Captain Charles Sturt.

(1795 - 1869)

It's major hero being Charles Sturt,an army officer whose regiment brought convicts to Sydney in 1827.Public opinion was excited by the dream of a vast inland sea.Sturt persuaded Governor Darling to back expeditions following known rivers into the interior. Sturt traced the Macquarie River,discovered the unknown Darling, investigated the full extent of the Lachlan-Murrumbidgee system,and was finally carried on to a 'broad and noble river' which he named the Murray.Still believing in an inland sea,Sturt set out from Adelaide in 1844,discovered Coopers Creek, and noted in his diary a 'broken hill' where vast lodes of silver were discovered in 1883.Sturts party suffered incredible privation- and still there was no sign of an inland sea.The heroic explorer died almost penniless in England aged 74.