Blaxland, Gregory (1778-1853), was an Australian pioneer. He became famous as one of the first Europeans to cross the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia. He traveled with fellow explorers William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth. 
Many European explorers and settlers, including Blaxland, had attempted to cross the Blue Mountains before 1813. But the land was rough and dangerous, which forced these expeditions to turn back. Local Aboriginal groups had at least two routes that they used to cross the mountains, but their knowledge was not understood or valued by the Europeans.
Blaxland was determined to find more land in the region to expand his livestock business. In 1813, he came up with a new plan to cross the Blue Mountains. Instead of trying to go through the valleys, his next expedition would stick to the mountain ridges. He received permission for this expedition from the governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie. Blaxland invited Lawson and Wentworth to go with him. Although Blaxland later claimed to be the group’s leader, historians believe that all three men worked together as equal partners.
The group left Blaxland’s farm at South Creek, near the mountains, on May 11, 1813. They spent hours each day cutting through thick bushes to make a path. On May 31, they reached a peak from which they could clearly see fertile plains to the west, in the area of present-day Bathurst. They returned to Blaxland’s farm on June 6. Governor Macquarie rewarded the group with grants of land.
Blaxland was born at Fordwich, in the county of Kent, England, in 1778. He sailed from England with his wife and three children in 1805, and they arrived in Sydney, Australia, in 1806. His brother John arrived in Sydney in 1807. After the Blue Mountains expedition, Gregory Blaxland settled on a farm near Parramatta, New South Wales. He died on Jan. 1, 1853.
