Robert O'Hara Burke
| Robert O'Hara Burke | |
|---|---|
Robert O'Hara Burke
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| Born |
6 May 1821 St Clerens, County Galway, Ireland |
| Died | 28 June 1861 (aged 40) Cooper Creek, QLD, Australia |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Occupation | Soldier, police officer, explorer |
| Known for | Death after leading the Burke and Wills expedition |
Robert O'Hara Burke (6 May 1821 – c. 28 June 1861) was an Irish soldier and police officer who achieved fame as an Australian explorer. He was the leader of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition, which was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled areas of Victoria to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The expedition party was well equipped, but Burke was not experienced in bushcraft. A Royal Commission report conducted upon the failure of the expedition was a censure of Burke's judgement.
Burke was born in St Clerens, County Galway, Ireland in May 1821. He was the second of three sons of James Hardiman Burke (1788 – January 1854), an officer in the British army 7th Royal Fusiliers, and Anne Louisa Burke nee O'Hara (married 1817, d.1844).
Robert O'Hara was one of seven children;
James Thomas Burke was a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, and on 7 July 1854 at the battle of Giurgevo became the first British officer killed in the Crimean war.
Burke entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in May 1835. In December 1836 he failed his probationary exam and went to Belgium to further his education. In 1841, at the age of twenty he entered the Austrian army and in August 1842 was promoted to Second Lieutenant in the Prince Regent's 7th Reuss Regiment of the Hungarian Hussars. He spent most of his time in the Imperial Austrian Army posted to northern Italy and in April 1847 was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. Towards the end of 1847 he suffered health problems and went to Recoaro spa in northern Italy, then Gräfenberg (now Lázně Jeseník) and finally Aachen before resigning from the Austrian army in June 1848 after charges against him relating to debts and absence without leave were dropped.
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