John Oxley ExpeditionPrint Page

An anchor, provided by the British Admiralty, commemorates the explorer John Oxley (1784-1828) and his party who passed near the site in 1817 on his journey to inland Australia.

The Wellington Valley was discovered by John Oxley, surveyor and explorer in 1817 after passing through very disappointing country. He was very pleased eventually, to come upon Wellington Valley and on crossing the stream, Oxley proceeded along its bank until his path was stopped by "a very fine river", the long sought Macquarie, which at this point equalled in size the Hawkesbury at Windsor and was much larger than the river at Bathurst.

Three anchors presented by the British Admiralty and brought  to Australia on H.M.A.S. Canberra to serve as memorials to Surveyor General John Oxley, R.N., are being forwarded to their destinations.

One anchor, from the destroyer Tenacious, is to be sent to Wellington where Oxley heard of the victory at Waterloo. A second anchor, from the minesweeper Ford, will go to Harrington, to mark the spot where Oxley crossed the Manning River. The third, anchor is from the destroyer Tomahawk, and will go to Kirkham, near Camden, where the explorer died.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 7th March 1929.

There should be a large gathering of citizens at the unveiling of the Oxley Memorial at the Public School on Wednesday afternoon next. An anchor has been placed on a very fine base, which has been erected in the school grounds facing Percy Street, and it has created quite a lot of interest since it has been put there. This is a fitting memorial to Oxley and his band of explorers who discovered the Wellington Valley.
Wellington Times (NSW), 26 September 1938. 

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