The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Forrest, Alexander
Forrest, Alexander, M.L.A. younger brother of the Hon. John Forrest, Premier of Western Australia (q.v.), was born in that colony in 1849, and is one of the most eminent of the explorers of Western Australia. He accompanied his brother's expeditions in 1870 and 1874. On Jan. 18th, 1879, with a party of five and two natives, with twenty-six horses and six months' provisions, he started from Perth to explore the north-west portion of Australia, Port Darwin being their ultimate destination, which was reached on Oct 6th. The chief results of this expedition were the discovery of the source and course of the Fitzroy and other large streams, together with an estimated area of 20,000,000 acres of good well-watered country now known as the Kimberley district, which, in addition to its vast pastoral possibilities, is well suited for tropical cultures, and has been proved to be auriferous. He was returned to the first Legislative Assembly of Western Australia as member for West Kimberley in 1890, and was one of the delegates to the Federation Convention held in Sydney in March 1891. Mr. Forrest married in 1880 Amy, eldest daughter of Edward Barrett Lennard, of Annandale, W.A.