South Australian Great Northern Exploring Expedition (1861 - 1863)

Summary

In 1861, the South Australia Government, in a spirit of inter-colonial rivalry, appointed South Australian Great Northern Exploring Expedition. The intention was to cross the continent from south to north before the Victorian Exploring Expedition, the fate of which was then unknown, and to secure for South Australia the acclaim of having sponsored the first expedition to accomplish the crossing. It was the Government's second attempt to achieve this. Leader of the Expedition was John McDouall Stuart, an experienced explorer of inland Australia. He had led the Government's first attempt 1860-1 at the south-north crossing after a succession of expeditions starting in the 1840s. Frederick Waterhouse, Curator of the museum of the South Australian Institute, was appointed naturalist to the Expedition. His collections, including insects, plants, and bird and mammal skins, were placed in the museum. The Expedition left Adelaide in October 1861 and in July 1862 reached the north coast near the mouth of the Mary River, which drains into Van Diemens Gulf. Nobody died on the Expedition, although Stuart and the party's horses suffered considerably. Stuart and three of the party returned to Adelaide in December 1862, the rest of the party in January 1863. The Stuart Highway, which crosses the centre of Australia, follows the route of the Expedition.

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Hankel, Valmai, John McDouall Stuart's explorations, 1858 - 1862: South Australian parliamentary papers 1858 - 1863 (Adelaide: Friends of the State Library of South Australia, 2001), 396 pp. Details
• Threadgill, Bessie, South Australian land exploration, 1856 to 1880, 2 vols (Adelaide: Board of Governors of the Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of South Australi, 1922). Details

See also

• Pike, Douglas, John McDouall Stuart (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1958), 30 pp. Details
• Strehlow, T. G. H., Comments on the Journals of John McDouall Stuart (Adelaide: 1967). Details
• Stuart, John McDouall, Explorations in Australia: the journals of John McDouall Stuart during the years 1858, 1859. 1860, 1861 & 1862, when he fixed the centre of the continent and successfully crossed it from sea to sea, edited from Mr Stuart's manuscript by William Hardman (London: Saunders, Otley and Co., 1864), 511 pp. Details
• Webster, M. S., John McDouall Stuart (Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 1958), 319 pp. Details