Event: Burke and Wills Expedition (1860 - 1861)

From

1860

To

1861

Summary

Various Collections. The Burke and Wills expedition called the Victorian or Australian Exploring Expedition, set out from Melbourne in 1860 to cross the continent to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and return.

Details

The enterprise was promoted and organized by the Royal Society of Victoria. Four members of the expedition reached a point close by the shore of the Gulf, however of these the leader Robert O'Hara Burke, William Wills and Charles Gray perished on the return journey. The sole survivor was John King who was taken in by the Aboriginal people on Coopers Creek, where he was found by the relief party led by Alfred Howitt in September 1861. Robert O'Hara Burke has been much criticised for the failure of the expedition; it was however a dramatic incident in Australian exploration, and drew enormous public interest at the time. The National Library of Australia holds many of the original records of the expedition, and these are held at MS.30/1-62. Copies of additional records are held, including an unpublished typescript by J.S. Weatherston on the expedition, pp.864, MS.1136, and notes by J.D. Somerville on research into the expedition, MS.102. Included amongst the collection are:

Portion of a diary kept by Robert O'Hara Burke on the expedition 16 December 1860-20 January 1861, MS.30/1.

Journal of William John Wills, of a trip from Coopers Creek towards Adelaide, 23 April 1861-26 June 1861.

Journal of Frederick Walker, who led an expedition in 1861 in search of Burke and Wills, MS.23. National Library of Australia MSS.23, 30, 102, 1136.