Mitchell
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MAJOR/SIR THOMAS LIVINGSTONE MITCHELL
BRIEF FACTS
Major Thomas Livingstone Mitchell first arrived in the colony of New South Wales in 1827. He took up duties as an assistant Surveyor-General to John Oxley. On the death of Oxley in May 1828, Mitchell became the Surveyor-General of the Colony of New South Wales. His job was to survey eastern Australia, lay out towns, roads, bridges and public areas. He became interested in exploration, and, on the 24th of November 1831 he set off on his first expedition. The purpose of this expedition was to find a major river north of the Liverpool Plains. He discovered the Macintyre River. On the 9th of March 1835, he set off on his second expedition. Major Mitchell was sent out by Governor Bourke, to prove, or as Mitchell hoped, to disprove Sturt's theory that the Darling flowed into the Murray. Twenty four kilometres down stream from the junction of the Bogan and Darling Rivers he made camp. He named this spot Fort Bourke. Today, the town on this site is called Bourke. This expedition followed the Darling as far south as a spot near Menindee. The expedition was abandoned here, due to trouble with the local aborigines. In March 1836, he set off on his third expedition. It became known as the journey to "Australia Felix" - (Australia the Happy). The purpose of this was to complete the work of his second expedition. He followed the Lachlan, Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers to reach the Darling which he presumed to be the same river he had followed on his last expedition. Mitchell then proceeded south following the Murray to a site now named Swan Hill. It was the 20th of June, 1836. He set up camp on the banks of the Murray River near a lagoon and the junction of another river. This river today is called The Little Murray or Marraboor. He named the place Swan Hill, because the swans kept him awake all night and there was a nearby hill.
The tracks left by Major Mitchell's heavy drays lasted for many years. These became known as the "Major's Line". The first Squatters in the district were Edward Argyle and Salathiel Booth who followed the Major's Line from the south to Swan Hill. Curlewis and Campbell arrived in the area soon after. Mitchell therefore, not only discovered and named Swan Hill but also opened the area to settlement. The official seal of the City of Swan Hill in 1965 carried a picture of the explorer with his own motto "Favente deo supero" ("I excel with the help of God").
As Major Mitchell travelled along the Murray to Swan Hill he documented and sketched river scenery, flowers and birds. The "Major Mitchell's Cockatoo" is named after him. It is the most beautiful of cockatoos and of all parrots. In 1837 he went back to England and Queen Victoria made him a Knight one year later. He was knighted for his 1836 expedition into "Australia Felix" - Western Victoria. He returned to Australia in 1841. Sir Thomas Mitchell's fourth and final expedition began in December 1845 and lasted just over 12 months. The purpose of this expedition was to find a route to the Gulf of Carpentaria. After hearing that Leichhardt had reached the Gulf first, the party spent the rest of the time exploring the central West Queensland.
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