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Australia under Elizabeth II – Queen: 6 February 1952–present
Masterpieces in Silver – Lawson, Blaxland, Wentworth
Series: Australian Explorers Series 2
1993 Proof Silver Dollar 38.6mm (35.79 grams) 0.925 Silver (1.0644 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 217 | Designer: Raphael David Maklouf, Vladimir Gottwald
ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 1993 RDM, Queen Elizabeth II facing right.
5 DOLLARS W. LAWSON G. BLAXLAND W.C. WENTWORTH, The three explorers heads at left in front of a map of Australia.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
 William Lawson, MLC (2 June 1774 – 16 June 1850) was a British soldier, explorer, land owner, grazier and politician who migrated to Sydney, New South Wales in 1800. Along with Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth, he pioneered the first successful crossing of the Blue Mountains by British colonists. Lawson returned to Sydney in 1812 as a lieutenant in the NSW Veteran’s Company and was placed in charge of the detachment stationed at Liverpool. He started work on building a mansion at his land grant in Prospect which was eventually completed in 1821 and which he named Veteran Hall after his commanding role in the Veteran’s Company. Lawson also took interest in becoming a wool-producer and became active in exploring for land to acquire for sheep farming.
Lawson commenced the exploration of the Blue Mountains alongside Blaxland and William Charles Wentworth on 11 May 1813. He kept a journal of the expedition titled, ‘W Lawsons Narrative. Across Blue Mountains. In his first entry he writes:
Mr. Blaxland Wentworth and myself with four men and four Horses- Laden with Provisions etc- took our Departure on Tuesday the 11th May 1813. Crossed the Nepean River at Mr. Chapman’s Farm Emu Island at four o’clock and proceeded SW. Two miles. Encamped at 5 o’clock at the foot of the first Ridge of Hills-.
On 31 May 1813, the party reached the most westerly point of their expedition, recorded as Mount Blaxland, and looked out onto what was to become known as the Bathurst Plains. On this day, Lawson writes:
…this Country will I have no doubt be a great acquisition to this Colony and no difficulty in making a good Road to it, and take it in a Political point of View if in case of our Invasion it will be a safe Retreat for the Inhabitance with their Familys and that for this part of the Country is so formed by Nature that a few men would be able to defend the passes against a large body.
In February 1814, Governor Macquarie offered land grants of 1,000 acres to each of the three explorers for their work. The grants were to be allocated in the Bathurst Plains region that they had journeyed to. In 1815, Lawson accepted the offer and took 100 head of cattle across the Blue Mountains and established his property on the south side of the Fish River, near to its junction with the Macquarie River. By doing so, Lawson became the first British pastoralist west of the mountains. He named the property Macquarie.
By 1819 Lawson was the most prominent stock-owner and land-holder in the newly colonised region westward of the mountains. Only a handful of other colonists had been allowed to take up land in this area around the government outpost of Bathurst. In that same year, Charles Throsby guided by local Aboriginal men had formed an easier trail to Bathurst from Sydney that approached from the south. Governor Macquarie recognised that more settlers would now travel to the region to take up land and a more formal administration would be required at Bathurst. He consequently made Lawson, who was still a lieutenant in the army, commandant for the Bathurst region in September 1819.
With the British increasingly taking land in the area, violence with the local resident Wiradjuri people became apparent. In 1819, four Aboriginal people were shot dead in the vicinity of Lawson’s property, while one of Lawson’s horses was speared. As commandant, Lawson was in command of all the troops stationed west of the Blue Mountains, but it appears these soldiers were not utilised at this stage of the conflict.
Whilst Commandant of Bathurst, Lawson undertook four expeditions in 1821 and 1822 to find good pasture land to the north of this outpost. Following information from James Blackman and being guided by a local Aboriginal man named Ering (Aaron), Lawson became one of the first white men to travel along the Cudgegong and Talbragar Rivers. He met with around 40 Aboriginal people gathered at Mudgee, writing that the area was some of the finest grazing land in the world. He also named the nearby Goulburn River.
Lawson later took up 5,000 acres of land to the northwest of Mudgee and formed another large property on the Talbragar River.
He died at his estate, Veteran Hall in Prospect on 16 June 1850 and was buried at St Bartholomew’s cemetery.
 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 19269266<s[a]) is, and has been since her accession in 1952, Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and Head of the Commonwealth . She is also Queen of 12 countries that have become independent since her accession: Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Elizabeth was born in London to the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth , and was the elder of their two daughters. She was educated privately at home. Her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive . She began to undertake public duties during World War II , serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service . In 1947, she married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh , with whom she has four children: Charles , Anne , Andrew , and Edward .d .d .
Times of personal significance have included the births and marriages of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, her coronation in 1953 , and the celebration of milestones such as her Silver , Golden and Diamond Jubilees in 1977, 2002, and 2012, respectively. Moments of sadness for her include the death of her father, aged 56; the assassination of Prince Philip’s uncle, Lord Mountbatten ; the breakdown of her children’s marriages in 1992 (her annus horribilis ); the death in 1997 of her son’s former wife, Diana, Princess of Wales ; and the deaths of her mother and sister in 2002. Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican sentiments and severe press criticism of the royal family, but support for the monarchy and her personal popularity remain high.
  Australiaa, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent , the island of Tasmania , and numerous smaller islands . It is the world’s sixth-largest country by total area . Neighbouring countries include Indonesia , East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.
 For at least 40,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians , who spoke languages grouped into roughly 250 language groups . After the European discovery of the continent by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia’s eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies were established.
On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated , forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy comprising six states and several territories . The population of 23.6 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated in the eastern states and on the coast.
Australia is a developed country and one of the wealthiest in the world, with the world’s 12th-largest economy . In 2012 Australia had the world’s fifth-highest per capita income . Australia’s military expenditure is the world’s 13th-largest . With the second-highest human development index globally , Australia ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, health, education, economic freedom , and the protection of civil liberties and political rights. Australia is a member of the United Nations , G20 , Commonwealth of Nations , ANZUS , Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Trade Organization , Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation , and the Pacific Islands Forum.
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