William Lawson MLC (1774 - 1850)

Born 2 Jun 1774 in Finchley, Middlesex, England

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Leadbeater) Lawson — married 23 Mar 1812 in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia

Descendants

Died 16 Jun 1850 at age 76 in Prospect, New South Wales (Australia)

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Biography

William Lawson MLC was an Australian explorer.

William Lawson MLC is Notable.

William Lawson MLC was an explorer of New South Wales, Australia who co-discovered a passage inland through the Blue Mountains from the coastal plains about Sydney; a discovery crucial to the development of the colony. He was also a surveyor, soldier, land owner, squatter, politician and church leader.

William Lawson was born on 2nd June 1774 and baptised on 26 June 1774 at Finchley, Middlesex, England.^[1][2] It is assumed that he trained as a surveyor in London before purchasing a commission for £300 ($12,000 in 2019) on 15th June 1799 as an Ensign in the New South Wales Corps (NSW Corps).

New South Wales Corps

Lawson arrived in the penal colony of New South Wales in November 1800 aboard the Royal Admiral, when the third governor, Captain Phillip Gidley King RN, had just 'taken the helm'. He was posted to the penal settlement at Norfolk Island.

He was next posted to the Coal River (Newcastle) penal settlement in 1806, as a Lieutenant. This was about the time that Captain William Bligh RN assumed responsibility as governor of the colony. His postings appear to have screened Lawson from the worst of the 'Rum Corps' activities in Sydney and Parramatta; certainly, he was not supportive of their conduct and kept his distance from the 'trouble-makers'. In Sydney, he was appointed one of the magistrates of the John Macarthur trial on the eve of the rebellion, 26th January 1808. He was at that time the aide-de-camp to Major George Johnston. He returned to England in 1810 as a witness for Johnston in his forthcoming trial. Whilst in England he transferred to the Veterans' Corps, a unit made up of those members of the NSW Corps wishing to remain in New South Wales.

He had met the beautiful Sarah Leadbeater, a convict who arrived in in 1801 on a seven-year sentence and was free by servitude in 1806. They began a relationship at Norfolk Island that would see them married by Samuel Marsden on 23rd March 1812 in St John's Church of England, Parramatta.^[3][4] They settled together at Veteran's Hall, Prospect, which would become a stately 40-room mansion in early colonial style. William and Sarah had twelve children.

Blue Mountains crossing

In 1813 Lawson received the invitation of Gregory Blaxland to join an expedition with himself and William Wentworth to find a route across the Blue Mountains, by this stage he had become an established colonial officer and pastoralist in New South Wales with lands in Concord and Prospect.

William Lawson ,Gregory Blaxland and William Charles Wentworth commenced their exploration of the Blue Mountains on 11th May 1813. William Lawson kept a journal of the expedition entitled, "W Lawsons Narrative. Across Blue Mountains". In his first entry he wrote, "Mr. Blaxland Wentworth and myself with four men and four Horses- Laden with Provisions etc- took our Departure on Tuesday the 11th May 1813. Crossed the Nepean River at Mr. Chapman's Farm Emma Island at four oclock and proceeded SW. Two miles. Encamped at 5 o'clock at the foot of the first ridge of Hills-."^[5]

On 31st May 1813, the party reached the most westerly point of their expedition, now known as Mount Blaxland. On this day, Lawson wrote, "This Country will, I have no doubt, be a great acquisition to this Colony and no difficulty in making a good Road to it, and take it in a Political point of View if in case of our Invasion it will be a safe Retreat for the Inhabitance with their Familys and that for this part of the Country is so formed by Nature that a few men would be able to defend the passes against a large body."

The Western Plains

After the crossing of the Blue Mountains Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth, were each given a grant of 1,000 acres (4 km²) of land by Governor Macquarie. Lawson selected his land along the Campbells River, near the Bathurst settlement. In 1823, he was appointed commandant at Bathurst, a position he held until his retirement from the army in 1824. While he was commandant he continued to make expeditions, and in 1821 with Constable Blackman discovered the Cudgegong River and further explored Mudgee the surrounding regions, discovering and naming the Goulburn River.

Lawson has been called Australia's first squatter.^[6] He certainly held extensive landholdings, by grant, lease and occupation, including:

• 6,000 acres (2,428 ha) on the Cudgegong River at Mudgee; here, Lawson built a homestead at Bombira Hill, which became one of the main centres for his pastoral activities
• 25,000 acres (10,117 ha) on the Talbragar River, east of Dubbo
• 6,000 acres (2,428 ha) near Bathurst
• 3,000 acres (1,214 ha) at Roxburgh, in the Upper Hunter Valley
• 1,500 acres (607 ha) near Springwood, in the Blue Mountains
• and 160,000 acres (64,750 ha) in various other leases, excluding his Veteran's Hall property at Prospect.

He imported merino rams and ewes from England, as well as Shorthorn cattle and blood horses. His horses were famous throughout the colony during the coaching days.

After Sarah died in 1830, Lawson remained mainly at Veteran's Hall, leaving his sons to manage the western properties and explore.

Christian service

Lawson was a foundation member on 7th March 1817 of the Colonial Auxiliary Bible Society (later the British and Foreign Bible Society, and now The Bible Society) that has been such an integral part of the Christian church in Australia since. One of the first acts of the auxiliary was to establish a Scripture depository after the discovery that 'more than one-third of the dwellings, and nearly three-fifths of the inhabitants who can read, are without a Bible'. In the first two years, nearly 3,000 Scriptures were distributed.^[7]

A generous supporter of the Presbyterian Church, Lawson took an active part in the establishment of both Scots Church, Sydney, in 1824 and Scots Church, Parramatta, in 1838.

In August 1838, William Lawson, Robert Crawford and Nelson Lawson, as trustees for a church to be built at prospect called for tenders; the contract being won by James Atkinson of Mulgoa, who was building three other churches at the same time: St Peter's at Richmond, St Mary Magdalene at St Mary's and St Thomas' at Mulgoa. The contract sum for the building was £1,250, half of which was raised by private subscription and half by the Colonial Treasury under the Church Act (1836). Whilst Henry Robertson has been credited with being the architect for the building, it is quite possible that William Lawson, a surveyor by training, was the designer. St Bartholomew's Church and Cemetery were consecrated in May 1841.

Public life

As a magistrate, Lawson entered freely into public life and on 10th October 1825 signed a letter approving trial by jury.

He later entered politics, becoming a member in the first partly-elected New South Wales Legislative Council from 1843 to 1848. He did not share the extreme views of his old exploration-mate, Wentworth and in 1845 opposed him on several occasions. He did not support the squatters in 1844, and opposed a reduction of the price of land in 1846.

Final parade

He passed away, aged 76 years, at home at Veteran's Hall, Prospect on 16th June 1850. He was buried in the churchyard of St Bartholomew.^[8][2][9] He was survived by eight of his children. His property at Prospect eventually passed into the hands of the Metropolitan Water Board, and is now largely covered by the Prospect reservoir. The house itself was demolished in 1926.

Honours

• The town of Lawson in the Blue Mountains is named for him.
• In 1963 Lawson was honoured, together with Blaxland and Wentworth, on a 5d postage stamp issued by Australia Post depicting the Blue Mountains crossing.

DNA

• As at 10 September 2019, the two DNA testers currently shown on this page do not have any triangulated segments that can confirm their descent back to this ancestor. If you are a descendant and have had your DNA tested, we encourage you to add your lineage to WIkitree!

• Any descendants who tested at AncestryDNA are encouraged to upload their results to GEDmatch so that they can be compared to other testers.

Please direct any questions about the DNA analysis or any DNA confirmation data to Veronica Williams 21:37, 10 September 2019 (UTC)

Research Notes

Elizabeth Marion Robertson, in her research, could not find any evidence that William Lawson's parents were Scottish, nor that he trained as a surveyor in London. The wills of William Lawson's siblings, John Lawson junior 1787, James Lawson 1811, and his mother Hannah Lawson 1823 prove indisputably that William was part of this family.^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ Baptism of William Lawson: London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 for William Lawson, Barnet, St Mary at Finchley, Hendon 1757-1812. https://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/1624/images/31281_a100638-00020?pId=4592499
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "Lawson family bible, birthday book and miscellaneous papers 1774-1938" ML MSS 95, Mitchell Library, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Bible has the annotation: "William Lawson son of John and Hannah Lawson born 2 June and christened 26 June 1774 at Finchley County of Middlesex England. Arrived in New South Wales in the year 1800. Died at his residence at ¼ past 12 o'clock of June 16 1850".
3. ↑ New South Wales Marriage Index #1333/1812 V18121333 3A
4. ↑ New South Wales, Australia, St. John's Parramatta, Marriages, 1790-1966 for Sarah Leadbeater Vol 01, Baptisms, 1790-1825; Marriages, 1789-1823; Burials, 1790-1825 https://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/60735/images/44132_1831101454_0699-00191?pId=59346
5. ↑ "Lawson's Journal" in Crossing the Blue Mountains : The journals, State Library of New South Wales
6. ↑ The Farmer and Settler (Sydney, NSW : 1906 - 1955) Fri 10 Dec 1954 Page 17 William Lawson, Explorer And The First Of Our Squatters; accessed 6 Aug 2019
7. ↑ Hickin, R. An Abundance of Rain: The Story of the British and Foreign Bible Society in Australia, 1817-1967. London: British and Foreign Bible Society, London, 1968, p8
8. ↑ New South Wales Death Index #1267/1850 V18501267 36A
9. ↑ "Australia, Sydney Branch Genealogical Library, Cemetery Inscriptions, 1800-1960," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-D49S-FPM?cc=1534449&wc=MJ7N-SP8%3A1042664902 : 20 May 2014), 004117105 > image 193 of 613; Sydney Genealogical Library, Greenwich.
10. ↑ Elizabeth Marion Robertson, The World of William Lawson, unpublished manuscript, 1989, State Library of NSW, Mitchell Library, MLMSS 5414.

• Australia, Sydney Branch Genealogical Library, Cemetery Inscriptions, 1800-1960," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLN6-MXH : 9 March 2018), William Lawson, 16 Jun 1850; citing Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Sydney Genealogical Library, Greenwich; FHL microfilm 887,466.

See also

• Dunlop, E W. 'Lawson, William (1774–1850)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1967; accessed online 18 May 2019.
• State Library of New South Wales.
• William Lawson Wikipedia profile.
• Dawson, Tony, "Lawson, William", Dictionary of Sydney, 2012, http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/lawson_william, viewed 11 May 2021
• Australian Explorers