William Landsborough
William Landsborough (c.1825 – 1886), explorer, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland and went to Australia when a young man. He took up land in the New England district of New South Wales but had to abandon it because it was unproductive. When gold was discovered in 1851, he went to the diggings and had some success. He returned to the land again in 1853 in Queensland. With Nathaniel Buchanan he explored the tributaries of the Fitzroy River, Queensland in 1859. Bad seasons, however, resulted in his losing all his pastoral interests in 1860. He did some exploring, and traced the Gregory and Herbert rivers to their sources. In August 1861 he was placed in charge of an expedition to search for Burke and Wills, starting from the Gulf of Carpentaria. In the following November, Landsborough was presented with a service of plate valued at £500, and subsequently visited India and Europe. The Royal Geographical Society presented him with a gold watch for finding a practicable route from the north to the south of Australia.
Landsborough returned to Australia and in 1865 became a member of the Queensland legislative council for one session. Towards the end of that year he was appointed police magistrate for the district of Burke. Finding Burketown extremely unhealthy he made Sweers Island his headquarters and from there did much local exploring. In June 1872, he was made inspector of brands for the Moreton district and held this position for the remainder of his life.
A few years before his death the Queensland parliament voted him £2000 for his services as an explorer, and with this he purchased a pastoral property at Caloundra. He died there in 1886.
References
- Serle, Percival (1949). "Landsborough, William". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.