(Take a look at the timeline)
Courtesy of the Lithgow Regional Library

After establishing a settlement at Rosehill, renamed Parramatta in 1791, the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers were discovered by Captain Tench and Lieutenant Dawes. An obstacle stood in the way of further investigation of this wonderful and lush land. This obstacle, namely a mountain range, had to be crossed and it was not until 25 years later that expeditions began. After several desperate and failed attempts to find suitable land for the increasing numbers of cattle and sheep, at last in 1813, Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson succeeded by following the steep and jagged ridges.

They started out from Emu Plains with four horses and five dogs. It was difficult and they often encountered problems such as wild dogs, the horses collapsing under the weight of their heavy loads and a constant fear of being attacked by 'the blacks', as they called them at that time. On reaching the Megalong Valley, many of the party threatened to mutiny if Blaxland did not turn back. Thankfully, on climbing to a peak, they noticed that the land beyond them was much clearer and it was that that spurred them all to keep going. After many days of hard and treacherous traveling they came to Mount York and saw before them the beautiful Hartley Valley with the mountains becoming less and less, opening out onto a relatively flat plain. Their journey at this point had taken them 21 days and they had covered a distance of 66.25 miles. When Blaxland reported the discovery to Governor Macquarie, a surveyor by the name of Evans, was sent out to find and mark out the best route over the mountains. He came across a river which he named 'Macquarie' and a stretch of land, suitable for a town, that today is called Bathurst.

Governor Macquarie decided to build a road to which he requested the expertise of William Cox. Cox agreed and started out on 18th July, 1814 with 28 convicts (protected by soldiers), carts, bullocks, axes, picks, shovels, food and clothing to last them six months. Cox completed this in 1815 however it was not a road as we know it today, it was more a bush track suitable for carriages. Macquarie named the road down from Mount York, Cox's Pass in honour of Cox. When he reached the bottom of the Pass he saw that it was the gateway to the west and named it the Vale of Clwydd, after a Vale in Wales. He continued on to Bathurst where he began to plan the town. He expected that the country around him would abound in coal, limestone, and other minerals. He was disappointed to find otherwise however on his return to England he heard the news that settlers in the area had found a vast coal seam and deposits of limestone.

When Cox's Road from Sydney to Bathurst had been completed the Government found that is was too steep near Mount York for common use and it was stopping the growth of the Colony. A reward of 1,000 acres was offered to anyone who could suggest a better route for the road. Hume and Bowen suggested a route to come through Lithgow Valley. This valley came under notice in the 1820's, soon after the pioneers James Walker and Andrew Brown took up their land at Wallerawang and Cooerwull. John Oxley appears to have given Lithgow it's name after his close friend, William Lithgow, who was Auditor General in 1822, a Chairman of the Land Board in 1826 and an ex-official member of the N.S.W. Parliament.