Edwin James Welch (26 December 1838 [1] – 24 September 1916) [2] was an English naval cadet, surveyor, photographer, newspaper proprietor, writer and journalist. Welch discovered John King, sole survivor of the Burke and Wills expedition.
Edwin James Welch (26 December 1838 [1] – 24 September 1916) [2] was an English naval cadet, surveyor, photographer, newspaper proprietor, writer and journalist. Welch discovered John King, sole survivor of the Burke and Wills expedition.
Welch was born in Falmouth, Cornwall, [1] a son of Commander David Welch, R.N. [2] He was educated at Bluecoat School, Hertford and at the Royal Hospital School, Greenwich. [3] He entered the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1853, and whilst still in his teens saw active service with Sir Charles Napier during the Crimean War, as Master's Assistant, including assisting with the ship's navigation. [2]
Welch was present at the destruction of Hango Head forts, and the bombardment and capture of Bomarsund. He was also involved in the bombardment of Kertch and was present at the capture of Sebastopol. He continued to wear, throughout his life, the three medals and Sebastopol clasp which were awarded to him. [3]
At the Royal Hospital School he would have been instructed in mathematics as were necessary for the study of navigation and nautical astronomy, including geometry, algebra, and elementary trigonometry; and, in connection with these, the elements of astronomy, with mathematical and physical geography. [4]
The Crimean War was concluded in 1856 and Welch travelled to Australia, attracted it seems by the prospect of finding gold. He did not find gold but drew on his experiences on the diggings to later write many newspaper articles on the subject.
We are fortunate in having an account of the first years after his arrival. It was recalled, in June 1872, by a journalist on the Riverine Herald , that about 12 or 13 years earlier "there was a young man named Welch at Deniliquin," and that he had been, at one time a telegraph messenger and at another time a barman at a local hotel. The journalist went on to note that
When first he came to Deniliquin, about 1857, he was 'humping his swag' and for a time was in a very humble capacity here. He wandered, after this, through the country seeking work, and again returned to Deniliquin. He was somewhat eccentric in his habits. [5]
These humble beginnings in Australia were recalled by the journalist in order to contrast Welch's position soon after arrival in Australia, with his circumstances at the time the article was written, by which time Welch had taken part in an expedition to discover the fate of members of the Burke and Wills expedition and had recently been appointed acting inspector and relieving officer in The Electric Telegraph Department in Queensland. [5]
By 1861 Welch had secured a position with the now Melbourne Observatory, then at Flagstaff Hill, Melbourne. No doubt he held the position because of the skills he possessed as a result of attending the Royal Naval School and the experience gained in the Royal Navy. Georg von Neumayer was director of the observatory and William John Wills was a work companion. [6]
Neumayer was a member of the organising committee of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition, which set out in August 1860 to cross Australia from South to North. Wills was appointed surveyor and astronomical and meteorological observer for the expedition.
When, after 6 months, nothing was heard from the expedition, the Victorian Relief Expedition was organised and set out on 26 June 1861, under the leadership of Alfred William Howitt. Edwin James Welch, known, of course, to Neumeyer, went as surveyor, photographer and second-in-command. He had been given lessons in photography from Melbourne's leading studio of Batchelder and O’Neill before departure. [7]
On 15 September 1861 Welch was searching along Cooper Creek, ahead of the main body, and discovered John King, who proved to be the sole survivor of that ill-fated expedition. King had been looked after by friendly aboriginals, though his emaciated form showed the suffering he had undergone.
At the end of October 1861 the party reached Pamamaroo Creek Camp on the Darling River and Howitt directed Welch and Weston Phillips, another member of the party, to accompany King back to Melbourne. Howitt and the rest of the party awaited with the animals and equipment for further instructions from the expedition committee.
A further expedition was organised to return to Cooper Creek and bring back the remains of Burke and Wills to Melbourne for a public funeral. Welch was also a member of that expedition.
Welch's part in finding King is well known. Less well known is the fact that he was also one of the most successful collectors on any expedition into the Australian interior, collecting European and Aboriginal material, much of which has survived to this day. Some of the material appeared in From Melbourne to Myth curated by Tim Bonyhady for the National Library of Australia and exhibited in 2002. [8] The exhibition was accompanied by a booklet of the same name, written by Bonyhady, in which details of the material are outlined. [9]
In later life Welch wrote an account of the Burke and Wills Expedition and of the various expeditions which were subsequently mounted as a result of their disappearance. The manuscript, The Tragedy of Cooper's Creek, is held by the State Library of New South Wales. [10] He also wrote other articles related to exploring and was a friend of Ernest Favenc who wrote The Explorers of Australia and Their Life-Work and The History of Australian Exploration.
In November 1865 Edwin Welch married Isabella Ord at Durah, Darling Downs, Queensland, at the residence of the bride's father. Durah is north of Dalby and, at the time, Welch was doing survey work in the area in connection with the construction of the telegraph line from Dalby to Camboon and on to Rockhampton. The line went through Durah, Hawkwood, and Banana.
In December 1866 Isabella gave birth to a son at Bowen, Queensland and in June 1868 a second son was born at the Telegraph Station, Durah. Then, on 5 September 1870 a daughter was born at the Telegraph Station, Hawkwood. It seems that by this time, Welch had secured a position as telegraph operator. The same edition of the newspaper which carried the notice of the birth of Welch's daughter also carried a notice regarding the death of his wife, a day afterwards, on 6 September 1870. She had died soon after giving birth to her daughter. [11]
In mid 1872 Welch was appointed acting inspector and relieving officer with the electric Telegraph Department. Then, on 14 May 1873, in Brisbane, Welch married Marion Wilkin. A son, Eric Hardman Welch, was born on 20 November 1874.
In 1877 Welch was in partnership in a photographic business at Mackay, Queensland, and within two years Welch alone was carrying on the business. Afterwards he was founder of the newspaper, the Mackay Standard, which he later sold. He then purchased the St. George Standard, only to sell it and return to Victoria where he took over the Mansfield Courier.
A few years later Welch went to Sydney where he became associated with several newspapers, including the Evening News, The Bulletin , and The Echo. He also edited The Photographic Review.
Finally, he settled for The World's News and was still writing articles for this newspaper until the time of his death, using the pen names "E.J.W.," "Edwin Halstead" and "Alwyn Alverstoke." [12] Welch wrote both factual and fictional articles and stories, the latter class including The Official Outlaw, Cressy Bend and Dinky Darbison: A Tale of the Early Sixties. In the latter story one may catch a glimpse of Welch himself as the character Harold Armstead, a "surveyor in the government service."
Welch's obituary writer at the World's News had this to say about his character:
"As a conversationalist, Mr. Welch had few equals. As a story-teller he was inimitable, and his knowledge of Australia was without limit. The trouble was that he could never be induced to talk much of himself and his varied career. But when he did he held the listeners spell-bound. Even if he had pronounced views on a variety of subjects, he was always tolerant towards opponents, and as a friend he was warm-hearted and true." [2]
Welch was elected F.R.G.S., London and, in 1899, F.R.C.I. [3] Welch's second wife, Marion (née Wilkin), died on 25 July 1913 in Brisbane, Queensland. [13]
On 24 September 1916, Edwin James Welch died at Petersham, New South Wales, where he had been living for about 10 years. He died as a result of heart failure, and was buried in the Waverley Cemetery. [2]
The Burke and Wills expedition was organised by the Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) in Australia in 1860–61. It initially consisted of nineteen men led by Robert O'Hara Burke, with William John Wills being a deputy commander. Its objective was the crossing of Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 3,250 kilometres. At that time most of the inland of Australia had not been explored by non-Indigenous people and was largely unknown to European settlers.
The Honorable DrJohn Macadam, was a Scottish-Australian chemist, medical teacher, Australian politician and cabinet minister, and honorary secretary of the Burke and Wills expedition. The genus Macadamia was named after him in 1857. He died at sea, on a voyage from Australia to New Zealand, aged 38.
John McDouall Stuart, often referred to as simply "McDouall Stuart", was a Scottish explorer and one of the most accomplished of all Australia's inland explorers.
Sir Augustus Charles Gregory was an English-born Australian explorer and surveyor. Between 1846 and 1858 he undertook four major expeditions. He was the first Surveyor-General of Queensland. He was appointed a lifetime Member of the Queensland Legislative Council.
Robert O'Hara Burke was an Irish soldier and police officer who achieved fame as an Australian explorer. He was the leader of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition, which was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled areas of Victoria to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The expedition party was well equipped, but Burke was not experienced in bushcraft. A Commission of Inquiry held by the Government of Victoria to investigate the failure of the expedition was a censure of Burke's judgement.
William John Wills was a British surveyor who also trained as a surgeon. He was the second-in-command of the Burke and Wills expedition, which was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled areas of Victoria to the Gulf of Carpentaria. He and the expedition leader Robert O'Hara Burke both died of exhaustion on the expedition's return journey.
John King was an Irish-born British soldier who achieved fame as an Australian explorer. He was the sole survivor of the four men from the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition who reached the Gulf of Carpentaria. The expedition was the first to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from Melbourne in Victoria to the Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland.
Alfred William Howitt, , also known by author abbreviation A.W. Howitt, was an Australian anthropologist, explorer and naturalist. He was known for leading the Victorian Relief Expedition, which set out to establish the fate of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition.
Innamincka, formerly Hopetoun, is a township and locality in north-east South Australia. By air it is 820 kilometres north-east of the state capital, Adelaide, and 365 kilometres north-east of the closest town, Lyndhurst. It is 66 kilometres north-east of the Moomba Gas Refinery. The town lies within the Innamincka Regional Reserve and is surrounded by the Strzelecki Desert to the south and the Sturt Stony Desert to the north. It is linked by road to Lyndhurst via the Strzelecki Track, to the Birdsville Developmental Road via Cordillo Downs Road and Arrabury Road, and the Walkers Crossing Track to the Birdsville Track. The Walkers Crossing Track is closed in summer and only traversable in dry weather. The township is situated along the Cooper Creek, a part of the Lake Eyre basin.
William Landsborough was an explorer of Australia. He was notable for being the first explorer to complete a North-to-South crossing of Australia. He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Council.
Ludwig Phillip Heinrich Becker was a German artist, explorer and naturalist. He was born in Rödelheim near Frankfurt am Main. He moved to Australia in 1850, and was a member of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition. He died at the expedition's camp on the western bank of Koorliatto Waterhole, Bulloo River in 1861.
Burke and Wills Plant Camp is a heritage-listed campsite near Betoota within the locality of Birdsville, Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as Return Camp 46 and Burke and Wills Camp R46. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 11 December 2008.
Burke and Wills Camp B/CXIX is a heritage-listed campsite at Burke and Wills Access Road, Normanton, Shire of Carpentaria, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as Walker's Camp. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 14 August 2008.
Landsborough's Blazed Tree is a heritage-listed blazed tree at Mitchell Highway, Bakers Bend, Shire of Murweh, Queensland, Australia. It was marked by William Landsborough. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 18 June 2009.
Landsborough's Blazed Tree is a heritage-listed tree at Mitchell Highway, Charleville, Shire of Murweh, Queensland, Australia. It was marked by William Landsborough. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 18 June 2009.
Dr Ludwig Becker's Grave is a heritage-listed grave at Molesworth Station, by the Bulloo River, Bulloo Downs, Shire of Bulloo, Queensland, Australia. He was buried in 1861. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 August 1994.
The Dig Tree is a heritage-listed, blazed, eucalyptus tree at Nappa Merrie Station, Durham, Shire of Bulloo, Queensland, Australia. It was blazed on 21 April 1861. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 February 2003.
The Yandruwandha, alternatively known as Jandruwanta, are an Aboriginal Australian people living in the Lakes area of South Australia, south of Cooper Creek and west of the Wangkumara people.
The Burke, Wills, King and Yandruwandha National Heritage Place is a heritage-listed historic precinct on the Birdsville Track, Innamincka, South Australia, Australia. It was added to the Australian National Heritage List on 22 January 2016.
Howitt is a coastal locality in the Shire of Carpentaria, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Howitt had a population of 48 people.
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