John+Oxley

[] Explorers of Australia John Oxley was born in England and sailed to Australia as a surveyor with the Royal Navy in 1801. He was appointed Surveyor-General of New South Wales in 1812. Third expedition By the 1820s it was decided that a new place needed to be found to house convicts. In 1823, under orders from Governor Brisbane, Oxley sailed up the coast and into Moreton Bay. He was shown the mouth of a large river and guided upstream by some escaped convicts who had been shipwrecked earlier and who had been living with local Aborigines. Oxley explored the river for about 20 kilometres and named it the Brisbane River after the governor. On his return to Sydney, Oxley recommended Moreton Bay as the place for a convict settlement. The penal settlement was established on the bay at Redcliffe in 1824. Later the colony was moved south to a site on the Brisbane River at North Quay, where there was a more reliable water supply. This area became the city of Brisbane. Last days Oxley became a farmer and sheep breeder. He was a director of the Bank of New South Wales and a member of parliament. He died in Sydney in 1828. A map of Oxley's expeditions can be seen here Acknowledge this source in your bibliography like this: Sydenham & Thomas, // John Oxle // // y  //. [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au (2008)
 * John Oxley **  (1785 - 1828) [[image:http://www.kidcyber.com.au/IMAGES/oxley.jpg align="right"]]

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  John Oxley (1785?-1828) was a naval officer, surveyor and explorer and was born in England. Although he had little experience with land surveying, he was made Surveyor-General of the colony by Governor Macquarie.   
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 * [[image:http://www.davidreilly.com/australian_explorers/_themes/expeditn/expbul1a.gif width="15" height="15" caption="bullet"]] || Exploring the Lachlan: Once the Blue Mountains had been crossed in 1813, and the town of Bathurst established, the colony wished to expand. Wool had become Australia's first main industry and more land was needed for sheep. In 1817, Oxley set off to explore the country west of Bathurst. Evans had discovered the Lachlan River and so Oxley set off to explore this river. Some of the party rode horses while others travelled in boats. They had taken with them salted meat and at the end of each day's journey would camp and go fishing. This provided a change from the salted food. Tall thick grass made the going very difficult and eventually they found their way was blocked by marshes. Leaving their boats, they started off south west and came across very dry country. The horses became very weak and started to die. The men were forced to eat dingo, emu and snake. The explorers turned north west and again came across the Lachlan. They continued downstream until they were again blocked again by marshes, causing them to turn back. Oxley believed that the interior was marshland and unsuitable for settlement. Little did he know that he was a few days away from the Murrumbidgee and large areas of good land. Food was running low, so he returned to Bathurst. ||
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 * [[image:http://www.davidreilly.com/australian_explorers/_themes/expeditn/expbul1a.gif width="15" height="15" caption="bullet"]] || Coastal surveys: . In 1819 he sailed to Jervis Bay but said that it was unsuitable for settlement. Also that year he sailed to Port Macquarie and recommended it as a place to send the worst convicts. His coastal surveys led him to explore Moreton Bay where he found 2 escaped convicts living with aborigines. They told him of a big river which led him to discovering the Brisbane River in 1824. He spent 5 days sailing up the Brisbane River and was very impressed by the rich soil and timber. His favourable reports led to the setting up a convict colony at Moreton Bay and he returned to supervise this in 1825. Oxley chose Redcliffe Point as the first site as there was plenty of fresh water, fertile soil and plenty of timber for building. Altogether, Oxley sailed 80 kilometres up the Brisbane River. ||