Augustus Charles Gregory

Augustus Charles Gregory KCMG FRSGS (1 August 1819 – 25 June 1905) was an English-born Australian explorer and surveyor. Between 1846 and 1858 he undertook four major expeditions. Gregory was the first Surveyor-General of Queensland, and was appointed a lifetime Member of the Queensland Legislative Council.

Gregory was born at Farnsfield, Nottingham, England. He was the second of five brothers born to Joshua Gregory and Frances Churchman. Among his brothers were Francis Thomas Gregory, who also became a noted explorer.^{[citation needed]}

Augustus Gregory was educated privately by tutors and later by his mother. In 1829, the family emigrated to Western Australia on board Lotus, arriving at the Swan River Colony only four months after its establishment.^{[citation needed]}

The Gregory family were initially granted land on the left bank of the Swan River, but the soil was poor, and they later obtained two further grants, one at Maylands and another in the Upper Swan district. For much of the 1830s, Augustus took jobs to supplement the family's income. For a while he worked for a chemist, and later in partnership with his brother Joshua William as a contract surveyor. In December 1841 he joined the Government Survey Office.^{[citation needed]}

In 1846, with his two brothers, F. T. Gregory and H. C. Gregory, he made his first exploration. With four horses and seven weeks' provisions they left T. N. Yule's station 97 kilometres (60 mi) northeast of Perth on 7 August 1846 and explored a considerable amount of the country to the north of Perth, returning after an absence of 47 days during which they had covered 1,534 kilometres (953 mi).^{[citation needed]}

Two years later, Gregory with his brother C. F. Gregory, led an expedition to examine the course of the Gascoyne River and, in particular, to look for new pasture-land. The party left on 2 September 1848, crossing the Murchison River on 25 September, but the country was very dry and it became difficult to water the horses. Gregory decided to turn south again in the beginning of October, and on 6 October decided to rest the horses by the Murchison River. The party returned to Perth on 12 November after having found good pastures. Despite water supply difficulties, about 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi) were covered in a period of 10 weeks.

In 1854, while Assistant Surveyor of Western Australia, Gregory was asked to lead an expedition to the interior, from a rendezvous point at Moreton Bay near Brisbane. Gregory had his brother, H. C. Gregory, as second in command and Baron von Mueller as botanist. There were 19 men altogether, with 50 horses and 200 sheep. The party left Moreton Bay by sea on 12 August 1855, and Port Essington was sighted on 1 September. On the next day their vessel grounded on a reef and it was impossible to float off until 10 September. They proceeded to Pearce Point (Joseph Bonaparte Gulf), and at the end of the month the party reached the estuary of the Victoria River. The party split up, with one group going up the river in a schooner, while Gregory led the other over the range.^{[citation needed]} It was on this trip that Gregory made contact with the Gurindji people, with his party their first ever contact with Europeans.

Gregory had secured the services of John Gilburri Fahy. Gilburri had recently been captured after living thirteen years with the Bunya Mountains Aboriginal people. Gregory made a deal with Fahy to act as bush guide for the mission and lead him to the last known place of missing explorer Ludwig Leichhardt. Gregory promised Fahy would receive a full pardon, which he did in 1857.