Biographical entry McKinlay, John (1819 - 1872)

Summary

John McKinlay was sent by the South Australian Government to help find the lost expedition party of Burke and Wills (16 August 1961). He and his party discovered the grave of one of the explorers, Charlie Gray. After learning of the fate of the rest of the party, McKinlay's team set off north. They were extremely lucky to survive the trip supplies ran out almost two months before they arrived on the Queensland coast in August 1962. This trip made McKinlay and his team only the second party to have successfully crossed Australia from south to north. In 1865 McKinlay was sent on an expedition to discover settlement sites in the southern and central Australia.

Archival resources

State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana

• John McKinlay - Records, 1861 - 1866, PRG 834; State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details

Published resources

Books

• Davis, J., Tracks of McKinlay and Party Across Australia, W. Westgarth, London, 1863. Details
• Threadgill, B., South Australian Land Exploration 1856 to 1880, Adelaide, 1922. Details

Book Sections

• 'McKinlay, John (1819-1872), explorer', in Douglas Pike (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 5, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1974, pp. 174-175. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A050200b.htm. Details

Online Resources

• National Library of Australia, 'McKinlay, John', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1208694. Details