William Hovell

William Hilton Hovell ( born April 26, 1786 in Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; † November 9, 1875 in Sydney, Australia ) was a native of England and a explorer in Australia. He and Hamilton Hume were the leaders of the expedition of Hume and Hovell. There was a significant, early expedition that successfully crossed the south-eastern Australia. The aim of the expedition was the exploration of suitable land for settlement and exploring the course of rivers of New South Wales to the west.

Early life

Hovell came as a boy to seafaring and brought it up to the captain in the Royal Navy. In 1808 he commanded a ship on its way to North America. He lived in England with his wife Ester, born Arnell, whom he had married on 10 May 1810 before they emigrated on the ship Earl Spencer to New South Wales in Australia, where they arrived in October 1813. He had two children with her.

Australia

Hovell was going on in Australia a business with Simeon Lord together, and were ship masters. He made ​​several trading voyages to the east coast of Australia and New Zealand. In 1816, he suffered with the merchant ship The Brothers at the Kent Group in Bass Strait in Tasmania shipwreck. The castaways were rescued only ten weeks later. In 1819 he settled in Sydney, took from there expeditions to the south and discovered 1823 Burragorang Valley.

Discoverer

Hovell in 1824 was asked by Governor Thomas Brisbane, break up with Hamilton Hume to a journey to southern New South Wales and Victoria in order to collect more information about besiedelbares country and the various rivers that flow south into the Spencer Gulf. Although Hovell had no experience in voyages of discovery in the country, but a lot of experience as a navigator.

The plans for the official expedition did not come forward and so decided Hume and Hovell to perform the journey on their own and at their own expense. Some pack-saddles, clothing, impact weapons and firearms, the government available. The discovery broke on 3 October 1824 with six other men, reaching on 13 October, the Hume - station. From there began the expedition on 17 October with five oxen, two wagons and three horses. On October 22, they found the only ford across the Murrumbidgee River. The river could not be crossed with the car, so they put the car in a boat which was sealed with canvas to the other side on; the men, horses and oxen swam through the river. A day or two later they overcame the Broken Hill Country with great difficulty - mainly because of the heavy loaded cars - because the the whole area was flooded. Until 16 November, they went through rough, mountainous terrain. One day they came to a large river, which they called Hume River, because Hume was the first to see him. It was a tributary of the Murray River. This name forgave Charles Sturt few years later on his expedition. First, they could not cross the Murray River, but after a few days they found a better place in which they again built a boat and overcame the river. On December 3, they reached the Goulburn River, which they could cross without a boat. During the next ten days they traversed difficult terrain and then opened up the country: it was flat. On December 16, they saw Port Phillip are in the distance. First, they avoided the southwest coast and arrived in this way to Corio Bay near Geelong. Here underwent Hovell when navigating an error of one degree in calculating the longitude and therefore they assumed that they had arrived at Western Port. The expedition returned on 18 December at, talked of their experience to the west and therefore came back faster. On 8 January 1825, the Board came to an end and the men lived a few days of fish and kangaroo meat. On January 16, 1825 they came to the place where their expedition had begun, and two days later they reached Gunning on Lake George.

On March 25, 1825 was Governor Brisbane from the discoveries of Hume Hovell expedition knowledge and intended to send to initiate further inquiries a ship to Western Port. However, it remained with the letter of intent from Brisbane and only the Governor Ralph Darling sent towards the end of 1826 an expedition with Hovell on a ship with Captain Wright to Western Port. Hovells error in the determination of longitude was discovered quickly. Hovell reported on the land around the Western Port and north -lying areas and land on the coast in the east at Cape Paterson. He also discovered a valuable coal deposits. That was the first coal deposits, discovered in Victoria. Hovell who was five months on the road with this expedition, took in the aftermath no more expeditions.

Hume and Hovell were from the government per 486 acres ( 5 km ²) and Hovell had been promised for his second expedition with Wright 518 acres of land. This was agreed on unfavorable terms for the discoverer. Hovell tried for ten years in vain to obtain from the government more favorable conditions. He then lived in Goulburn

When his first wife died in 1848, he married the same year Sophie Wilkenson. Hovell died on November 1875 in Sydney. His widow bequeathed £ 6,000 earmarked for the University of Sydney to fund a William Hilton Hovell - Dozententstelle of Geology and Geography.

Late life

In 1854 there was a dispute between Hume and Hovell, where they fought with numerous pamphlets. In December 1853 Hovell held at a meeting in Geelong an after-dinner speech, which was misrepresented by a newspaper in parts. Here, the impression that Hovell supposed to have said that the success of this expedition was only thanks to him arose. After the entire report of Hovells speech was published, it was found that the performance of Hume had been appreciated. Hume was undoubtedly the more experienced members of the expedition of two and by nature a leader personality. But Hovell had a good education, an amiable character and excellent navigation skills, otherwise they both worked well during their expedition together. They had their abilities contributed to the success of the expedition.

The subsequent expedition of Hovell without Hume to Western Port, which led to the discovery of a coal deposit, was of great economic importance and therefore very well known.

Honors

The William Hovell Drive, up to North Canberra leads the district of Belconnen in Canberra, is named after him.

In 1976 Hume and Hovell were honored on a postage stamp that bears their portraits and issued by Australia Post and Lake William Hovell got its name.