Charles Grimes
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Charles Grimes (24 February 1772 – 19 February 1858) was an English surveyor of Australia, surveyor-general of New South Wales and discoverer of the Yarra River.
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[edit] Early life
Grimes was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. Towards the end of 1790 he was appointed deputy surveyor of roads in New South Wales, but he did not arrive at Sydney until 21 September 1791 on the Gorgon. From there he went to Norfolk Island, and soon after his arrival, on 4 November 1791, Governor King appointed him deputy surveyor-general of New South Wales.
[edit] Surveying in Australia
At Norfolk Island he was employed correcting a previous survey which had been made without proper instruments, and he also undertook some of the administrative work. He returned to Sydney in April 1794 and, the surveyor-general Augustus Alt being in bad health, Grimes took over most of his work. In February 1795 (or 1796) he spent about a week at Port Stephens and reported unfavourably on the locality.
He is responsible for fully surveying the Hunter River in November 1801 with Francis Barrallier and in 1802, King Island. On 2 February 1803 he discovered the mouth Yarra River in Port Phillip. Next day Grimes ascended the river in a boat and explored what is now the Maribyrnong River for several miles. Returning to the Yarra it was explored for several miles but the boat was stopped by Dights Falls. The journal of James Flemming, a member of the party, has been preserved, and in it he several times refers to finding good soil; and though it was evidently a dry season Flemming, who was described by King as "very intelligent", thought from the appearance of the herbage that "there is not often so great a scarcity of water as at present". He suggested that the "most eligible place for a settlement I have seen is on the Freshwater (Yarra) River". On 30 January 1803, whilst on his survey of Port Phillip on the Cumberland (the first schooner built in New South Wales), he and his party landed at Frankston and met around thirty of the local inhabitants. A plaque at the site marks the event. Grimes returned to Sydney on 7 March 1803 and, in spite of Flemming's opinions, reported adversely against a settlement at Port Phillip.
Grimes obtained leave of absence and went to England in August 1803. It was nearly three years before he was back in Sydney. In March 1807 he was sent to Port Dalrymple, where he made a survey of the district and examined the route to Hobart. He returned at the end of the year, and became involved in the deposition of Governor William Bligh in the Rum Rebellion on 26 January 1808. He was one of the committee formed to examine the administration of Bligh, was appointed acting judge-advocate, and sat in that capacity at the trial of John Macarthur. He realized, however, that he had no legal training, resigned on 5 April 1808, and was sent to England with dispatches in the same month.
[edit] Late life
Grimes was not well received in England, and his salary was held back for a long period on account of his association with the mutineers. He resigned his position on 18 July 1811, in the following year became a paymaster in the army, and saw service in Canada, Great Britain and India. He was appointed paymaster at the recruiting depot, Maidstone, in September 1833 and was transferred to Chatham, Kent in 1836. He retired from the army on a pension in July 1848, and died at Milton-next-Gravesend Kent on 19 February 1858. He married and had two sons.
A bridge over the Yarra at Melbourne Docklands, built around 1975, was named after him. It was subsequently substantially altered and officially re-opened on 16 September 2000
[edit] References
- John Currey (ed.), James Fleming, A Journal of Grimes’ Survey: The Cumberland in Port Phillip January – February 1803, Banks Society Publications, Malvern [Vic.], 2002
- Serle, Percival (1949). "Grimes, Charles". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
- Bernard T. Dowd, 'Grimes, Charles (1772 - 1858)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1, MUP, 1966, pp 487-488.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain 1949 edition of Dictionary of Australian Biography from Project Gutenberg of Australia, which is in the public domain in Australia and the United States of America.
