George William Evans (5 January 1780 – 16 October 1852) was a surveyor and early explorer in the Colony of New South Wales. Evans was born in Warwick, England, migrating to Australia in October 1802.
Early career
In 1803, Evans was appointed acting Surveyor General of New South Wales whilst Charles Grimes was on leave in England. In 1804, Evans explored the Warragamba River and upstream to the present site of the Warragamba Dam. Later removed from the position by Governor Philip Gidley King he was posted to the position of Assistant Surveyor by Lieutenant-Governor William Paterson. Evans surveyed the shores of Jervis Bay and inland to Appin leading the way to the settlement of the Illawarra region. Probably because of his success it was Governor Lachlan Macquarie who instructed him to find a passage to the west.
Exploration of the inland
Confirmatory Blue Mountains expedition, 1813
On 13 November 1813 Governor Lachlan Macquarie sent Evans across the Blue Mountains into the Wiradjuri nation of central-western New South Wales to confirm the findings of the exploration party of Blaxland, Lawson, and Wentworth. He was the first European to record meeting with the Wiradjuri people of the region.
Evans generally followed the route of Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth, reaching the end of their route on 26 November 1813 at a point that Evans then named Mount Blaxland. Evans' party then moved on and visited the Fish River area and further west near the junction of the now named Fish and Campbell Rivers and described two plains in his view, the O'Connell Plains and the Macquarie Plains. It was on 9 December that he reached the site of present-day Bathurst.
After the explorations that took seven weeks Governor Macquarie awarded Evans £100 and 1000 acres of land near Richmond in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania). Evans departed for Van Diemen's Land in 1814 but was back in NSW by 1815 to continue inland explorations.
First Lachlan River expedition, 1815
In May 1815, Evans set off from Bathurst at the direction of governor Macquarie, on an expedition to explore the Lachlan River. He became the first colonial explorer to enter the Lachlan Valley, in the Central West region of New South Wales. Evans was Deputy Surveyor-General and named the area the Oxley Plains after his superior, the Surveyor-General, John Oxley. A cairn on the North Logan Road, 13 kilometres from Cowra was unveiled in 1978 on private property to mark the site where Evans, accompanied by his exploring party comprising George Kane (alias Thos. Appledore), James Butler, Patrick Byrne and John Tighe, sighted the Lachlan River and named the surrounding district, Oxley's Plains in 1815.
He was also the first European to visit the Abercrombie and Belubula River Valleys, and the first through the areas that now include the towns of Boorowa and Cowra.
On 1 June 1815 George William Evans and his group marked a tree at the junction of the Lachlan river and a creek which he named Byrnes Creek (after Patrick Byrnes, a convict member of his party). This junction is located in present-day Eugowra. This point was the furthest west any Europeans had travelled into the country.
On 1 June 1815 Evans was running short of provisions so returned to Bathurst, where he arrived on 12 June 1815. This journey opened the way for later explorations, mainly by John Oxley. Evans took part in some of Oxley's expeditions.
Second Lachlan River expedition, 1817
Evans returned to Tasmania in 1817 but was again to return to New South Wales to journey with his superior John Oxley on travels into the Lachlan River areas.
Macquarie River expedition ending Port Macquarie, 1818
Evans set out on a second expedition to explore the Macquarie River, as assistant to Surveyor-General Oxley, departing from Bathurst in May 1818. This exploring expedition would follow the Macquarie River until it reached the Macquarie Marshes, and would finally end up on the east coast at Port Macquarie. In this expedition, Evans became the first white man to encounter the Castlereagh River.