Australian settler and explorer Gregory Blaxland (1778 - 1853) was a member of the party who made the first crossing of the Blue Mountains in 1813. Blaxland had arrived in New South Wales as a free settler in 1806 and, in association with his brother, John, established a farm near the present site of St Mary's. Two years later he sided with the faction lead by John Macarthur in the removal of Governor Bligh.
In 1813 he joined William Lawson and William Wentworth in the expedition that found the route across the Blue Mountains. For his efforts he was awarded 400 ha of land by Governor Macquarie, though he later became a vigorous opponent of Macquarie's administration.
Blaxland was a pioneer of the Australian wine industry and experimented with many crops, including tobacco, on his property near Liverpool, New South Wales.