The Glenelg River is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...
in the
Kimberley region of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...
.
The headwaters of the river rise in the Elizabeth and Catherine Range. The river flows in a north-westerly direction past the Whately Range and discharges into Maitland Bay then through George Water, into Doubtful Bay and finally the
Timor Sea
The Timor Sea ( id, Laut Timor, pt, Mar de Timor, tet, Tasi Mane or ) is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor, to the east by the Arafura Sea, and to the south by Australia.
The sea contains a number of reefs ...
.
The
McRae River is a tributary of the Glenelg River.
The first recorded exploration of the river was made in 1838, by a party led by
George Grey
Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, ...
, but they were poorly prepared and ill-equipped. Grey named the river on 2 March 1838 after
Lord Glenelg
Charles Grant, 1st Baron Glenelg PC FRS (26 October 1778 – 23 April 1866) was a Scottish politician and colonial administrator who served as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
Background and education
Grant was born in Kidderpore, ...
who was Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1835 to 1839 and under whose auspices Grey undertook his explorations.
On 31 March 1929, en route from Sydney to England, the ''Southern Cross'' with
Charles Kingsford Smith
Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith (9 February 18978 November 1935), nicknamed Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand.
Kingsford Smith was b ...
at the helm made an emergency landing on a mudflat near the mouth of the river. The ''Southern Cross'' was found and rescued after a fortnight's searching, with George Innes Beard, Albert Barunga and Wally from Kunmunya Mission the first overland party to reach the downed aircraft.
References
Rivers of the Kimberley region of Western Australia
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