22 Facts About Edmund Kennedy

Edmund Kennedy was the Assistant-Surveyor of New South Wales, working with Sir Thomas Mitchell.

Edmund Kennedy died in December 1848 after being speared by Aboriginal Australians in far north Queensland near Cape York.

Edmund Kennedy was the sixth born of nine children, comprising five boys and four girls.

Edmund Kennedy was educated at Elizabeth College Guernsey, and expressed an early interest in surveying.

In November 1839 Edmund Kennedy sailed for Sydney in the barque Globe which arrived in March 1840.

Edmund Kennedy's indiscretion was reported to Superintendent Charles La Trobe and Governor Gipps and he was recalled to Sydney in May 1843 in disgrace.

Edmund Kennedy received praise from Mitchell for his work in Portland and remained employed in the government surveying department in Sydney, but at half-pay.

Edmund Kennedy was convinced that a major river must run in a north-westerly direction to the gulf, and that he would be the one to discover it.

Edmund Kennedy was gone for four and a half months.

Edmund Kennedy left yet another party behind and travelled north-west with only a native guide and two men.

Mitchell was impressed with the leadership qualities of Edmund Kennedy, as demonstrated by his management of the depot camps in 1846, and his technical skills relating to survey and exploration.

Edmund Kennedy's instructions were to travel via St George Bridge to the Maranoa where his earlier depot had been, then determine the course of the Victoria.

Edmund Kennedy had spent some time plotting Mitchell's Victoria river on the latest map of the colony, and was struck by the fact that its general course turned towards a bend of Cooper Creek, named by Charles Sturt in 1845.

Edmund Kennedy decided to conceal the carts and supplies from local aborigines by digging a large trench in which to bury them, then proceeded by packhorse.

Edmund Kennedy's plan altered then to split the party and make a dash for the gulf.

Edmund Kennedy then headed east, intercepted the Culgoa River, and returned to Sydney 7 February 1848.

Edmund Kennedy further suggested that after a resupply of the party at the tip of the cape, the exploration could continue down the west coast, with a subsequent return overland to Sydney.

Edmund Kennedy had to abandon the carts and some supplies in a hopeless bog.

From existing reports it seems that Edmund Kennedy's death resulted from attacks that seem "not to have been directly provoked".

In May 1948, a monument to Edmund Kennedy was erected in Cardwell.

On 25 September 1948 a monument to Edmund Kennedy was erected at Cooktown.

On 11 November 1948 a monument to Edmund Kennedy was erected at Portland Road in Iron Range in Queensland near a spring where the expedition drew water.