Person

Hann, William (1837 - 1889)

Born
26 February 1837
Wiltshire, United Kingdom
Died
5 April 1889
Townsville, Queenland, Australia
Occupation
Explorer and Pastoralist

Summary

William Hann was a pastoralist whose family arrived in Victoria in 1851 and later moved to Queensland. With his brother Frank and Richard Daintree he occupied the Maryvale station in northern Queensland. In 1872 Daintree recommended Hann as leader of the Government's Northern Exploring Party to investigate the country in the eastern part of Cape York Peninsula. The Party travelled over 1,500 miles, making a number of geographic discoveries, but was otherwise not as successful as hoped. The Hann River (northern Queensland) was named in his honour.

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Details

Chronology

1851
Life event - Migrated to Australia with his family
1864
Career event - Occupied pastoral lease at Maryvale, Queensland, with Frank Hann and Richard Daintree
June 1872 - November 1872
Career position - Leader, Northern Exploring Party

Related Events

Related People

Published resources

Book Sections

  • Bolton, G. C., 'Hann, William (1837 - 1889) and Frank Hugh (1846 - 1921), explorers and pastoralists' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 4: 1851 - 1890 D-J, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1972), pp. 335-6. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hann-william-3708. Details

Journal Articles

  • Clarke, W. R., 'Recent explorations in northern Australia and Queensland', Transactions of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 7 (1873), 6-20. Details
  • Dowe, John Leslie and Taylor, Peter Illingworth, 'The botanical collections of William Hann's Northern Expedition of 1872 to Cape York Peninsula, Queensland', Austrobaileya, 10 (3) (2019), 506-38. Details
  • Hann, W., 'Hann's expedition in northern Queensland', Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 18 (1) (1874), 87-107. Details
  • Ross, Margaret, 'The Hann Expedition to explore Cape York Peninsula 1872', Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, 18 (2003), 273-86. Details
  • Sanderson, R., ' William Hann and George Elphinstone Dalrymple: visions of progress in the north of Queensland rainforest', Limina, 10 (2004), 98-116. Details
  • Taylor, Peter Illingworth; and Huxley, Nicole, 'A re-examination of William Hann's northern expedition of 1872 to Cape York Peninsula, Queensland', Historical Records of Australian Science, 32 (1) (2021), 67-82. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR2001. Details

See also

  • Feeken, Erwin H. J.; Feeken, Gerda E. E.; and Spate, O. H. K., The discovery and exploration of Australia (Melbourne: Thomas Nelson (Australia), 1970), 318 pp. Details

Helen Cohn

Created: 13 March 2025

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