Charles Winnecke
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Charles George Alexander Winnecke (18 November 1857 – 10 September 1902) was an Australian explorer and botanist best known for leading the Horn Expedition to Central Australia in 1894.


Biography

Winnecke was born in Norwood in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
on 18 November 1856. He was educated at St. Peter's College. Winnecke entered the Government Survey Office in
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
in 1873 under Surveyor-General George Goyder. He first accompanied the North Eastern Exploring Expedition to survey the border between South Australia and Queensland in 1877. Winnecke travelled through northern South Australia in September 1884. A decade later, he led the Horn Expedition to Central Australia from May to August 1894, a scientific exploration of the regions geology, zoology, botany and Indigenous people. The followed the Finke River as far as the James Range towards the now Tempe Downs Station and
Kings Creek Station Kings Canyon is a canyon in the Northern Territory of Australia located at the western end of the George Gill Range about southwest of Alice Springs and about south of Darwin within the Watarrka National Park. Description The walls ...
. It included Baldwin Spencer,
Edward Charles Stirling Sir Edward Charles Stirling (8 September 1848 – 20 March 1919) was an Australian anthropologist and the first professor of physiology at the University of Adelaide. Early life Stirling was born at "The Lodge" Strathalbyn, South Australia, t ...
,
Ralph Tate Ralph Tate (11 March 1840 – 20 September 1901) was a British-born botanist and geologist, who was later active in Australia. Early life Tate was born at Alnwick in Northumberland, the son of Thomas Turner Tate (1807–1888), a teacher of m ...
and J. A. Watt and drew on the expertise of Afghan cameleers and Aboriginal guides. It resulted in the publication of the ''Report on the work of the Horn Scientific Expedition to Central Australia'' in four volumes from 1896 to 1897. During this expedition, Winnecke was responsible for the theft of a major repository of Aboriginal sacred objects in Central Australia, helped by an Aboriginal guide who was later killed by local elders for his crime in leading Winnecke to their hiding place. The objects were subsequently interpreted with the assistance of another guide, the sometime police tracker and Aboriginal resistance identity
Arrarbi Arrarbi ( – ), also known as Arrabi, Arabi Bey, Cowle Bob and Police Bob, was an Aboriginal tracker, police of the Matuntarre people of the region around Tempe Downs Station in the Northern Territory of Australia. He was a guide on the Horn Sc ...
. When removing the objects he left 'a number of tomahawks, large knives and other things in their place, sufficient commercially to make the transaction an equitable exchange'. Winnecke was made a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the
Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...
. He died on 10 September 1902 in Adelaide.


Legacy

Winnecke Avenue in Alice Springs is named after him. A species of Australian lizard, ''
Diporiphora winneckei ''Diporiphora winneckei'', also known commonly as the canegrass dragon, canegrass two-line dragon, blue-lined dragon, and Winnecke's two-pored dragon, is a species of small, terrestrial, diurnal lizard in the family Agamidae. The species is end ...
'', is named in his honour.


Publications

* ''Physical features of Central Australia'', 1887, Adelaide * ''Journal of the Horn Scientific Exploring Expedition, 1894 Australia'', 1897, Adelaide


Notes


References


External links


Digital copy of ''Journal of the Horn Scientific Exploring Expedition, 1894 Australia''
via Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
Letter from C Winnecke to W B Spencer 07/12/1899
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winnecke, Charles 1856 births 1902 deaths Australian explorers Scientists from Adelaide 19th-century Australian botanists Public servants of South Australia Colony of South Australia people