Charles sturt family tree

1. Charles Sturt: A British Explorer of Australia
2. Exploration of the Darling River
3. Exploration of Central Australia
4. Legacy and Final Years

Charles Sturt: A British Explorer of Australia

Charles Sturt, also known as C. Sturt, was a British explorer who played a significant role in the exploration of Australia. He was born in India and joined the army in 1813, participating in campaigns against Napoleon. He later served in Canada and Ireland before arriving in Australia in 1826.

Exploration of the Darling River

In Australia, Sturt was appointed the leader of an expedition by the Governor of New South Wales to explore the interior regions that were previously discovered by Oxley and Hume. The years 1826-1828 were marked by severe drought, leaving the land barren and devoid of vegetation. Sturt's journey aimed to ascertain the flow of newly discovered rivers and find pastures for the growing settlements.

Accompanied by his partner, Yum, Sturt followed the almost dried-up Macquarie River and easily traversed the marshes where Oxley had been stuck eleven years earlier. On January 1, 1829, they discovered the Bogan River, which ran north-northwest parallel to the Macquarie River, and followed it until it joined a larger river. In honor of the Governor of New South Wales, Sturt named this newly discovered waterway the Darling River. However, the water in the Darling River turned out to be salty, and it flowed through a salt-encrusted desert with only occasional patches of grass. Despite the harsh conditions, Sturt believed that this desolate landscape was not a continuous desert, as he encountered aboriginal people and found traces of previous floods along the banks of the Darling River.

After returning to Sydney, Sturt immediately set off on another journey, this time to the southwest. This expedition led him to the Murray River, where he and his companions paddled downstream for eight days. In the section where the Murray River sharply turned westward, Sturt discovered that the Darling River flowed into it from the north, the same river he had reached the previous year. To his greatest surprise, the water in the Darling River was not salty but fresh. Upon reaching the mouth of the Murray River, Sturt found it emptied into a shallow estuary called Lake Alexandrina, beyond which lay Encounter Bay previously discovered by Flinders.

Exploration of Central Australia

Despite the disappointment of the Murray River not flowing into the open sea as he had hoped, Sturt's expeditions in 1828 and 1829-1830 were of immense importance. He managed to unravel the mysteries of the southeastern Australian river system and proved that the western slopes of the Australian Alps were home to rivers that fluctuated between full flow during rainy seasons and complete disappearance during droughts. Sturt explored an area twice the size of England and determined that a significant part of it was suitable for settlement. In 1833, he published a two-volume report on his journeys in the Murray Basin.

In the early 1840s, Sturt developed a plan to explore the central part of Australia, driven by the belief that there was fresh water in that region. Observing the migration patterns of birds from southern regions to the north during the summer, Sturt speculated that fertile lands and a large inland sea existed somewhere in the central part of the continent, slightly north of the Tropic of Capricorn. In early 1844, Sturt set out from Adelaide, heading northeast towards the Murray Basin. From there, he turned northwest, crossing the Barrier Ranges, and ventured along its western slopes. This led him to the Stone Desert, a barren landscape scattered with quartz and granite, which stretched into the heart of the continent. Sturt discovered a range of hills extending for tens of miles in a northeast direction, which he named the Grey Range. The highest peaks were named after the expedition members, Brown, Sturt, and Poole.

In January 1845, an oasis with fresh water was found in Rocky Glen after experiencing extreme thirst and scorching heat. The expedition continued northwest, reaching the dry riverbed of the Strezlecki Creek, which vanished into the sands. Sturt named this blind creek the Strezlecki Creek in honor of Paul Edmund de Strzelecki, a Polish explorer. Further west and north stretched the Sturt Stony Desert, a desolate area dotted with sand dunes that seemed to extend into infinity. On September 8, 1845, the expedition reached its northernmost point at 24°40' S, deep in the heart of Australia.

The return journey was arduous, with the party suffering from thirst and relentless heat. In mid-November, they reached the Rocky Glen oasis again and then traveled another 270 miles to the banks of the Darling River. On January 19, 1846, Sturt and his companions arrived back in Adelaide.

Legacy and Final Years

Although Sturt's expedition to central Australia proved the existence of an arid desert rather than fertile lands and an inland sea, his explorations were a significant geographic achievement. His journals and notes from this expedition were published in 1849. The results of his journey, however, brought disappointment to the cities of Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney, as it became apparent that there were no freshwater lakes or suitable pastures in the central part of the continent.

In his later years, Sturt retired from exploration and settled in the Adelaide area. He served as a public servant and was appointed as the Registrar-General of South Australia. Charles Sturt passed away on June 16, 1869, leaving behind a lasting legacy as one of the key explorers of Australia.