Charles Grimes
Encyclopedia
Charles Grimes was an English
-born surveyor who did some valuable work in colonial Australia
. He served as surveyor-general of New South Wales
and discovered the Yarra River
in what is now the state of Victoria
. He is perhaps best known for being the surveyor who mapped the route of the Hobart Road, Tasmania
's main north-south arterial route. Much of the modern Midland Highway still follows the route that he planned.
, Buckinghamshire
, England, son of Joseph Grimes, a laceman, and his wife Esther. Towards the end of 1790 Grimes was appointed deputy surveyor of roads in New South Wales
and allocated work at Norfolk Island
. Grimes did not arrive at Sydney
until 21 September 1791 on the Gorgon. From there he went to Norfolk Island. Soon after his arrival on 4 November 1791, Governor King
appointed him deputy surveyor-general of New South Wales.
and reported unfavourably on the locality.
Grimes is responsible for fully surveying the Hunter River
in November 1801 with Francis Barrallier
and in 1802, King Island
. On 2 February 1803 he discovered the mouth of the Yarra River
in the Port Phillip
District. Next day Grimes ascended the river in a boat and explored what is now the Maribyrnong River
for several miles. Returning to the Yarra it was explored for several miles but the boat was stopped by Dights Falls
. The journal of another member of the party, James Flemming, has been preserved, and in it he several times refers to finding good soil. Although it was evidently a dry season Flemming, who was described by King as "very intelligent", thought from the appearance of the herbage that "there is not often so great a scarcity of water as at present". He suggested that the "most eligible place for a settlement I have seen is on the Freshwater (Yarra) River". On 30 January 1803, whilst on his survey of Port Phillip
on the Cumberland (the first schooner built in New South Wales), he and his party landed at Frankston
and met around thirty of the local inhabitants. A plaque at the site marks the event. Grimes returned to Sydney on 7 March 1803 and, in spite of Flemming's opinions, reported adversely against a settlement at Port Phillip.
Some accounts state that Grimes acquired a block of land in Sydney from Robert Ryan. The land was a grant of 120 acre (0.4856232 km²) which comprised effectively the entire modern suburb of Kirribilli. Grimes sold the land to Robert Campbell
in about 1806.
Grimes obtained leave of absence and went to England in August 1803. It was nearly three years before he was back in Sydney. In March 1807 he was sent to Port Dalrymple, and using the advice of Thomas Laycock
, who a month earlier had become the first European to traverse the interior of the island, Grimes made a survey of the district and examined the route to Hobart
. Much of the route he surveyed became the Hobart Road, and many sections of the original 1808 road still form part of the Midland Highway.
Grimes returned at the end of the year, and became involved in the deposition of Governor William Bligh
in the Rum Rebellion
on 26 January 1808. He was one of the members of a committee formed to examine the administration of Bligh, and was appointed acting judge-advocate. In this capacity, he sat at the token trial of John Macarthur
. Grimes realised, however, that his lack of legal training made it difficult for him to act effectively in his judicial position and he resigned on 5 April 1808. He was sent to England with dispatches that same month.
and served in Canada
, Great Britain
and India
. He was appointed paymaster at the recruiting depot, Maidstone
, in September 1833 and was transferred to Chatham, Kent in 1836. He retired from the army on a pension in July 1848, and died at Milton-next-Gravesend
, Kent
on 19 February 1858.
Grimes was a married man and had two sons.
A bridge over the Yarra
at Melbourne Docklands
was named after him. Built in the 1970s, it has subsequently been substantially altered and was officially re-opened on 16 September 2000.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
-born surveyor who did some valuable work in colonial Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. He served as surveyor-general of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and discovered the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
in what is now the state of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
. He is perhaps best known for being the surveyor who mapped the route of the Hobart Road, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
's main north-south arterial route. Much of the modern Midland Highway still follows the route that he planned.
Early life
Grimes was born in AylesburyAylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, England, son of Joseph Grimes, a laceman, and his wife Esther. Towards the end of 1790 Grimes was appointed deputy surveyor of roads in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and allocated work at Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
. Grimes did not arrive at Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
until 21 September 1791 on the Gorgon. From there he went to Norfolk Island. Soon after his arrival on 4 November 1791, Governor King
Philip Gidley King
Captain Philip Gidley King RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He is best known as the official founder of the first European settlement on Norfolk Island and as the third Governor of New South Wales.-Early years and establishment of Norfolk Island settlement:King was born...
appointed him deputy surveyor-general of New South Wales.
Surveying in Australia
At Norfolk Island he was employed correcting a previous survey which had been made without proper instruments, and he also undertook some of the administrative work. Grimes returned to Sydney in April 1794 and with the surveyor-general Augustus Alt being in bad health, he was required to take over most of Alt's work. In February 1795 (or 1796) he spent approximately one week at Port StephensPort Stephens
Port Stephens is a large natural harbour located about north-east of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. It lies wholly within the Port Stephens Local Government Area although its northern shoreline forms the boundary between the Port Stephens and Great Lakes LGAs...
and reported unfavourably on the locality.
Grimes is responsible for fully surveying the Hunter River
Hunter River
The Hunter River is a major river in New South Wales, Australia. The Hunter River rises in the Liverpool Range and flows generally south and then east, reaching the Pacific Ocean at Newcastle, the second largest city in New South Wales and a major port....
in November 1801 with Francis Barrallier
Francis Barrallier
Francis Louis Barrallier was a French-born explorer of Australia.-Life and career:Barrallier was the son of French naval surveyor. Unusually, despite his French descent he was later employed by the British and came to Australia in April 1800...
and in 1802, King Island
King Island
King Island, Kings Island or King's Island may refer to:Australia* King Island * King Island ** King Island AirportCanada* King Island * King Island * King Island USA...
. On 2 February 1803 he discovered the mouth of the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
in the Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
District. Next day Grimes ascended the river in a boat and explored what is now the Maribyrnong River
Maribyrnong river
The Maribyrnong River rises about 50 km north of Melbourne, Victoria , near Mount Macedon. It flows generally southward and combines with the Yarra River to flow into Port Phillip....
for several miles. Returning to the Yarra it was explored for several miles but the boat was stopped by Dights Falls
Dights Falls
Dights Falls is located in Melbourne, Victoria just downstream of the junction of the Yarra River with Merri Creek. At this point the river narrows and is constricted between 800,000 year old volcanic, basaltic lava flow and a much older steep, silurian, sedimentary spur...
. The journal of another member of the party, James Flemming, has been preserved, and in it he several times refers to finding good soil. Although it was evidently a dry season Flemming, who was described by King as "very intelligent", thought from the appearance of the herbage that "there is not often so great a scarcity of water as at present". He suggested that the "most eligible place for a settlement I have seen is on the Freshwater (Yarra) River". On 30 January 1803, whilst on his survey of Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
on the Cumberland (the first schooner built in New South Wales), he and his party landed at Frankston
Frankston, Victoria
Frankston is a suburb within the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area in Victoria, Australia. It is located 40 km southeast of the state capital Melbourne at the southernmost edge of Greater Melbourne, near the beginnings of the Mornington Peninsula...
and met around thirty of the local inhabitants. A plaque at the site marks the event. Grimes returned to Sydney on 7 March 1803 and, in spite of Flemming's opinions, reported adversely against a settlement at Port Phillip.
Some accounts state that Grimes acquired a block of land in Sydney from Robert Ryan. The land was a grant of 120 acre (0.4856232 km²) which comprised effectively the entire modern suburb of Kirribilli. Grimes sold the land to Robert Campbell
Robert Campbell (1769–1846)
Robert Campbell was a pioneering and leading merchant in Sydney, a land-owner, a pastoralist, a philanthropist, and a politician being a member of the first New South Wales Legislative Council...
in about 1806.
Grimes obtained leave of absence and went to England in August 1803. It was nearly three years before he was back in Sydney. In March 1807 he was sent to Port Dalrymple, and using the advice of Thomas Laycock
Thomas Laycock
Thomas Laycock was an English soldier, explorer, and later businessman, who served in North America during the War of 1812, but is most famous for being the first European to travel overland through the interior of Tasmania .-Early life:Thomas Laycock was the son of Thomas and Hannah Laycock...
, who a month earlier had become the first European to traverse the interior of the island, Grimes made a survey of the district and examined the route to Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
. Much of the route he surveyed became the Hobart Road, and many sections of the original 1808 road still form part of the Midland Highway.
Grimes returned at the end of the year, and became involved in the deposition of Governor William Bligh
William Bligh
Vice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers...
in the Rum Rebellion
Rum Rebellion
The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australia's history. The Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh, was deposed by the New South Wales Corps under the command of Major George Johnston, working closely with John Macarthur, on 26 January 1808, 20...
on 26 January 1808. He was one of the members of a committee formed to examine the administration of Bligh, and was appointed acting judge-advocate. In this capacity, he sat at the token trial of John Macarthur
John Macarthur (wool pioneer)
John Macarthur was a British army officer, entrepreneur, politician, architect and pioneer of settlement in Australia. Macarthur is recognised as the pioneer of the wool industry that was to boom in Australia in the early 19th century and become a trademark of the nation...
. Grimes realised, however, that his lack of legal training made it difficult for him to act effectively in his judicial position and he resigned on 5 April 1808. He was sent to England with dispatches that same month.
Later life in the army
Grimes was not well received in England, and his salary was held back for a long period because of his association with the mutineers. Grimes resigned his position on 18 July 1811. The following year he became a paymaster of the 13th Regiment of the British ArmyBritish Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and served in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. He was appointed paymaster at the recruiting depot, Maidstone
Maidstone
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
, in September 1833 and was transferred to Chatham, Kent in 1836. He retired from the army on a pension in July 1848, and died at Milton-next-Gravesend
Milton-next-Gravesend
Milton-next-Gravesend was, and still is, one of the ancient ecclesiastical parishes in the NW of the county of Kent, England. When Gravesend became a town under Royal Charter in the 13th century, Milton was included within it. Much of the parish was, until c. 1840, rural...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
on 19 February 1858.
Grimes was a married man and had two sons.
A bridge over the Yarra
Charles Grimes Bridge
The Charles Grimes Bridge is a twin road bridge that carries the Docklands Highway over the Yarra River in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was named after New South Wales surveyor general Charles Grimes, who was the first European to see the Yarra River....
at Melbourne Docklands
Melbourne Docklands
Docklands is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia occupying an area extending up to 2 km west of and adjacent to Melbourne's Central Business District . Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
was named after him. Built in the 1970s, it has subsequently been substantially altered and was officially re-opened on 16 September 2000.