Edward Connellan

Edward John ("EJ" or "Eddie") Connellan AO, CBE (24 June 1912 – 26 December 1983) was an Australian aviator who founded Connellan Airways and was a pioneer of aviation in the Northern Territory.

Connellan was born on 24 June 1912 at Donald in western Victoria, the eldest of seven children to his parents Thomas and Lucy Connellan. At Donald the family owned farming and grazing property. Connellan's station life continued when the family moved to the Riverina district of New South Wales.

He was educated as a boarder at Xavier College in Melbourne to complete his secondary education in 1927 and 1928. After school he joined the Victorian Education Department and became a teacher. He resigned as a teacher in July 1933, with ambitions to build a stake to establish a cattle station in the Northern Territory. After teaching he gained his private pilot's licence on 8 July 1936.

In October 1937 he prepared a report "Notes on proposals for Aerial Freight Transport in Australia" with an aim to develop the remote region of northern Australia. In 1938 he undertook two aerial surveys of the Northern Territory to investigate pastoral land for the government and select land for a cattle station for himself, his brother and two friends.

During the survey he met with the Federal Minister responsible for the Northern Territory, John McEwen, and discussed the role of air services in the region. Connellan agreed to a three-year trial of an air mail service between Alice Springs and Wyndham in Western Australia, which attracted a subsidy from the federal government. The mail run commenced on 11 July 1939 and worked on a fortnightly return basis. He also agreed to a contract for an Alice Springs-based Royal Flying Doctor Service.

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