Francis Cadell (explorer)
Francis William Cadell (9 February 1822–1879) was a European explorer of Australia, most remembered for opening the Murray River up for transport by steamship.
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[edit] Early life
Cadell was born in Cockenzie, Haddingtonshire, Scotland, the second son of Hew Francis Cadell, mine-owner and shipbuilder. Educated in Edinburgh and at Cuxhaven, Germany. He joined the East Indiaman Minerva at 14, and sailed in her to the first China war in 1839, later claiming a part in the siege of Canton. Soon after he was given a ship by his father.
Cadell went to South America, had experience of river navigation on the Amazon River.
He first arrived in Australia in January 1849 as captain of the schooner Royal Sovereign, visiting Adelaide, Circular Head and Sydney.,[1] sailing in ballast for Singapore in June.[2]
[edit] Steaming on the Murray River
In 1850 the South Australian government had offered a bonus of £4000 to be equally divided between the owners of the first two iron steamers that should successfully navigate the Murray from Goolwa to the junction of the Darling River.[3] When Cadell returned to Australia in 1852, he arrived at Port Adelaide in command of the clipper, Queen of Sheba. The government's bonus for the navigation of the Murray River had not been claimed and Cadell stayed in Adelaide, formulating a design for a suitable steamboat in partnership with his father's agent, William Younghusband.[4]
Cadell gave orders for the construction of a steamer in Chowne's Yard, Sydney. While it was being built, explored the Murray in a canvas boat named Forerunner, in which, with four men, he travelled 1,300 miles (2,100 km) from Swan Hill downstream. The canvas boat was conveyed overland from Melbourne to Swan Hill.
After several delays, in June 1853 his steamer the Lady Augusta successfully passed through the breakers at the mouth of the Murray, and on 25 August left Goolwa, South Australia on a voyage up the Murray with Cadell in command. Among the passengers were the governor, Sir Henry Young and Lady Young, after whom the steamer was named.[5] They returned on 14 October having reached a point 1,500 miles (2,400 km) up the river.
A few months later it was ascertained that the Murray was navigable as far as Albury, New South Wales and the Murrumbidgee River navigable to Gundagai. Cadell had carried a considerable quantity of wool and much trade was expected with the Riverina squatters. A gold and silver candelabrum was presented by the settlers to Cadell, with an inscription that it had been presented to him "in commemoration of his first having opened the steam navigation and commerce of the River Murray 1853". Cadell was also presented with a gold medal struck by the legislative council, and he joined with others in forming the River Murray Navigating Company. The establishment of inland customs houses and the refusal of the three colonies to join in the snagging of the river, created difficulties for the company, and the failure of Port Elliot as a harbour led to more than one steamer being lost. The company which had at first enjoyed good profits failed and Cadell lost everything he had.
Cadell's claim on being the pioneer of inland navigation on the Murray is contested. J. G. and William Randell had constructed an earlier steamer which had traded on the Murray as early as March 1853, and at the time of the Cadell's first voyage upstream on the Lady Augusta, Randell's Mary-Ann had progressed further up the river and at a greater speed.[6] However, it was a much smaller vessel and not eligible for the bonus offered by the government.
[edit] Exploration Committee of the Royal Society of Victoria
During 1860 Cadell did exploring work in eastern Gippsland, and attempted to get the Government of Victoria to sponsor the establishment of a steamer service between Melbourne, the Snowy River and the Gippsland Lakes.[7]
While in Victoria, Cadell was a member of the Exploration Committee of the Royal Society of Victoria which organised the Burke and Wills expedition of 1860. Cadell offered to transport the expedition's equipment by steamer to the value of £500 for free. However his opposition to the appointment of Burke to the post of expedition leader meant Burke refused Cadell's offer and transported the stores overland by instead, a decision that slowed the progress of the expedition considerably.[citation needed]
[edit] Relocation to New Zealand
In 1865 Cadell was in New Zealand employed by the New Zealand government as commandant in the Waikato Steam Transport Service, a support group during the New Zealand land wars.[8]
In March 1865 Cadell was involved in the mutiny of Captain Hannibal Marks, on the HMS Sandfly. Cadell ordered the first mate of the Sandfly to get underway without its captain. When Marks caught the ship in a row boat, he placed the mate under arrest for taking orders from Cadell. Cadell then ordered Marks to reinstate the mate, and fire another crew member. Marks refused and the crew sided with Marks.[9]
[edit] 1867 Expedition to Northern Australia
In February 1867 the South Australian government sent Cadell to the Northern Territory "to fix upon a proper site for the survey of 300,000 acres [1,200 km²]". His selection of a site on the Liverpool River, was much criticized at the time, and was eventually rejected. He approached the Northern Territory by ship, and his choice of site was influenced by the navigability of the river. He traversed a strait between Elcho Island and the mainland, which Matthew Flinders had previously noted as a probable island.[10] The strait is now known as Cadell Strait. He had been able to give the authorities much valuable information about the country, but the climate of the territory and its great distance from other centres of population made its development a problem which had not been solved more than half a century after his visit.
[edit] Later life and death
He became involved in whaling, trading, and pearling.
Cadell then took up trading in the East Indies, and when sailing in the Gem to the Kei Islands near New Guinea he was murdered by the cook's mate, about March 1879.
[edit] Legacy
A replica of the Forerunner (his canvas boat used to explore the Murray from Swan Hill downstream) is in Prestongrange museum.
His family name is commemorated by Cadell Strait in the Northern Territory.
[edit] References
- ^ "Shipping Intelligence". The Sydney Morning Herald: p. 2. 16 May 1849. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12904086.
- ^ "Departures". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 Jun 1849. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12914284. Retrieved 04 November 2010.
- ^ Gwenda Painter (1979). The River Trade: Wool & Steamers. Wahroonga, NSW: Turton & Armstrong. p. 9. ISBN 0908031092.
- ^ Gwenda Painter (1979). The River Trade: Wool & Steamers. Wahroonga, NSW: Turton & Armstrong. pp. s 12–13. ISBN 0908031092.
- ^ Gwenda Painter (1979). The River Trade: Wool & Steamers. Wahroonga, NSW: Turton & Armstrong. pp. s 20–21. ISBN 0908031092.
- ^ "Captain Cadell". The Advertiser: p. 8. 10 January 1918. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5587115. Retrieved 04 November 2010.
- ^ "THE SNOWY RIVER.". The Argus: p. 5. 24 May 1860. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5682987. Retrieved 05 November 2010.
- ^ "PRESENTATION TO CAPTAIN CADELL". "The Daily Southern Cross" XXII (2712): p. 5.
- ^ "PS Tasmanian Maid Wreck Site". New Zealand Historic Places Trust - Pouhere Taonga.. http://www.historic.org.nz/TheRegister/RegisterSearch/RegisterResults.aspx?RID=9521&m=advanced#. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
- ^ "CAPTAIN CADELL'S RETURN.". South Australian Register: p. 2. 14 February 1868. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39177214. Retrieved 04 November 2010.
[edit] Sources
- Ian Mudie, 'Cadell, Francis (1822 - 1879)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 3, MUP, 1969, pp 324–325.
- Serle, Percival (1949). "Cadell, Francis". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson. http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogCa-Ch.html#cadell1.
[edit] Further reading
- John Nicholson (2004). The Incomparable Captain Cadell. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781741141085.
