The Hume and Hovell expedition was one of the most important journeys of explorations undertaken in eastern 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...

. In 1824 the Governor 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...

, Sir Thomas Brisbane

Thomas Brisbane

Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet GCH, GCB, FRS, FRSE was a British soldier, colonial Governor and astronomer.-Early life:...

, commissioned Hamilton Hume

Hamilton Hume

Hamilton Hume was the first Australian born explorer. Along with Hovell in 1824, Hume was part of an expedition that first took an overland route from Sydney to Port Phillip near the site of present day Melbourne...

 and former Royal Navy Captain William Hovell

William Hovell

William Hilton Hovell was an English explorer of Australia.-Early life:Hovell was born in Yarmouth, Norfolk, England and went to sea as a boy, becoming a Royal Navy captain before settling in New South Wales, arriving in October 1813 aboard the Earl Spencer with his wife Esther née Arndell...

 to lead an expedition to find new grazing land in the south of the colony, and also to find an answer to the mystery of where New South Wales's western rivers flowed.
Apart from Hume and Hovell, there were six convict members of the expedition.