Hodgkinson, William Oswald (1835 - 1900)

Summary

William Hodgkinson was a journalist, sailor, explorer, politician and goldfields warden. In 1851 he was a midshipman in the mercantile marine. In 1853 he worked for the government on the Tarnagulla and Forest Creek goldfields in Victoria. Hodgkinson went back to England and was a clerk in the War Office until 1859, when he returned to Melbourne to join the literary staff at The Age. Reporting acquainted him with Robert O'Hara Burke, whom he joined on an expedition in 1860. At one point he rode to Melbourne and back (1287 km) in twenty days. He was involved in the search party for Alfred Howitt and was second in command of the relief party for John McKinlay in 1861. He was on an expedition that found Gray's grave and discovered the Diamantina. Hodgkinson also crossed the McKinlay Range to Leichhardt River and travelled through the Burdekin country to Bowen. From 1878-1883, he was a mining warden on the Etheridge until 1881 and then on the Palmer until 1884.

Published resources

Book Sections

• Stoodley, June, 'Hodgkinson, William Oswald (1835-1900), sailor, explorer, journalist, miner, goldfields warden and politician' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 4: 1851 - 1890 D-J, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1972), pp. 404-405. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hodgkinson-william-oswald-3775. Details

Journal Articles

• Keogh, Luke, 'Duboisia pituri: a Natural History', Historical Records of Australian Science, 22 (2) (2011), 199-214, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR11008. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q8012377. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/94052078. Details
• 'Hodgkinson, W O (18350331-19000723)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-597227. Details

See also

• Donovan, Val, 'Exploration and settlement: conflict in Queensland - an overview', Queensland History Journal, 23 (9) (2018), 581-92. Details