Comment: A rough summary of Burke & Wills

Submitted: Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 12:51

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A rough summary of Burke & Wills

Burke was an explorer in the early days of Australia. He tried to cross the continent from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpenteria, and back again in 1860. He died on the return journey.

Member - Bruce and Di T (SA)

I think the more interesting person is John McDouall Stuart who really was an explorer. The Royal Society of Victoria showed they were inept in the way the exploration was organised. Burke was absolutely the wrong person to lead such an expedition and Stuart was originally on their list and probably should have led the expedition. Instead he did it by himself.
Di

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Reply By: Sigmund - Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 14:53

Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 14:53

Burke was 'our sort of chap', hah! Yes, a disastrous choice.
What's harder to explain is the loyalty of his men. His incompetence was evident early on and they stuck by him.

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Reply By: MEMBER - Darian, SA - Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 17:18

Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 17:18

Yep....Stuart was the master of the day...fast, economical, thorough, effective...you name it ....(pity Wills wasn't on team Stuart....the B&W fiasco wasn't his fault). With Bourke making his first camp at Essendon....and leaving a ton of sugar behind at Swan Hill, "the writing was probably on the wall".??

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Reply By: Rick (S.A.) - Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 18:51

Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 18:51

You may find this brand new facebook page of interest:
https://www.facebook.com/johnmcdouallstuart?fref=nf

And perhaps an easy way to suss much, much more about Stuart & his Companions is to visit:
http://johnmcdouallstuart.org.au/

AnswerID: 557389