Which Australian Explorer?

[vnx205]

In another thread there seemed to be a reasonable level of consensus that Australian school students should learn something of the contribution made by Australian explorers.

There might be a lot less consensus about which ones should be studied.

Should they study the well known, but incompetent ones like Burke or should they learn about the skillful ones like Howitt, who not only found King, the sole survivor of Burke's dash north, but in doing so contributed much more than Burke to our understanding of the geography and botany of the area as well as the culture of the people who inhabited the region?

Should WA students learn about Leichhardt, who might have got as far as WA before he disappeared or should they focus on the valuable contribution of the Gregory brothers or Forrest?

Here is a chance for you to mount a case for your favourite explorer.

I'll tell you mine if anyone else thinks this is a discussion worth having. :D

[isuzutoo-eh]

Maybe not explorers as such, but I reckon they could base much of the Aussie history curriculum on the writings of Ion Idriess-covering both Australiana history as well as Boer war and World War 1 history.
Flynn, Kidman, some small time boundary rider named Charles Rasp and so on. Even Lasseter for a bit of interesting speculative learning.

[Xtreme]

There's a lot of history associated with 'The Last of the Australian Explorers' - aka Len Beadell. ;)

[DeanoH]

For me it's Giles, Shackleton and Len Beadell with a very honourable mention for Alfred Gibson and Frank Hann.

Deano :)

[Landy Smurf]

The leyland brothers :D

[vnx205]

Since the phrase 'last explorer" (or something like) that has cropped up, I wonder how many people have heard of the Australian explorer on whose exploits the book, "The Last Explorer" was based.

He had quite a few "firsts" to his name, but the majority of Australians have never heard of him.

My personal favourite has had one mention so far. :)

[bob10]

A difficult question to answer, one mans fish is another mans poisson. Take your choice from any of these, But I dare say each state would gravitate towards their particular area of interest, Bob





Project Gutenberg Australia gratefully acknowledges the significant contribution of Sue Asscher in preparing many of the eBooks relating to Australian Explorers, which are available from this page.
Journals of Australian Land and Sea Explorers and Discoverers
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/01/702.jpg
In March1606 Willem Janszoon, on board the Duyfken, charted about 300 km of the west coast of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland. He is the first authenticated discoverer of Australia. From that time many seafarers made contact with the Australian coast including Torres, Hartog, Pelsaert, Dampier and Cook.
From the landing of the first fleet in 1788, the "new" inhabitants of Australia were desperate to know what lay beyond the mountains which rose about 50 kilometres inland from the coast and which formed a seeminly impenetrable barrier to exploration of the continent. There was a very practical reason for this need to know: their very survival seemed to depend on finding suitable land for grazing and cultivation. Beyond that, however, was the curiosity which has always driven men to discovery.
Gradually the map of the inland of the continent was drawn, first with the discovery, by Blaxland Lawson and Wentworth, of a way across the Blue Mountains, and then by men such as Sturt, Oxley, Eyre, Stuart, Giles, Leichhardt, and Burke and Wills. The outline of the continent was mapped by navigators including Cook, Flinders, King and Stokes.
At the time of their discoveries there was great interest in the exploits of these explorers and it was a was a common practice for them to prepare a journal of their expeditions for publication in England. Then, for more than a century afterwards, their exploits were taught in schools.
A reassessment has since taken place, where settlement is seen as invasion and exploration is seen as expropriation. Of course, these were men of their time and as such behaved in a way which would be unacceptable to us now. However, their courage, determination and curiosity shine through in their writing. Furthermore, in reading their journals we are able to take part in the journeys which they made. Sue Asscher, who prepared many of the ebooks listed below, summed it up very well when she commented "I do love and hate the explorers: they kill anything that moves, turn turtles over, poke through graves, look up grass skirts, take things for further examination never to be returned, scoff at anything superstitious, etc. taking notes all the time...and then call, with a sneer, some native girls who come to take a look at them, the explorers, 'the inquisitive sex'".
We have here at Project Gutenberg Australia, in ebook form, one of the most comprehensive collections in the world of the journals of Australian explorers. Furthermore, the 'HTML' versions contain the illustrations which were included in the original publications. Click on the explorer's name to see an image of the explorer, biographical information, and a sketch map of the routes travelled. Also see the Australian Explorers (http://gutenberg.net.au/explorers.html) page for more information about Australian land and sea exploration.









Gregory BLAXLAND (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/blaxland.html) (1778-1853)


The Journal of Gregory Blaxland, 1813 (1913)--Text (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200411.txt)-- ZIP (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200411.zip)--HTML (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200411h.html)--ZIPPED HTML (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200411h.zip) Includes a number of photographs taken in 1913, at the time of the centenary of the crossing, edited by Frank Walker (1861-1948)
(Incorporating "Journal of a Tour of Discovery Across the Blue Mountains, NSW, in the year 1813".)

David CARNEGIE (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/carnegie.html) (1871-1900)


Spinifex and Sand (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00042.html)

William CARRON (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/carron.html) (1821-1876) (A survivor of Kennedy's Expedition to Cape York in 1848)


Narrative of an Expedition Undertaken Under the Direction of E. B. Kennedy (1849)--Text (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0201121.txt)--ZIP (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0201121.zip)

James COOK (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/cook.html) (1728-1779)


Captain Cook's Journal During the First Voyage Round the World made in H.M. bark "Endeavour" (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00043.html)
A Voyage Towards the South pole and Around the World--Volume I (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00044.html)--Volume II (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00045.html)

William DAMPIER (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/dampier.html) (1651-1715)


A New Voyage Round the World--Text (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks05/0500461.txt)-- ZIP (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks05/0500461.zip)--HTML (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks05/0500461h.html)
A Voyage to New Holland, etc in the year 1699 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00046.html)
A Continuation of a Voyage to New Holland, etc in the year 1699 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00047.html)

Edward John EYRE (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/eyre.html) (1815-1901)


Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia, etc., Volume 1 and 2 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00048.html)
(An account of the manners and customs of the Aborigines and the state of their relations with Europeans is also included in Volume 2, above.)

Matthew FLINDERS (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/flinders.html) (1774-1814)


A Voyage to Terra Australis, Volume 1 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00049.html) (Includes an account of Bass and Flinders discoveries on the east coast of Australia--See Part II.)
A Voyage to Terra Australis, Volume 2 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00050.html)

John and Alexander FORREST (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/forrest.html)


Explorations in Australia (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00051.html)

Ernest GILES (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/giles.html)


Australia Twice Traversed (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00052.html)

Frank and Augustus GREGORY (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/gregory.html)


Journals of Australian Exploration (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00053.html)

George GREY (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/grey.html)


Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia Volume 1 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00054.html)
Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia Volume 2 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00055.html)

William HOVELL (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/humeandhovell.html) and Hamilton HUME (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/humeandhovell.html)


Journey of Discovery to Port Phillip--Text (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks04/0400371.txt)--ZIP (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks04/0400371.zip)--HTML (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks04/0400371h.html)

Alexander and Frank JARDINE (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/jardine.html)


Narrative of the Overland Expedition of the Messrs Jardine, from Rockhampton to Cape York, Northern Queensland
(Edited by F. J. Byerley). (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00026.html)

Phillip Parker KING (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/king.html)


Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia, Volume 1 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00027.html)
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia, Volume 2 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00028.html)

William LANDSBOROUGH (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/landsborough.html)


Journal of Landsborough's Expedition from Carpentaria, in Search of Burke and Wills, 1862. (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00029.html)

Ludwig LEICHHARDT (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/leichhardt.html)


Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia 1844-1845 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00030.html)
[A. H. Chisholm's research and discovery of Gilbert's diaries and letters throws a new light on Leichhardt's expedition. Refer to Chisholm's book, "Strange New World," (Syd, 1955).]

David LINDSAY (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/lindsay.html)


Journal of the Elder Exploring Expedition, 1891-2 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks12/1203431h.html)

John MacGILLIVRAY (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/macgillivray.html)


Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, 1846-50, Volume 1 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00031.html)
Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, 1846-50, Volume 2 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00032.html)

John McKINLAY (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/mckinlay.html)


McKinlay's Journal of Exploration in the Interior of Australia (Burke Relief Expedition) (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00033.txt)

Thomas MITCHELL (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/mitchell.html)


Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00034.html)
Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Volume 1 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00035.html)
Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Volume 2 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00036.html)

John OXLEY (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/oxley.html)


Journals of Two Expeditions into the Interior of New South Wales (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00037.txt)

John Lort STOKES (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/stokes.html)


Discoveries in Australia, with an Account of the Coasts and Rivers Explored and Surveyed During the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in the Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43. Also a Narrative of Captain Owen Stanley's Visits to the Islands in the Arafura Sea.)Volume 1 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00038.html) Volume 2 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00039.html)

John McDouall STUART (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/stuart.html)


Explorations in Australia (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00040.html)

Charles STURT (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/sturt.html)


Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00059.html)
Narrative of an Expedition into Central Australia (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00058.html)

Abel TASMAN (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/tasman.html)


The Journal of Abel Jansz Tasman, 1642, with Documents Relating to his Exploration of Australia in 1644 (http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-n-z.html#tasman)

Frederick WALKER (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/walker.html)


Journal of Expedition in search of Burke and Wills (http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-n-z.html#walker)

Peter Warburton (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/warburton.html)


Journey Across the Western Interior of Australia (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks12/1202821h.html) (1873)
Major Warburton's Explorations in 1866 (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks12/1203421h.html)

William John WILLS (http://gutenberg.net.au/pages/burkeandwills.html)


Successful Exploration through the Interior of Australia (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00060.html)

[Bigbjorn]

Don't forget Augustus Gregory, William Landsborough, Nat Buchanan, Harry Redford, and Fred Diehm. Fred was one of either Gregory or Landsborough expeditions. There are still Diehms in the Winton, Cloncurry, Mt. Isa districts. Hard bush people, the Diehms, tank sinkers, fencers, delvers, bore drainers, land clearers. Any hard physical bush work and there was likely a Diehm there with axe, shovel and callouses. These guys went out into the unexplored areas of Western Queensland and the NT, and, true bushmen, survived where the big time names and their well equipped parties perished.

[DeanoH]

Since the phrase 'last explorer" (or something like) that has cropped up, I wonder how many people have heard of the Australian explorer on whose exploits the book, "The Last Explorer" was based.

He had quite a few "firsts" to his name, but the majority of Australians have never heard of him.

My personal favourite has had one mention so far. :)


Absolutely no argument that Sir (George) Hubert Wilkins was a/. an Australian and b/. an explorer of great courage and achievement. Unfortunately for him he was born about 100 years too late, ie. he came at the end of the 'great exploration era' with plenty of 'explorers' both great and otherwise lauded before him.
From an 'Australian' aspect, the majority of his achievements/fame were not to do with Australia.
Mt. Bryan, a fly spot town in SA is a place I've driven through often which proudly proclaims itself as "The birthplace of Sir Hubert Wilkins", is a place I have not stopped in to 'have a look'.

I'm madly trying to recall the famous Australian aviator killed in an aeroplane crash in the Italian? alps who was also a very under recognised explorer.

Deano :)

[DiscoMick]

I'd vote for John McDougall Stuart, because he discovered so much and showed you didn't need to cart a huge amount of gear around or drive a herd of sheep or cattle to survive, but could learn quite a lot about living off the land, for example by eating what he called a bush cucumber to reduce scurvy.

Secondly, I go to Ludwig Leichardt because he travelled so far and mapped so much.

Thirdly, like a post above, I reckon the Dutch such as Jansen deserve more recognition for mapping so much well before the British turned up.

Fourthly, the unknown Aboriginals who got here first.

Sent from my GT-P5210 using AULRO mobile app

[S3ute]

Hello from Brisbane.

In listing great Australian explorers it is easy to forget poor old Tassie.

Little known is the amazing feats of the likes of Hellyer and the other explorer-surveyors sent out by the Van Diemens Land Company to locate the land offered to them by the Crown under their Royal charter.

Weeks to go miles - they endured some of the most difficult exploration undertaken anywhere in the British Empire.

Cheers,

[vnx205]

I'm madly trying to recall the famous Australian aviator killed in an aeroplane crash in the Italian? alps who was also a very under recognised explorer.

Deano :)

Bert Hinkler?

[justinc]

My opinion is that ALL of australias explorers/ adventurers require a mention; both for their success and failures. The diametric opposite 'results' of some of the above mentioned expeditions show the amazing fortitude and in some cases pure luck of the great era of exploration in this country.

we embarked on a guided retrace of Bourke and Wills' expedition in 2012 (only managed the first 3rd of the trip due to time constraints from work:mad::mad:) and thoroughly enjoyed the history and hardship/ folly that befell this expedition.
Chris Boden, author of Untitled Document (http://www.roving.com.au/) led the trip and provided an amazing resource of mapping, background reading/ studies and commentary on the trip. Yesterday I was invited back for another Bourke & Wills this year, but again, work is in the way:(.

I would say, judging by what I have seen and read I would be happy to have all kids taught everything about the early explorers, both the well prepped and not so well. It will give a full rounded view of the times and hardships faced, hopefully will make them appreciate their surroundings more!

JC

[DeanoH]

Bert Hinkler?

Got it in one.

Just found this snippet in Wikipedia (encyclopaedia by consensus, a scary concept).................

A small piece of wood, a relic from one Hinkler's hand-made gliders, was presented to the U.S. astronaut Don L Lynd in early 1986 as a token of appreciation for his coming to Bundaberg to contribute to the Hinkler Memorial Lectures. Lind in turn gave it to Dick Scobee, the captain of the ill-fated final Challenger mission. Scobee took the wood with him on board the Challenger, inside a small plastic bag that he placed in his locker. After the explosion, the bag and the wood were recovered from the sea, identified, mounted, and later returned to the Hinkler Memorial Museum

...............well there you go.


Deano :)

[vnx205]

One thing that seems to becoming apparent is the huge number of people who made a significant contribution in the filed of exploration. Some of them are well known; others are less well known and some of them don't appear in any of the official records.

Comments by JustinC and Bob10 give me an excuse to explain who my favourite is and why.

i will start by saying it is a decision based almost entirely on my heart rather than my head. It is not based entirely on logic.

Bob suggested that explorers relevant to the local area could have greater appeal and Justin mentioned the enjoyment to be had by walking (or driving) in the footsteps of some of the explorers. Just as an aside, when I visited the Dig Tree many years ago with a friend, he said that he and some others had walked the same route that Burke, Wills and King walked on their last day to arrive at the Dig Tree. He thought he was pretty fit, but found it an effort to complete what those explorers had done that day.

I believe that there is nothing like feeling some personal attachment or connection to make something seem more interesting or important and I think that is part of the message of Justin's and Bob's posts.

When I retired, my colleagues gave me a facsimile copy of Ernest Giles' "Australia Twice Traversed", which I found fascinating reading. On my first trip to Alice Springs, I took a few photocopied pages from the book with me. There was something special about sitting in Palm Valley reading Giles' description of the place. I have also visited a couple of other nearby places that were important to Giles, such as Chamber's Pillar and Peake Station.

I suppose I could argue that it was Giles persistence that appealed to me or the fact that he probably wrote more eloquently than most explorers. I could argue that it was his ability to emerge alive on foot from the desert that claimed Gibson (with Giles' horse and compass) that I admire. However I think it is largely that having been to a few of the places that Giles visited, made him more real, more significant or more alive for me.

I have read Leichardt's journal and visited the Dig Tree and the other historic sites around Coopers Creek, but for some reason Giles comes ahead of them on my list.

[bob10]

One thing that seems to becoming apparent is the huge number of people who made a significant contribution in the filed of exploration. Some of them are well known; others are less well known and some of them don't appear in any of the official records.

Comments by JustinC and Bob10 give me an excuse to explain who my favourite is and why.

i will start by saying it is a decision based almost entirely on my heart rather than my head. It is not based entirely on logic.

Bob suggested that explorers relevant to the local area could have greater appeal and Justin mentioned the enjoyment to be had by walking (or driving) in the footsteps of some of the explorers. Just as an aside, when I visited the Dig Tree many years ago with a friend, he said that he and some others had walked the same route that Burke, Wills and King walked on their last day to arrive at the Dig Tree. He thought he was pretty fit, but found it an effort to complete what those explorers had done that day.

I believe that there is nothing like feeling some personal attachment or connection to make something seem more interesting or important and I think that is part of the message of Justin's and Bob's posts.

When I retired, my colleagues gave me a facsimile copy of Ernest Giles' "Australia Twice Traversed", which I found fascinating reading. On my first trip to Alice Springs, I took a few photocopied pages from the book with me. There was something special about sitting in Palm Valley reading Giles' description of the place. I have also visited a couple of other nearby places that were important to Giles, such as Chamber's Pillar and Peake Station.

I suppose I could argue that it was Giles persistence that appealed to me or the fact that he probably wrote more eloquently than most explorers. I could argue that it was his ability to emerge alive on foot from the desert that claimed Gibson (with Giles' horse and compass) that I admire. However I think it is largely that having been to a few of the places that Giles visited, made him more real, more significant or more alive for me.

I have read Leichardt's journal and visited the Dig Tree and the other historic sites around Coopers Creek, but for some reason Giles comes ahead of them on my list.


Right on brother!, Agree with you. And I'm not trying to make light of an important subject. How hard were those men. That is why our youth should be taught . Bob

[robbotd5]

The travels of John Oxley hold a great deal of interest and admiration for me. The early explorers must have had balls of cast iron. History is a wonderful insight of our inner beings and I find it fascinating.
Regards
Robbo

[Quarks]

Right on brother!, Agree with you. And I'm not trying to make light of an important subject. How hard were those men. That is why our youth should be taught . Bob

Better idea - thanks to JustinC - don't teach them in a classroom: rather they should go out and retrace a route of one to actually bring it to life!

:)

[justinc]

Better idea - thanks to JustinC - don't teach them in a classroom: rather they should go out and retrace a route of one to actually bring it to life!

:)

Totally. my only regret was that both my girls (15 and 20) were 'too old' to really enjoy travelling and experiencing these things with their parents :(

as a young'n, i would've given my right arm for these experiences, i was blessed from time to time as we spent a lot of fossicking time in the WA goldfields with the parents:)

jc

[Landy Smurf]

So we have all these great explorers, what one/s should we teach in our schools?

Some of my favourites are those that are not mentioned so often and those are the aboriginals that worked as guide,trackers and hunters/gatherers for food. I am not sure if they were ever brought along incase they came in contact with aborginal tribes.

[justinc]

So we have all these great explorers, what one/s should we teach in our schools?

Some of my favourites are those that are not mentioned so often and those are the aboriginals that worked as guide,trackers and hunters/gatherers for food. I am not sure if they were ever brought along incase they came in contact with aborginal tribes.

Agree 100%. :) some amazing characters and in some cases kept those 'europeans' and their animals in check, which saved many of them from dying. the reason many landmarks, watercourses etc are named after their aboriginal guides/ trackers.

jc