George Grey - Early Life and Exploration

Early Life and Exploration

Grey was born in Lisbon, Portugal, the only son of Lieutenant-Colonel Grey, of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot, who was killed at the Battle of Badajoz in Spain just a few days before. His mother, Elizabeth Anne, on the balcony of her hotel in Lisbon, overheard two officers speak of her husband's death and this brought on his premature birth. She was the daughter of a retired soldier turned Irish clergyman, Major the Rev. John Vignoles. Grey was sent to the Royal Grammar School, Guildford in Surrey, and was admitted to the Royal Military College in 1826. Early in 1830, he was gazetted ensign in the 83rd Regiment of Foot. In 1830, his regiment having been sent to Ireland, he developed much sympathy with the Irish peasantry whose misery made a great impression on him. He was promoted lieutenant in 1833 and obtained a first-class certificate at the examinations of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1836.

In 1837, at the age of 25, Grey led a catastrophically ill-prepared expedition of exploration of north-west Australia – only one man of his party had seen northern Australia before. It was at that time believed that a great river entered the Indian Ocean from the north-west of Australia, and that the country it drained might be suitable for colonisation. Grey, in conjunction with Lieutenant Franklin Lushington, offered to explore this country and on 5 July 1837 he sailed from Plymouth in command of a party of five, the others being Lushington; Mr Walker, a surgeon and naturalist; and two corporals of the Royal Sappers and Miners. Others joined the party at Cape Town, and early in December they landed at Hanover Bay. Wrecked, almost drowned, and completely lost, with Grey wounded in a skirmish with Aborigines, they traced the course of the Glenelg River before giving up. They were picked up by the Beagle and Lynher and taken to Mauritius to recover.

Two years later, Grey returned to Western Australia and was again wrecked with his party, at Kalbarri; they were the first Europeans to see the Gascoyne River, but then had to walk to Perth, surviving the journey through the efforts of Kaiber, a Whadjuk Noongar, who organised food and what water could be found (they survived by drinking liquid mud). At about this time, Grey became one of the few Europeans to learn the Noongar language of south-west Western Australia.