| The
pastoral industry was rapidly expanding and men wondered what lay north of
the Liverpool Plains (NSW) and west of Brisbane, so the government sent
Cunningham to find the answer. Leaving Segenhoe in the Hunter River valley
(N.S.W.) on 30 April 1827, he discovered on 6 June a vast area of
excellent land which he named the Darling Downs in honour of the Governor.
A year later, he went to Brisbane and, after one
unsuccessful attempt, discovered a way from Brisbane to the Darling Downs
through Cunningham's Gap.
For these explorations he has sometimes been
called the real founder of Queensland. Later he advised Patrick Leslie to
take up land on the Darling Downs.
In 1828 he had also charted the Bremer River.
From May to September 1829 he was again in Moreton Bay collecting
botanical specimens. This extensive trip departed Limestone Hills
(Ipswich) travelling to Glamorganvale, Rosewood, west to the Little
Liverpool Ranges, Laidley and as far west as Murphy's Ck.
The party then turned east to Lake Clarendon and
advanced up the Brisbane River to Esk, travelling on to Cressbrook Ck.
discovered by Major Lockyer in 1825. The then went as far North to
Lister's Peak near Linville, returning via Mt Esk Pocket and thence to
Ipswich.
In 1831 he returned to Kew Gardens to sort out
the plant specimens sent back. A few years later (1835) he returned to
Australia to become superintendent of the Sydney Botanical Gardens. Later
he went to New Zealand for 6 months, became ill and died on his return to
Sydney in 1839.
For
more information
on Allan Cunningham, go to: |
