Event

Chevert Expedition (1875)

From
18 May 1875
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
To
September 1875
Functions
New Guinea exploration

Summary

The Chevert Expedition was financed and led by William Macleay for the purpose of collecting natural history specimens on islands in the Torres Strait and New Guinea. Departing from Sydney on 18 May 1875, the Expedition returned in September. It was the first Australian scientific expedition to visit another country. Scientific personnel included John Brazier, George Masters, William Petterd and Edward Spalding (zoological collectors), Thomas Reedy (botanical collector), and William James (doctor). Also on board was Arthur Onslow, Macleay's cousin. The Expedition was considered successful because of the many scientific specimens collected: approximately 1,000 birds, 800 fish, reptiles, insects. molluscs, plants and ethnographic objects. These became part of the Macleay Museum's collections. At the conclusion of the Expedition some of the scientific personnel returned to New Guinea to continue collecting.

Related Corporate Bodies

Related People

Published resources

Books

  • MacMillan, David S., A Squatter Went to Sea. The story of Sir William Macleay's New Guinea Expedition and his life in Sydney (Sydney: Currawong Publishing Co., 1957). Details

Journal Articles

See also

  • Bowen, James; Bowen, Margarita, The Great Barrier Reef: History, Science, Heritage (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 454 pp. Details
  • Fulton, G. R., 'Thomas Reedy 1842 - 1929: gardener for Sir William Macarthur and plant collector on the Chevert Expedition to New Guinea in 1875', Cunninghamia, 16 (2016), 51-63. Details

Helen Cohn

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"... the rengitj, as a visible mark or imprint on the land, is characterised as a place of origin, the repository of all names, as well as a kind of mapped visual expression of the connection between people and places which is to be carried out in the temporal sequence of the journey." Fanca Tamisari (1998) 'Body, Vision and Movement: In the footprints of the ancestors'. Oceania 68(4) p260