Central Mt Stuart |
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| Title : | Central Mt Stuart |
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| Creator : | Stuart, John McDouall, 1815-1866 | ||
| Source : | Explorations in Australia : the journals of John McDouall Stuart during the years 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, & 1862, ..., opp. p. 165 | ||
| Place Of Creation : | London | ||
| Publisher : | Saunders, Otley | ||
| Date of creation : | 1864 | ||
| Additional Creator : | Angas, George French, 1822-1886 | ||
| Format : | Book | ||
| Contributor : | State Library catalogue | ||
| Catalogue record | |||
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| Copyright : | Reproduction rights are owned by State Library of South Australia. This image may be printed or saved for research or study. Use for any other purpose requires permission from the State Library of South Australia. To request approval, complete the Permission to publish form. |
| Description : |
This illustration is by George French Angas, an accomplished artist noted for his folio volume South Australia illustrated. In 1860 during his fourth expedition into the interior of Australia, John McDouall Stuart found a hill close to the position which he calculated to be the geographic centre of Australia. He named it Central Mount Sturt after his former leader, Charles Sturt who had attempted to reach the centre in his expedition of 1844-46, but fell short by about 150 miles, blocked by the dunes of the Simpson Desert. When Stuart reached what he believed was Australia's centre on 22 April 1860 he raised a flag and blazed a tree. The following day he climbed a nearby hill and raised a cairn of stones in which he buried a note John McDouall Stuart and party, consisting of two men and himself, arrived from Adelaide in the Centre of Australia on Saturday evening, the twenty first day of April, 1860, and have built this cone of stones and raised the flag to commemorate the event, on top of Mt Sturt. The Centre is about two miles south-south-west, at a small gum creek... From this point Stuart and his party continued north but on 26 June, some 200 miles short of the north coast of Australia, he turned back to Adelaide, following an attack by local Aboriginal people. After John McDouall Stuart's return to Adelaide, the South Australian government changed the name from Central Mount Sturt to Central Mount Stuart to honour his achievement. In all Stuart led six separate journeys of exploration into the northern interior. He is remembered as an explorer of great courage who never lost a man from any of his expeditions. Although he did not become the first European to cross Australia from south to north, his expeditions were of great value in opening up the country. His health broken from his explorations, John McDouall Stuart left Australia for England in 1864 and died in London on 5 June 1866. There is a statue to his memory in Victoria Square, Adelaide. |
| Subjects | |
| Related names : | Stuart, John McDouall, 1815-1866 Sturt, Charles, 1795-1869 Angas, George French, 1822-1886 |
| Coverage year : | 1860 |
| Period : | 1852-1883 |
| Place : | Central Mount Stuart (NT) |
| Region : | Northern Territory |
| Further reading : | Stuart, John McDouall, Explorations in Australia: the journals of John McDouall Stuart during the years 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, & 1862 ... Carlisle, W.A.: Hesperian Press, 1984 John McDouall Stuart's explorations, 1858-1862: South Australian parliamentary papers 1858-1863 Adelaide: Friends of the State Library of South Australia, 2001 Mudie, Ian, The heroic journey of John McDouall Stuart Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1968 Stokes, Edward, Across the Centre: John McDouall Stuart's expeditions, 1860-62 St. Leonards, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, 1996 Webster, M. S. John McDouall Stuart with maps by Mary Quick [Carlton]: Melbourne University Press, 1958 |
| Internet links : | Dictionary of Australian biography: see Stuart, John McDouall John McDouall Stuart Wikipedia free encyclopedia article Royal Geographical Society of South Australia (RGS Library) Stuart, John McDouall Electric scotland.com |
| Exhibitions and events : | State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing. Taking it to the edge August 2004- |
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