William Hovell | |
|---|---|
 Australian explorer Captain William Hilton Hovell, July 1871 | |
| Born | William Hilton Hovell (1786-04-26)26 April 1786 |
| Died | 9 November 1875(1875-11-09) (aged 89)[1] Sydney, NSW, Australia |
| Known for | Explorer |
William Hilton Hovell (26 April 1786 – 9 November 1875) was an English explorer of Australia. WithHamilton Hume, he made an 1824 overland expedition fromSydney toPort Phillip (near the site of present-dayMelbourne), and later explored the area aroundWestern Port.
Hovell was born inYarmouth,Norfolk, England. His father was captain and part owner of a vessel trading to the Mediterranean, which, during a voyage in 1794, was captured by the French and taken into a port, where he became a prisoner of war for two years. William, when only 10 years of age, went to sea to earn his living. After going through the hard life of a foremast hand, at 20 years of age he was mate ofZenobia bound to Peru, and two years later he was a mercantile marine captain of theJuno bound to Rio Janeiro, and others.[2] He decided to come to Australia, arriving at SydneyNew South Wales by the shipEarl Spencer, with his wife Esthernée Arndell (daughter of the surgeonThomas Arndell), and two children, a boy and a girl, on 9 October 1813.[3][4] Making an association withSimeon Lord, Hovell became master of a vessel and made several trading voyages along the east coast of Australia coast and to New Zealand.
In June 1816, while in command ofThe Brothers he was shipwrecked in theKent Group,Bass Strait, and along with his crew of eight survived for 10 weeks on the wheat from their cargo that was washed up, before being rescued by theSpring.[5] In 1819 he settled on the land nearSydney and did some exploring in a southerly direction; he reached the Burragorang Valley in 1823.
In 1824 Governor SirThomas Brisbane asked Hovell to join withHamilton Hume to undertake the exploration of what is now southern New South Wales andVictoria in an attempt to obtain more information about any rivers that might run south in the direction ofSpencer Gulf. Hovell had little bush experience, but had great experience as a navigator.
The planned official expedition did not eventuate, and Hume and Hovell decided to make the journey at their own expense.[4] Some pack-saddles, clothes, blankets and arms were provided from the government stores.[6] The explorers left on 3 October 1824 with six men. They reached Hume's station on 13 October, and on 17 October began the expedition proper with five bullocks, three horses and two carts. On 22 October they found that the only way to pass theMurrumbidgee River, then in flood, was to convert one of the carts into a type of boat by passing a tarpaulin under it; the men, horses, and bullocks swam over, and everything successfully got across. A day or two later, in broken hilly country full of water-courses, they had great difficulty in finding a road for the loaded carts, deciding on 27 October to abandon them. Until 16 November their course lay through difficult mountainous country. On that day they came to a large river which Hovell called Hume's River "he being the first that saw it". This was an upper reach of theMurray River so named byCharles Sturt a few years later. It was impossible to cross here, but after a few days a better place was found, and constructing the rough frame of a boat, they managed to get across. By 3 December they had reached theGoulburn River, which they were able to cross without a boat.
Four days later impassable country was reached. The party spent three days attempting to cross theGreat Dividing Range at Mt Disappointment but were thwarted. Hume shifted direction to the West then reached lower land at the future township ofBroadford on the 12 December where they camped.[7]Hume headed towards low ranges to the South and found a pass in that direction next day. He led the party across the Dividing Range atHume’s Pass,Wandong and on the 16th December, 1824 reachedPort Phillip Bay at Bird Rock, Point Lillias adjacent to the futureGeelong.[8]Hovell claimed that he measured their longitude on the same day but in reality he read it off the sketch map that they had drafted themselves during the trip.[9]Hovell admitted in 1867 that he did not take any longitude measurements and blamed Hume for it.[10]Prior to this admission, Dr William Bland, who wrote the first book on the journey in 1831, invented the myth that Hovell made an error of one degree in longitude in order to protect him.[11]The party turned back towardsNew South Wales on the 18 December. Hume chose to travel more to the west to avoid the mountainous country and save considerable time. This was a sound decision.[according to whom?] On 16 January 1825, just as their flour ran out, they reached the carts they had left behind them, and then two days later the safety of Hume's station atGunning.[12]
On 25 March 1825 Governor Brisbane mentioned the discoveries of Hovell and Hume in a dispatch and said that he intended to send a vessel to Western Port to have it explored. However, nothing was done until his successor,Governor Darling, towards the end of 1826, sent an expedition under Captain Wright to Western Port. Hovell was attached to this expedition, and when it arrived he saw that it was not the region that he had reached on his first trip. Hovell explored and reported on the land surrounding Western Port and to the north of it, and near the coast to the east atCape Paterson he discovered "great quantities of very finecoal".[13] This was the first discovery of coal in Victoria. Hovell was away five months on this expedition and afterwards did no more exploring. He made various efforts during the next 10 years to obtain some special recognition from the government in addition to the grants of 1,200 acres (5 km2) for the journey with Hume, and 1,280 acres (5 km2) for the journey to Western Port, "subject to restrictions and encumbrances so depreciatory of its value, as to render it a very inadequate remuneration".[14] He appears to have had no success, but prospered on his pastoral run at Goulburn, where he lived for the rest of his life. He died on 9 November 1875, and in 1877 his widow left the substantial sum of £6000 to theUniversity of Sydney as a memorial of him, which was used to found the William Hilton Hovell lectureship on geology and physical geography.
In 1854 ill-feeling arose between Hume and Hovell which led to each write public documents with contradicting claims on the conduct of their expedition. In December 1853 Hovell had been entertained at a public dinner in Geelong to celebrate the 29th anniversary of the discovery of the district.[15] Reports reached Hume that Hovell was credited for the discovery of Geelong. The fullest report of Hovell's speech available does not justify Hume's contention.[4]
Hovell died in Sydney on 9 November 1875 and was buried at Goulburn, survived by a son.[4]
Remarks on a journey from Lake George, Lat. 35 deg. 5 min., Long. - , towards Western Port, 2 October-21 December 1824 by William Hilton Hovell. Journal in a small field notebook, in which Hovell describes the journey with Hume to Port Phillip. State Library of New South Wales, online copySafe 1/32b
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(December 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
{{cite news}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
