1778-1853

British explorer who emigrated to Sydney, Australia, in 1806, becoming the first in a long line of adventurers in Australia. In 1813 Blaxland explored the Blue Mountains in southeastern Australia. In 1819 he settled on a farm in Parramatta, near the Blue Mountains, where he experimented with various forms of agriculture, investigated several fodder-type grasses, and tried out vine growing and winemaking. Blaxland's wine won silver (1823) and gold (1828) medals from London's Royal Society of Arts.