Thomas Crean’s Death – Cause and Date. His family was landowning gentry. Other Informations. With a thirst for adventure, Burke was a driven man who had a yearning for a life of distinction. Once in Australia, Burke—sponsored by the Royal Society of Victoria—left Melbourne with a party of 18 in August 1860. Descended from a branch of the family of Clanricarde, he was educated in Belgium, and at twenty years of age entered the Austrian army, in which he attained the rank of captain. On 31 December 1853 he was promoted to District Inspector of the Ovens District and early in 1854 he moved to Beechworth to relieve Inspector Price. On 23 January 1863 Burke and Wills received a State Funeral and were buried in Melbourne General Cemetery. Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills set out from the Royal Park in Melbourne to begin their exploration of Central Australia, August 20, 1862. Robert O'Hara Burke. Burke was born in Ireland. Gray could not stand the pace and died before they reached Camp LXV. here- would need to be verified but perhaps a start- Burke was impulsive, quick-tempered, arbitrary, generous, tender-hearted and charming, and those who did not quarrel with him loved him. James Thomas Burke was a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, and on 7 July 1854 at the battle of Giurgevo became the first British officer killed in the Crimean war. When they arrived in his camp, bearing gifts of fish, he behaved like an officer of the Irish constabulary plagued by the peasantry, and fired at them. Robert O’Hara Burke was an Irish soldier, police officer, and explorer who rose to fame as the leader of the Burke and Wills expedition, which sought out to cross Australia from south to north between 1860 and 1861. Robert O'Hara Burke (1821-1861), explorer, was born at St Clerans, County Galway, Ireland, second of the three sons of James Hardiman Burke and his wife Anne, née O'Hara. He took provisions for twelve weeks and six camels and a horse, which he used only as pack animals. Once in Australia, Burke—sponsored by the Royal Society of Victoria—left Melbourne with a party of 18 in August 1860. In April he entered the Victoria police as an acting inspector stationed at Carlsruhe. In 1860 he was given leave to take command of the exploring expedition to cross the continent from south to north organized by the Royal Society of Victoria and supported by the government. Mr. Jackson's book, " Robert O'Hara Burke and the Aus tralian Exploring Expedition of I 86o," supplies us with the following facts: Robert O'Hara Burke was the third son of Thomas Hardiman Burke, the representative of one of the oldest families in the west of Ireland. The Australian pioneer Robert O'Hara Burke died of starvation on June 30th, 1861. Burke wrote in a private letter from Menindee that he was determined that the cursed impedimenta, the ruin of so many explorers, would not ruin him; he was in haste and determined to travel light. Burke won the race to the north but McDouall Stuart found the all-weather route. Family Life Although ultimately he succeeded in crossing Australia, seven people, including himself, perished during the journey. Flooding rains and swamps meant they never saw open ocean. Robert O'Hara Burke. Like Ludwig Leichhardt, venturing into the Australian wilderness ultimately cost Robert … They eventually reached the rendezvous point on 21 April 1861, 9 hours after the rest of the party had given up waiting and left, leaving a note and some food, as they had not been relieved by the party supposed to be returning from Menindee.Site of Burke's death on Cooper Creek. Swan Hill put on a dinner to welcome the intrepid explorers - and Clara Harrod danced with Robert O'Hara Burke, getting a promise for the first dance when the expedition returned. In 1848, he joined the Irish police. British officer who became an infamous explorer of Australia. January 1854), an officer in the British army 7th Royal Fusiliers, and Anne Louisa Burke nee O'Hara (d.1844). Strut, an acquaintance of Burke. The surveyor, third in … Initially he worked as Acting Inspector under Mr Mitchell in the Parish of Jika Jika in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, but on 1 November 1853 he was appointed a magistrate, promoted to Police Inspector, and was posted to Carlsruhe. In 1848 he joined the the Irish police force. Discharged at his own request in June 1848, he took up a command in the Irish Mounted Constabulary until he migrated to Australia in 1853. SOURCE: Kathleen Fitzpatrick, 'Burke, Robert O'Hara (1821–1861)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 24 October 2013. The family home was St Clearans, which still stands. Er war der Führer der ersten Süd-Nord-Durchquerung Australiens von Melbourne zum Golf von Carpentaria durch Europäer 1860/61. Robert O'Hara-Burke is a member of Explorer Robert O'Hara-Burke … Here is all you want to know, and more! The first expedition to cross the continent of Australia from the south coast to the north coast took place in the years 1860 and 1861. Robert O Hara Burke (1820 - 61) of St Cleran's, Craughwell, east of Galway City, was of the Clanricarde Burkes. Burke's instructions, which were sent after him because they were not ready in time, were incoherent. They attempted to reach Mount Hopeless, the furthest outpost of pastoral settlement in South Australia, which was closer than Menindie, but failed and returned to Cooper Creek.