Эдмунд Кеннеди: Австралия саяхатшысының тағдыры

Australian explorer (1818 1848)
the Australian explorer

Edmund Besley Court Kennedy J. P. (5 September 1818 – December 1848) was an explorer in Australia in the mid nineteenth century. He was the Assistant Surveyor of New South Wales, working with Sir Thomas Mitchell. Kennedy explored the interior of Queensland and northern New South Wales, including the Thomson River, the Barcoo River, Cooper Creek, and Cape York Peninsula. He died in December 1848 after being speared by Aboriginal Australians in far north Queensland near Cape York.

Kennedy was born on 5 September 1818 on Guernsey in the Channel Islands to Colonel Thomas Kennedy (British Army) and Mary Ann (Smith) Kennedy. He was the sixth born of nine children, comprising five boys and four girls. Kennedy was educated at Elizabeth College Guernsey, and expressed an early interest in surveying. In 1837 he went to Rio de Janeiro, returning to England in 1838 when the business house in which he worked closed down. A naval officer friend of the family, Captain Charles James Tyers, suggested that if Kennedy obtained the necessary qualifications, he would arrange employment for him in Australia. During 1839 Kennedy attended lectures in surveying at King's College London, obtaining a certificate from his tutor. In November 1839 Kennedy sailed for Sydney in the barque Globe which arrived in March 1840. Another family contact Captain Perry, who was deputy to Sir Thomas Mitchell, arranged a position for Kennedy as assistant surveyor in the New South Wales Survey Department after he had passed an examination. In August Kennedy was assigned to join Tyers on an overland journey to Melbourne, thence to Portland Bay for survey duties. Whilst there, he had a liaison with an Irish convict girl named Margaret Murphy. She became pregnant which caused a minor scandal and Kennedy sent her off in a ship to Launceston with £50. Kennedy's indiscretion was reported to Superintendent Charles La Trobe and Governor Gipps and he was recalled to Sydney in May 1843 in disgrace. Murphy later gave birth to their daughter Eliza, remarried and moved back to Ireland. The daughter died at age five. Kennedy received praise from Mitchell for his work in Portland and remained employed in the government surveying department in Sydney, but at half pay.

Mitchell was impressed with the leadership qualities of Kennedy, as demonstrated by his management of the depot camps in 1846, and his technical skills relating to survey and exploration. As the question of a great north west river remained unanswered, Mitchell gained approval in February 1847 for a new expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria, with the express purpose of plotting the course of his Victoria River en route. This time he placed Kennedy in charge of a party of eight, which set off from Windsor, New South Wales 21 March 1847. His instructions were to travel via St. George Bridge (14 May) to the Maranoa (8 June) where his earlier depot had been, then determine the course of the Victoria. Kennedy had spent some time plotting Mitchell's Victoria river on the latest map of the colony, and was struck by the fact that its general course turned towards a bend of Cooper Creek, named by Charles Sturt in 1845. s.

The Government's plan for Kennedy's next journey was primarily to find a way to the gulf, to be followed by exploration of Cape York Peninsula. The importance of Port Essington (the only port in northern Australia at the time) had declined, but trade along the east coast between Sydney and Singapore had increased, which prompted Captain Owen Stanley of to recommend that the east coast of Cape York be explored first. He further suggested that after a resupply of the party at the tip of the cape, the exploration could continue down the west coast, with a subsequent return overland to Sydney. It was anticipated that eighteen months would be required to complete the trip. This idea was accepted, and planning began for Kennedy to head for a starting point at Rockingham Bay, near the present town of Cardwell, Queensland.|group=Note They arrived at Rockingham Bay 20 May, but once they had landed, the party encountered terrible terrain such as mangrove swamps, mountains, lagoons, rivers, and thick rainforest that made it almost impossible to travel with horses, carts, and sheep. After nine weeks, they had travelled just 40 miles from the coast, and 12 miles north of the landing point. After a feat of endurance of about ten days with no supplies, Jackey Jackey made it to the supply ship alone 23 December 1848.

The centenary of the expedition was commemorated in 1948. In May 1948, a monument to Kennedy was erected in Cardwell. On 25 September 1948 a monument to Kennedy was erected at Cooktown. The Kennedy Memorial Monument was unveiled on 13 December 1948 in Somerset, Queensland in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Kennedy's unsuccessful exploration of Cape York Peninsula. The monument comprises a concrete slab on a concrete footing with a bronze commemorative plaque on its eastern face. In addition, bronze plaques were placed in Charleville, Kennedy, Tully and Escape River.