Oxley, John Joseph William Molesworth (1784 - 1828)

Summary

John Oxley was Surveyor General in New South Wales from 1812 to 1828. He had joined the Royal Navy in 1798 as midshipman. His service for the next 13 years included several voyages to the Australian colonies, sometimes engaged on coastal surveys and in Tasmania, and promotion to First Lieutenant. Oxley made the first of his extensive explorations into the unknown parts of New South Wales in 1817 when he followed the upper reaches of the Lachlan River. He was accompanied by surveyor George Evans. The following year Oxley explored the Liverpool Plains and Macquarie River: members of the party included Evans and Charles Frazer. These explorations led him to believe the westward-flowing rivers disgorged into an inland sea. In 1819 Oxley and Deputy Surveyor General James Meehan were in the Shoalhaven and Jervis Bay region. Later explorations were to Moreton Bay and the Brisbane River. Oxley had a number of business interests which extended to being a founder and director of the Bank of Australia in 1826. His agricultural activities included raising cattle and sheep. He won a number of prizes at the shows of the Agricultural Society of New South Wales, of which he was a founding member in 1822. At its second meeting in July 1821 Oxley joined the Philosophical Society of Australasia, the first scientific society established in the colonies. Between 1824 and 1825 he was one of five members of the New South Wales Legislative Council, but not reappointed after the Council was reconstituted.

Details

Chronology

1799

Career event - Joined H.M.S. Venerable as midshipman

1812 - 1828

Career position - Surveyor General, New South Wales

1817

Career event - Lachlan River expedition: accompanied by George Evans

1818

Career event - Macquarie River and Liverpool Plains expedition: accompanied by Evans and Charles Frazer

1819

Career event - Shoalhaven and Jervis Bay expedition: accompanied by James Meehan

July 1821 - 1822

Career position - Member, Philosophical Society of Australasia

1822 - 1828

Career position - Founding Member, Agricultural Society of New South Wales

1823

Career event - Exploring Moreton Bay and Brisbane River

1824

Career event - Exploring Brisbane River

1824 - 1825

Career position - Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council

1826

Career position - Founder and Director, Bank of Australia

Related entries

Archival resources

John Oxley Library, Manuscripts and Business Records Collection, State Library of Queensland

• John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley - Records, 1818, OM79-17/36; John Oxley Library, Manuscripts and Business Records Collection, State Library of Queensland. Details
• John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley - Records, c. 1925, OM81-3; John Oxley Library, Manuscripts and Business Records Collection, State Library of Queensland. Details

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley - Records, 1815 - 1888, ML MSS 589; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley - Records, 1799 - 1866, A5322; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

Published resources

Books

• Dunlop, E. W., John Oxley (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1960). Details
• Johnson, Richard, The Search for the Inland Sea: John Oxley, Explorer, 1783-1828 (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2001), 305 pp. Details
• Kass, Terry, Sails to Satelites: the Surveyors General of NSW (1786-2007) (Bathurst, N.S.W.: New South Wales Department of Lands, 2008), 484 pp. Details
• Orchard, A. E.; and Orchard, T. A., The Australian botanical journals of Allan Cunningham: the Oxley and early King expeditions October 1816 - February 1819 (Weston Creek, A.C.T.: A. E. Orchard, 2018), 309 pp. Details
• Oxley, John, Journal of two expeditions into the interior of New South Wales, undertaken by order of the British government in the years 1817-18 (London: John Murray, 1820), 408 pp. Details
• Tickle, Robert, John Oxley: a new perspective (Wauchope, N.S.W.: Veritas Archaeology and History Service, 2018), 228 pp. Details
• Whitehead, J.. R., An investigation of John Oxley's journey in the Coonabarabran district, 1818 ([Coonabarabran, N.S.W.]: Warrumbungle Historical Society, 1970), 60 pp. Details
• Whitehead, John, Tracking and Mapping the Explorers, vol. 1: the Lachlan River exploration, 1817, Oxley - Evans - Cunningham (Coonabarabran (N.S.W.): John Whitehead, 2003), 363 pp. Details
• Whitehead, John, Tracking and Mapping the Explorers, vol. 2: the Macquarie River, Warrumbungle Mts, Pilliga Scrub, Liverpool Plains, Apsley Falls, Hastings River, Port Macquarie 1818, Oxley and Evans (Coonabarabran (N.S.W.): John Whitehead, 2004), 350 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Dunlop, E. W., 'Oxley, John Joseph William Molesworth (1785?-1828), surveyor-general and explorer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 2: 1788 - 1850 I-Z, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1967), pp. 305-307. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020273b.htm. Details
• Oxley, John, 'Report of an expedition to survey Port Curtis, Moreton Bay, and Port Bowen' in Geographical memoirs on New South Wales, Barron Field, ed. (London: John Murray, 1825), pp. 1-26. Details

Journal Articles

• Flakelar, Danielle Carney; and O'Gorman, Emily, 'Wayilwan women caring for Country: dynamic knowledges, decolonising historical methodologies, and colonial explorer journals', Journal of Australian studies, 47 (1) (2023), 160-80, https://doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2022.2153378. Details
• Garden, Don, 'A wet and cold El Niño: the Tambora volcano's impact in the Australian colonies', Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 107 (2) (2021), 178-201. Details
• Jempson, Ian, 'A mystery resolved: John Oxley's field books of the Brisbane River in 1823 and 1824', Queensland history journal, 24 (3) (2019), 284-98. Details
• Rowland, E., 'Life and Work of Lieutenant John Oxley', Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 28 (4) (1942), 193-272. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q540949. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/42765675. Details
• 'Oxley, John (1785-1828)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-613602. Details

Resource Sections

• State Records Authority of New South Wales, 'Agency AGY-1773: Surveyor General [I] 20 Jan 1788 to 29 Mar 1887', State Records Authority New South Wales, Sydney, https://records-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=ORGANISATIONS1001860&vid=61SRA&search_scope=Agency&tab=default_tab&lang=en_US&context=L. Details

Reviews

• Johnson, Richard, The Search for the Inland Sea: John Oxley, Explorer, 1783-1828, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, 2001, 305 pp.
  Haynes, Roslynn, Historical Records of Australian Science, 14 (2), (2002), 217-219. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR02011. Details

See also

• Anon, 'History of the Institution of Surveyors, Tasmania', Australian Surveyor, 21 (7) (1967), 205-212, https://doi.org/10.1080/00050326.1967.10440052. p.205. Details
• Cambage, R.H., 'Biographical Sketches of Some of the Members of the Philosophical Society of Australasia', Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, lv (1921), xxxiii-xlii. Details
• Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details
• Tyler, Peter J., 'Science for Gentlemen: the Royal Society of New South Wales in the Nineteenth Century', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 143 (1/2) (2010), 29-43. Details
• Weatherburn, A. K., 'Evans, George William (1780-1852), surveyor and explorer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 359-360. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010343b.htm. Details