a visit to England. Still opposed to the Governor’s authority, this time he took a petition in support of trial by jury and some form of representative government, and carried samples of his wine. He committed suicide in January 1853 and 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. Source: Historical Records of New South Wales, vols 5-7; Historical Records of Australia, series 1, vols 5-9, 11, 13, 14, 16; G. Mackaness /(ed), Fourteen Journeys over the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, 1813-1841: Part 1, 1813-1815 (Syd, 1950); J. K. S. Houison,

The St Marys & District Historical Society meets every 4th Saturday at 1 pm - at the St Marys Precinct “Chambers” Building - Mamre Road, St Marys. No meetings in January or December. Patron of our Society is Tanya Davies - Liberal Member of Parliament for Mulgoa.

ALL WELCOME Back issues of the “Tribute” can be found on our website at

www.stmaryshistoricalsociety.org This Newsletter is a free publication. Articles in this Newsletter may be republished if permission is given by the Society.

Please contact: us on 0450132181 & leave a message (While care is taken to ensure that all articles are accurate, the opinions expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the Society) Any comments on this Newsletter are encouraged PLEASE, DON’T THROW OUT AUSTRALIAN HISTORY. OLD PHOTOGRAPHS, BOOKS, LETTERS, RECEIPTS, DOCKETS, NEWSPAPERS & MAGAZINES. IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT SURE ABOUT PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Editor & Publisher: Lyn Forde Page No. 4