Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (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.

Early years

Augustus Charles Gregory was born at

Farnsfield Farnsfield is a large Village#United Kingdom, village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire in Sherwood Forest. It is in the local government district of Newark and Sherwood. The population of the civil parish as at the United Kingdom Census 20 ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, England. He was the second of five brothers born to Joshua Gregory and Frances Churchman. Among his brothers were Francis Thomas Gregory, who also became a noted explorer. #Joshua William Gregory, born 1815, died 20 September 1850 aged 35. #Augustus Charles Gregory, born 1 August 1819, died 1905 aged 86 #Francis (Frank) Thomas Gregory, born 1821. #Henry Churcham Gregory, born 1823, died London 29 July 1903 aged 79 years #Charles Frederick Gregory, born 1825. A. C. Gregory was educated privately by tutors and later by his mother. In 1829, the family emigrated to

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

on board the '' Lotus'', arriving at the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just ''Swan River'', was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, an ...

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 A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

, and later in partnership with his brother Joshua William as a contract surveyor. In December 1841, he joined the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Survey Office.

Explorations

In 1846, with his two brothers, F. T. Gregory and H. C. Gregory, he made his first exploration. With four horses and seven weeks' provisions they left T. N. Yule's station 60 miles northeast of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

on 7 August 1846 and explored a considerable amount of the country to the north of Perth, returning after an absence of 47 days during which they had covered 953 miles (1534 km). Two years later, Gregory with his brother C. F. Gregory, led an expedition to examine the course of the

Gascoyne River The Gascoyne River is a river in the Gascoyne (Western Australia), Gascoyne region of Western Australia. At , it is the longest river in Western Australia. Description The Gascoyne River comprises three branches in its upper reaches. Draini ...

and, in particular, to look for new

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

-land. The party left on 2 September 1848, crossing the Murchison River 25 September, but the country was very dry and it became difficult to water the horses. Gregory decided to turn south again in the beginning of October, and on 6 October decided to rest the horses by the Murchison River. The party returned to Perth on 12 November after having found good pastures. Despite water supply difficulties, about 1500 miles (2414 km) were covered in a period of 10 weeks. In 1854 while Assistant Surveyor of Western Australia, Gregory was asked to lead an expedition to the interior, from a rendezvous point at

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

near Brisbane. Gregory had his brother, H. C. Gregory, as second in command and Baron von Mueller as

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. There were 19 men altogether, with 50 horses and 200 sheep. The party left Moreton Bay by sea on 12 August 1855, and

Port Essington Port Essington is an inlet and historic site located on the Cobourg Peninsula in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park in Australia's Northern Territory. It was the site of an early attempt at British settlement, but now exists only as a remot ...

was sighted on 1 September. On the next day their vessel grounded on a reef and it was impossible to float off until 10 September. They proceeded to ''Pearce Point'' (

Joseph Bonaparte Gulf Joseph Bonaparte Gulf is a large body of water off the coast of the Northern Territory and Western Australia and part of the Timor Sea. It was named after Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon and King of Naples (1806–1808) and then Spain (18 ...

), and at the end of the month the party reached the estuary of the Victoria River. The party split up, with one group going up the river in a

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

, while Gregory led the other over the range. It was on this trip that Gregory made contact with the Gurindji people, with his party their first ever contact with Europeans. Gregory had secured the services of John Gilburri Fahy. Gilburri had recently been captured after living thirteen years with the

Bunya Mountains The Bunya Mountains are a distinctive set of peaks forming an isolated section of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland. The mountain range forms the northern edge of the Darling Downs in the locality also called Bunya Mountains, Quee ...

aborigines. Gregory made a deal with Fahy to act as bush guide for the mission and lead him to the last known place of missing explorer

Ludwig Leichhardt Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt (; 23 October 1813 – ), known as Ludwig Leichhardt, was a German explorer and naturalist, most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.Ken Eastwood,'Cold case: Leichhardt's disappearanc ...

. Gregory promised Fahy would receive a full pardon which he did so in 1857. They were reunited on 20 October, establishing a camp 20 km west of today's Timber Creek. Gregory led several forays up the Victoria River and traced Sturt's Creek for 300 miles (483 km) until it disappeared in the Tanami Desert. The core team returned to the base camp in the dry season of 1856. On 2 July 1856 Gregory left an inscription on a large boab tree (so-called ''Gregory's Tree''), indicating where he left a letter in case the expedition team should get lost. Turning east, the party explored the Elsey, Roper and Macarthur Rivers, then travelled back to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

by way of the Flinders, Burdekin, Fitzroy and Burnett Rivers. They reached Brisbane on 16 December 1856 having surveyed an extensive swath of land. In sixteen months the expedition had journeyed over 2000 miles (3219 km) by sea and 5000 (8047 km) by land. In September 1857 Gregory was hired by the government of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

to search for traces of

, a fellow explorer who had disappeared on an earlier expedition. A party of nine was formed with Gregory in command and his brother, C. F. Gregory, as second in command. On 24 March 1858 the expedition left Juandah near the present town of

Taroom Taroom is a town in the Shire of Banana and suburbs and localities (Australia), locality split between the Shire of Banana and the Western Downs Region in Queensland, Australia. In the , Taroom had a population of 885 people. Geography The t ...

. On 21 April a tree marked with an L was found in latitude 24 degrees 35 minutes and longitude 146 degrees 6 minutes. The

Barcoo River The Barcoo River in western Queensland, Australia rises on the northern slopes of the Warrego Range, flows in a south-westerly direction and unites with the Thomson River to form Cooper Creek. The first European to see the river was Thomas ...

was then followed to its junction with the

Thomson Thomson may refer to: Names * Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin * Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson Businesses and organizations * SGS-Thomson M ...

. On 15 May the country was so dry the expedition turned south to save the horses. Cooper Creek was followed until it was close to the South Australian border, coming to Strzelecki Creek on 14 June. Continuing his course mostly to the south, on 26 June he decided to proceed to

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, which was reached at the end of July 1858.

Later life

In 1855 Gregory became a

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

in the Sydney Samaritan Lodge in New South Wales. Gregory was awarded the

Founder's Medal The Founder's Medal is a medal awarded annually by the Royal Geographical Society, upon approval of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, to individuals for "the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery". Foundation From ...

of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

in 1858. Gregory undertook no further explorations but was appointed Surveyor General of Queensland in 1859. He later clashed with

William Alcock Tully William Alcock Tully (14 March 1830 – 26 April 1905) was a Surveyor General of Queensland, (then a colony, now a state of Australia). Early life Tully was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of William Tully, a captain in the Royal Navy, and h ...

(then under-secretary for public lands and chief commissioner of crown lands); in 1875 Tully became acting surveyor-general in place of Gregory. Gregory then became a geological surveyor. In 1862, he built by hand the now

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...

farmhouse '' Rainworth'' at Rosalie in Brisbane. He lived there until his death. He leased a home he had built on the Rainworth estate to surveying colleague, Walter C. Hume, which he and his family re-named "Fairseat". On 23 December 1862, Gregory was appointed Provincial Grand Master of the England masonic Lodge in Queensland. In 1865 Gregory, Maurice Charles O’Connell and John Douglas applied for a special grant of land to erect a

Masonic Hall A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history I ...

in Brisbane. This was granted on 15 January 1865. On 28 February 1865 Gregory was made a Royal Arch Mason in the North Australia Royal Arch Chapter. From 1880 to his death in 1905, he served as a councillor of the Shire of Toowong and as an alderman of its successor, the Town of Toowong. He was shire president for 12 years, being 1881 to 1884, 1888 to 1890, 1895, 1898 to 1901 and town mayor in 1904. On 10 November 1882 Gregory was made a member of the

Queensland Legislative Council Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...

(a lifetime appointment). By the late 1880s he had built a summer house in Southport. With his brother, F. T. Gregory, he published their ''Journals of Australian Exploration'' in 1884. He was interested in scientific research and was a trustee of the

Queensland Museum The Queensland Museum Kurilpa is the state museum of Queensland, funded by the government, and dedicated to natural history, cultural heritage, science and human achievement. The museum currently operates from its headquarters and general museu ...

. Early in 1895, Gregory was appointed Grand Superintendent of Royal Arch Masonry in Queensland. On 25 June 1895 he opened the District Grand Chapter. On 6 November 1903, Gregory was knighted, being appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (Imperial) in recognition of his service as Surveyor-General and in the Queensland Legislative Council. Gregory died on 25 June 1905 at his residence ''Rainworth'' at Rosalie, Brisbane. His body lay in state at the Masonic Hall in Alice Street where many people came to pay their respects; it was estimated that 1,400 people visited on the morning of the funeral. His funeral took place at the hall in the afternoon of 29 June 1905, after which a funeral procession of several hundred people walked along Alice Street, William Street, North Quay and the River Road (now Coronation Drive) to the

Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland, Queensland's lar ...

where hundreds of people were already assembled at the cemetery. Gregory was buried high on the northern slope of the hill below Governor Samuel Blackall's grave with

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

rites conducted by his friend Rev. Thomas Jones of Indooroopilly. After his death, his home ''Rainworth'' was rented to a number of people, including

Robert Philp Sir Robert Philp, (28 December 1851 – 17 June 1922) was a Queensland businessman and politician who was Premier of Queensland from December 1899 to September 1903 and again from November 1907 to February 1908. Early life Philp was born in G ...

. His farm land was eventually subdivided and, to facilitate this, the house ''Rainworth'' was relocated to another site, now 7 Barton Street in the suburb of Bardon. The house was added to the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...

on 21 October 1992. Bust of Augustus Charles Gregory sculpted by Oscar Fristrom in 1905

In late 1905 Brisbane artist

Oscar Fristrom Carl Magnus Oscar Friström (16 January 1856 – 26 June 1918), generally known as Oscar Fristrom, was a portrait painter and art teacher born in Sweden, who had a substantial career in Queensland and South Australia, and was best known for his ...

sculpted a bust of Gregory. In February 1906, Fristrom offered to sell the bust to the Royal Geographical Society of Queensland but the society decided not to buy it; however, they did display it at an event in June 1906. For many years the bust was displayed at Freemasons’ Gregory Lodge in

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

(Gregory being depicted wearing his Masonic regalia). In 2018, the Freemasons donated the bust to the Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying in Brisbane. As at 10 March 2020, the bust is at the entrance of the museum.

Recognition and legacy

Gregory has been honoured through the naming of many places in Australia, including: *

Electoral district of Gregory Gregory is a Legislative Assembly of Queensland electoral district in Queensland, Australia. Members for Gregory Election results See also * Politics of Australia References External links

* {{Electoral districts of Queensland ...

, Queensland *

Gregory, Queensland Gregory (formerly Gregory Downs) is an outback town and locality in the Shire of Burke, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Gregory had a population of 122 people. Geography The town is situated on the banks of the perennial Gr ...

, a town * Gregory, Western Australia, a town *

Gregory Highway The Gregory Highway is a state highway in Queensland, Australia that serves the major coal-mining centres of Central Queensland. The highway was named after Augustus Gregory, an early explorer. Route description The highway runs southward fro ...

, Queensland *

Gregory National Park Judbarra National Park, formerly Gregory National Park and Judbarra / Gregory National Park, is a national park in the Northern Territory of Australia, south of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. The park is the second largest national park i ...

, Northern Territory * Gregory River in the

Shire of Burke The Shire of Burke is a local government area in North West Queensland, Australia. The shire lies on the south coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria and abuts the border with the Northern Territory. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local ...

, Queensland * Gregory's Tree Historical Reserve, Northern Territory * Mount Augustus ** Mount Augustus National Park, Western Australia Several plants were named in his honour, including: * ''

Adansonia gregorii ''Adansonia'' is a genus of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). The eight species of ''Adansonia'' are native to Africa, Australia, and Madagascar but have also been introduced to other regions of the world, including Barb ...

'', known as the boab tree ** Gregory's Tree, a boab inscribed by Gregory's party in 1856 * '' Brachychiton gregorii'', known as the desert kurrajong * '' Cochlospermum gregorii'', a species of the '' Cochlospermum'' genus, many of which have the common name 'native kapok' or 'cotton tree'; native to the Northern Territory and Queensland. The road name "Gregory Gardens" in his birthplace

, Nottinghamshire, England was named after him. His home ''Rainworth'' was the origin of the name of Rainworth, Queensland, a suburb (now locality) in Brisbane.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Augustus 19th-century Australian explorers Explorers of Australia Explorers of Western Australia 1819 births 1905 deaths Australian geologists Members of the Queensland Legislative Council Burials at Toowong Cemetery Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George People from Newark and Sherwood (district) Surveyors General of Queensland Royal Society of Queensland English emigrants to colonial Australia Settlers of Western Australia 19th-century Australian politicians Fellows of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society