John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828)[1][2] was an English explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation.

John Oxley was born in 1784 at Kirkham Abbey near Westow in Yorkshire, England, and baptised at Bulmer in St Martin's Church on 6 July 1784.

In 1805, Oxley became acting lieutenant of the Buffalo and traveled to Van Diemen's Land the following year in charge of the Estramina.

In 1809 Porpoise visited Van Diemen's Land, carrying as a passenger Governor William Bligh, who had been deposed in the Rum Rebellion.

Oxley reported that, in his opinion, the Lachlan flowed into an extensive series of swamps, "which were, perhaps, the margin of a great inland sea."

He returned to the encampment of the rest of his party now convinced that these westward flowing rivers terminated in an inland sea, and he had been on the swampy edge of it.

On 25 April 1817, they reached the Lachlan River Depot which had been prepared for them (with provisions and supplies) in advance by a separate party under the direction of William Cox.

After retracing their route for a short distance they then proceeded in a south-westerly direction through Ungarie and past Weethalle, intending to travel overland to the southern Australian coastline.

By the end of May, the party found themselves in a dry scrubby country northeast of Yenda where they ascended several peaks in the Cocoparra National Park.

Shortage of water and the death of two horses forced Oxley's return, passing near Rankins Springs to the Lachlan River.

On 7 July Oxley proceeded another 16 km along the flooded river and recorded that "it was with infinite regret and pain that I was forced to conclude, that the interior of this vast country is a marsh and uninhabitable".

Oxley resolved to turn back and after resting for two days the exploring party began to retrace their steps along the Lachlan River.

He departed from Bathurst on 28 May 1818 with an exploration party that comprised Deputy Surveyor General George Evans, Oxley's friend Dr John Harris, a botanist named Charles Frazer, and twelve convict men.

[11] The names of the twelve convict men were later recorded by Governor Macquarie in his diary, upon the party's eventual return to Sydney.

They continued by boat and horses until they reached the Macquarie Marshes where it spread out through the reeds and Oxley was unable to locate the course of the river any further downstream.

He wrote: "But if an opinion may be permitted to be hazarded from actual appearances, mine is decidedly in favour of our being in the immediate vicinity of an inland sea, or lake, most probably a shoal one, and gradually filling up by numerous depositions from the high lands, left by waters which flow into it."

From here he retraced steps to Mt Harris, NW of present-day Warren, and camped from early July while he sent George Evans forward with a few men to scout a route to the north-east.

Upon reaching the Hastings River the exploring party followed it to its mouth, discovering that it flowed into the sea at a spot which Oxley named Port Macquarie.

In his diary of 27 November 1818, Governor Macquarie listed the twelve men who accompanied Oxley and Evans on this expedition (see above).

[17] In 1823, Governor Brisbane sent Oxley north by boat in search of a site for an alternative penal settlement for the most difficult convicts.

[3][24] The newspaper report was as follows: "An Inquest was held on Saturday last, on the body of Louisa Oxley, a lovely infant of four years old, that fell into a well 100 feet deep, close under the Hyde Park Barrack wall, and was drowned before aid could be afforded; to which effect a Verdict was returned.

[3] Emma was the youngest sister of the solicitor James Norton and had followed him out to New South Wales from Sussex after he had established himself as an attorney in the colony.

The elder, John Norton Oxley became a Member of the Legislative Assembly, representing the Western Division of Camden,[26] in the first Parliament after the establishment of responsible government in 1856.

The younger son, Henry Oxley, also became a Member of the Legislative Assembly, representing the Electoral district of Camden between 1859 and 1860.