Curio

State Library of New South Wales
Blaxland's route across Blue Mountains, May 11th to 31st 1813

Blaxland's route across Blue Mountains, May 11th to 31st 1813

1937
M2 812.17p/1937/1
Map

By 1813 Gregory Blaxland had already made two previous expeditions into the foothills of mountains to explore the territory. Based on his knowledge of the terrain, he concluded that it might be possible to cross the Mountains following a ridge running between the Warragamba and Grose Rivers. Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson were successful in their crossing because they followed the ridge lines across the mountains, avoiding the most of the steep, disorientating valleys.

This map was produced in around 1937. It is based on a map in a 1913 edition of Blaxland’s journal edited by Frank Walker, and shows the route taken by Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson across the Blue Mountains in 1813. It also includes notes on the journey, and distances travelled each day, alongside what became the Main Western Road which is now the Great Western Highway.

The story of Thomas Davies Mutch

The stamp on the left margin of the map tells us that it was part of the T. D. Mutch collecton which was bequeathed to the Library in 1959. Thomas Davies Mutch (1885-1958) was a journalist, historian and politician who served in Jack Lang’s NSW Labor ministry as Minister for Education from 1925-27. After his expulsion from the Labor party for clashing with Lang, Mutch worked as a journalist writing historical articles and as a professional genealogist. He created a comprehensive index of early settlers which is now in the Mitchell Library. He was a member of the Mitchell Library committee and helped set up the State Archives of NSW. In 1959 the Library acquired Mutch’s papers from his estate.
Australian Dictionary of Biography http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mutch-thomas-davies-7720