Biographical entry Burke, Robert O'Hara (1821 - 1861)

Summary

Robert O'Hara Burke was the leader of an expedition which was the first to cross Australia from south to north in 1860-61.

Details

Born St Clerans, County Galway, Ireland, 1821. Died Coopers Creek, 1861. Educated Woolwich Academy. Lieutenant in a cavalry regiment, Austrian army till 1848; Irish Mounted Constabulary 1848-53; migrated to Australia 1853; acting inspector at Carlsruhe, Victoria police 1853; senior inspector, Beechworth 1854-58; superintendent of police, Castlemaine district 1858-60; led expedition to cross the continent from south to north organised by the Royal Society of Victoria and supported by the government; reached the Gulf of Carpentaria but died of starvation at Coopers Creek on the way back.

Published resources

Books

• Murgatroyd, Sara, The Dig Tree: the Story of Burke and Wills, Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2000, 372 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Fitzpatrick, Kathleen, 'Burke, Robert O'Hara (1821-1861), explorer', in Douglas Pike (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 3, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1969, pp. 301-303. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A030280b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Fitzpatrick, Kathleen, 'The Burke and Wills Expedition and the Royal Society of Victoria', Historical Studies, vol. 40, May, 1963. Details

Online Resources

• National Library of Australia, 'Burke, Robert O'Hara', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1470129. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/scripts/tia-dynindex.php3?EID=P000076. Details
• Science and the making of Victoria, with Royal Society of Victoria, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/smv/scripts/smv-dynindex.php3?EID=P000076. Details