INTRODUCTION
Of all the explorers, surveyors and road builders who discovered, mapped and made accessible the Blue Mountains wilderness, Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth are perhaps the central figures in our regional sense of historical place. By examining the memorials that successive generations have dedicated to their memory we can see how, over time, they have contributed to “a local geography of the past” (Griffiths, Tom. Hunters and Collectors: The Antiquarian Imagination in Australia, Cambridge UK: Cambridge Uni. Press, 1996, p.150).
For the benefit of this paper I have used the term 'memorial' in the sense defined by The Macquarie Dictionary, as “something designed to preserve the memory of a person, event, etc., as a monument, a periodic observance, etc.” It is a broad definition, which includes both built structures and performed commemorations.
© John Low 2001