Gregory's Tree Historical Reserve is a protected area in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

of Australia and it is situated within the Judbarra / Gregory National Park and is north-west of Timber Creek and on the

Victoria Highway The Victoria Highway links the Great Northern Highway in Western Australia with the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory. The highway is a part of the Perth– Darwin National Highway link. It is signed as National Highway 1, and is par ...

and is a registered heritage site. The reserve is a small one consisting of . Gregory's tree itself is a boab tree (Adansonia gregorii) which is sacred to the Ngarinman people; for this reason it is also registered as a

sacred site A sacred space, sacred ground, sacred place, sacred temple, holy ground, holy place or holy site is a location which is regarded to be sacred or hallowed. The sacredness of a natural feature may accrue through tradition or be granted through ...

. A permanent declaration placing it on the

Northern Territory Heritage Register The Northern Territory Heritage Register is a heritage register, being a statutory list of places in the Northern Territory of Australia that are protected by the Northern Territory statute, the '' Heritage Act 2011''. The register is maintained ...

made on 1 March 1995.

History

Gregory's Tree, which the reserve encapsulates, was named for

Augustus Charles Gregory 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 ...

when he was the leader of the North Australia Expedition in 1855–1856 and it marks an area where he camped. The dates of these camps, 13 October 1855 and 2 July 1856, is inscribed into the tree trunk and where designed to serve as a marker of their expedition; in case they came into trouble. The species of tree was also named and first described by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria, Australia ...

, the botanist for the expedition, in honour of Gregory.

References

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