Biography

Burke was the Expedition Leader of The Victorian Exploration Expedition. (V.E.E.), later to become known as the Burke & Wills Expedition. Burke was educated in Belgium and entered the Austrian Army in 1840. He rose to the rank of Captain but returned to Ireland in 1848, where he joined the Royal Irish Constabulary. A few years after migrating to Australia in 1853, Burke became an inspector of police in Victoria. The next year he again visited Ireland and would have sought a commission in the Crimean War, only for certain affairs connected with the death of his father detaining him until the war was over. Returning to Australia in I860 he was appointed to the command of an exploring expedition whose purpose it was to cross the Australian continent from north to south. The party left Melbourne on August 20, 1860, and arrived at Cooper's Creek on November 11. This was the starting point of the journey north. On December 16, a dash was made for the far distant Gulf of Carpentaria. For all intents and purposes, the explorers' efforts were deemed successful. However, on their return to Coopers Creek, the man they had left in charge of their stores had vanished along with most of the stores. Burke was determined to make an effort to reach one of the South Australian stations. A start was made but lack of water compelled a return to Cooper's Creek. The unfortunate men were too feeble to make a fresh start and remained lonely and deserted, except for some friendly natives, who provided them with casual food. In a few days, Burke died from starvation. Wills died about the same time. Their only surviving comrade, King, managed to subsist among the natives until rescued by a party sent out from Melbourne. Burke and Wills' bodies were found by Alfred Howitt and buried at Cooper Creek in 1861. Howitt went back to the Cooper in 1862, exhumed their remains and brought them to Melbourne where they were given a state funeral and re-buried in Melbourne General Cemetery in 1863. The cost of the original expedition and the subsequent searches was estimated at £57,000. However, the tragic story of Burke and Wills will always find honourable mention in the written histories of Australia. The Burkes were Protestant gentry and landowners, and the father and all his sons were soldiers. Robert O'Hara was the second of three sons.