Townsend of the Ranges / Peter Crowley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Crowley, Peter, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Townsend, Thomas Scott, 1812-1869.

Townsend, Thomas Scott.

Surveyors--Australia--Biography.

Surveyors.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (319 pages) : illustrations, maps

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Canberra, ACT : National Library of Australia, 2024.

Summary:

Surveyor Thomas Scott Townsend (1812-1869) is an elusive, almost legendary figure, closer to folklore than to history. His name is given to the country's second highest mountain, but the details of his career are obscure and his personal identity has remained a mystery. Yet, if you live in southern New South Wales or Victoria, there is a good chance that your town or district has been influenced by his work: he covered a huge extent of territory and worked furiously hard in a career that spanned two decades. Townsend of the Ranges is a sensitively told, surprisingly dramatic biography of Townsend's life, from his early days as a junior surveyor in Australia to his time living as a recluse in London before his death. Dr Crowley has engaged in extensive research of primary sources, relying on letters from estranged family members, Townsends employers and Townsend himself to map the story of his life. Accompanied by original maps drawn by Townsend, this book is a beautifully written portrait of a young man fighting loneliness in the wilderness, mapping the watershed crests of the Dividing Ranges and the contours of south-eastern Australia. The narrative also reveals a picture of destruction and violence as settlers and squatters moved across the land.

Contents:

Introduction. Finding Thomas Scott Townsend

Death of a surveyor

The Townsends of Woodend House

Major Mitchell's men

A saga of bullocks, horses and drays

The Governor has been pleased to approve

The colony on the River of Mists

Waiting on his honor, the Superintendent

An inland sea secure from all winds

His map will speak for itself

The first true map of Gippsland

A winter passage across the Great Divide

Surveying the Monaco District

Townsend on the South Coast

A living spring

The surveyor from Snowy River

Unfinished business : traversing the Main Range

The Murrumbidgee Squatting District

The end of all surveys

Postscript.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781922507150

1922507156

OCLC:

1455139389