Augustus Gregory and the Inland sea

vii, 146 p. : ill., maps, plates ; 26 cm.  #150722

Some edge-wear to jacket.

Sir Augustus Charles Gregory KCMG FRSGS^[1] (1 August 1819 – 25 June 1905) was an English-born Australian explorer and surveyor. Between 1846 and 1858 he undertook four major expeditions. He was the first Surveyor-General of Queensland. He was appointed a lifetime Member of the Queensland Legislative Council.

In 1829, the family emigrated to Western Australia on board the Lotus, arriving at the Swan River Colony only four months after its establishment.

The Gregory family were initially granted land on the left bank of the Swan River, but the soil was poor, and they later obtained two further grants, one at Maylands and another in the Upper Swan district. For much of the 1830s, Augustus took jobs to supplement the family’s income. For a while he worked for a chemist, and later in partnership with his brother Joshua William as a contract surveyor. In December 1841, he joined the Government Survey Office.

Between 1846 and 1848, A C Gregory and his brother Frank, both surveyors investigated the country lying between Kalgoorlie and Shark Bay. In 1854, the British Government appointed Gregory leader of the North Australian Expedition, with instructions to investigate the country to the south of the Victoria River and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Many of the sketches from the expedition are reproduced in this book.

In 1858, Gregory led an expedition to the Barcoo River in search of the missing explore Leichhardt, while Frank Gregory further explored north-west Australia. Nothing was found in the explorations to suggest the presence of an inland sea

Gregory, Augustus Charles, Sir, 1819-1905.  |  Australia. Exploration, 1846-1857. Gregory, Augustus Charles, 1819-1905. Biographies.  |  Australia — Discovery and exploration.