E. T. Hooley

Edward Timothy Hooley (1842 – 3 August 1903), usually known as E. T. Hooley or Tim Hooley, was an explorer in Western Australia, who in 1866 pioneered an overland stock route from Geraldton to the Ashburton River. He entered politics in later life, serving nearly three years as a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council, then nearly six years in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly.

E. T. Hooley was born at sea in 1842, on board the Bolivar, which was en route from London to Launceston, Tasmania. According to his birth certificate he was born on 30 September, but this was not registered until 19 November, and most other historical records list his date of birth as 3 October. His birth certificate also lists his name as Timothy Bolivar Hooley, but if Hooley ever used the name he had dropped it in favour of Edward Timothy Hooley by 1866. His father, Daniel Hooley, was a farmer who had emigrated to Tasmania to take up an offer of work at a sheep and cattle station there. His mother was Ellen née Barry.

The Hooley family remained in Launceston until January 1846, when they moved to Portland, Victoria. Edward Hooley was educated there, becoming a farmer and sheep and cattle dealer, before marrying an Irish immigrant named Jane Maze on 23 November or 4 December 1861. They would have two sons and five daughters.

In July 1864, Hooley joined with a number of other Victorian pastoralists in forming the Camden Harbour Pastoral Company, which aimed to form a settlement and claim extensive pastoral land at Camden Sound Western Australia. Arriving on board the Stag in December, Hooley and the other pioneers found the land to be virtually useless for agricultural and pastoral purposes. Hooley and some other members of the company explored the area around the Prince Regent River but found the land was no better.

By April the following year, the company had dissolved, and Hooley and others sailed south to the Tientsin Bay settlement (later known as Cossack). From there the men made a number of exploring expeditions. First they explored the Harding and Sherlock Rivers, but found no land worth claiming. They then made a second expedition, south through the Hamersley Range as far as the Ashburton River, where they found good pastoral land. Hooley travelled to Perth to apply for a pastoral lease over the land, and was eventually granted a lease over 100,000 acres (400 km²).

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