Person

Onslow, Arthur Alexander Walton (1833 - 1882)

Born
2 August 1833
Trichinopoly, India
Died
31 January 1882
Menangle, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Explorer, Member of Parliament and Naval officer

Summary

Arthur Onslow was a naval officer who, early in his naval career, served in various ships, on the west cost of Africa and in the Crimean War. In 1857 he was sent to Australia for the recommissioning of H.M.S. Herald under command of Captain Henry Mangles. Onslow remained in Herald until her return to the United Kingdom in May 1861. During this period, Herald was engaged in surveying the southern and western coasts of Australia, including Shark Bay, the Torres Strait and the Great Barrier Reef. Suffering ill-health he took leave from the Royal Navy and went to Sydney in 1864 where he had family. Onslow entered into the political life of the colony being a Member of the New South Wales Parliament for 12 years. He has a Trustee of he Australian Museum from 1872 to 1880. In 1875 he was a member of the Chevert Expedition, led by his cousin William John Macleay, to investigate the natural history, and collect specimens, in the Torres Strait and New Guinea.

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Details

Chronology

May 1847
Career event - Entered the Royal Navy
1852
Career event - Promoted to Lieutenant
1857 - May 1861
Career position - In H.M.S. Herald on surveys of Port Jackson and the southern and west coasts of Australia
1863
Career event - Promoted to Commander
1864
Life event - Moved to Australia
December 1869 - November 1880
Career position - Member for Camden (elected), Legislative Assembly, Parliament of New South Wales
1871
Career event - Retired from the Navy as Post Captain
1872 - 1880
Career position - Trustee, Australian Museum
1875
Career position - Member, Chevert Expedition
December 1880 - January 1882
Career position - Member (appointed), Legislative Council, Parliament of New South Wales

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See also

McCarthy, G.J. and Helen Cohn

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 20 November 2025

EOAS ID: biogs/P002162b.htm

This Edition: 2026 February - 1926 Centenaries
Kooyang - Gariwerd calendar - Late summer: late January to late March - season of eels
Reference: https://www.bom.gov.au/resources/indigenous-weather-knowledge/indigenous-seasonal-calendars/gariwerd-calendar#bom-anchor-list__item-kooyang-season-of-eels

Publisher: Swinburne University of Technology.

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Cite this page: https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P002162b.htm

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"... the rengitj, as a visible mark or imprint on the land, is characterised as a place of origin, the repository of all names, as well as a kind of mapped visual expression of the connection between people and places which is to be carried out in the temporal sequence of the journey." Fanca Tamisari (1998) 'Body, Vision and Movement: In the footprints of the ancestors'. Oceania 68(4) p260