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Robert Dixon (explorer)
Encyclopedia
Robert Dixon was an Australia
n surveyor
and explorer, born in Darlington
, England
.
In 1823 they were each granted 100 acre
s of land in the valley of the River Clyde and in 1824 each received an additional 200 acre
s.
. One of his first tasks was to survey the southern districts of New South Wales as far as the Illawarra
.
The following year he joined Major Thomas Mitchell and Major Edmund Lockyer
on a journey to survey the Grose Valley near Mount Victoria
. The party was stopped by rough terrain and the men could not continue.
In 1827 Dixon attempted to explore and survey the Burragorang Valley. He became lost and almost died.
Over the following two years, Dixon made a number of survey trips to the Blue Mountains and in 1829 he tried again to survey the Grose Valley but was unsuccessful. He did, however, obtain a trigonometrical survey of Mount King George and his surveys of the Blue Mountains allowed Mitchell to establish a new road to Bathurst
later that year.
but was moved to its present site in 1833. The area Dixon surveyed has, over subsequent years, been settled and is now part of modern Goulburn North.
Dixon continued south and in 1830 he started to survey the area near Queanbeyan by following the Molonglo River
to its junction with the Murrumbidgee River
. He continued west beyond the area which is now the site of modern Canberra
.
Dixon was later reprimanded by Mitchell for failing to ascertain Aboriginal
place names and a number of the place-names originally proposed by Dixon were later disregarded in favour of names of Aboriginal origin.
and New England
districts.
In October 1833, Dixon was assigned to survey the mountain ranges between the Lachlan River
and the Macquarie River
. Rather than follow specific instructions, Dixon followed the then-unexplored Bogan River
for 108 kilometres and later returned to Bathurst
without having surveyed the ranges in the original brief.
In 1836 he applied for two years leave to go to England on 'urgent private business'. He departed from Sydney to London on the Abel Gower in July 1836. In 1837, while in London, he published a map of Australia
that he had created by compiling official surveys and documents. When he returned to Sydney in July 1838 he was subsequently refused reinstatement by Mitchell.
Having failed to gain reinstatement, Dixon moved to Moreton Bay
. On 24 July 1839 he married Margaret Sibly, the daughter of John and Ann Sibly of St Neot in Cornwall
.
In January of the following year he was promoted to surveyor in charge of the Moreton Bay district but was suspended after an altercation with Lieutenant Gorman, commandant of the penal establishment. Dixon's convict servant was arrested and Dixon's response saw him charged with attempting to incite a mutiny. Dixon denied the charges and lodged counter-charges of improper conduct against the Lieutenant. The Lieutenant was later relieved of his appointment as magistrate and the charges against Dixon were not progressed.
Dixon, however, was not reinstated. He had again offended the Government by publishing his own map of Moreton Bay in 1841 without permission. The angered the Governor, Sir George Gipps, resulting in Dixon's disgrace and his replacement by James Werner.
When Moreton Bay was opened to free settlement in 1842, Dixon applied for the lease over a number of government buildings. When this was refused, he moved to Toongabbie.
Dixon found little available work and again returned to England in 1846. He returned to Australia in 1852, spuriously claiming he had been hired to manage a gold mine.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
and explorer, born in Darlington
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Arrival in Tasmania
Dixon arrived in Tasmania (then Van Diemen's Land) in May 1821 with his brother George. For two years they worked for Edward Lord, tending his cattle station.In 1823 they were each granted 100 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s of land in the valley of the River Clyde and in 1824 each received an additional 200 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s.
Sydney
In July 1826 Dixon was bought out by his brother and went to Sydney, where he was appointed assistant surveyor in the Surveyor-General's Department under Lieutenant John OxleyJohn Oxley
John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley was an explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of English colonisation.October 1802 he was engaged in coastal survey work including an expedition to Western Port in 1804-05...
. One of his first tasks was to survey the southern districts of New South Wales as far as the Illawarra
Illawarra
Illawarra is a region in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a coastal region situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the Shoalhaven or South Coast region. It encompasses the cities of Wollongong, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven and the town of Kiama. The central region contains Lake...
.
The following year he joined Major Thomas Mitchell and Major Edmund Lockyer
Edmund Lockyer
Edmund Lockyer, – 10 June 1860) was a British soldier and explorer of Australia.Born in Plymouth, Devon, Lockyer was son of Thomas Lockyer, a sailmaker, and his wife Ann, née Grose. Lockyer began his army career as an ensign in the 19th Regiment in June 1803, was promoted lieutenant in early 1805...
on a journey to survey the Grose Valley near Mount Victoria
Mount Victoria, New South Wales
Mount Victoria is a small township in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It is the westernmost village in the City of Blue Mountains, located approximately 120 kilometres via road from Sydney and 1043 metres above sea-level...
. The party was stopped by rough terrain and the men could not continue.
In 1827 Dixon attempted to explore and survey the Burragorang Valley. He became lost and almost died.
Over the following two years, Dixon made a number of survey trips to the Blue Mountains and in 1829 he tried again to survey the Grose Valley but was unsuccessful. He did, however, obtain a trigonometrical survey of Mount King George and his surveys of the Blue Mountains allowed Mitchell to establish a new road to Bathurst
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
later that year.
Goulburn and Southern NSW
In 1828 Dixon surveyed the area to the north of what is now the town of Goulburn which at the time was known as the Goulburn Plains. The original township was based on the banks of the Wollondilly River to the south of what is now the Pejar DamPejar Dam
Pejar Dam was constructed to supply water for the city of Goulburn. It is one of three water storage facilities serving the city, and is used to augment the water supply when Sooley Dam is unable to maintain enough water in Rossi Weir, from which Goulburn's water filtration plant is supplied.The...
but was moved to its present site in 1833. The area Dixon surveyed has, over subsequent years, been settled and is now part of modern Goulburn North.
Dixon continued south and in 1830 he started to survey the area near Queanbeyan by following the Molonglo River
Molonglo River
The Molonglo River rises on the western side of the Great Dividing Range of eastern Australia in the state of New South Wales. Its source is on the other side of the mountain range from where the Shoalhaven River rises, in Tallaganda state forest at ~1200 metres altitude...
to its junction with the Murrumbidgee River
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
. He continued west beyond the area which is now the site of modern Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
.
Dixon was later reprimanded by Mitchell for failing to ascertain Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
place names and a number of the place-names originally proposed by Dixon were later disregarded in favour of names of Aboriginal origin.
Northern NSW and return to England
In 1831-32 Dixon carried out surveys in the Upper HunterUpper Hunter
The Upper Hunter Shire is a Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It was formed in May 2004 from Scone Shire and parts of Murrurundi and Merriwa shires. The shire council's vision is "A Quality Rural Lifestyle - in a caring and thriving community"...
and New England
New England (Australia)
New England or New England North West is the name given to a generally undefined region about 60 kilometres inland, that includes the Northern Tablelands and the North West Slopes regions in the north of the state of New South Wales, Australia.-History:The region has been occupied by Indigenous...
districts.
In October 1833, Dixon was assigned to survey the mountain ranges between the Lachlan River
Lachlan River
- Course :The river rises in the central highland of New South Wales, part of the Great Dividing Range, 13 km east of Gunning. Its major headwaters, the Carcoar River, the Belubula River and the Abercrombie River converge near the town of Cowra. Minor tributaries include the Morongla Creek...
and the Macquarie River
Macquarie River
The Macquarie River is one of the main inland rivers in New South Wales. Its headwaters rise in the central highlands of New South Wales near the town of Oberon. The river travels generally northwest past the towns of Bathurst, Wellington, Dubbo, Narromine, and Warren to the Macquarie Marshes...
. Rather than follow specific instructions, Dixon followed the then-unexplored Bogan River
Bogan River
The Bogan River is an inland river in the central west of New South Wales, Australia.This river rises at Goonumbla, 19 kilometres north-west of Parkes and flows in a generally north-north-westerly direction past Tottenham, Peak Hill and through Nyngan. The Bogan River is about 590 km in length...
for 108 kilometres and later returned to Bathurst
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
without having surveyed the ranges in the original brief.
In 1836 he applied for two years leave to go to England on 'urgent private business'. He departed from Sydney to London on the Abel Gower in July 1836. In 1837, while in London, he published a map of Australia
that he had created by compiling official surveys and documents. When he returned to Sydney in July 1838 he was subsequently refused reinstatement by Mitchell.
Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay is a bay on the eastern coast of Australia 45 km from Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources...
. On 24 July 1839 he married Margaret Sibly, the daughter of John and Ann Sibly of St Neot in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
.
In January of the following year he was promoted to surveyor in charge of the Moreton Bay district but was suspended after an altercation with Lieutenant Gorman, commandant of the penal establishment. Dixon's convict servant was arrested and Dixon's response saw him charged with attempting to incite a mutiny. Dixon denied the charges and lodged counter-charges of improper conduct against the Lieutenant. The Lieutenant was later relieved of his appointment as magistrate and the charges against Dixon were not progressed.
Dixon, however, was not reinstated. He had again offended the Government by publishing his own map of Moreton Bay in 1841 without permission. The angered the Governor, Sir George Gipps, resulting in Dixon's disgrace and his replacement by James Werner.
When Moreton Bay was opened to free settlement in 1842, Dixon applied for the lease over a number of government buildings. When this was refused, he moved to Toongabbie.
Dixon found little available work and again returned to England in 1846. He returned to Australia in 1852, spuriously claiming he had been hired to manage a gold mine.
Death
He died, at age 58, on 8 April 1858 in Sydney and was survived by his wife and three of their six children.Historical contribution
Dixon is credited with having first surveyed and named a number of areas along the East Coast of Australia including:- CronullaCronulla, New South WalesCronulla is a beachside suburb, in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Sutherland Shire....
, New South Wales - the named based on the Aboriginal word kurranulla. - Gunnamatta BayGunnamatta BayGunnamatta Bay is a small bay in southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.Gunnamatta Bay is located off the Port Hacking estuary, in the Sutherland Shire...
, New South Wales. - The OaksThe Oaks, New South WalesThe Oaks is a town located in the Macarthur Region of New South Wales, Australia in Wollondilly Shire on the south western edge of the Sydney Basin. The Oaks is located south-west of Sydney via the Hume Highway, west of Camden and 290m above sea-level...
, New South Wales - and surrounding areas. - OtfordOtford, New South WalesOtford is a northern suburb of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia located near the Sydney metropolitan area. It has a railway station on the CityRail South Coast Line....
, New South Wales - originally named Bulgo by Dixon. - Russell Island, Queensland.
- Wellington PointWellington Point, QueenslandWellington Point is a suburb of Redland City, about 22 km east of Brisbane, Queensland. The suburb derives its name from Wellington Point which extends prominently into Moreton Bay....
, Queensland.