Robert O'Hara Burke
Encyclopedia
Robert O'Hara Burke was an Irish
soldier and police officer, who achieved fame as an Australia
n explorer. He was the leader of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition
, which was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled areas of Victoria
to the Gulf of Carpentaria
. The expedition party was well-equipped, but Burke was not experienced in bushcraft and his leadership is often blamed for the failure of the project and deaths of seven people in the party.
, Ireland
in February 1821. He was the second of three sons of James Hardiman Burke (1788-January 1854), an officer in the British army 7th Royal Fusiliers
, and Anne Louisa Burke nee O'Hara (married 1817, d.1844).
Robert O'Hara was one of seven children;
James Thomas Burke was a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers
, and on 7 July 1854 at the battle of Giurgevo
became the first British officer killed in the Crimean war
.
to further his education. In 1841, at the age of twenty he entered the Austria
n army and in August 1842 was promoted to Second Lieutenant in the Prince Regent's 7th Reuss Regiment of the Hungarian Hussars. He spent most of his time in the Imperial Austrian Army
posted to northern Italy
and in April 1847 was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. Towards the end of 1847 he suffered health problems and went to Recoaro
spa in northern Italy, then Grafenberg
and finally Aachen
before resigning from the Austrian army in June 1848 after charges against him relating to debts and absence without leave were dropped.
in 1848, he joined the Irish Constabulary (later the Royal Irish Constabulary
). He did his cadet training at Phoenix Park
Depot in Dublin between November 1849 and January 1850, was promoted to 3rd Class Sub-Inspector and stationed in County Kildare
. At the end of 1850 he transferred to the Mounted Police in Dublin.
in 1853. He landed in Hobart
, Tasmania
but soon moved to Melbourne
and on 1 April 1853 he joined the recently established Victoria police force
. Initially he worked as Acting Inspector under the Chief Commissioner William Henry Fancourt Mitchell
in the Parish of Jika Jika in the northern suburbs of Melbourne
, but on 1 November 1853 he was appointed a magistrate, promoted to Police Inspector, and was posted to Carlsruhe
. On 31 December 1853 he was promoted to District Inspector of the Ovens District and early in 1854 he moved to Beechworth to relieve Inspector Price.
After the death of his brother, James Thomas, in the Crimean War
, Burke decided to enlist. He left Australia in March 1856 and returned to England
. However peace was signed and the war had ended by the time Burke arrived in Liverpool
in June 1856, and he returned to Victoria on the SS Marco Polo
, arriving in Melbourne in December 1856.
He resumed his posting at Beechworth and from there attended the "Buckland Valley" riots
near Bright
against the Chinese gold miners in 1857. In November 1858 he was transferred to Castlemaine
as Police Superintendent on £550 p.a. plus a groom and quarters at Broadoaks on Gingell Street.
After the South Australia
n explorer, John McDouall Stuart
had reached the centre of Australia, the South Australian parliament offered a reward of £2,000 for the promotion of an expedition to cross the continent from south to north, generally following Stuart's route.
In June 1860, Burke was appointed to lead the Victorian Exploring Expedition
with William John Wills
as surveyor and astronomical observer.
The expedition left Melbourne on Monday, 20 August 1860 with a total of 19 men, 27 camels and 23 horses. They reached Menindee
on 23 September 1860 where several people resigned, including the second-in-command, George James Landells and the medical officer, Dr. Hermann Beckler.
Cooper Creek
, 400 miles further on, was reached on 11 November 1860 by the advance group, the remainder being intended to catch up. After a break, Burke decided to make a dash to the Gulf of Carpentaria
, leaving on 16 December 1860. William Brahe was left in charge of the remaining party. The small team of Burke, William Wills, John King
and Charley Gray reached the mangrove
s on the estuary of the Flinders River
, near where the town of Normanton
now stands, on 9 February 1861. Flooding rains and swamps meant they never saw open ocean.
Already weakened by starvation and exposure, progress on the return journey was slow and hampered by the tropical monsoon downpours of the wet season. Gray died four days before they reached the rendezvous at Cooper Creek. The other three rested for a day when they buried him. They eventually reached the rendezvous point on 21 April 1861, 9 hours after the rest of the party had given up waiting and left, leaving a note and some food, as they had not been relieved by the party supposed to be returning from Menindee.
They attempted to reach Mount Hopeless
, the furthest outpost of pastoral settlement in South Australia, which was closer than Menindie, but failed and returned to Cooper Creek. While waiting for rescue Wills died of exhaustion and starvation. Soon after, Burke also died, at a place now called Burke's Waterhole on Cooper Creek in South Australia. The exact date of Burke's death is uncertain, but has generally been accepted to be 28 June 1861.
King survived with the help of Aborigines until he was rescued in September by Alfred William Howitt
. Howitt buried Burke and Wills before returning to Melbourne. In 1862 Howitt returned to Cooper Creek and disinterred Burke and Wills' bodies, taking them first to Adelaide
and then by steamer to Melbourne where they were laid in state for two weeks. On 23 January 1863 Burke and Wills received a State Funeral and were buried in Melbourne General Cemetery
. Ironically, on that day Stuart and his Companions, having successfully completed the south-north crossing, were received back at a large ceremony in Adelaide.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
soldier and police officer, who achieved fame as an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n explorer. He was the leader of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition
Burke and Wills expedition
In 1860–61, Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills led an expedition of 19 men with the intention of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 3,250 kilometres...
, which was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled areas of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
to the Gulf of Carpentaria
Gulf of Carpentaria
The Gulf of Carpentaria is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the Arafura Sea...
. The expedition party was well-equipped, but Burke was not experienced in bushcraft and his leadership is often blamed for the failure of the project and deaths of seven people in the party.
Early years
Burke was born in County GalwayCounty Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in February 1821. He was the second of three sons of James Hardiman Burke (1788-January 1854), an officer in the British army 7th Royal Fusiliers
The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
The Royal Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army until 1968 when it was amalgamated with other regiments to form The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers...
, and Anne Louisa Burke nee O'Hara (married 1817, d.1844).
Robert O'Hara was one of seven children;
- John Hardiman Burke (d. August 1863)
- Robert O'Hara Burke (February 1821-June/July 1861)
- James Thomas Burke (c. 1828 - 7 July 1854)
- Fanny Marie Burke (married John Blakeney)
- Elizabeth Burke (married Lt. Col Menzies)
- Hester Albinia Burke (unmarried, d. 10 November 1866)
- Anne Celestine Burke (married Major Horace de Vere, d.1914)
James Thomas Burke was a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
, and on 7 July 1854 at the battle of Giurgevo
Giurgiu
Giurgiu is the capital city of Giurgiu County, Romania, in the Greater Wallachia. It is situated amid mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city of Rousse on the opposite bank. Three small islands face the city, and a larger one shelters its port, Smarda...
became the first British officer killed in the Crimean war
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
.
Military career
Burke entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in May 1835. In December 1836 he failed his probationary exam and went to BelgiumBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
to further his education. In 1841, at the age of twenty he entered the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n army and in August 1842 was promoted to Second Lieutenant in the Prince Regent's 7th Reuss Regiment of the Hungarian Hussars. He spent most of his time in the Imperial Austrian Army
Military history of Austria
The Military Frontier was an important way in which Austria defended itself against the Ottomans.The following shown below is a history of the Austrian military history....
posted to northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and in April 1847 was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. Towards the end of 1847 he suffered health problems and went to Recoaro
Recoaro Terme
Recoaro Terme is a town and comune in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. It is known for his mineral spring waters: Lora is bottled and commercialized, while some of the others are used for hydrotherapy in Terme Recoaro Spa.-History:...
spa in northern Italy, then Grafenberg
Grafenberg
Grafenberg may mean:* Düsseldorf-Grafenberg, a borough of Düsseldorf* Ernst Gräfenberg, doctor known for developing the intrauterine device , and for his studies of the role of the woman's urethra in orgasm....
and finally Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
before resigning from the Austrian army in June 1848 after charges against him relating to debts and absence without leave were dropped.
Police career
After returning to IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in 1848, he joined the Irish Constabulary (later the Royal Irish Constabulary
Royal Irish Constabulary
The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...
). He did his cadet training at Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park is an urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses , one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth...
Depot in Dublin between November 1849 and January 1850, was promoted to 3rd Class Sub-Inspector and stationed in County Kildare
County Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...
. At the end of 1850 he transferred to the Mounted Police in Dublin.
Australia
Burke migrated to AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1853. He landed in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
but soon moved to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and on 1 April 1853 he joined the recently established Victoria police force
Victoria Police
Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of Victoria, Australia. , the Victoria Police has over 12,190 sworn members, along with over 400 recruits, reservists and Protective Service Officers, and over 2,900 civilian staff across 393 police stations.-Early history:The Victoria Police...
. Initially he worked as Acting Inspector under the Chief Commissioner William Henry Fancourt Mitchell
William Henry Fancourt Mitchell
Sir William Henry Fancourt Mitchell was an Australian politician. Mitchell was the son of the Rev. George Mitchell of Leicester, England....
in the Parish of Jika Jika in the northern suburbs of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, but on 1 November 1853 he was appointed a magistrate, promoted to Police Inspector, and was posted to Carlsruhe
Carlsruhe, Victoria
Carlsruhe is a small rural town in the Shire of Macedon Ranges between Woodend and Kyneton, alongside the old Calder Highway, although now bypassed bypassed by the Calder Freeway. It is approximately 50 minutes from both Melbourne and Bendigo...
. On 31 December 1853 he was promoted to District Inspector of the Ovens District and early in 1854 he moved to Beechworth to relieve Inspector Price.
After the death of his brother, James Thomas, in the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
, Burke decided to enlist. He left Australia in March 1856 and returned to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. However peace was signed and the war had ended by the time Burke arrived in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
in June 1856, and he returned to Victoria on the SS Marco Polo
Marco Polo (ship)
Marco Polo was a 3-masted wooden clipper ship, launched in 1851 at Saint John, New Brunswick. It was named after Venetian explorer Marco Polo.-Construction and design:She measured 184 feet in length, with a beam of 36 feet, and draught of 29 feet...
, arriving in Melbourne in December 1856.
He resumed his posting at Beechworth and from there attended the "Buckland Valley" riots
Buckland Riot
The Buckland Riot was an anti-Chinese race riot that occurred on 4 July 1857, in the goldfields of the Buckland Valley, Victoria, Australia. At the time approximately 2000 Chinese and 700 European migrants were living in the Buckland area.-Riot:...
near Bright
Bright, Victoria
Bright is a small sized town, located in northeastern Victoria, Australia, 319 metres above sea level at the southeastern end of the Ovens Valley. At the 2006 census, Bright had a population of 2684. It is in the Alpine Shire local government area...
against the Chinese gold miners in 1857. In November 1858 he was transferred to Castlemaine
Castlemaine, Victoria
Castlemaine is a city in Victoria, Australia, in the Goldfields region of Victoria about 120 kilometres northwest by road from Melbourne, and about 40 kilometres from the major provincial centre of Bendigo. It is the administrative and economic centre of the Shire of Mount Alexander. The...
as Police Superintendent on £550 p.a. plus a groom and quarters at Broadoaks on Gingell Street.
After the South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
n explorer, John McDouall Stuart
John McDouall Stuart
John McDouall Stuart was one of the most accomplished and famous of all Australia's inland explorers. Stuart led the first successful expedition to traverse the Australian mainland from south to north and return, and the first to do so from a starting point in South Australia, achieving this...
had reached the centre of Australia, the South Australian parliament offered a reward of £2,000 for the promotion of an expedition to cross the continent from south to north, generally following Stuart's route.
Burke and Wills Expedition
In June 1860, Burke was appointed to lead the Victorian Exploring Expedition
Burke and Wills expedition
In 1860–61, Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills led an expedition of 19 men with the intention of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 3,250 kilometres...
with William John Wills
William John Wills
William John Wills was an English surveyor who also trained for a while as a surgeon. He achieved fame as the second-in-command of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition, which was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled...
as surveyor and astronomical observer.
The expedition left Melbourne on Monday, 20 August 1860 with a total of 19 men, 27 camels and 23 horses. They reached Menindee
Menindee, New South Wales
Menindee is a small town in the far west of New South Wales, Australia, in Central Darling Shire, on the banks of the Darling River, with a sign-posted population of 980.-History:...
on 23 September 1860 where several people resigned, including the second-in-command, George James Landells and the medical officer, Dr. Hermann Beckler.
Cooper Creek
Cooper Creek
Cooper Creek is one of the most famous and yet least visited rivers in Australia. It is sometimes known as the Barcoo River from one of its tributaries and is one of three major Queensland river systems that flow into the Lake Eyre Basin...
, 400 miles further on, was reached on 11 November 1860 by the advance group, the remainder being intended to catch up. After a break, Burke decided to make a dash to the Gulf of Carpentaria
Gulf of Carpentaria
The Gulf of Carpentaria is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the Arafura Sea...
, leaving on 16 December 1860. William Brahe was left in charge of the remaining party. The small team of Burke, William Wills, John King
John King (explorer)
John King was an Irish soldier who achieved fame as an Australian explorer. He was the sole survivor of the four men from the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition who reached the Gulf of Carpentaria...
and Charley Gray reached the mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
s on the estuary of the Flinders River
Flinders River
The Flinders River is the longest river in Queensland, Australia at about . The river rises in the Burra Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, 110 km northeast of Hughenden and flows in a westerly direction past Hughenden, Richmond and Julia Creek then northwest to the Gulf of Carpentaria...
, near where the town of Normanton
Normanton, Queensland
-External links:****...
now stands, on 9 February 1861. Flooding rains and swamps meant they never saw open ocean.
Already weakened by starvation and exposure, progress on the return journey was slow and hampered by the tropical monsoon downpours of the wet season. Gray died four days before they reached the rendezvous at Cooper Creek. The other three rested for a day when they buried him. They eventually reached the rendezvous point on 21 April 1861, 9 hours after the rest of the party had given up waiting and left, leaving a note and some food, as they had not been relieved by the party supposed to be returning from Menindee.
They attempted to reach Mount Hopeless
Mount Hopeless (South Australia)
Mount Hopeless is in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia, south-west of Lake Blanche. It is little more than a stony rise of 127 metres. It was over-named by the explorer Edward Eyre....
, the furthest outpost of pastoral settlement in South Australia, which was closer than Menindie, but failed and returned to Cooper Creek. While waiting for rescue Wills died of exhaustion and starvation. Soon after, Burke also died, at a place now called Burke's Waterhole on Cooper Creek in South Australia. The exact date of Burke's death is uncertain, but has generally been accepted to be 28 June 1861.
King survived with the help of Aborigines until he was rescued in September by Alfred William Howitt
Alfred William Howitt
Alfred William Howitt was an Australian anthropologist and naturalist.-Background:Howitt was born in Nottingham, England, the son of authors William Howitt and Mary Botham. He came to the Victorian gold fields in 1852 with his father and brother to visit his uncle, Godfrey Howitt...
. Howitt buried Burke and Wills before returning to Melbourne. In 1862 Howitt returned to Cooper Creek and disinterred Burke and Wills' bodies, taking them first to Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
and then by steamer to Melbourne where they were laid in state for two weeks. On 23 January 1863 Burke and Wills received a State Funeral and were buried in Melbourne General Cemetery
Melbourne General Cemetery
The Melbourne General Cemetery is a large necropolis located north of the city of Melbourne in the suburb of Carlton North.-History:...
. Ironically, on that day Stuart and his Companions, having successfully completed the south-north crossing, were received back at a large ceremony in Adelaide.
Places named after Burke
- Burketown, QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. - Burke RiverBurke River (Queensland)The Burke River is an ephemeral river in southwest Queensland, Australia. The river was named in memory of Robert O'Hara Burke of the Burke and Wills expedition....
in western QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. - O'Haras Gap, Selwyn RangesSelwyn Range (Australia)The Selwyn Range is a rugged mountain range near Mount Isa and Cloncurry in north-west Queensland, Australia, composed largely of Proterozoic metamorphic rocks...
, QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. - Cloncurry, Burke named the Cloncurry River after his cousin, Elizabeth Kirwan, who had married Lord Cloncurry. Lady Cloncurry was the daughter of Burke's paternal Aunt Penelope and her husband John Kirwan.
See also
- John King (explorer)John King (explorer)John King was an Irish soldier who achieved fame as an Australian explorer. He was the sole survivor of the four men from the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition who reached the Gulf of Carpentaria...
- List of people on stamps of Ireland
- William John WillsWilliam John WillsWilliam John Wills was an English surveyor who also trained for a while as a surgeon. He achieved fame as the second-in-command of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition, which was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled...
External links
- Burke & Wills Web A comprehensive website containing many of the historical documents relating to the Burke & Wills Expedition.
- The Burke & Wills Historical Society The Burke & Wills Historical Society.