Townsend of the Ranges
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley December 20, 2024
Author Dr Peter Cowley
Distributor: New South Books
ISBN: 9781922507693
Publisher: National Library of Australia
Release Date: September 2024
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Thomas Scott Townsend (1812-1869) was a man who, over the time of his amazing life spent surveying the unknown and vast area of what is now New South Wales and Victoria, managed to remain largely undocumented, leaving behind little written evidence of his life.
That he is still largely a man unknown in the annals of Australian history has now been rectified in this carefully researched, detailed and fascinating story of a man who simply got on with his work, facing incredible hardship, frustration and often challenges from the Government department he worked in, the Surveyor General’s Department.
Arriving at Sydney Cove in 1829 he went in search of work, eventually finding his way to the Surveyor Generals department at a time when they were in desperate need of young men who were able to go out into the vast country to mark and map out rivers, mountains and access routes to what the Government considered as an income source.
Over the twenty years he spent in Australia, he achieved a remarkable and outstanding body of work, amongst this he was the first man to reach the summit of what is now known as Mt Kosciusko (1847). From this vantage point he noted the higher peak of the mountain, which he later surveyed and now bears his name Mt Townsend, mapped out massive tracks of land for settlement in both New South Wales and Victoria. Towns such as Wagga Wagga and Albury owe their layout to his surveying skills.
He and his team of men faced incredible hardship, long months in the bush through all kinds of weather with little time in between, as the Department was always understaff. His excitable nature, ability to record details with accuracy and his commitment to getting the job done took its toll. He died in England in 1869. An inquest was held into his death with the finding that he was not of sound mind. He was buried in an unmarked grave.
When Peter Cowley came across a press cutting, his curiosity about this largely unheralded man was aroused. Why was there nothing much known about a man who had achieved so much at a time when Charles Sturt and the like were well known for their exploratory feats.
This set off what can only be described as a fascinating journey into the past of a reclusive man who recorded his work in fine detail, but did not keep personal notes or diaries. Slowly, piece by piece a biography of this remarkable man has come together through family letters after his death, Ancestry research, Government records and considerable general research.
The later chapters record the ruthless determination many had in acquiring vast tracks of arable land for grazing and cropping, which make distressing, shameful, reading.
Townsend of the Ranges pays tribute to a man who gave his all, faced incredible odds time and time again and who should now stand tall in the history of Australia, thanks to Peter Cowley.