THE CROSSING 1813:2013

William Charles Wentworth, 1872, by James Anderson, Oil painting on canvas, image courtesy State Library of NSW.

THE CROSSING 1813:2013
2013 Centenary

The year 2013 marks the bicentenary of the first acknowledged crossing of the Blue Mountains by European settlers. The crossing was made by Gregory Blaxland; William Lawson; William Charles Wentworth; a local guide; three convict servants; four pack horses and five dogs in May 1813. After three weeks of trekking through the scrub the party reached Mount Blaxland seeing a vast expanse of potential farming land below. The crossing is considered significant as it led to the opening up of the western plains of NSW to settlement.

The HCNSW is delighted to announce it will be running a year long marketing and publicity campaign to encourage and promote community engagement in the bicentenary through locally arranged events. We will create a dedicated page on our website. The following benefits will be offered to participants:

*  An easy to use registration system.
*  Each event has a dedicated page with space for an image.
*  Events are published on our home page.
*  The HCNSW stamp of approval.
*  Inclusion in an overarching professional publicity campaign.
*  Promote your work to new audiences. The ongoing vitality of the history sector depends on an engaged and appreciative community.
*  The HCNSW will also host a one day seminar to be held in May 2013.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTICIPATION

Members of the HCNSW are eligible to list their events for free on our website and will benefit from participation as outlined above. All events must fulfill the following criteria:
The History Council of NSW will only consider events that commemorate the crossing of the Blue Mountains in some way.
The event should support the objects of the History Council of NSW.
Event registrations will open from February 2013 and be published throughout the year on our website, in our e-newsletter and through our social media channels.
This program is supported by the Department of Premier and Cabinet.